Mama Daisy and Inul's 25th trip to Bintulu

"Ok, airconditioning is fine" exclaimed Mama Daisy at the start of the journey.

It has been slightly more than a month since we stayed in Kuching.

On Sunday (27th Feb) we made our 25th trip to Bintulu.

We left our home around 8.45 am.

The sky was blue and clear when we left Kuching.

On this trip fospa decided to make few pit stops viz Serian, Betong and Sibu only.

Throughout the whole journey we experienced very little rain. Almost negligible. On this trip most of the driving was done by fospa. Fosma generally would attend to Inul and Mama . See, who says travelling is not fun.

Paddy farmers doing it the conventional way. Harvesting paddy in Sarawak is typically by hard labour, mostly women folks (:

The most memorable thing to see during this journey was the vast expanse of golden paddy fields that dotted the Sarawak country side from Sri Aman to Bintulu.
Sarawak is a net importer of rice despite its small population and vast land mass. "Apparently for many a thousand reasons Sarawak is unable to feed its own people with rice" quipped Mama. " Ministers after Ministers have been unable to improve on the rice production of Sarawak.

" AHH, we have Ministers but they keep on changing portfolios and priorities. Thus overtime nothing important gets done by them or should I say THEM" sighed Mama.
(Inset, CU of a ripe paddy stalk)

Oh what a picture. Is this for real?

Inter-cropping of hill paddy with oil palm was a pleasant surprise to see.

Being a panicky girl as I am, Mama would always come to my rescue. " Inul, we are on a big journey here. Don't be nervous or cry. No, no you're a big girl now!" Soon after about an hour or so Inul settled down and Mama continued with her beauty sleep as she always does on long journey like this.

Above: Inul (back facing camera) rests comfortably on Mama's new blanket.

Often times along the journey, Mama showered her kindness to Inul by letting Inul share her special blanket. Inul too gets her chance to rest on Mama's blanket of a thousand dreams. Many times in fact. Ya , Mama you're a darling. MUUAAAAAHHHH!!!MEEoooooowwww.

"Fospa get ready the change", reminded Mama.

When we were about to leave the Sibu Main Market multi-storey car park, Mama became curious and decided to have a front view of the transaction. For an hour of parking we were charged RM1.05. At 4.30 pm we drove on to Bintulu. The journey from Sibu was a direct one. No pit stop. We arrived at our farm in Bintulu at 7.30 pm in darkness.

HOORay we are back in BinTulu or was it " BEEN TO THE LOOO"!?@#!!

Note: The total cumulative distance achieved on this 25th trip to Bintulu = 28,800 km.

Hop in! It's gonna be 28,200 km for the record

Mama Daisy and Inul ready to go.

On Friday 21st January we left our farm in Bintulu to proceed with our journey back to Kuching. We left the farm at 8.30 am in fine weather which was unexpected due to prevailing rainy monsoon season we're in these days. For that reason fospa had decided to skip Sibu town. Instead we took the bypass through Durin to escape any floods in Sibu town just in case. We have been staying in Bintulu over an extended time that is more than three months. Everyone seemed eager to go to Kuching after such a long lapse. Mama Daisy threw one last look at the farm ( see inset) and when everyone was on board off we go in fine spirits..

Looking up Mama reported " Inul, it's gonna be a sunny day. The journey should be fine. Ok, fospa rev up the engine ". "Ok, ok, k k k here we go!" fospa replied lovingly.
Scenes and stories along the way >>>

Oil palm integration by native farmers within existing multi-cropping system.

Typical countryside scenery between Bintulu to Sibu are the many smallholdings of oil palm trees that crop up on both sides of the highway. These smallholdings enable the native farmers to earn a decent living due to sustained and gradually increasing prices. About four years ago the FFB ( Fresh Fruit Bunches) prices of oil palm was RM 240 per ton. That was the price when fospa started to plant oil palm in our eco-farm . Today it hovers in the region of RM750 per ton for the lowest grade i.e. Grade C and above RM 800 per ton for Grade A. In the local practice by peasant Ibans and Malay cultivators, oil palm cultivation are well integrated into the existing farm landscape thereby making them more sustainable instead of the monoculture practised by the big plantation groups which are destructive on the original jungle landscape. In fact big plantation cultivation are prime destroyers of biodiversity in Sarawak - something Mama Daisy grumbles about every time she passes by the vast expanse of single cropping undertaken by big plantation companies in Sarawak . As at today there are slightly more than one million acres of forest land being taken by plantation groups in Sarawak. Can you imagine the amount of wildlife and tropical diversity that were in there disappearing in smoke? "Unbelievable is too kind a word!" Mama quipped. These big bodies scramble every available forest land from the government. But then Mama said we are not in politics...... we are pets, not pawns...but Inul we do have two votes don't we?

