sibu
Planes (no trains) and automobiles
Here’s a quick summary of today before I promptly fall asleep. I
shall do a proper post and reply all comments tomorrow, for I fear that
I’m too sedated to do that now.
I checked in at Kuching airport. The place was uncharacteristically full.
I figured it would be appropriate to quench my thirst with a cup of Air Mata Kuching before boarding.
The plane was a Fokker 50. It’s one of them relics that do short
haul flights and pack you like sardines. It has been dubbed the Fucker
50 due to this unfortunate seating arrangements, though I don’t use
that term myself. It was related to me when I flew to Penang with some
other classmates and a teacher when I was 12 for a national quiz.
There were twisty artsy (fartsy) designs when the plane was in the
air. Nothing new, was just perfecting the shot to get an optimal one
depicting Rejang River and the outlet to the sea. Yes, I do this every
time I fly.
I arrived at Sibu, picked up my gf, dropped in to check on my
pharmacy friend, acquired some lormetazepam (not lorazepam, this one is
different), ate some of them, drank beer and had dinner with gf, and
now I fear that the hypnotic properties of lormetazepam (Noctamid) has
been potentiated with some red wine from a Chinese New Year hamper I
found in the store (which automagically makes it mine, since I’m the
only drinker in the family and no one else would drink it anyway).
I’m afraid I shall have to continue this tomorrow. Good night, dear
readers, sleep tight, and don’t let the bed bugs bite. Oh, and roll to
your side, just to be safe.
Sibu
I’ll be flying back to Sibu (my hometown) straight after work
tomorrow for the long Labor Day holidays! My flight departs at 6:00 PM
which would make me have to be as nimble as…er, what’s that guy’s
name again? Jack? to catch my flight. I’m going home in the guise of
visiting my family and loved ones, but just between you and me, I’ve
also been meaning to:
1. Say hello to my pharmacy friend.
That should be read as “get restricted pharmaceuticals from my friend
who owns a pharmacy”. 😉 This is not a pharmacy that’s in the same
group as the plethora of Mickey Mouse pharmacies out there, mind. He
has a real pharmacy, with everything a real pharmacy has to offer – amphetamine type stimulants, opiate agonists and BENZODIAZEPINES! =D
Word of the day: Mickey Mouse pharmacy
A derogatory term referring to the “pharmacies” that does not have a
license to carry or sell restricted (recreational) pharmaceuticals and
only carries the standard, over the counter (OTC) stuff. A useless
store, in other words.
2. Say hello to my favorite physician
That should be read as “get clonazepam from my liberal doctor”. 😉 Now
here’s a Doctor With Balls who’s not afraid to script you as many
clonazepam tablets as you want, as long as you pay RM 1.10 per tablet
for 2 mg Roche Rivotril ones and RM 0.80 for 2 mg generic Rivopam ones.
Prices goes down in bulk, the amount is only limited by your budget. I
think I’ve spoke highly of him before, when I noticed that he started
producing various bottles and blister packs of the stock he carries
without any questions, when I went doctor shopping.
Word of the day: Doctor With Balls (DWB)
The esteemed title reserved for a doctor who doesn’t hem and haw like a
pussy when you ask for benzodiazepines. A medical practitioner who
answers “How many tablets and what kind do you want?” to the question
“Can I have some benzodiazepines?”
Thus, the next post I’ll be making would be from my hometown – the proud and mighty (and sedating, I might add) Sibu, Sarawak!
Sibu flood!
There was a flood in Sibu in many areas of the town today. The water
levels started rising last night, allegedly from the rains in Kapit
(upstream from Sibu via Rejang River). The central roads were even
flooded and unfortunately I did not take the Sibu town/Lanang Road
route but the parallel one, passing through Jalan Alan (!!!) instead.
Jalan Alan is a notoriously low level area where I was also caught
unaware during the rainy season last year. I drove through anyway…
I have crossed swords with greater foes than you, puny pool of water!
