Kuching:Day 1

finally! i have time to sit down and talk about my expedition to Kuching. been so bz the past few days helping out with the CFMMU Operasi Orientasi. ok, let's dive in!

Day1(14-4-2004, Wednesday)
straight after IF camp, rushed off to KLIA! siow man!no time to sit down and rest....on the go go go! took the ERL there... ME, Charis, boss, benny and Nicky....together with josh. a bit like jakuns...so many ppl wanted to press the door to open the ERL..u know...the small translucent button....sighz! kids. anyways, out we went into the airport...josh was like a pro, he knew where to go and all that. met up with PohYee and PeakYing and Desmond there. we checked in our stuff.had a good laugh though, we were looking a the stuff that we were not allowed to bring into the plane...for example : swords, fishing rods, bombs, guns.....like DUH! to kill time, we ate at Mc D, but it was a lil more pricey compared to anywhere else. must be so that they can get extra bucks conning those foreigners who stop by to eat.sucks man! then josh had to leave on his flight back to Kedah. Our time soon came, and we walked and walked and walked all the way to the departure lounge. so far....then again we had another jakun experience.there were 2 lines going into the plane, so a few of us thought we smart and lined up at the shorter line, only to find out it was for the 'golden' citizens, kids and the handicaped.sighz, so off to the long line again, i could have argued and told them i was visually handicapped coz i wear specs!

in the plane......i sat with peak yin, poh yee with nicky, desmond with benny and charis and boss. free sitting...everyone free for all! so all the kiasu ppl all fought for the window seats, but being a veteran flyer (kidding myself) i was cool and composed. buckled my seatbelt....and prepared for take off. was trying to check out the air stewardess, unfortunately, they weren't as Hot as i had expected them to be...Thai Airlines had Hotter Stewardess....u can't blame me ok! i was getting bored and i needed something to do:P (dun worry, didn't fell into lust;) had 30 mins delay, but once we took off, i tot i was kewl and relxed but after bumping into a few minor air pockets, i got a bit nervous( so much for the veteran flyer thing!) for the first 45 mins, the flight was a lil bumpy....as though we were travelling along the old dengkil road, the ones with holes. i tried to act kewl, (the guy ego thing) but deep inside i was praying hard. didn't want peak yin to think i was some kind of sissy. she on the other hand was really cool...reading a book...without a care in the world.looks more like a veteran flyer to me:P after a while i got the hang of it...but stil couldn't wait till i touched down. was so relieved when the plane finally landed.*phew* missed the opportunity to check the toilets out:p anyways, this flight was benny's first flight ever! congrats u made it! dunno bout nicky...i think his first too!

kuching airport was smaller and more cozzier.we collected our baggage and headed out. we were greeted by Gerald and his family (Uncle Simon and Aunty Helen) and Ben Ho. went for supper......on the wat i realised Kuching got loads of lights in the shape of cats....wait! duh! it's Kuching! darn nearly forgot. anyways, at supper, i got to know my host a bit better. found out that it's very hard to find mamak here in Kuching, since it's mainly chinese and malay people. so mamak shops are a phenomenon, let alone indian people. they said the longest indian shop lasted about 1 month at the most.so there goes my hope of roti canai:p not only that. i noticed that sarawakian really dig noodles. nearly all the shops was some kind of noodles.....hardly see rice ( my staple food for the entire trip was noodles after noodles and more noodles....u got fat mee, thin mee, medium mee,plaster-looing mee,.....the list goes on. and the sarawakians take pride in the 'kolo' or is it 'konlo' mee...they were making a comparison about their mee over in the Borneo islands to the mee in the Peninsular. the conclusion.....Peninsular Kolo mee sux! i know i'm being rash, but all the noodles are driving me nuts. okok! both side oso nice la!

now, it was bedtime. we booked some rooms with the help of Purdey at an Anglican Guesthouse. it belongs to St. Thomas Church. it looked cozy on the outside. but when we stepped in, i tot 'the haunting' was happening in real life. *kidding-mien, i'm exegerrating big time* it kinda reminded me of my grandma's house here in melaka. it looked colonial and wooden. the walls were concrete, but the floor was all wooden.it creaked when we walked.it looked kidna gloomy too. most of us got the creeps and jitters. we decided to stick together,just in case 'they' were out there to get us! the girls took one room. me, boss and nicky got a room beside theirs and desmond and benny shared a oom upstairs. the stairway looked dark.it was a 3 storey building. my room and the girls room were on the middle level, desmonds room was above.....and the toilets were on the lower level. we visited the toilets and yeah, it was spooky allrite. still very cautious jsut in case 'they' decided to single us one by one and get us. so that night all 8 of us had bath together...not in the same cubicle, duh! mien! the shower was extrememly refreshing! cold water mixed with high pressure...u get a blast!

when we decided to sleep, we looked up at the wooden ceiling, and saw a rope hanging down beside the fan....i wonder what that's for....... *ten ten ten*

zzzz