City by the sea

Flying to Miri

My friend Thomas who lives in KL had to go to Miri to see family.  He invited me to join him there, so I flew off to Miri this morning.  The fares on AirAsia were reasonably cheap at a fixed price of MYR88 for any seat on any flight on the route (or vice versa) within a date range.

My brother dropped me off at the airport about 2h before the 1145 flight.  I got airside immediately without luggage to find the lounge closed.  It opened shortly after and provided a pitiful product.  With limited passengers (and a tight budget I suppose) they only offered rice noodle soup and drinks.  They normally have a variety of noodle options.

The flight to Miri left early and arrived early as well.  I had arranged for Lily’s nephew Siang (who was a rideshare driver) to meet and deliver me to the OYO Hotel Nur.

Canada Hill

I managed get to my room immediately prior to the official check-in time.  As I had booked early at a rate that was half of the later price, they assigned me a inside windowless room.  Gotta look at the pros of the situation, eg. sleep-in and less noise.  The hotel was amazingly cheap, clean, central and staff were lovely.

I took a short rest while Siang went about doing some brief errands.  I had requested that he take me up to Canada Hill (and back).

Canada Hill is like Miri’s backdrop.  Somewhat strangely (to me anyway), oil was found on the hill rather than on the flat.  While all oil is now offshore, this remains a historic area because oil from here propelled not only Miri but the nation’s progress.

It was a short windy drive to the Petroleum Museum and the Grand Old Lady (first oil well in the country).  It was drilled in 1910 and abandoned in 1972 after 62 years of production.  It gave about 660,000 barrels in its lifetime. I probably enjoyed the view of Miri and the sea more than the museum.

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Back on the flat land, I paid Siang electronically based on Grab rates with a premium for being a friend’s nephew.  I had chosen to be dropped off at the Bintang Mall where I went for a wander.

Despite having got sucked into some online shopping for clothing, I got sucked into one of my favourite stores Uniqlo. My clothes in Kuching are largely the ones ready to throw out from Auckland, so with an expected long stay, it’s good to have a chuck-out and make myself look presentable.

At the Everrise Supermarket I was surprised to see very fresh Australian strawberries despite limited air connections due to Covid.  Miri has always had very international food because it was home to many western expats employed by Shell.  I grabbed a box Chocopie as a gift for my host tomorrow morning.

Dinner

It was a long wait till dinner.  Thomas and his sister Alice picked me up and we went to a nice bistro called Chillax.  They had eaten with their Mum but snacked with me on a shared meal of pizza, nacho and salad. Thomas is always good to talk to and Alice was likewise.