Mama Daisy loves her new blanket of a thousand dreams. Mama's habit haven't changed a bit. On long travels like this she takes the opportunity to sleep. Oh, how I envy her. On the other hand I find it difficult to have a nap . Fospa and fosma have noticed by now I even seldom eat even at pit stops. But not to worry fospa, this little girl gonna be fine.

Two pit stops - Sebangkoi and Sri Aman

Written in Malay the sign translates as 'Sebangkoi Recreational Park'. Besides being a picnic area for the people of Sarikei, this country park also serves as a convenient rest area for motorists travelling the Pan- Borneo Highway. More pictures of flora and fauna at Sebangkoi below:

Dragon fly at the pond of water lilies.

A huge liana or climber hugs tightly at a jungle tree at the park.

The last pit stop was at a canteen situated next to the junction before reaching Sri Aman. The white buildings on the left of the road leading to Sri Aman town are the complexes housing the police personnel's and department. In Sarawak most buildings belonging to the police department are painted in white and blue colours.

We left Sri Aman around 3.30 pm and it took us three hours to reach Kuching from there. Thus we arrived at Sarawak's capital city just before nightfall. Total time for the journey was within our normal record of 10 hours. There was no rain on this journey.

Note: Total cumulative distance achieved on trip 24th trip back Kuching = 28,200 km

Back to Kuching for the Hari Raya

Jungle produce section at the Sibu Central Market.

Fosma has warned us days ago. OK, ok, we know today is the day of travell. We left Bintulu early at 7.30 am in order that we could reach Kuching before sunset to enable fospa and company break fast at home there. On this trip fosis and fosbro joined us. So it was four humans, me~ Inul and Mama Daisy in the car.

The first pit stop was Selangau where I posed for a picture. ( see inset)

Next we stopped at Sibu to buy a couple of things for the Hari Raya celebrations. Some things we missed buying in Bintulu were able to be bought at the Sibu Central Market. (See top picture and below)

What a kaleidoscopic collection of jungle produce products. It seemed everything green was there. Fresh and tempting. Herbal plants and spices were available in plenty.

The above is rare. Edible oil cake from the "Engkabang fruit" or illipe nuts.

An Iban lady weaves "Ketupat" wrappings used to steam glutinous rice which remains one of the favourite dishes during Hari Raya open houses throughout Sarawak. The ketupat glutinous rice is eaten with either curry or satay gravy.

"Hey, everybody city lights are here", Inul joyously announced at Siburan.

Finally we arrived Kuching around 6.30 pm and signs of city life greeted us at Siburan traffic junction. This trip took us a bit longer than usual because fospa decided not to rush the journey due to expected heavy traffic on the Pan Borneo Highway. Safety was top most in our minds. See cats do think. Tomorrow we'll wake up to a new day of celebration called Hari Raya or "Eid Mubarak" as the Arabs call it.

So guys, here's Inul and the rest of the crew wishing all visitors and friends to our blog ,

a Happy Eid Mubarak &

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri!!

For the record

Cumulative distance achieved on this 23rd trip back Kuching = 27,000 km

Date of travell : 9 September, 2010

Jet lag and wild cousins

Date taken : 1 sept'10

After the journey on the 30th of August, we felt tired and Mama Daisy took time to unwind and refresh herself. I joined her as I too suffered from the jet lag.

Distant cousin - Moth

Very,very distant cousin - twiggy mantis

Bye for now.

Pitstop at Sebangkoi Country Park, Sarikei

This is our 23rd trip back Bintulu. On the wheels is fospa and his co-navigator is fosma. Fospa has decided to go to Bintulu for many reasons. Firstly, there are ripe oil palm fruits that need to be harvested. Secondly, fosis will be arriving Bintulu from KL soon to join us for the Ramadan in Bintulu. Finally, fospa needed to check on many projects in Bintulu. Meow, meow ,meow..there's so much to do, so little time.

We left Kuching around 7.00 am and arrived Bintulu at 5.30 pm. Here are pictures about the journey.

Mama sitting steady while passing the bridge at Serian. From Serian it's another nine and a half hours ride to Bintulu.

