Whatever that may ails you, a look at the sweet smiles and pure innocence of these children at Tringgus is bound to lift one’s spirit. A reminder that we were once perfect - pure and free.

“My life is brilliant, my love is pure. I saw an angel ...”

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I was not feeling my normal self yesterday with minor aches and pains and feeling general lethargic; and it’s likely that I could be coming down with something as I was feeling slightly feverish too. The wisecracks out there are probably thinking that unker must be feeling his age … But after an early night and taking plenty of fluids and supplements; I’m feeling that much better already.

But guess what? Come Saturday morning when I hit the water; all that ails me will be banished in an instance! Here’s wishing you a wonderful weekend.

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After about half an hour to 45 minutes paddling from the put-in from Bengoh you would reach the bidayuh village of Danu. Before the construction of the road, the river used to be the only means of travel to get to this village. A suspension bridge spans across the river to allow access to this road.

We usually take a short break at a little pebbled island in the middle of the river to stretch out legs and to check if everyone is alright before we carry on down the river for another hour and half of paddling. On this trip Kevin, the anthropologist, suggested that we walk up to the village to have a look as he wanted to say hello to some of the villagers he knew.

While there I noticed that the villagers were taking advantage of the sunny weather to dry the crops that they harvested – rice, pepper and rubber; and it was then I noticed that one particular place has what appeared to be sentinels at the corners to guard the harvest. As I got nearer I realized that the ‘sentinels’ were unexpectedly actually cute soft toys! They must have been washed and laid out to dry like the rice husks. Or do you think they are supposed to act as scarecrows? But whatever it is, it made me smile! I am sure it did on you too!

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Kuan Nee did not believe her colleague when told by her that there are dolphins in Kuching and neither did Jessicca (no typo, her name is spelled that way; don't ask me why!) who had been to Kuching umpteen of dozens of times and being the hard-nosed senior bank executives from Kuala Lumpur that they were, they just had to check it out for themselves on their next visit to Kuching. Both had "been there, done that” and greeted me with a haughty laugh when I went to pick them up from Kuching Hilton. I did not know what to make of this as well as the curious stares from the staff. when this guy in a CRV with kayaks on top turned up to pick up 2 hot chicks!

We arrived at the beach and the weather was perfect as Azmi who was already there helped me to unload the kayaks and we soon hit the water with all of us in a cheery and expectant mood.

To cut a long story short – did the lady bankers have fun and did we manage to see dolphins? You can bank on it that we did! Not only that but the next time they are back in Kuching, they would want to go kayaking through the rainforests with us then!

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We were out shopping for groceries when we spotted 2 puppies on the five-foot way of a shophouse from our car but we drove on as there were vehicles behind us. On the way back we spotted them again and this time we parked our car to take a look at them. There were a few vegetables vendors there and they told us that the 2 puppies were abandoned there as they were already there when they turned up early in the morning.

We decided to bring them to the Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (we are members) instead of leaving them there and so I went back to my car to collect the plastic box I used for my wet gear and stuffs after kayaking, to put them in. My other half recalled that one of her mahjong kakis is looking for dogs and she hurriedly called her while I went to collect ‘Blackie’ and ‘Brownie’ but which my daughter later named as Paris and Nicole instead since they are both females. *sigh*

The good news is that they are both adopted by a good family and running around the large leafy compounds of a bungalow. Just take a look at those cute puppy eyes and tell me who have the heart to just leave them there to fend for themselves. Not us.

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Living in this ‘screwed-up’ world, one can sometimes feel that one is losing one’s mind when one reads about the insanity that is going on this very minute. Like what is happening between Israel and the Hizbollah in Lebanon and which if one tries to make some sense out of what’s happening and the reason for the conflict; one would soon not be able to tell night from day and the sun from the moon.

Getting a little closer to home it would appear that some people have lost all their sense of courtesy and respect not being able to discern the difference of having harmless fun and showing disregard to others. Would you litter in someone’s garden or spit in their living room? It virtually amounts to this but unfortunately while it would be obvious that we can tell night from day and the sun from the moon; sadly this is not the case. It's no fun and I really dislike having to delete comments from my blog much as I hate taking the garbage out. I don't mind taking out the garbage but this is distasteful.

