Tuesday, August 09, 2005
East Malaysia menu (Part 2)
This post will be on me trip going up the Rejang River! It was awesome! I have great respect now for the longest river in Malaysia! The trip started at the town of Sibu and ended at the small village of Belaga.
DAY #6 (23/7 Saturday)
Sibu - Kapit
The overnight bus trip made me neck ache worse. It was oso freezing in the bus! The river crossing near Sibu took more than an hour despite it being in the early hours of the morning! But I did notice as the ferry brought us across the Rejang that there was a bridge being built nearby!!!! Finally! Cheers for the Sibu folks!
Sibu was a pretty unpleasant experience! It must be partly caused by the terrible bus journey!
When I got of the bus at the terminal, I looked for a local bus to take me into town. It was around 6 sumthing in the morning. I got onto a bus and enquired if the bus was going into town. The bus driver, an elderly man (who oso acted as the conductor) rudely replied sarcastically that the bus was going to Hong Kong! The few occupants in the bus laughed at me. I persisted and asked again. The bus driver scolded me and told me to get on the bus. I rushed out to retrieve me haversack and got on while the bus driver continued to verbally abuse me! Perhaps my silence angered him more and he just got angrier and angrier at me! He then got to the front and started to drive the bus. I was relieved – but only for a moment. When he stopped at a traffic light near the bus station, he started verbally abusing me again!!!!!
I was like “What the…? What did I do? Why was he so angry so early in the day?”
When I got to town, I tried to look for the place I had planned to stay that nite. It took me a while to find it. The locals I met weren’t very helpful. When I finally found it, I found out that the office only opens at 8 am. It was around 7 am. I was tired, my neck hurts like mad, I was sweating with all the walking around wif me haversack, I was pissed at the bus driver, I was feeling all alone, I had to use the toilet…
I went to the 2nd choice of accommodation. They gave me the key to check out the place. It was appalling!!!! It was a cupboard! Really! The room just had enuf space for me to open the door and the rest was taken up by the bed! 3 sides of the bed was touching the wall. No windows! The toilet outside was disgusting! Thank goodness the fan was not working. I went back down and told them that I won’t take it cuz the fan was not working.
The reception was actually a small window wif bars. I later realise that the place was prolly used as a brothel!!!! So much for Lonely Planet’s recommendation.
By then, I was so sick of the place that I decided NOT to stay in Sibu. Wat for? The purpose of coming here was to take the boat up the Rejang River. I might as well take a boat now!
After a quick breakfast – the only good thing!!! Delicious foo chow noodles at RM1.80!!!! – I got a ticket for the boat ride up to Kapit.
The boat ride was alrite – can’t go out so I sat inside and watched Garfield the movie!!!! Can’t hear over the boat engine so I had to depend on the Malay subtitles – but then again, how difficult is it to follow a movie like that?
Kapit was interesting. A small riverside town. After checking into me cheap hotel – which I really liked – I walked about town. Din take me long to complete my walk! I tried to check out a few of the churches there but there were no English services by any of the churches there. And there were no Saturday evening services too.
Checked out a nearby Fort wif some interesting historical facts there.
Enjoyed the atmosphere – people by the riverside, line dancing going on in the town square, stalls selling all kinds of stuffs, people rehearshing martial arts in the temple grounds. The sunset that day was beautiful!
At nite, it was a little scary but I din have to worry. Sarawak is prolly the safest place in Malaysia!
I ahd to rely on the public phone as there was no network connection for me service provider. It has been a while since I ahd to use a public phone. And no suprise that I had to try like 3 or 4 phones before I found one that was in working condition!!!!