Mama Daisy on the lookout for the traffic junction. Straight is Sri Aman town and to the right is Sarikei. Go right OK fospa!

SEBANGKOI COUNTRY PARK
SARIKEI

A shady area where fospa left us while he was busy clicking around for some pictures at the Sebangkoi Country Park. Sebangkoi - Inul was here!

The small stream in the park where picnickers refresh and had a good time under green jungle canopy .

A pavilion built over the lily pond for visitors to rest and enjoy the serene beauty of the park.

On this trip fospa decided to have a pit stop at Sibu. Of late Sibu was the talk of the nation when the opposition party headed by Wong Ho Leng won in its by-election. Then came in the yearly floods that are never stoppable here. This is because Sibu was founded on a settlement close to the mighty Rejang River. The early fathers of Sibu weren't smart enough in the choice of location and since then floods have been an annual nightmare. Again some quarters in Sibu said the name must be changed because it bodes bad luck. Why? In Chinese the word Sibu when pronounced meant " witch"- a sure sign of bad luck. Anyway it was not the Chinese who gave the name Sibu. The Ibans and Malays here call Sibu as "Sibau". It has always been the clumsy British tongue that pronounced it as Sibu. Another good example of the clumsy British tongue is the word "Pulau Pinang" referring of the island of "Penang". How did Pulau Pinang become Penang? Blame it on the Britons.

SIBU

Tall buildings in Sibu

The Sanyan building is on the right and the RH Hotel to the left. From where the above picture is taken is the open car park where food stalls are set up during the month of Ramadan for shoppers to buy a vast selection of food for opening of fast.

Looking back, the journey was safe but longer than expected. This must be due to the Puasa Month ( fasting month of Ramadan) when both fospa and fosma took to fast. Ramadan teaches one to be patient and calls for fight against anger and uncontrolled appetite. Follow the middle path , the sure way, the correct way and like we do are able to arrive our destination in conditions of safety, healthy , in good time and a pleasurable journey.

Note: Record achieved on this trip = 26,400 km
Date achieved : 30th August, 2010

21st trip back Kuching ( 24,600 km achieved!)

Inul at Selangau pit stop

When we started to leave our home at 8.30 am on the 16th of April, the weather was fine. After Sibu however we faced a short 3 hours of rain out of a total of ten hours-long journey back to Kuching. This would be our 21st trip back Kuching and on arrival there would add another 600 km to our record.

I was behaving well on this trip and occasionally would hear fospa and fosma saying "Inul is accustomed to travelling long distance now". "Hmmm....not bad for a small town girl", I thought. Mama as usual loves travelling long distances for the main reason that it afforded her time to sleep, sleep and sleep. She would at times ask for a frontal view of the highway and loved to see big buses and lorries go flashing by. ( See inset: Mama at the front seat )

One lorry, two lorries , three lorries ..endless lorries go by

Rain along the way - for 3 hours of the journey after Sibu

Short afternoon tea break at highway junction outside Sarikei town. Here fospa and fosma had fried mee and they said was excellent.

Refuelling at Betong Highway petrol kiosk - after about 6 hours journey from Bintulu. Total amount spent on fuel from Bintulu to Kuching is now at RM 100 per 10 hours journey.

Me from inside the pick-up watching the re-fuelling in progress.

Mama's favourite hobby!!

We arrived Kuching by late afternoon i.e. at 6.30 pm.

Total distance achieved on this 21st trip back Kuching = 24,600 km

21st trip to Bintulu (24,000 km achieved)

From inside the car, Inul saw this baby monkey.



On the 4th of April, we took to the highway early. As usual the whole journey took approximately 10 hours. It was sunny for the most part of the journey. Heavy rains were met from Sibu to Bintulu.

With this 21st trip to Bintulu, our travelling record tied a notch higher i.e. 24000 km. Here are some pictures of the journey.

Inset : Me and Mama taking naps along the way.

At the Sibu central market and from inside the car I watched fospa as he walked around the jungle produce market to see any strange plants, fruits etc.. But what intrigued him ( and Me) was a tiny monkey which was brought to market by one of the traders . The tiny baby was shown around the market. No, it was not for sale. The baby monkey was made a companion by one of the jungle produce traders there.

A busy street adjacent to the market .

We encountered rain for about 3 hours of the journey. A typical sight along the Pan-Borneo Highway.

On this trip we made a pit stop at Betong for refuelling and a late lunch. There we saw these two stray cats.

Finally, at around 7.30 pm we arrived Bintulu.

Remember me, Inul?