I’m not making a mountain out of a molehill or to embarrass my fellow bloggers but I have this photo that I took on Monday that perfectly illustrate this momentarily lapse of good judgment where one can’t quite tell black from white. If nations cannot even tell the difference and show restraints; how much can one expect from loose individuals? Everyone is welcomed to visit and free to comment; all I am asking and would apppreciate is for you to show some common courtesy and respect not just to me (which you should) but also to the other reserved, sensible and more matured readers of this blog.

By the way, this untouched photo was taken in the late afternoon. And I wish you clarity of vision and mind, lurkers, hecklers and all. Be well.

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Thanks to Kevin, a guest on our kayaking trip on saturday and an anthropologist, I was introduced to the friendly folks of Tringgus, the furthest village at the uppermost reaches of Sungai Sarawak Kanan or Sungai Pedi as it is commonly known as by the locals there. I had previously only been as far as Pengkalan Terbang and Fullmoon; yes I’ve found a put-in at the source of Sungai Sarawak!

This 'road' less travelled is basically an old logging trail but ,surfaced, with loose gravels and has been left unsealed for the longest time (we're talking about years here) but it is only now being given some attention on account that it is no longer under the opposition - one of the more unpalatable aspects of the oxymoron politics of development. *sigh*

A longer post will follow (eventually) to do justice to this place and the friendly villagers there but for now I’m posting some photos of the road there. As Kevin was saying on the way back, he was wishing that he could stay the night there instead of having to drive back to Kuching. I wished I could too but I have a family and four dogs that would miss me! But Kevin, you know that we would certainly be back as Sungai Pedi beckons! And the riverways need no surfacing nor sealing!

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Since my posting on the Lui Cha yesterday, I had received further information on it via email on this dish from an old schoolmate now residing overseas (whom I’d not met in over 30 years and whom I cannot recall! Sorry Angelia!) and whose friend has emailed her to ‘correct’ the misinformation I had given on the authenticity of the revered Lui Cha. Her friend was positively peeved with me! Sorry lah, but I’m attempting to redress this now ok?

The ‘version’ that is being served nowadays is an adulterated modern version! As in most things that are modern I suppose. This dish historically belongs to the hakka monks who lived in the hillsides in China and are normally eaten only in August/September. No reasons are given for this.

From this lady’s childhood recollection, the dish is never that green in colour and the bitterness comes from the black tea that is boiled with just another ingredient. Herbs, I suppose? There should be 10 different chopped vegetables and crushed peanuts. The minimum number of different vegetables should be 7. There is significance to this but which I’m ignorant about. This lady’s mum gets hysterical if there are less than 7 kinds of vegetables (!) so there must had been some significance to it!

It’s sacrilegious to add tauhu (bean curd) and you’ll get thrown off the hill slopes too for adding ikan bilis (dried anchovies) to the soup! These monks are vegetarians remember and it would also be hard to find stuffs like these up on the hills.

There is also a ‘proper’ way to eat this dish! A bow of white rice, pile on the various chopped vegetables and then pour in the soup with the peanuts being added last.

Now I feel positively like a peasant for not fully appreciating the historical background of this dish and I hope this post goes a little way in redeeming me in this regards. Irregardless, I’m going back to Jalan Intan to savor the modern version on a regular basis (not just August or September) but I'll remember and am appreciative of the legacy of the hillside monks while doing so! But unlike Angelia's hakka friend, I this hainanese glutton positively LOVE Lui Cha. Happy Eating!

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My son Tim, who is the eldest of my three children is a little bit like me when I was his age - introverted, sensitive and a bit of a geek. So I was pleasantly surprised when he nonchalantly handed me his Certificate of Award and the essay which won him second prize in the English Essay Competition with the terse, "You can blog this!"

This is his wish. So here is "The Wish" and wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Hmm…if I had one wish, I’d wish for something spectacular and wonderful something so majestic that even makes the kings and queens green with envy. But what would I wish for? World peace? Endless riches? No, not that. I can’t possibly enjoy such a gift, that gift I wish for…perhaps…maybe. Immortality.

