Marooned

Even stars like Leonardo DiCaprio have their tough times. He says "In this business nothing is as dangerous and as feared as loneliness. You shoot films in the most remote areas of the world; you're separated from your family and your friends. And at some point you're in your hotel room looking at yourself in the mirror and you realise how lonely you are and how far you are from leading a normal life. That is quite a punch in the gut."

In one sense, I also feel Leonardo's anxiety, because I've just left a very familiar place : Melbourne. In this place, I have been blessed with many unique friends / acquaintances, experiences and photographic opportunities. It has indeed been the best period of my life.

As reality sets in, all of us, no matter how glorious our past is have to put our history behind and look towards the future with our head held high. That's my priority for the moment at least.

After an exhausting 8 hour flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, I had my first meal in the form of a breakfast of fried rice, curry chicken and fried egg at the airport. At RM 7, it's heaps cheaper than than the AUD 8 / RM 23 main meals served on the flight in a small container. Talk about cheap? Yer right. And now Air Asia is enforcing the one 7kg baggage limit that can be carried on board the airplane. :s

Okay, I guess most things are the same when you return home after a few months. The two puppies that I got from my pal are bigger now, albeit not as large as your average sized ''kampung'' dog. They're named Cookie and Cream for obvious reasons. These cheap burglar alarms only require two meals and day, and can alert us as required.

In memoriam : Fred the chicken spent her last days in a large cooking pot. Mom remembered that the broth tasted sweet, while the meat was a tough as leather ;). Ah well.. thus is the end of our faithful egg-laying friend. She will indeed be fondly remembered.

I also visited the KTS canteen today with my grandparents and cousins for breakfast. I wouldn't rave about their drinks, but at least its heaps cheaper than the typical drinks in Melbourne which are about AUD 4 each (or RM 12).

This Foochow mee sua , or long life noodles is supposedly the staple breakfast for Foochows on the first day of Chinese New Year. This establishment has been making them for years,and I hope that it will continue to maintain its quality control in the years to come. The chinese red wine contributes to the red colour of the chicken soup, which is served with a piece of drumstick fillet and a half boiled egg.

The beef noodles are also pretty good and flavourful, and the beef is oh-so-tender...yummm. There's a slightly spicier Malay version of these beef noodles opposite Swinburne University where the shop houses with the driving school are. My primary school science teacher brought me there once. ;)

I hope to return to this canteen once more for Foochow kampua, fried soup noodles, char kuay teow before the establishment closes for Chinese New Year.

Indeed, the road forward in this next phase of my life looks daunting, and there will be many issues I will have numerous wishes to deal with in the weeks and months ahead. The fairy tale dreams have vanished, whereas only the cold, hard reality of life remains. Nonetheless, I will continue to strive to bring you images of my beloved Kuching and what it has to offer to prospective visitors / tourists.

* I have to apologise to some of my faithful followers who reckon that my posts are too wordy and complicated. To be honest, I do hide behind my words at [most] times, but for now, I'd be deeply appreciative if you would be understanding towards my current writing style.

* To my Melburnian friends whom I didn't have the opportunity to say goodbye to, I wish you well, and I hope we'll meet again in the near future.

Adios.