Later, I had dinner at a small Chinese restaurant wif satellite TV and sat there after dinner enjoying a hot drink and reading Harry Potter! It was nice to just observe the Kapit townfolk in that little coffee shop. There was a group of old men enjoying their alcohol together. There was a game of Chinese chess going on at another table. 2 pretty lasses having a meal together – and was that sweet one looking at me all nite? :-P
A family – mother, father, grandmother and 4 kids – were having dinner together. It is hard to explain but it was nice to watch them, simple folk, in a small town in the middle of nowhere but having each other and enjoying a meal together. Better a simple meal in nowhere wif love than a grand banquet in a posh place but everyone hating each other.
When I got back to the hotel, the reception guy was watching footie on a small 14 inch TV wif another mate in the dark. I joined them. That’s the beauty of football – you can sit down and watch it wif anyone who will yr best buddy instantly! It was actually the local league finals between Negeri Sembilan and Selangor, the state I’m from!!! OK! But Selangor was trailing 2-0 and it was the 2nd half oredi. Still, 10 mins b4 the end, they got a goal back! Interesting. Then during the injury time, Selangor managed to equalise!!! Whoa! Extra time! In the 2nd half of extra time, Negeri was sure to score only to have the ball cleared off the goal line. A few minutes later, Selangor scored! 3-2!!!!! And in the dying minutes of the game as Negeri tried to find an equaliser to bring it to penalties, Selangor took advantage of the lax defending and scored again! 4-2!!! Woohoo!
Time to sleep. I was the only person on the whole floor!!!! But I slept pretty well in spite of the bad neck ache!
DAY #7 (24/7 Sunday)
Kapit - Belaga
Woke up early to check for the boat. It was leaving at 9 am. The market was pretty happening. Fishermen were hauling large fishes from their boats to the fishmongers. I could hear the Malay church service starting in a nearby shoplot. I couldn’t join them as I had to get the only boat to Belaga.
It left at bout 9:20 am. A smaller one compared to the one I took from Sibu. The aisle separated 3 seats on the left and 2 on the right. It was no wonder that I felt the boat tipping to the right side. The river was no longer smooth and the boat rocked a lot!
But I noticed that the boat door was left opened and I decided to go and stand by the door! It was wonderful! It was oso scary as I looked at the river. It was huge and and it was raging. Whirlpools were everywhere on the river! If anyone were to fall inside, I doubt if he or she will survive.
Then we came to the rapids! Exhilarating! After that, I decided to go out and sit on the roof of the boat (in spite of Ru’s dad’s warnings!!!). It was great! The sky was cloudy so it wasn’t so hot. Just nice. Riding down the river wif the wind in yr hair. We passed many small villages along the way – women were washing clothes and kids were bathing in the river. I even had me own “Worship meeting” on the roof top, singing my heart out – until one of the boatman sitting at the front of the boat stuck out his neck to see where the funny noises were coming from…
At some points, we had to go thru some more rapids. That was scary as I hung on to the short railings on the top of the boat as it rocked violently! Another tourist came and joined me on the roof later! The sun came out but we both stayed on top. We dun really feel the heat when the boat is whizzing along the river but when it stops at certain villages, I can feel the burning sensation of the sun onto me skin!
When we finally reached Balaga, I clambered down and into the boat to fetch me things – it was then that I was really glad I sat on the top. I could smell the stench of vomit in the boat! Ugh… I would have prolly been sick meself if I was stuck inside all the way.
Got to me room and collapsed onto me bed wif a bad headache. No surprises. Thank God I din get sun stroke. I was burnt black!
Belaga is really a tiny town by the river wif no proper roads leading from it! I woke up in the evening and sat around the town area watching life go by. Basically, everyone is into sports! I was surprised to see a tennis court there. Even more surprised I was when I heard the familiar sounds of tennis ball being hit by a racquet! Yes, there were people playing tennis there – and pretty well too. It was obvious that these are not the locals. The locals tho were playing basketball and badminton.
That was about it for Belaga. Found a small restaurant wif satellite TV. Realised after a while that it was not Astro but the Indonesian satellite TV! More channels! Watched the F1 qualifier while having dinner. Returned there later in the nite for a hot drink and finished Harry Potter that nite.
