my first two days of freedom trip

I woke up on friday 29th of May. My dad woke me up at around 8.30. got packing.

The only way to explain where i was going to you people is this. Sabah has two horns one called kudat and the other called pitas. i went to pitas. thats where my dad works. the ride is about four and a half hours.

i love going on road trips. you get to see how the terrain of the land changes from smooth roads of the city to slightly bumpy countryside to the holes and bumps of the jungle. i love the four wheel drive experieces i get with my dad. its awesome! haha! it should have been raining cause thats when the real fun starts but this time the land was dry as a bone!

so anyway, arrived there to find workers just staring at you and when you look at them they just stare back. way freaky. so then, me, my dad and sister share a room. and there was uncle tony and uncle ah leong. the three big bosses. or rather. the three musketeers. haha. you want the math equation? Two neat freaks and one crazy messy person. you get three good and mad scientist/cooks. haha!

we went for this boat ride which i was freaked out about. when you sit in the boat, and if you stick you hand out of the boat, the water is just inches away. i was like OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! but my sister was like so cool about. i was like when did we switch roles?

the funniest part was half way against the current going out to sea, the boat man suddenly slowed down and my heart went from normal to racing again, the boat man said in malay: oi you hunter in front, you damn heavy la, you're sinking the boat!

I WAS LIKE OH SHIATSU MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! both me and my sister were wide eyed and start giggling. and then we sent the hunters off to the jungle. and according to my dad, less than a minute after we dropped them. they shot a wild boar.that part will come later. so me and my sister tried to take a pic of the boat man but he kept looking away and due to that fact the boat also followed him and kept bending towards the wrong way. so we stopped to save ourselves. haha. we saw the most beautiful sights ever. i mean. i finally understand why my dad and uncle tony were so immensely in love with this place. the swamps are so beautiful. definitely picturesque. lush green trees, cool calm waters. was mesmerized.

the boat guy probably wasnt any older than i was. haha. but he's a pro man. his father is the village crab man. he's also my dad's personal boat man. haha. i guess being a boat man runs in their blood. he got us some crabs. i learnt how to kill em. hehe. there was this one crab who was HUGE? spreading his claws apart and their as big and long as my shoulders. i was like woah..... and he was mean. he crushed another crab's claw to pieces. pieces. and snapped it off while the poor guy was alive. and one crab was smart enough to jumpship while we were killig his friends. we had venison steak for dinner. we got the venison from kepala besi from kota marudu. his nick name is kepala besi or tit tau ahah. he's like the big brother of kota marudu. hehe. it was super nice.

at nine thirty or so, the wild boar they shot finally arrived. and my dad was like complaining why they took so long. it was cause they had to build a rakit to get it over. the boar was a size of a cow. okay. for those of you who have a fortuner or a frontier or any working car. the length of your car is the length of the boar. huge. and four workers were carrying it like they were carrying a car. even the car was slow because of the boar. haha.

so the next morning, we saw the boat race. two categories only for he harvest festival. 15cc small boats and 5cc small boats. i know these may seem like peas. but it was something different. i mean you bring a city kid, like a total city kid into the jungle and he'd probably wouldn't survive like us. my boat driver won and the names of their boats were so cool: there were spiderman, levi's, loudness, rising sun, bumblebee, primas, bmw, and so many more. and you know what i love about villagers and workers. they may not know you but they'll smile and talk to you. city people are so much more different thatn them. i really enjoyed the trip.

a few hours later, we packed and were ready to leave. and i felt a lil reluctant to leave. the place might be a bit old and rusty. but the place was simple, cosy and had one of those beautiful sights. one of the workers said i bet you've never experienced something like this? seeing a wild boar being roasted and shot right in front of you? i said no. and then he spoke the truth and said something i'll remember forever. sometimes being a city kid isnt fun, the kampung boys might not have fancy homes, cars and gadgets but they have fresh air, small boats and the raging sea to play with. nature is their playground. the guy might have been drunk but what he told me was evidently true. the nature was once everyone's playground but now only to a minority of people.

four and a half hours later, i arrived home. cleared my laundry. had some food and fell asleep. my bed never felt so good. i now cherish my endless supply of clean water to drink and wash from. i cherish my dad's cars. my mom's money. my family's talent.

the trip might have been only two days. but i think it definitely changed my perspective on life.

my dad said Leon my cousin would have had a kick outta this trip. i agreed. maybe we'll go back there with him before the camp closes one day.

nature within my palm,
joyce