I had a hard day today…well not exactly. I took advantage of a rare few hours off, and went down to the Sutera Harbour Marina Golf & Country Club where we’ve blagged a bit of a deal for day’s off. I spent a good few hours just chilling out with my book, my (so far empty) travel journal, and my iaudio listening to some tunes. I managed to cram around 3 weeks into 5 pages in my journal, but apart from the odd swim, not much to report…except I felt I had been ripped off – my coke cost almost 1.50 UKP, and my drink and a burger lunch, the best part of a tenner! Yes, I felt ripped off at that. In a way that’s a good feeling…most things are so cheap over here compared to back home, although, we’d also be considered minted if we worked here on UK salaries, so not really a fair comparison.
Most folk popped out to the cinema tonight and I stayed in to watch my first full DVD which is amazing as there’s one on most nights. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of the best quality ahem legitimate DVDs I’ve ever watched and it crashed half way through. Ahhh, dontcha just love Asia.
Anyway, I guess I could actually tell you a bit about where I am just now. Getting a cab back from the resort to field base (paying the country club rates of course…5 Ringgits more than usual!) I was disappointed to notice what stood behind one of the huge billboards for a new shopping complex. There’s around 8 shopping complexes being built in KK at the moment – apparently bandwagons are quite commonplace here – someone builds something, so many more people decide it must be a good idea. How they can all make money, god only knows. Anyway, I’ve been driven past this site several times, but usually with a group in a Land Rover, stashed full of kit. Today I noticed what lay behind the metal corrugated iron around the site – the stilt houses of some of the locals. Looks like they’re about to get knocked down and filled over which is a shame. No doubt the locals will class them as stupid immigrants or something, but always a shame to see.
Another bizarre thing is a fun run that is happening this weekend. It starts at 5.17pm. Yes, 5.17pm, which is bloody hilarious when you consider around here, everything runs by ‘Sabah Time’…which means, no hurry. I’m sure there’s a reason for the timing but I’d like it explained. I also went to a hardware store on the way to the island the other day…had all sorts of DIY stuff hanging off the shelves…but no bloody batteries! Well, they did, but only one type, and the type you can hardly use in anything.
I’ll write more about Sabah later. Tomorrow I’m off for an overnight visit to a community project site in a Kampong called Panaitan near Kota Marudu in northern Borneo. I’m really looking forward to this as they are building a kindergarten and there should be loads of local kids kicking around the place. I’m sure there will be a few pics up next week.