ending.the.year

2011 has been an eventful year. it's definitely a year of expansion.

the year has taken me to japan on an expat term. 

the year has allowed me to experience the greatest earthquake of japan in history and shook me spiritually through the great awakening. 

the year has allowed me an extended vacation in asia not once but twice.

the year has led me to a new job. 

the year has led me to reaffirm myself that to live is to die in Him once again.

the year has some setbacks in health but only to increase and expand my faith in the Lord.

i am truly thankful to the Lord for all His goodness and blessings. 

and now on the last day of 2011, it is about time welcoming 2012, welcoming the year of breakthrough.

isaiah 43:18-9

do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? i will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert

happy new year all and have a blessed year ahead!

damai

when this get posted you are on the air, somewhere between asia and on your way back to europe. it has been a good three weeks, weather in kota kinabalu is warm and sunny with occasion overcast, but weather in kuching is almost always raining with just perhaps a day of two where you had good weather when the following photos were taken.  nonetheless, you don't really miss the cold weather, but it's time to go home.

there is hardly any new development at damai beach area, it's been a sleepy spot with just about three international standard resort hotels to attract the international and domestic tourists.

directly opposite sarawak cultural village, there is this new area called damai center.  this place was still under construction when you were here in june. but today it is in operation although bulk of the shops are still empty.

 today you were enjoying this view in front of you

 while eating the myr1.5 nasi lemak bungkus and a myr1.5 roti telur.  there is a cafeteria selling assorted local malay delicacies at affordable price.  let alone the view is unbeatable for the price you pay.

 at the beach front, a kinda high end area with a lot of  sofa and benches for you to lounge, laze in sipping your glass of cocktail and enjoying the warm breeze while sun tanning. you kinda like this place and the idea.

 especially when the curtain is dancing in the wind.  directly opposite there is this high end seafood restaurant with a balcony setting.  something you must try next trip...

 you just refuse to go when this view is right in front of you, even though you are without the proper sunscreen protection.  you really hope this place will have enough tourists to frequent to rightly justify the concept and the beautiful setting...

and surely the hornbill - the symbol of sarawak is watching over the area with the mountain backing it up.

damai center, hopefully the place to be in the near future will  jazz out some dynamic and energy for this sleepy beach resort and a place to be in santubong area.

it's almost the end of 2011. is everybody ready for 2012?

santubong

no visit to you hometown is complete without a trip to santubong, an area that is famous for its mountain and beaches, just a short from kuching.

 house by the river and a small motor boat as the main transport

 the high rise malay house along the river santubong in a classical malay village setting

 a sign of modernism (the wired cable) and mother nature (mountain) co-exist with one another

 you find the village quite charming simply because it has a backdrop of the mountain...

 and the unknown fruits on the tree, you wonder what these little fruits will turn up to be...

on your way out from the village, you couldn't help but stop the car again to appreciate the mountain... guess it must be because the lowland is flat without a hill and so you are so fascinated about the mountain in your hometown.

 

then you drive to pantai puteri just next to  kampung santubong as they are clustering to one another sharing the same mountain. the tide was low when you arrived.

you spot this house by at the beach. this is your dream vacation house by the sea and with the mountain as the backdrop.  it doesn't need to be luxury or big bungalow but something simple like this will do... *keep on dreaming*

 yes, you will dream on, with a glimpse of the gate from your rear mirror, you will keep on dreaming and you will dream big.  

santubong is inspirational, it  gives you dream this trip and something to look forward to for the next trip.

===

second day in kota kinabalu and tomorrow you are on another home bound trip.  bound for your lowland home and in time for the new year's eve celebration.

on the side note, you are frustrated because no much progress has been made since you were here two weeks ago.  you are praying hard that everything will be done by tomorrow noon so that you can leave kota kinabalu with a peaceful heart.

===

late.christmas.dinner

last night you cooked for twelve people at your friend's house.  they insisted to try your cooking so you set the date and make it happened.

 you had a long day in the hospital and you didn't arrive until 5.30pm and that's way too late as the dinner suppose to start at 7.30pm. as friend's hubby (who is a trained sushi chef) help to prepare all the ingredients and that made a lot of different. without him, you couldn't have churn out a meal in 2 hours.

yes, there is a turkey on the table ^^

but you didn't roast this bird, this is roasted by another friend who works as chef in a western restaurant.

the turkey is moist  and tender and although you prefer a different type of stuffing but this vegetables stuffing is quite nice too.

you made the dutch stampot style mashed potatoes with spinach and carrot.  this was really good and every one had a second or third helpings...

you couldn't find any giant german worst in the city, so you settle with the pork frankfurter and prepare it with some caramelized red wine source and it goes well with the mashed potato above.

the little boy insisted lasagna, so you went around the different supermarket to source for the ingredients a day before and finally got everything after three visit. so you made this lasagna specially for him and also for the adults...

 the guests of the night... primarily the friends that you grew up with during your teenage-hood. those were really the time....

for dessert you made tiramisu, it's really hard to make this in a humid and warm kitchen and you were worry that it won't set in time for dessert but it didn't let you down.  the whipped cream became a little grainy as you used only the hand whisk but overall the taste is not affected.

another friend brought this batch of chocolate chip muffin to share too.

there were lots of laughter's and browsing of some old photos but you have to leave by 11pm as you haven't been home the whole day and you have to pack your luggage.

writing this now, you are already in kota kinabalu.  imagine it's just an hour and a half flight journey way and kota kinabalu welcomed you with dry sunny morning and afternoon of 30c.  sun and heat is something that you have not seen since christmas eve in the cat city.  as you leave for airport this morning, the cat city is still raining...

anyway, counting down and hopefully the most important things (aka your purpose to be in kk) is done before you fly back to the lowland.

