Happy Birthday to Debbie
God Bless

Malaysian Cheese

Ikan lumik @RM5/- per kilo.

Yes, it's bubok season again but not that many bubok yet. ( Bubok/bubuk is that small fine shrimps that the locals make into belacan or 'Malaysian Cheese' as Joe calls it. He could not stand the smell.) The price still stands at RM5/- per kilo this morning when I went to Batu Satu,Kuala Baram Road. Talking about the smell of the bubok,...gosh..the smell is overpowering. Everything that comes in contact with the bubuk air is bound to smell like belacan. The car,the clothings that you hang to dry when they are near where you pound/dry the bubuk and you yourself or the whole house. I remember last year somebody we know made belacan and even though he already took his bath, he smelled of belacan. you guess right,he put his washing out to dry near to where he dried the bubuk. (anang ketawa nuan Naie ti nuan macha tu.) Another time some ladies went for a dinner,dressed to kill but smelled of belacan and swore that they did not touch any belachan that day but of course this belachan aroma reached out to them...to their hair.

No photos

For those of you who are hoping to see your mum's/Ini's face in my postings, I'm sorry to let you know that I did bring the camera but I forgot to take the card from the card reader. Habis cerita..no gambar..no photos.

Easter Sunday

We went for the Easter Service at St. Faith's and I thought we were early;others were even at the church much earlier. It was good to hear Fr. Ugas's voice again after his last sermon at St. Columba's a few years ago before he left for St. Margaret's,Seria. A lot of familiar faces were seen as they lined up to receive Holy Communion and needless to say,they were happy to see me.
Breakfast was somewhere at Ban Hock Rd and again the place was packed with relatives and friends who just came out from the church.
Since it's the 40th day after Gen's passing,a prayer cum thanksgiving do was held at the house and again friends and relatives from church came. Fr. Ronnie led us in the prayers. Fr. Ugas & family came as well. They seem to be settling in alright by the look on their faces.
Oh ya..forgot to mention that I went to Serikin twice ( saturday & sunday). The Indon vendors are not what they used to be..they 'jual mahal'..very difficult to bargain with them. It's "Take it or leave it' attitude. They no longer go after you when you walk out the door. They are spoilt by the West M'sians,according to some regulars to Serikin. The West M'sians really go all out to buy when they are in Cat City for courses or seminars.
End of story..I want to go for a walk at Bulatan Park....

Congratulations!!!

To Oli & Larry who would be getting engaged on Saturday,29th March,2008.......May God Bless the two of you always.

A Blessed Easter Monday

I hope it's not too late to wish each and everyone of you a Blessed Easter. I was away in Kuching since Saturday and just got back this evening. The weather in Kuching's like what it is in Miri. It rained the 2 nights I was there but sunny & hot during the daytime. The trip to Kuching was for D to have his injured eye di laserkan this morning. Appointment was slotted for 8.30am but the eye specialist only got to see him at 12.40 noon. It would be nice if Pak Lah could allocate a budget for another hospital to be built as a present for the people of Sarawak who 'stick' to him through thick and thin. You should see the traffic jam leading to the Sarawak General Hospital & the lack of parking spaces. ( I wonder who's the bloody idiot who suggested having a basketball court right in front of the entrance of the hospital where else it could be be used for parking cars....it's a court for various games,I gather). There were 'thousands' of sick people going for their various appointments.Most of them had to be dropped off near the gate of the hospital. It was pretty chaotic. It is HIGH TIME for another BIG hospital in Kuching. D had to be referred to SGH because Miri General Hospital,even though it has now a resident eye specialist,the hospital hasn't got a eye-laser machine for the eye-specialist to use. How pathetic can the Health ministry be!!
This time the trip to Kuchintg was really a time for bonding with D's other relatives as our usual makan guide,Ini Christopher's very sick because of a recent knee cap operation. Jimmy & I managed to persuade her to join us for breakfast at a nearby eating spot. After she finished her chicken rice,she asked to be sent back because she felt sleepy after countless of sleepless days & nights. I really certify that she is vey sick because she did not talk much and the volume of her 'radio' was only at one bar;it used to be full bars. Anyway, I wish her speedy recovery.

21 yrs old......

A very Happy Birthday to Joe who's just turned 21yrs old on 16th March. Two years ago Joe celebrated his 19th birthday in Miri. How time really flies....Glad to hear you had a great time celebrating your 21st birthday and hope you enjoyed the laksa.