Check out the pics taken during my trip up the Rejang here!
To be continued...
DAY #6 (23/7 Saturday)
Sibu - Kapit
The overnight bus trip made me neck ache worse. It was oso freezing in the bus! The river crossing near Sibu took more than an hour despite it being in the early hours of the morning! But I did notice as the ferry brought us across the Rejang that there was a bridge being built nearby!!!! Finally! Cheers for the Sibu folks!
Sibu was a pretty unpleasant experience! It must be partly caused by the terrible bus journey!
When I got of the bus at the terminal, I looked for a local bus to take me into town. It was around 6 sumthing in the morning. I got onto a bus and enquired if the bus was going into town. The bus driver, an elderly man (who oso acted as the conductor) rudely replied sarcastically that the bus was going to Hong Kong! The few occupants in the bus laughed at me. I persisted and asked again. The bus driver scolded me and told me to get on the bus. I rushed out to retrieve me haversack and got on while the bus driver continued to verbally abuse me! Perhaps my silence angered him more and he just got angrier and angrier at me! He then got to the front and started to drive the bus. I was relieved – but only for a moment. When he stopped at a traffic light near the bus station, he started verbally abusing me again!!!!!
I was like “What the…? What did I do? Why was he so angry so early in the day?”
When I got to town, I tried to look for the place I had planned to stay that nite. It took me a while to find it. The locals I met weren’t very helpful. When I finally found it, I found out that the office only opens at 8 am. It was around 7 am. I was tired, my neck hurts like mad, I was sweating with all the walking around wif me haversack, I was pissed at the bus driver, I was feeling all alone, I had to use the toilet…
I went to the 2nd choice of accommodation. They gave me the key to check out the place. It was appalling!!!! It was a cupboard! Really! The room just had enuf space for me to open the door and the rest was taken up by the bed! 3 sides of the bed was touching the wall. No windows! The toilet outside was disgusting! Thank goodness the fan was not working. I went back down and told them that I won’t take it cuz the fan was not working.
The reception was actually a small window wif bars. I later realise that the place was prolly used as a brothel!!!! So much for Lonely Planet’s recommendation.
By then, I was so sick of the place that I decided NOT to stay in Sibu. Wat for? The purpose of coming here was to take the boat up the Rejang River. I might as well take a boat now!
After a quick breakfast – the only good thing!!! Delicious foo chow noodles at RM1.80!!!! – I got a ticket for the boat ride up to Kapit.
The boat ride was alrite – can’t go out so I sat inside and watched Garfield the movie!!!! Can’t hear over the boat engine so I had to depend on the Malay subtitles – but then again, how difficult is it to follow a movie like that?
Kapit was interesting. A small riverside town. After checking into me cheap hotel – which I really liked – I walked about town. Din take me long to complete my walk! I tried to check out a few of the churches there but there were no English services by any of the churches there. And there were no Saturday evening services too.
Checked out a nearby Fort wif some interesting historical facts there.
Enjoyed the atmosphere – people by the riverside, line dancing going on in the town square, stalls selling all kinds of stuffs, people rehearshing martial arts in the temple grounds. The sunset that day was beautiful!
At nite, it was a little scary but I din have to worry. Sarawak is prolly the safest place in Malaysia!
I ahd to rely on the public phone as there was no network connection for me service provider. It has been a while since I ahd to use a public phone. And no suprise that I had to try like 3 or 4 phones before I found one that was in working condition!!!!
Later, I had dinner at a small Chinese restaurant wif satellite TV and sat there after dinner enjoying a hot drink and reading Harry Potter! It was nice to just observe the Kapit townfolk in that little coffee shop. There was a group of old men enjoying their alcohol together. There was a game of Chinese chess going on at another table. 2 pretty lasses having a meal together – and was that sweet one looking at me all nite? :-P
A family – mother, father, grandmother and 4 kids – were having dinner together. It is hard to explain but it was nice to watch them, simple folk, in a small town in the middle of nowhere but having each other and enjoying a meal together. Better a simple meal in nowhere wif love than a grand banquet in a posh place but everyone hating each other.