I did not manage to take any photos of me navigating the Jalan Alan
route though because I was too busy doing battle with the water. I felt
like I was driving a boat instead of the car and had to rev the engine
really hard to keep moving. I feared it would stall in the middle and
it nearly did, I think water got into the exhaust and it wouldn’t start
properly. However, revving the engine (which I would imagine would
clear the water out) helped and I was soon on my way again.
The above photo was taken today at Jalan Alan. Two cars stalled
there – a Proton Perdana and a Proton Iswara. I managed to get through
all right though (always rev the engines hard – amateur advice, but
tried and true nevertheless). The Jalan Salim interchange was too much
for me to brave though:
You may not pass!
I reckon if that trailer didn’t dare to risk it, it would be common
sense for me not to pass that way either. For what it’s worth, it was really deep, much deeper than the Jalan Alan flood. Here’s a final photo to cap it all up:
The police were getting out perahus/sampans (boats) to rescue trapped people.
I got out alright though, except my car had partial amnesia…the
front licence plate was washed away by the force of the water pressure
while driving through the flood lar. :p
On another note, I’ll be flying to KL early tomorrow and I won’t
come back to Sibu again, I’ll be flying straight to Kuching on the
morning of the 31st.
More Chinese New Year visitation photos
We went for another round of Chinese New Year visiting today. It’s
the 4th day of CNY (“chu shi”) today so this would probably be the
final Chinese New Year visitation photos since no one really goes
visiting on the 5th day (“chu wu”) unlike in the old days. I hear
people visit up till Chap Goh Meh (15th day) in the past. Anyway,
here’s the three houses we visited today:
Hie Yieng’s house
L-R: Ting Chuan, Ah Ping, Huai Bin (me), Hie Yieng, Siew Fua.
I’m the one in black attire.
Hie Yieng is a friend from my college days in Sibu. I used to study
at MPI which was where I met Siew Fua too. I think we kept Hie Yieng
waiting from 10 am till 1:15 pm…she was planning to head out when we
wanted to visit. Oops. 🙂
Winnie Ha’s house
Winnie is the one in blue.
I haven’t seen Winnie since she went to LA six years ago. We were
from the same primary school and went to the same high school as well.
It was great to catch up with her after all these years – found out
that she was in KL and also in Melbourne at the same time I was, albeit
the interlap was just a couple of days. She’s in Melbourne now. It’s
always good to catch up with old friends after a long time. 🙂
Ming Tze’s house
Ming Tze is the one in the middle.
Ming Tze is also another old friend from primary school and we were
in the same class in high school. I think the last time we met up and
talked was two years ago. She’s also based in Kuching and I’ll be
working there starting February so there’s a good opportunity to catch
up. 🙂
It’s been a great Chinese New Year! I’m glad I came back. 🙂
Visiting during Chinese New Year
We went for another round of Chinese New Year visiting today. I
didn’t sleep till 4 pm as planned…woke up at 9 am (alarm) and zoned
out till about 11 am. I was quite scattered from the previous night but
it’s all good, we headed out to visit a couple of people. The first
house we went to is Siew Fua’s.
Siew Fua’s house
L-R: Huai Bin (me), Siew Fua, Ting Chuan
I’m the one in the Monash University T-shirt.
We sat around and talked for a while before heading (unannounced) to
Datina’s place. It’s a good thing she was home and we spent more than
an hour catching up. Here’s a shot of us:
Datina’s house
Datina is the one in white.
It was about noon at that time so we were invited to have lunch with
their family. Great timing, we haven’t had lunch yet. 😉 I loved the
tea – it’s a fruit and herbal fusion that tastes great!
Next up is Vivien’s house, have been meaning to visit her since it’s
been a while since I’ve talked to her. We also met her sister (Hello Jennifer!) at her house.
Vivien’s house
I somehow inherited some chai lei firecrackers here.
It’s made by the same company as the original Chai Lai but this one
is called Happy Boom instead of the misleading Coloured Flowers. These
firecrackers seem to sound slightly louder than Coloured Flowers and
actually have a nice plume of sparks as the primer.
This is Vivien, who occasionally comments here as “vivi”. We’re all from the same high school.
