Do you believe in ghosts?

I got back from Miri on Thursday: went there on Monday, Prof Alias, Ina and I. we stayed at the Eastwood Golf and Country Resort. It’s a new place, I was told that it was only completed last year. The accomodation were in the form of chalets situated in front of the main house. The was a shortage of the smaller rooms so I got one unit to myself. I have to say it was one of the most pleasant places I have been to in quite a while. I would rate it higher than some of the 5 star hotels I’ve been to, comfort-wise that is.

There were two things that bothered me about the place: firstly, internet was hard to get to. You could only get wireless access at the main house but the few times I tried, I couldn’t get through. The connection to the hub worked but the outside line wasn’t. We used the tabletop at the service counter but could not get much done as I did not have the files that I needed to send at the time (I left my laptop in my room). The second thing that distance from town. The hotel provided a bus to take us into town in the evening but I would have preferred more freedon to move around.
However, Pn. Fatimah (the BPG officer) who was at the meeting with us, took us to a place called Rong Reng: a traditional craft center. It was a wonderful place to buy local arts and craft. I got myself a tikar kayu (wooden mattress) made of small rectangular wooden chips strung together with nylon strings. It was way cheaper than KL. You could get it in KL, I think the last time I saw one in a KL shop it was about RM450 but I got it there for RM180. They could mail it to you for RM 90 which would bring the cost to RM270 but I decided to take it with me on the plane. So if you are ever in Miri and you are looking for something to buy, I recommend you go to Rong Reng and look for a chap by the name of George. They even have a website http://www.rongreng.mymiri.com

At Eastwood valley, I had my first taste of umai: a Sarawakian dish made of raw fish. Unlike sashimi, umai is more like a salad with lots of stuff in it like onions and garlic and vinegar. It was tasty. I liked it. I think I may have over done it a little, my stomach wasn’t too happy with me the next day. The second day there we were served umai sotong (cuttlefish umai). It was also tasty but I think I prefer the fish version much better. The cooks at Eastwood were rather good. On the last day, we had a rather tasty chicken curry served with exceedingly tiny roti canai (paratta like bread for the uninitiated).
Interestingly, I discovered that the locals were rather proud of the local belacan which they (those at the market) claim had higher shrimp content compared to the Malaccan or Penang version. I bought some but haven’’t had the chance to try it yet. When in Miri, get your hands on some Bario rice. It a kind of rice grown on the hillsides and its supposed to be better for you. Personally, it tasted like rice. Slightly different from the normal rice we get at the supermarkets but rice all the same.
As for the meeting, I certainly have much to say about it but that’s classified university business, sorry.