When I got back to the hotel, the reception guy was watching footie on a small 14 inch TV wif another mate in the dark. I joined them. That’s the beauty of football – you can sit down and watch it wif anyone who will yr best buddy instantly! It was actually the local league finals between Negeri Sembilan and Selangor, the state I’m from!!! OK! But Selangor was trailing 2-0 and it was the 2nd half oredi. Still, 10 mins b4 the end, they got a goal back! Interesting. Then during the injury time, Selangor managed to equalise!!! Whoa! Extra time! In the 2nd half of extra time, Negeri was sure to score only to have the ball cleared off the goal line. A few minutes later, Selangor scored! 3-2!!!!! And in the dying minutes of the game as Negeri tried to find an equaliser to bring it to penalties, Selangor took advantage of the lax defending and scored again! 4-2!!! Woohoo!
Time to sleep. I was the only person on the whole floor!!!! But I slept pretty well in spite of the bad neck ache!
DAY #7 (24/7 Sunday)
Kapit - Belaga
Woke up early to check for the boat. It was leaving at 9 am. The market was pretty happening. Fishermen were hauling large fishes from their boats to the fishmongers. I could hear the Malay church service starting in a nearby shoplot. I couldn’t join them as I had to get the only boat to Belaga.
It left at bout 9:20 am. A smaller one compared to the one I took from Sibu. The aisle separated 3 seats on the left and 2 on the right. It was no wonder that I felt the boat tipping to the right side. The river was no longer smooth and the boat rocked a lot!
But I noticed that the boat door was left opened and I decided to go and stand by the door! It was wonderful! It was oso scary as I looked at the river. It was huge and and it was raging. Whirlpools were everywhere on the river! If anyone were to fall inside, I doubt if he or she will survive.
Then we came to the rapids! Exhilarating! After that, I decided to go out and sit on the roof of the boat (in spite of Ru’s dad’s warnings!!!). It was great! The sky was cloudy so it wasn’t so hot. Just nice. Riding down the river wif the wind in yr hair. We passed many small villages along the way – women were washing clothes and kids were bathing in the river. I even had me own “Worship meeting” on the roof top, singing my heart out – until one of the boatman sitting at the front of the boat stuck out his neck to see where the funny noises were coming from…
At some points, we had to go thru some more rapids. That was scary as I hung on to the short railings on the top of the boat as it rocked violently! Another tourist came and joined me on the roof later! The sun came out but we both stayed on top. We dun really feel the heat when the boat is whizzing along the river but when it stops at certain villages, I can feel the burning sensation of the sun onto me skin!
When we finally reached Balaga, I clambered down and into the boat to fetch me things – it was then that I was really glad I sat on the top. I could smell the stench of vomit in the boat! Ugh… I would have prolly been sick meself if I was stuck inside all the way.
Got to me room and collapsed onto me bed wif a bad headache. No surprises. Thank God I din get sun stroke. I was burnt black!
Belaga is really a tiny town by the river wif no proper roads leading from it! I woke up in the evening and sat around the town area watching life go by. Basically, everyone is into sports! I was surprised to see a tennis court there. Even more surprised I was when I heard the familiar sounds of tennis ball being hit by a racquet! Yes, there were people playing tennis there – and pretty well too. It was obvious that these are not the locals. The locals tho were playing basketball and badminton.
That was about it for Belaga. Found a small restaurant wif satellite TV. Realised after a while that it was not Astro but the Indonesian satellite TV! More channels! Watched the F1 qualifier while having dinner. Returned there later in the nite for a hot drink and finished Harry Potter that nite.
Check out the pics taken during my trip up the Rejang here!
To be continued...
// posted by imissw @ 11:37:00 am 
