Sarawak revisited.
Last Monday, I took a flight to Miri to meet the 14 week in-service course participants in the Miri Teaching Institute and the Sibu teaching institute. My flight to Miri was relatively uneventful and I checked into the Mega hotel Miri at around four PM. I didn't have anything to do that afternoon so i took a walk around Miri town looking for a place to have dinner. I went into a couple of shopping complexes that afternoon and evening. It way there that i got an interesting impression of Miri town. I walk into a few Cd shops at both of these complexes. In the first one a chap offered me a pornographic vcd with MILF fucking till they squirted. In the second shop, a chap offered me a set of vcds containing forty hours of solid fucking. I turned down both offers. I know, I'm surprised too but I thought I don't think I'm strong enough to handle the beast that woud awaken within me after watching 40 hours of solid fucking.
I was a little disappointed with the food in Miri. That evening, I had mee bandung and iced lemon tea at a restaurant across the road from Mega hotel. The noodle was pathetic but the tea was excellent.
I made a trip to the Miri Teacher training institute the next day. There i met the teachers or should i say students, who had so many questions to ask, as usual. I have to admit I quite liked the place, particularly because its just a skip and a hop away from the beach, much like the teacher training institute in Besut. I had lunch at the Mega hotel where I had mee jawa. Here was something interesting, it seems that mee jawa is a popular dish in Sarawak, more so than on the peninsular. Of course, they had the laksa Sarawak but in Miri and Sibu the mee jawa seems to take precedence. However, I had mee jawa at Mega hotel in Miri and at a cafe in the Sibu airport, and the two dishes had very little in common, except for a few basic ingredients. After lunch I went to the OUM office to get some work done. It was there that i began to realise that a pattern was forming. The Mega hotel offered free internet access in the rooms. I could access the hub but the outside line was out. The server was down at the institute and at the OUM office, the lovely Miss Juliana informed me that it was down there too.
I flew to Kuching and then to Sibu that Tuesday. Boith flights were delayed. As I waited for my place in the Kuching airport, i had something to drink at Starbucks hoping to make use fo the free interent access but there too the line was down. I was beginning to think that there was an internet black-out all over Sarawak. However, i spoke to Prof John who was also in Kuching at the time and he informed me that the net was working fine where he was. I think he was probably at the Kuching Hilton.
Sibu was an abysmal place. To me at least. The drive to the Rajang Teaching Institute in Bintangor took me a little less that an hour but the taxi costed me rm 90. The teacher / students there too were enthusiastic. Interestingly, they had a crocodile in a pen on campus. I wondered if they made use fo the crocodile as added encouragement for students who were failing. Mr Wan Kamaran was nice enough to drive me back to Sibu that afternoon. He informed me that the durian season in Sibu starts in the lest quater of the year. I made a note to return then if possible.
I took a walk around Sibu that afternoon before it began to rain. Again, i could not fine a Mamak restaurant.
The flight back was somewhat repentance inspiring. We ran into bad weather not far from Sibu and it persisted for quite a long time. They served lunch without hot drinks, fearing that the plane jumping about would cause it to spill on someone. The hour and 40 minute flight was probably one of the less pleasant ones i have ever been on, and I arrived safely in KLIA after an extended bout of praying and making my peace with God. From what i heard on the flight, i was not the only one getting acquainted with my own faith. When the plane starts moving in way I am sure it was not designed to do, you could almost see the Grim Reaper sharpering his scythe when you peek out your tiny window. That's when you hit the replay button that reviews all your life.
Here's a photo that I meant to add to the last post but accidentally left out. Its a photo of dancers at my cousin's wedding.
I was a little disappointed with the food in Miri. That evening, I had mee bandung and iced lemon tea at a restaurant across the road from Mega hotel. The noodle was pathetic but the tea was excellent.
I made a trip to the Miri Teacher training institute the next day. There i met the teachers or should i say students, who had so many questions to ask, as usual. I have to admit I quite liked the place, particularly because its just a skip and a hop away from the beach, much like the teacher training institute in Besut. I had lunch at the Mega hotel where I had mee jawa. Here was something interesting, it seems that mee jawa is a popular dish in Sarawak, more so than on the peninsular. Of course, they had the laksa Sarawak but in Miri and Sibu the mee jawa seems to take precedence. However, I had mee jawa at Mega hotel in Miri and at a cafe in the Sibu airport, and the two dishes had very little in common, except for a few basic ingredients. After lunch I went to the OUM office to get some work done. It was there that i began to realise that a pattern was forming. The Mega hotel offered free internet access in the rooms. I could access the hub but the outside line was out. The server was down at the institute and at the OUM office, the lovely Miss Juliana informed me that it was down there too.
I flew to Kuching and then to Sibu that Tuesday. Boith flights were delayed. As I waited for my place in the Kuching airport, i had something to drink at Starbucks hoping to make use fo the free interent access but there too the line was down. I was beginning to think that there was an internet black-out all over Sarawak. However, i spoke to Prof John who was also in Kuching at the time and he informed me that the net was working fine where he was. I think he was probably at the Kuching Hilton.
Sibu was an abysmal place. To me at least. The drive to the Rajang Teaching Institute in Bintangor took me a little less that an hour but the taxi costed me rm 90. The teacher / students there too were enthusiastic. Interestingly, they had a crocodile in a pen on campus. I wondered if they made use fo the crocodile as added encouragement for students who were failing. Mr Wan Kamaran was nice enough to drive me back to Sibu that afternoon. He informed me that the durian season in Sibu starts in the lest quater of the year. I made a note to return then if possible.
I took a walk around Sibu that afternoon before it began to rain. Again, i could not fine a Mamak restaurant.
The flight back was somewhat repentance inspiring. We ran into bad weather not far from Sibu and it persisted for quite a long time. They served lunch without hot drinks, fearing that the plane jumping about would cause it to spill on someone. The hour and 40 minute flight was probably one of the less pleasant ones i have ever been on, and I arrived safely in KLIA after an extended bout of praying and making my peace with God. From what i heard on the flight, i was not the only one getting acquainted with my own faith. When the plane starts moving in way I am sure it was not designed to do, you could almost see the Grim Reaper sharpering his scythe when you peek out your tiny window. That's when you hit the replay button that reviews all your life.
Here's a photo that I meant to add to the last post but accidentally left out. Its a photo of dancers at my cousin's wedding.
Comments
Imagine the worst. Imagine the airport does not exist and you land by parachute, kicked off from the airplane. Imagine someone giving you a shovel and a leaf for wiping your ass when you ask where the loo is. Imagine you sit on the floor made of mud. Unsterelized water that will make you get some disease when you drink it. Imagine the food is cow's dung ( in Islam benda haram jadi halal kalau darurat kan ).
Imagining all these, you will definitely feel more relieved if not grateful when you find that there are decent infrastructure and basic needs after all.
That was how i survived pakistan. If you have not much expectations, you will be devoid of feeling disapoointed. Try it.