Sarawak

Hi guys, l am now in Sarawak for the eighth day and have adapted much better than I did when I first reached here. First day was extremely lonely and torturing actually as I was totally alone and in a place extremely unfamiliar.

Totally alone in a foreign place is relatively unpleasant, especially when I first checked in hostel and realised that the hostel internet actually block almost all video sharing website - there goes my entertainment.

Swinburne University is a small university, only slightly bigger than Jit Sin. But surprisingly comfortable. At least when I walk from one office to finance department I don't have to walk like a kilometre.

My hostel internet is only available for one server. That means if I use laptop to serve the internet, I can't use my smartphone and vice versa. That prompted me to, for the first time in my life, purchase mobile data.

People here are friendly but they come from totally different cultural and societal background from me. People here strictly speak English, only a small number of Chinese speak Mandarin. That makes me an odd one out.

There are lots of Australians, Koreans, Indonesians, Europeans (some Swedish I heard), Africans, Sri Lankans and people of other countries. It is truly an international university.

However, so far, I've only come across three Peninsular Malaysia people - one from Penang, one from KL and another from Johor. Others are Sarawakians and Sabahans.

People in Sarawak are different. Lots of bumiputeras here and I have yet to be able to distinguish them from Chinese.

Certain things here are more expensive than Penang, while certain things are much cheaper. Food, for one, is much more expensive. However, some bottled drinks are cheaper. Penang White Curry Mee is only RM6 here compared to RM6.50 in BM, which is ironic since it's made in Bukit Tengah.

I've not been able to find any shops that sell Gardenia.

Time here seems to be one hour faster than Penang. 7pm is already very dark here.

McDonald is not found plenty here. I've yet to see one, but there's a franchise here that's called 'Sugar Bun' that is something like a hybrid of KFC and The Chicken Rice Shop. It's also the only fast food franchise I've seen that serve both fast food and Asian cuisine (claypot).


Fly Fm and Red Fm are not available here.

There are a number of local newspapers like 'The Borneo Post' and local radio stations which are in Malay or Iban language.

Nobody speaks Hokkien here, and the Chinese spoken here is slightly different from Penang. Even the accent is different - so you can tell, from the way the person speaks, whether he's from Borneo or out of Borneo.
Economy rice is virtually non-existent here. Rice here is incredibly expensive but normally comes in extremely big serving, almost twice the size of that in Penang.

Living cost in Sarawak is way much higher than Penang, but from what I've heard it's still lower than Sabah.

Oddly, most of the hawker centres are close by noon. It appears that do business only in the morning. Which means I've great trouble finding food for lunch and dinner except school cafeteria and The Spring Mall.

Saturday is not a working day in Sarawak. Not even half day.

On Saturday and Sunday, The Star Newspaper costs RM1.50 in Peninsular Malaysia, RM2.00 in Sabah but only RM1.20 in Sarawak.

Drivers here are less reckless and much more understanding than drivers in Penang. At least when I'm crossing the road, the car will stop and let me through. Unlike in Penang, even if the traffic light allows me to go there'll still be motorcycles that will break the light, and annoyingly even appears to think you are the one who wish to die.

Roads here are also much well-paved than roads in Penang. There are significantly less bumps and potholes.

Throughout six days of my life here, I've yet to hear a single honk by a car driver.

And I too haven't seen a single public bus on the road.

According to wikipedia, Kuching is the wettest town in Malaysia. I do not know when it triumphs Taiping, but Kuching is indeed wet.

Bumiputera here closely resemble Chinese, and to say the truth whenever I approach someone, I do not whether to speak Malay or Chinese.

Taxi ride here is incredibly expensive. 3km ride could possibly cost RM15.

I do not know why people say you'll get fat when you go university. I walk a lot everyday in the sun to the nearest food stalls outside, and I feel like everything I've eaten were burnt away on my way back to my room. I hardly see how I could get fat.

Classes start next Monday and I hate my time table. It's the worst time table I've seen ever since I was born.

Just to leave a message to let those who care about me to know that I'm fine, and I'm glad to hear everyone I care is also doing well.  

I still miss home, my family, Penang, Penang food, all my friends especially form 6 pals. I wish to say that despite I'll get a life here soon, you guys still have a place in my life. You won't get removed, replaced or substituted because you all mean a lot to me. 

See you guys. Miss you all. =)