Eureka! Under no apparent reason, I was inbound to an eternal enchantment that is superior to a thousand blessings. I am immune to age, disease, pain, suffering but not to greed. Now that I’m immortal, I can do whatever I want. Fixed in a body at its prime age, I can acquire every skill that any human body can feasibly acquire. Breaking countless world records, reading every book, experiencing every level of expertise of infinite jobs. I cannot die.

Under my natural behavior I develop changes in personality. Becoming a better person, a shell of my former self stuck in the ice of the past that never existed. I have become a grain of sand, stuck between the fine neck of the hour glass, never falling through as if I held my magic. Magic? Still being immortal limits my boundaries, if it were to defy gravity, defy the law of physics I’d ask for another wish…

The greatest gift god has given us is life. Human flesh will decay, rot and disintegrate into nothing. Where does the soul go? Which religion to believe? Years of effort gets wasted away, it is not like everyone on earth leaves a mark before they go… Where do I go? My soul permanently incased in this flesh, bone and blood. There’s nowhere to go, only up. Up? Yes you dimwit, up to acquire my wildest of dreams, the greatest of luxury, the epicenter of all that human creations, skills and power.

Ah…I’m committed a sin of greed and gluttony. I’ve become a parasite that cannot picked off form the world. A stain of blight growing outwards and getting larger. The enchantment continues its existence and so does the envy of mankind wanting to acquire my gift. Is that so? Perhaps they wished for something that is only a moment’s pleasure, a mere shimmer of happiness. NO! GO AWAY! IT’S ALL MINE! That’s it. I succumbed to greed.

“What is thy name?” (Soft echo)

“I will not speak.”

“Who is this one that defies the very essence in which be the natural order?”

“It is I.”

“Then shall you be stripped of all your gifts. Gift of sight, hearing, taste, touch…immortality.” (Thunderous echo)

“Never, it belongs to me, it is mine… mine…” fades into distance.

Woke up, bad dream. Had I made the right wish? It feels that life is becoming a curse. No. It’s just a bad patch, pull yourself through, the grass is greener on the other side.

Then I sat, thought. What do the others wish for? Something less significant, more significant perhaps? But what can be better than infinite regeneration? Immortality? I’m cracking up. The walls closing in, no! Stay away! Pictures talking, haunting echoes… thunderous shakings. Earthquake? Resolve mind, get a hold of yourself, relax, inhale. Walls still not stopping, I need company.

Jenkins, my butler. His face, disintegrating, rotting. The plants, wilted, brown, dying. The atmosphere is dying, threes no life. No life? Maggots popping from flesh, died as well. Leave me be! My flesh is impenetrable, impeccable, indescribable, I am… I’m…

Mental…

Insane…

Dead…

Done By: Tim

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Ivy and Stephanie dropped by my office late yesterday morning to say hello as it had been a while since we all last got together and I suggested that we can catch up over lunch. I’m partial to good food and good company so when Ivy insisted that we must try this place which according to her serves the best Lui Cha in Kuching and which was introduced to her by yoga friends about a month ago and after which she had been back there weekly since; who was I to argue.

Lui Cha is basically a vegetarian dish that is mainly eaten by the hakkas but is now popular with all the other dialects as well. It consists of chopped/shredded vegetables in a bowl of rice and eaten with a thick herbal/vegetable broth/soup that is green in colour looking and smelling almost like a thick green tea! The name Lui Cha translated in hakka literally means ‘grinded tea’. The old fashion and time honoured way is to grind the herbs in a ceramic bowl with a wooden pastle. As it's tedious work, most people just use the blender these days.

I eagerly waited to taste the Lui Cha prepared by Mr. Lee and her daughter where they had been selling from their house for the past four years. This is truly one of the best kept culinary secret in Kuching as I had not heard about this place until now! I had tasted Lui Cha at various places in Kuching but they paled by comparison with what was served here. You could eat the vegetables (chopped long beans, radish, etc) with bean curds, peanuts and white rice or the green soup on its own alone. It's that delicious and the servings including the all important soup were generous. Most Lui Cha are quite bitter in taste and is an 'acquired' taste to most; but not the Lui Cha here as the soup was actually quite sweet. Mr. Lee explained that the sweetness of the vegetables is attributed to the choice of radish used and the sweetness of the soup is due to the quality of the high-grade 'ikan-bilis' they used. The taste of crunchy vegetables mixed with the earthy musky taste of the broth is simply sublime. Now I know why people get fat but not on Lui Cha as it is so healthy being basically a vegetarian dish. It's so good it could probably wean a carnivore off meat! I'm salivating dreaming of it even as I type!

