His Perspectives

My childhood years were fun-filled. It was running in the rubber garden. It was playing in the river. It was also tapping rubber, collecting latex and planting vegetables. The cleaning and washing were also done in the river. My mum used to say that I was a very “good” girl. I could just sit by the jetty and watched her washing clothes for hours. Mum did not have to keep watch on me!

Today, I made a trip to Kapit. Kapit is a small town about two and half hours express boat ride from Sibu. It has a 100 years of history with rich natural resources.

The day started with hard boiled eggs. No, I did not buy one. I spotted this at the wharf. It brought back memories of those days when my dad would bring me to coffee shop in town and on each table were placed some hard boiled eggs. I remember looking “greedily” at the eggs but without dad’s approval, it was a no-no touch!

Later, when I arrived Kapit, I found that coffee shops there still serve eggs on table like this! Thanks for the memory!

I observed that my newspapers have almost been all sold out. Only one copy left here! What satisfaction it gave early in the morning!

I boarded the express boat. I could afford a “first class”.

Getting myself seated comfortably in that “first class” cabin, you know, it was two hours –

I-pod and Palm Treo 680

My newspaper!

I even have a chat with the Captain and hands-on steer of the express boat!

It was smooth sailing!

That old familiar feeling – playing and washing in the river in my childhood days!

I arrived Kapit town! That’s a beautiful town, isn’t it not?

My journalist in Kapit, James Ling brought me to the market for a round. Here are some of the pictures I took –

I bought this huge fish back home! It’s called “Patin”. Price at RM35 per kg.

I could not afford this one. The fish is called “Empurau” (the bigger one) which costs RM450 per kg. “Empurau” is the most expensive fresh water fish. It could be as big as 10 kg or more. The smaller one is called “Mengaleng” which is RM65 per kg.

This is “sago worms”. James said these worms are energy booster. Probably, he would need it for the election reporting? Dare to eat?

A native woman with her jungle products

The “ant-eater”, or is it? We call it “La-Ri”

Journey back home!

I have never tried writing travel stories. When I made this business trip today, I did not think of taking these pictures. I did not even have my camera. All these pictures are taken using my Palm Treo 680, except for one using my Sony Ericsson phone to take the Palm Treo with I-pod. (Of course, with some touches on my computer.)

This is not my first trip to Kapit. This could be my fourth trip. The last trip, also on business, was two months ago. It was then a very bad experience. I did not see all these captivating scenes. I was then dealing with prickly people and thorny problems. My perspectives was then dark and narrow. I only saw thick carpet of troubles in the market, thick and thorny growth of shrubs along the journey, and stormy river during the boat ride. It was a prickly, bumpy and thorny experience.

Today, as I sat on the top of the express boat, the river banks, the river, the people, the objects are awesome sights to behold – aesthetically perfect!

I have allowed God to brighten my days with His perspective!

Ending with one of my favourites –

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
(Lam 3:22-23)