Tawau 110309 to 240309 Part 2

Above : 14th March is White Valentines Day. So, Happy Valenties Day, Ting!
Below: Caught little piggy napping! XD

Below: In Ting's kindergarden class.

Below: She's so warm in my arms...

130309 - It was early in the morning 3am when Ting came over to her room to mug for her final paper. I woke up and accompanied her all the way till she went to school. Perhaps it was my fault that I distracted her and made her unable to focus on her revision. When she got back from school, she told me that her friends copied her work! I guess she must be one of the smart student is class! Nevertheless, I feel happy that she was able to do her papers.


140309 - Early morning, we went to the largest market in Malaysia for breakfast. I tasted Sabah's version of the Kolo Mee. The noodles are thicker and softer, but it still tastes good. I also remembered the "fake" monk that ticked Uncle. I'd definitely understand how Uncle feel as he is a very religious person. If it was me, I'd definitely give that fake monk a piece of my mind! After breakfast, we walked the market. The flowers being sold at the market was very nice and the locally produced coffee smells awesome!


After that, we went to Eastern plaza to take a walk and do some window shopping. One of the family's friend ( one of the FGS Taiwan Tour Group members) had a shop in Eastern Plaza selling accessories.


Later in the afternoon, I tasted a funny kind of fruit called the "Dalap". It looks like the Jackfruit on the outside but looks very different on the inside! Tastes good too!


At night, me and Ting went to a open air restaurant for sea food buffet at RM25 per person. Given the price, it's damned cheap. I filled my stomach till it was bloated. We ate for around 2 hours before Uncle and Auntie came to fetch us.


150309 - The day is Guan1 Ying1 Dan4 or Guan Ying Day. So therefore today's meals are all vegetarian. Breakfast was at a vegetarian shop at Sabindo (vegetarian kolo mee and vegetarian siew mai, tah bao vegatarian chee cheong fun).


Later we were at the Fo Guang Si Temple. Uncle is the "knight-president" of that temple. I had lunch with Ting and I saw her relatives there too. After lunch, the 2 of us went to her former classroom and walked around and took random pictures. When the prayers and ceremonies concluded at the temple, we went to fetch Ting's granny and then went to a Sifu's house to pray and to receive his blessings. He blessed me with good luck for my exams and dont worry about university entry. During a part of the blessing, the Sifu gave a heavy pat to my forehead, chest and stomach. Then he told me that my stomach was not very good. This resulted in everyone laughing at me, I was also laughing and I thanked the Sifu for his blessings.


That day, I had wanted to make breakfast for the entire family the following day, so we went giant to buy some of the missing ingredients. At night we went to the Marco-Polo hotel to listen to a talk by a renouned child psychologist fron singapore (Doris Ang). Auntie was attentive throughout the talk and so was I, but Ting was tired and she sleept like a baby! Makes me wanna gently pinch her cheeks!

Qing Ming Jie - Sao Fen Mu (28th - 30th March 09)

Below: A photo we taken in Changi Airport prior to flight.

Below: I was looking at something else! Not at my 2 sisters playing fun!

Below: Wai Gong's Grave

Below: Ah Chern and I

Below: Me, Wai Po, my mom, 2 Kim

This is the first time I actually went to swept a grave for Qing Ming Jie. And that grave melongs to my Wai Gong.


On the 28th March noon, Me, My mom, Jacy, Ah Ching, Ah Bun Jie and Ah Kat Kor flew back to Kuching early 1 day in preparation for the actual day on the 29th March. It was Jacy's idea that aside from me and my mom, the rest of those going back should not be monetioned so as to give everyone back there a surprise!


Upon arrival, Ah Chern, Ah Ting and 3rd Yi fetched us from the airport. I had to call Ah Bao to leave his shop to come find me in order for Jacy and gang to sneak past!


I feel so happy to see everyone back there after 3 years! I guess my mom is the most happiest! Wai Po's house was so alive with people. Almost all of the Then family were there. Da Jiu, Jacy, Caroline, Er Jiu, Ji Kim, Ah Chern, Ah Ting, San Jiu, 3 Kim, Bun Jie, Kat Kor, Ah Bao, Ah Ching, Xiao Jiu, San Yi, Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi Zhang, Ah Yuan, Ah Ling and last but not least, Wai Po. I even remembered one point in time when I was cleaning my spectacles when I heard Caroline screaming my name! I squinted my eyes to confirm who was it, just in time to be hugged by her haha! During the night, the few of us (Ah Chern, Ah Bao, Ah Yuan, Ah Ting) headed down to town for coffee and KTV, and that concludes the first day.


The next day (29th March) we headed down to Wai Gong's grave up in the mountains and did a massive cleaning up of the grave. The weather that time was starting to get hot. By the time it was about close to ten, I was sweating my ass off! But the trip was worth it. I feel a sense of satisfaction after seeing Wai Gong's grave gleaming in the morning sun. I wish he is living peacefully in heaven...

Tawau 110309 to 240309 Part 1

Above: Ting's House. Auntie can be partially seen in the picture.
Below: Organic tomatoes. It tastes sour!

Below: I caught sight of this brilliant red dragonfly in the garden.

Below: Night time in Kota Kinabalu Airport. Had a terrible time trying to sleep.

Below: 2 hours on the plane can be boring!

Finally, I've gather enough willpower to pen this entry! Many things, big or small, has happened and I'll try my best to recollect my thoughts...


