Sibu - Day 1

Rimba resort sent a mini van to pick us up at Newton. The family arrived just in time to pass my my trusty 'ole spectacles which I've forgotten to bring. I actually brought the spectacle case without the spectacles.

The ride was a little uncomfortable because there was little leg room and I felt closed in. Taking the window seat wasn't the best for me because it was dark and with the air-con not working efficiently, it was claustrophobic for me. I got around the problem by falling asleep. As I packed minimally, the clothes could all fit into a A4 plastic document bag and I used it as a pillow.

It was a tedious journey because there were jams everywhere. I felt the van speed at times and in truth, it was what that woke me up intermittently. I just felt unsafe...before drifting back into slumber again.

YJ shared his theory (gotten from his friend)non queues at the checkpoints which I am not going to share here in case the whole world gets to know about it somehow and it doesn't work anymore. Suffice to say that we put his theory to the test and at the Malaysian side, we did end up in a shorter queue.

I slept most of the way and woke up when we reached the jetty.

The midnight boat ride was exhilarating.

The entire landscape was in shades of grey, with the night a darker grey than the sea. The boat went fast in rather choppy waters and we flounced around. I gripped the edge of the boat with my left hand and felt the warm water caressing it. The boat was going so fast that it sent up more than just a spray of the sea. The moon was so bright, the sprays of water, the ripples near the boat and in its wake glittered in the darkness. It was hypnotic. It felt as though I was just in a little enclosed area, of a pool of water. The horizon felt so near and I had this almost irrepressible urge to reach out and touch it. It was like a call in the darkness and I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't a trip down the water channels of a theme park but rather I was in open sea, but a bit in the wilderness.

As we got there so late, it was low tide and we had to trek through rocky terrain in the dark. Granted that there were light and torches along the way, it was not strong enough to dispel all shadows. We had to walk with a firm footing and I still think that running around like a 'sam-seng' girl in flip-flops when I was young has been an advantage because flip-flops was the only footwear I had and throughout the entire stay on the island, I navigated everywhere in them.

For me, I guess the trick is to not put all my weight on the foot when I step down. Rather I tread before gradually increasing my weight on that foot. It's like normal walking except that the processing speed is a bit faster and you decide almost straight away how to curl your feet in or to mould the foot to the rock shape for additional grip. Flip-flops in fact may be better than hard soles when navigating rocky terrain as I can feel the terrain.

Anyway it was with much relief when we reach the place. It wasn't too far off. It's just that walking in the darkness made it hard. We were promptly served with sandwiches, even though it was 1 a.m. in the morning. And oh my, they were delicious. 3 slices of bread with thick filling and mayonnaise in between. Unfortunately, not being a bread person, my limit has always been 2 slices. Thus I was only able to finish half of the sandwiches.

When we were ready, we were shown to our rooms, or rather our huts. We had mosquito nets around our bed. I shared the room with Nana. It was an open-hut concept. The door was merely a sheet of plastic and our bathroom, though attached, had also a plastic sheet for a door. The entire place was made out of wood and as far as I could see, other than the toilet bowl and sink, as well as the bathroom floor.

This is YJ's and JH's room.

All the huts face the sea and the chairs are made out of solid wood. Even the clothes rack and shelves were made out of bamboo.

Well, the downside was that the place being quite close to nature and all, I found a huge insect on the plastic sheet of the door to my hut after coming back from YJ's and JH's hut. Nana and I stared at it for a long moment before she decided that it may just disappear in the morning and did a quick careful pop into the hut. Not so optimistic, I had to go scream for YJ to remove it.

YJ removed the brown large exoskeletal weird thing with his hands, of which I am freaking impressed of. It was about the size of a cockroach. If I were with Gan, she would just tell me to ignore it or at most she will remove the thing with a stick or a leaf, that is after she takes zillion of pictures, a video and declaring countless times how cute the weird monster is. She may not remove it with her bare hands.......if it is weird enough because she will think that it may be poisonous....and will just keep reiterating in her no-nonsense tone for me to leave it alone even though it is possible that she may be scared of it too. *SNIFFS...lolz..

If she actually removes it, it will be due to my incessant whining. If it is a good day when her tolerance level is like freaking high, I will have to be stuck with fighting the mental image of weird insects attaching to my face and trying to bore a hole through with acidic chomps....

I blame it on watching too many "The Mummy" and its sequels with their scarab beetles.

YJ and Gan are quite alike in many ways..does long treks, loves nature...hmm so who is better to have on nature trips?......Gan is lovely but YJ removes stuff with bare hands with no questions asked !!! Haha....ok..rather I don't have to whine too hard and not know for sure if it is going to disappear.

Gan.. will you have removed that horrid weird thing? Does YJ have more guts than you?!!!

(A challenge in the event that I find myself in a similar situation, with her..=P)

I mean it is not like it is on the verandah or something, it is on the plastic sheet that has to be flipped open when we enter. What if the thing flies to my face or something....*shudders

However I must say that I am definitely not the type of girl to fall in a swoon whenever I see an insect. I am fine with them...(even if they are weird) as long as they know their place and maintain a respectable distance and not try to be funny. If it was on the wall beside the plastic sheet, resting there quietly, it would be ok...just not on the plastic flap of my door. Our hut attracted various sort of insects, like mozzies (plenty) and even moths and dragonflies...oh as well as lizards (plenty) and we all cohabit fine and well together.

Anyway our place had no hot water. The drainage isn't fantastic but it works. I think YJ and JH had no problem with theirs' at all. The water comes from the ground. It is potable and tastes sweet.

As there was no hot water available at 2 a.m. in the morning and Nana didn't mind sharing the bed with stinky me, I didn't bathe (I didn't perspire that much anyway)...Nana bathed and yup.. then we slumbered....