Hanging with Lily

Hornbill spotting, not

Because I slept so early last night, I woke at 0400.  But it didn’t stop me from dozing till after 0700.   I woke to find that I had missed messages from Lily last night and this morning.  She had offered to take me to Piasau Nature Reserve to spot for hornbills.  I had heard from someone else that yesterday’s spot was also good for spotting hornbills but we hadn’t been that lucky.

Lily and her husband Yeo picked me before I had a chance to have breakfast.  We headed to Piasau.  But it turns out luck wasn’t on our side this morning either.  The Nature Reserve was closed, as a continuation of the Covid-19 restrictions.

I ended up spending  the day hanging with them, doing their day-to-day.  Getting produce at Tudan was a pleasure.  The Emart supermarket complex included sections for wet market, produce, electronics and household goods all subcontracted to small-holders.  The actual supermarket was deeper inside the complex.

It’s the same concept as the Emart in Kuching except that here the wet market and produce area was so much bigger.  And the fish section wasn’t all wet.  I’d say that the everyday selection here was better than some Kuching markets. It was nearly as good as Kuching’s Sunday Market at Medan Niaga.

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Detox Spa

They had grabbed me a breakfast of noodles before picking me up.  I hadn’t had a chance to eat it until we got to near Siang’s mother’s beauty salon.  I didn’t want to eat in a moving car and make a mess of the vehicle or myself. We grabbed a drink together while I had my breakfast mid-morning.

A few doors away from Siang’s mother’s salon was a detox spa.  Lily and husband go regularly for their foot soak with some electrolysis I guess.  The water turns brown after a while and the colour indicates the kinds of toxins that have been leached out.  The 45 min treatment cost MYR15 and gave me enough time to look it up in Wikipedia.  Hhmmm … apparently the water turns brown regardless of whether there is a client or not.  It’s simply from the deterioration of the electrode which needs to be replaced after repeated use.

I spent some time at Lily’s home with her very active and friendly poodle cross.  She keeps feeding me!  While out, it was nibbles from the market and then noodles for breakfast.  And now, at home, it was moon cakes.

Back to Kuching

Lily dropped me off at the airport, getting there an hour before the short flight to Kuching.  I was getting a little worried as we took a stop at the other Emart at Riam near the airport.  She did a bit of a shop-up and I was worried about missing my flight if traffic turned out to be heavy.

It had been a very nice short trip to Miri.  I love this city by the sea.  It’s big enough to have everything (including fresh Australian strawberries) but it comes without the traffic and parking hassles.  It’s also the gateway to Borneo’s highland people and culture.  I’ll definitely be recommending it to my brother for his retirement.