They are opened daily from 10am onwards till 5.30pm in the afternoon except on Sundays. The normal bowl is RM3.50 and the bigger portion is only one ringgit more. Truly a bargain for such a healthy and delicious home cooked meal. I am definitely coming back to this place for more.

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We are all so used to our highways that we tend to think of them as the only means of transportation. So it is quite a thrill for our guests taking our Borneo Highlands kayaking trip to encounter the local bidayuhs on their traditional wooden boats using the river as a primary mean of getting from one village to another.

Some of the boats do have a small outboard motor engine which is needed when going upstream against the flow of the river. We would be happy to fix one too to our kayaks if we want to do the same!

So how was your commute to work today? Obviously not as delightful and picturesque as these folks making their way down the river. So who wants to go 'poking' down Sungai Sarawak Kiri with us this weekend? It'll be fun and I'll promise not to 'poke' fun at your balance and paddling! Hehe!

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So join me this weekend and get wet, before the sun go down on you again!

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I collected the caps yesterday evening on the way home from work and took a few snaps of them on top of my kayaks this morning. So here they are. Because they are not ordered in volume, the costs are quite high but since they also serve as promotional material for me; I’ll sell them just to cover my costs (including design royalties to my daughter!) for the price of RM28/- per piece. I chose the best cap they had at the embroidery shop which comes with a reflective piping at the edge of the brim.

You may now place your order(s) folks!

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I should have guessed when Yeok started bargaining negotiating with me over the phone on the price of the trip for 5 pax without transport that this was no ordinary booking from 5 gals from KL taking our kayaking trip. And they were not!

Yeok, Aida, Tenglei are from journeymalaysia.com; a popular and established adventure travel portal together with their friends Jackie and Jamie were here for the Rainforest World Music Festival and are checking out other interesting attractions in Kuching. And they only let us know when we were on the waters when Yeok whipped out and started shooting with her video camera. journeymalaysia.com would not recommend any trips they would not take themselves and so they were 'checkin up on us' on this particular trip.

So did these discerning ladies enjoy the experience and were there any complaints about the trip? Apart from Jamie (from AA) who wanted cold beer after the trip and food during the trip (next they'll be asking for Beyonce & Shakira to be played on the trip!), the rest of them said it was simply wonderful; with Aida and Tenglei signing up next for our dolphins watching trip!

Journeymalaysia.com only offers and works with the best; and guessed what? Kuching Kayak is the best on these waters! *ahem*

And the waters don't lie!

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Like our journey through life, a trip down a meandering river brings upon one surprise after another as one turns a corner and the vista changes from overhanging tree canopies and rock faces to the soaring skies and the majestic limestone mountains. Alternating being under bright sunlight in one moment and the cool shades in the next, the stillness of the calm flat water and the rush of the small rapids; the rhythm of the flow of the river soon takes over and you yield in sweet surrender.

But unlike life’s journey all the surprises on a slow relaxing float down a gentle river are pleasant ones. In a magically wonderful way the river re-charges our spirits and we emerged from the waters whole, elated and revitalized; ready to face the challenges and rush of daily life.

See you on the waters.

Baby I'm through runnin' it's true
I'd be a fool to try to escape you
Maybe I'm beat but oh what a sweet surrender
You keep your rights, I'll take your nights
No one can lose when we turn the lights out
Tastin' defeat, lovin' that sweet surrender
I'm givin' up myself to you but I didn't really lose at all
I gave the only love I've known and it never hurt me to fall
Now that it's done, so glad you won
I know our lives have only begun now
No more retreat, only my sweet surrender
BREAD - Sweet Surrender

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Anyway my 15 year old daughter, KH2o saw my cap and was not too impressed with it; and not one to merely criticize she said that she’ll come up with some better designs for me to choose from.

So, here are her designs she came up with after dinner and before she went to bed; which absolutely delighted me. I must admit that her designs are definitely much more interesting than mine!

So what do you think of them and which is your favourite?

