kuching

Dear travel journal,
I can't even begin to explain how I feel right now. 11.50pm last night I boarded a flight to Singapore. Sat on a very full plane on an isle seat next to a lovely older lady who is from malaney and travelling to Thailand to meet up with some friends for a few weeks. Didn't get much sleep, but managed to watch 'me before you' and 'Allegiance'. Got off at Singapore, organised my transfer flight and found a little sleep corner and had a snooze. I know - I had no idea they were even a thing. Thank you Singapore Airport. Then I went for a wander, the airport is massive, went through the butterfly house and had some breaky. Yep I went to an English pub in a Singapore airport and had an Aussie breaky lol. Then back on a plane 8 hrs later and watched the start of the new 'Independence day' movie. Then through customs, my first squat toilet of the trip and out into Kuching, Borneo, Malaysia (they like to be called Borneo - they identify as independent to a point). Its so weird and probs sounds bad, but I totally feel like I'm home when I'm here.... Jumped into a typical Borneo cab (upgraded from a few couple of yes ago but so, same same, lol). Through no rules traffic and booked into basaga. The lady on reception is amazing and remembers me from a couple of years ago :p emptied my bags onto my massive bed and had a shower in my outside but attached to my room bathroom. Had a slight reaction to I'm assuming the suncream which I'm guessing isn't the same as last time. And by slight I'm talking face rash, beetroot red and hot. Woops. Lots of water and cold face wash later it was all good. Then Alvin picked me up and we drove around town looking for foam mats for one of our stays away and walked around like a local, watched Alvin talk to people he knows all over town, including a cop in uniform while we were illegally parked lol. Then we had dinner - garlic narn with vegetarian sauce and ginger tea. While the guys at the shop tried to guess my age and tried to make me guess what different Malay sentences were. Interesting and frustrating all at the same time - I need to learn Malay. Then a drive through the country side while it was raining away, talking about everything from family history, to religion and politics and the true meaning of words such as 'conservation' and 'animal welfare'. He really is an amazing person. I really don't think he understands. Then we got to his village (Sebemban) and his family all got introduced from kids, to sisters and cousins etc. Of course I had to slip in a mamoth size ditch on the way up to the house and ended up wet and muddy but Christina saved me lol. Then I sat with the family and chatted and caught up. The kids and sisters were beading and the babies were being fed and put to bed. The babies have little black bands around their ankles and wrists. Christina was saying that the bands are black and put on the babies because it hides them from spirits. Once they outgrow the bands they get cut off and the babies are then usually at least at year old and old enough to be safe from bad spirits. And now I'm laying in a traditional long house in a small room they set up for me, with the family all doing their thing on the other side of the curtain, the 4 dogs and lots of chickens running around outside. Just taking in where I am and the sounds of the jungle ad river outside the open window. I think every time I smell mosquito coils I will think of this. Just wow. I feel so safe and comfortable and content.Read more