T.E.A

you are very fussy when come to tea both chinese, japanese or western tea.  you like drinking tea according to the season, to the timing of the day, to the mood and to the type of food you are having.  you have a full cupboard of tea at home, assorted.
you love to start your morning with earl grey
mid morning with chai (if you may and if you working from home)
in the evening the top quality chinese long jing green tea
the last trip to paris you purchased two different sort of teas from mariage freres.

in a little black box

and a little black tin too with clear distinct label

rouge sahara, you bought this because of the pretty mix color and the scent of course. it has a minty after taste and red in color, you love drinking this with a savory bites, such as quiches.

the oriental, this is a confluent between the east and west. the tea is scented with rose petal, not entirely chinese or western, just something in between to please everyone.

 you love the earl grey french blue, it has less distinct bergamot like your usual twinning black label lady grey.

chai tea from fortnum and mason, your favorite so far in the season

and for the moment the white sheep silver can stands out than the black ones because you are just so in love with dirty chai tea in the autumn/winter. it's soul soothing with a tint of milk....

==
today is my last night in the cat city.  just came back from a dinner at friend's place now is time to pack my luggage and making sure that i don't leave anything behind. tomorrow morning i will be at kota kinabalu again.
==

Bau.石。隆。門。

it's a strange feeling to be the tourist in your home country, at your birth place. with the medical check up line up on every other days, you kinda have some free days in between, so you went to the hometown of your grandpa, a very small (still a sleepy town) town called bau (石隆門) about 30 min drive from kuching.

the name "bau" as those who understand malay would know it mean "stink' or "bad smell" whilst its chinese hakka name "石隆門" (pronouced as "shak lo moun") has the meaning of "rock entrance" or "cave door", probably got the name because the area is very rich of limestone like fairy cave and mineral resources.

you wanted to trace down the past of your grandpa but that's not easy at all. you remember a street named after your grandpa and his high rise malay style house on top of an elevated hill situated not very far from the town center.

today, that piece of land is flat and houses have been demolished. you try to locate a street that named after your grandpa "jalan chia kui chai" but without success. you really wasn't sure if the location is right but you sister assumed so.

at the town center, you found the kopitiam (local cafe) that you remembered your dad brought you there when you last visited bau and belonged to your cousins. you asked your sis to speak to the owner of the stalls and see if you can find more information about grandpa, but much to your disappointment, she doesn't recognize any of the stall owners. it appears to you that cafe retains the same name but the ownership has changed.

so without any progress and success, you stop by the famous lake in bau - tasik biru (碧池). it's a man made lake as a result of gold mining.

the "lake" was rich in minerals and gold, thus made bau a prosperous and vibrant town in the past. today, this lake is just a recreational area.

there is also a small daily tamu (fresh produce market) nearby and as usually browsing the local market is your favorite past time. 

you learned how petai look like in its bean pod...

and saw some interesting veg/fruit that is uniquely sarawak or  borneo. you don't even know what it's called but you know your dad used to eat them. they are fleshy and soft but bland...

it's really a pity that you don't know any more people or relative of your father's side that you can trace down the history.  your elder sisters and brother know more about bau and the happening as they spent much of their childhood here at your grandpa's house with your cousins.  some old photos could tell the story but no more than any memory recollections and certainly not from you as never met your grandpa in person... so, this will remain an untold story.

wet.christmas

merry christmas - the miao miao way from kuching city. these cats are located at the cat museum and you find it really bizarre yet funny in another way. how kuching can that be?

 it's been raining since late silent night and all christmas day long.

 you woke up wanting to go to church but the rain really put you off... it's just too heavy to even drive let alone you no longer familiar with the route to the church that you intended to visit.

outpouring tropical rain just never  has a sign to stop...

 you got bored at home and start playing with your camera to capture the rain, after all you will never encounter such outpouring rain in lowland, so now is the good moment to try out the shutter mode and capture the moment.

you wonder how long this leaf can hold on to the rain drop on the surface.  

anyway, the rain stopped briefly at around noon and you set off to your uncle's (your mum's younger brother) place for lunch.  he invited friends and relatives for christmas lunch.

you were glad you went because it was a great way to have a taste of home cooked food as his cooking style is really very similar to your mum.  a few dishes are nostalgic and brought back a lot of memories.

the deep fried five spice roll (五香卷）is really something you could tell the taste of your mummy and only your this uncle and the auntie hong kong can recreate them...

 the stewed pork knuckle with mushroom in soy sauce, another food that travels down the memory lane

egg roll (蛋卷）, this is a bit improvised as what you used to is just with the fish paste but this modern version has added the artificial crab stick. there is another few dishes that you didn't capture because you got carried away by the food and chats...

it's already late night and the rain still going strong.  let's hope there's no flood in the area. so far it's been a very different christmas compared to the european ones that you have experienced before.  right here in the tropics, it's definitely a very wet and rainy christmas, nonetheless, that doesn't change the true meaning of CHRISTmas ^^.