Oh; she wants a certain percentage for each and every item of the cap that I do sell in future! Now, isn't she clever? I am now open to take orders. ;)

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We frequently see these reddish brown bark trees on the river banks on our rain forest river kayaking trips; providing a vivid constrast against the green foliage and grey rock formations.

Bev’s theory is that they are poisonous trees as red or bright colours are nature’s danger warning signs. I extrapolate that girls with red lip sticks should then be taken as a warning sign too.

Yeok from journeymalaysia.com who’s taking our trip on Sunday with Ida, TengLei, Jamie and Jackie corrected me that this only applies to comely girls in red bikini. Another instance of 'look but please don't touch!'. *sigh*

So do any of you really know what these red trunk trees are?

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On Saturday morning I retreated with Azmi and Joe to the Borneo Highlands to escape the heat of the city.

I had taken this trip a couple of times in the past before and was sharing it with them for their first time. Their anticipation and excitement made me felt like it was my first time too.

We floated down the crystal clear water and soothed by the cool gentle breeze in the shades of limestone hills outcrops and overhanging trees; we were soon in another world.

Though it was only 4okms from Kuching, it felt like we were a million miles away.

We are well.

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I was on the way home yesterday when I spotted this tow truck which looked like one of the Tonka toy trucks I used to play with when I was a kid.

For a moment I was transported back in time until I was rudely 'awakened' by the loud honking of the impatient driver behind me. I bet this guy never had a childhood. *sigh*

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So I’m going to have to learn how to tie some knots. I’m starting with the trucker’s hitch. Any boy scouts (or girl guides) out there willing to show unker the ropes?

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Roger had no intention of visiting Kuching until he met fellow Swedes Patric and Karin in Perhentian who not only recommended that they visited Kuching but that they should not miss rainforest kayaking with FH2o! Thanks again Patric and Karin.

So when I went to pick up Roger and his family I was introduced to Lena, his wife and daughters Agnes, Alice and sweet little 9 year old Anna who does not know how to speak English yet. But that did not stop her from babbling throughout the entire trip once she warmed up to us.

She being the youngest, we let her pick who she wants to sit with on the tandem kayak; which she cleverly replied immediately – “with the best kayaker!” We told her that we were all equally good and when we got on to the waters she decided that she wants to be with Bev.

Roger and family had a great time on the waters and when it came time to leave; all the family members thanked us and shook our hands - except Anna. She hugged Bev and me instead! Isn’t that sweet of this little swede!

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One of the little surprises (we have a few) our guests taking our kayaking trip like and appreciate at the end of the trip is to be greeted with a nicely chilled sports drink; especially on a hot day.

So as I was about to open the cooler box, I noticed a tiny ‘furry’ and colourful insect on top of it, probably not more than a few millimeters long. On closer examination, it looked like a caterpillar, and a most beautiful one at that. So I took a few quick snaps before flicking it away with a twig.

Like certain things in the real world – look, admire but please do NOT touch! See; even a teeny weeny worm can teach you a life's lesson! *sigh*

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Last night as I was locking up the ground floor, making sure that all the doors and windows are properly closed; I noticed a frog on the outside of the dining room window where I spotted one the last time about two months back.

Is this the same frog/toad? It looked the same and a willing model like before but it’s a lot bigger and the colour does not seem as red.

What do you think?

Yeah, I know; I need to get a life instead of checking up on creatures in my garden! But still it was such a darn good photographic subject. Thanks froggy!

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At certain places there were only a few inches of water and we had to get out and pull our kayaks along.

But it’s clearly a small inconvenience to pay for another beautiful morning on the waters.

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The weather has been hot and it has not been raining much for the past week. As a consequence the water level is low and the flow gentle; and with no water runoff, the water is crystal clear and it sparkles in the sunlight.

You could see the sandy and pebbled bottom of the river as schools of small fishes darted about while the sunlight reflected off the water’s surface shimmering on the dolomites walls lining the river banks.

I have yet to tire of seeing, floating and being on the waters. And I can clearly see why I'm touched and why I love all these.
See you on the waters!

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I am very fortunate to live right next to a river and I love to walk to the river's edge in the early morning and sit on the jetty; quietly sipping my coffee while taking in the sights, gentle sounds and soft morning rays of the breaking day.

How I wished that my camera can capture all this.

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