Anyway, Vivien came along with us to visit Thien Na. Thien Na is one
of my classmates who was in Melbourne with me. I’ve since graduated,
but she’s planning to settle there. Here’s a shot of us:
Thien Na’s house
Thien Na is the second one from left.
The final destination was Chiew Yieng’s house…er, mansion. We
spent the rest of the day there talking until about 7 pm. Here’s a
photo of us at her place.
Chiew Yieng’s house
She’s the one beside me, second from left.
Chinese New Year visiting photos
The first round of Chinese New Year visitations kick started as I
was awakened at about 1:15 pm by a phone call, and we arranged to meet
at Johnny’s house to start things off:
Johnny’s house
L-R: Lee Ling, Daniel, Johnny, Huai Bin (me), Ting Chuan.
Next up is Frank, stopped by his house and played with his kitten. 🙂
Frank’s house
L-R: Daniel, Ting Chuan, The kitten and I, Frank, Johnny.
Picked Frank up and we headed down to Diana’s place. She’s actually
living in Kuching now, but comes back during Chinese New Year. This is
the first shot (facing inwards):
Diana’s house #1
Front row
L-R: Huai Bin (red Quiksilver T-shirt), Doreen (holding the baby, Diana’s eldest sister), Diana, Daphne (Diana’s elder sister).
Back row
L-R: Frank, Ting Chuan, Johnny, Daniel, Lee Ling.
We took another shot facing outwards:
Diana’s house #2
Front row
L-R: Daphne, Doreen, Diana, me.
Back row
L-R: Lee Ling, Daniel, Johnny, Ting Chuan, Frank.
Next up is Lisa’s house. Here’s a shot of us:
Lisa’s house
The one in the red shirt (not me, the female in the red shirt) is Lisa.
The others can be recognizable from the previous photo captions.
We finally adjourned to Daniel’s place here:
Daniel’s house
I’ll have to go out again in a while. I’ll try to reply all the
comments until I have to leave. Chinese New Year, quite busy, my
apologies. 🙂
Chinese New Year in Sibu
A photo story
There’s the stringing of firecrackers over the balcony to avoid using the unwieldy pole method.
The lesser form of firecrackers (Shun Lee Hung) doesn’t sound as
loud nor does it have a lucky banner (it has a cloth instead) but is a
common replacement considering the dearth of the traditional “fuck you”
loud ass Chinese firecrackers.
We wait for the clock to strike 12 am.
Everyone lets off their firecrackers at the stroke of midnight.
A red carpet lies in our wake.
Other shenanigans like lighting two (or three, or four) firecrackers at once can be attempted at this point.
It’s not Sibu if there isn’t a man made fog after midnight! 🙂
We won’t have it any other way. Here in Sibu, Sarawak, we aim to scare away the nien ghost the only way we know how to – light the fuses comrades! 😉
Chinese New Year reunion dinner
This is the Poh Clan after the CNY reunion dinner. I think I got
everyone, though not all relatives have arrived yet, but the core group
is in, with the matriach.
[Edit: Snip. Snip. Sorry, ya, don’t think many people would
be happy at me posting about that. Chinese New Year, we try to make
other people happy. :)]
Dodgy Tim Tams
I saw these Tim Tam (one of my favorite things to eat when I have
the munchies in Melbourne) biscuits on the shelves of a Giant
supermarket and was very puzzled at the visible difference in
packaging. The wrapper is different and the size of the pack is
different from the ones I’m used to seeing.
Upon closer inspection, I found out that these ones are made in
Indonesia instead of Australia. It was going for RM 2.69 at Giant (the
supermarket). I don’t know how much imported Tim Tams are, I’ve never
bought them myself here but in Coles it was A$ 2.55 (or A$ 1.98 on
sale).
Product of Indonesia
Developed especially for South East Asia market.
Not for sale in Australia or New Zealand.
I don’t think it would taste the same though, so I didn’t get any.
The outsourced ones always seem to taste mediocre from experience.
That’s not to say Indonesia doesn’t come out with good, quality stuff
though. The legendary “X scores” were from Jakarta. Not that I would
know anything about that first hand of course.