110309 - Left home at about 5pm and reached the airport early for dinner. I spent most of my time walking around and starring at the vintage flight schedule board in Terminal 1. The moment the check-in counter was open, I was there in-line! After getting my ticket, I realized I still had to wait for 1 hour to get into the waiting area in the departure hall! Luckily I had my laptop with me, so I facebook'ed and surf net for an hour and continued using my laptop till I was on board and ready to fly. I took off at about 9.35pm and arrived at Kota Kinabalu at about 12 midnight and... I had to wait till the next morning 9.30am for my next flight! Holy shit... And furthermore my phone's autoroaming is giving me a headache. I can't contact my mom and I had to call Ah Bao to call my mom to inform her that I'm at KK already!

120309 - So I stoned at the airport... using my laptop to play games till I'm tired. I tried to go to sleep but the damned chairs are so uncomfortable. Over the entire duration, I kept on falling into short lapses of sleep only to awaken with a pain in my back. After what seems an eternity, It was finally 6.30am. I got my lazy ass up and went to take breakfast at the airport's coffee shop (opens at 6am). After that, stoned again... till 7.30am where I checked in for my next flight....


I reached Tawau at about 10.20am and at the Arrival gate I saw Uncle Liew! I hurried over and called him. He took a few seconds to recognize me (perhaps because of my hair-do)! Uncle Liew (call him Uncle for short) was there to fetch me. On the way back I was chatty with him, talking about almost anything. Time flew and we were back at the "House of Liews" haha. Well, I can call that "home" too i guess! Auntie Liew (Auntie for short) was at home doing the cooking. So glad to see them after 1 year! At that time, Ting was still in school and her bro is out at work. So, I slacked a while before following Uncle to Ting's school to pick her up. It didn't take long before she appeared from the school gates! And very soon, she was lamenting how hard her papers were!


Once back home, we had dinner. Actually I was quite surprised that Auntie was a vegetarian. And yet she was able to cook all sorts of food! The things I remembered from that meal were Eggplant and Yu Piao (Fish Maw). I dare admit that when it comes to food, I'm a very picky person. But then, I guess I have to eat it and get used to things that I used to dislike! Its only the first day, for the remainder of the stay, I'd be eating Yu Piao for almost everyday! Good life! Also it was the first time I eat a kind of fish with Green coloured bones!


A sizable portion of the food we eat comes from the garden that they maintain. The garden has a huge variety of vegetables and fruits such as chilli padi, eggplant, mini tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and many many more.


Ting did tell me that she was unused to seeing my hair that long and she requested that I cut my hair... Oh well... there goes my hair... Ting's mom brought us to a relatives hairdresser shop to get my hair fixed. I also asked Ting to cut her hair as her hair was thick. So there we were emerged from the shop looking kinda different!

An afterthought...

I was reading the papers just now and I came across an article that got me thinking. For most of my teenage years I have not really understood how the brains of different genders worked. And at times, when I get into a quarrel with that of the opposite sex, or when coming up with a general concensus, I'd find that our ideals are mostly conflicting. Well, I hope that after reading the article "The Joy Of Sex Talk" by Chua Mui Hoong (the Straits Times Columnist) in the Sunday Times (dated March 8, 2009), I'd get a clearer picture. Also hopefully, everyone who reads this will get to know the opposite sex better! The following are a few excerpts from this lengthy (but interesting) article.

A fascinating book, The Female Brain, by neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine, sums up recent research on this topic.

According to her, brains of men and women are hard-wired differently and respond differently to hormonal and chemical changes , and these differences affect the way the sexes respond.

...When under stress women gather in groups to talk things out.

When I go through an emotional upheaval, I call close friends for breakfast, dinner or supper, and inflict the hows, tos and wherefores of my situation on sympathetic ears. (I do the same for my friends.) Never mind that all that talking doesn't solve anything...

Men don't have that kind of patience. A friend went to meet a childhood buddy who had just gone through a divorce. He told the grieving husband:"I give you 15 minutes to moan. After that, get on with your life." They went on to talk about schooldays and guy stuff. Apparently it is considered acceptable to make your friend condense his misery into 15 minutes flat. And then expect lifestyle changes to be made, problems solved. "Otherwise, don't call me next time."

When my former schoolmate wanted to talk about her boyfriend problems., we met for lunch , stayed for tea, then had dinner. We were together for eight hours. We had a great time and left cheerful, rejuvenated and no near a solution.

It's about 5 more days to my flight, but I have already started packing my luggage. Rationale is that the longer the duration I take to pack my luggage, the tendency of me forgetting "something" is less.

These are the stuffs I have yet to include :
Ankle Socks x 01
Toothbrush x 01
Shaver x 01
Laptop x 01
Handphone Charger x 01
Stussy Black Cap x 01
Slippers x 01 Pair
Spectacle Cleaning Cloth x 01
Ringgits x $$$

I will reach Kota Kinabalu airport at about. 11pm+ on the 11th March and I'd need to wait till the next morning about 7am to check in for my next transit flight to Tawau. During those 8 hours, I have no idea what should I do. I'm so damned afraid that if I ever go to sleep, I'd miss the flight!

Anyway, March will be a very busy month for me due to the fact that I will be overseas for many days. I can only start working after April. And on top of that I still got my IPPT remedial training to consider. (Screw myself for playing a fool during last years IPPT during ICT!)