A little bit of luxury

I've been craving a decent breakfast that doesn't involve noodles for 3 weeks now so this morning I treated myself to breakfast at the Hilton across the road. At RM46 it sounded expensive but this was really just $15 and I've never seen anything as amazing before. It was a buffet with full selections of Indian, Malay, Chinese, Japanese, American and European breakfasts, an egg station, fresh fruit and fresh-squeezed juices... you get the picture. I was in heaven. Afterwards I went and swam in their pool for a few hours, getting totally sunburnt but gaining an invitation from the Bidayuh bar attendant, a respectable grandfather of six, who offered to show me his old village on my next visit. Might be a while...

By now I was really feeling the effects of two nights without sleep (last night, between the thumping music ending at 3:30am and the call to prayer at 5:30, I really didn't sleep either) and I limped on board the plane and fell asleep. Arriving in Miri without having booked accommodation I used up all my remaining resources to get in a taxi and show him on a map a guesthouse I had read good things about on the internet, Dillenia. Despite having been given a map and clear directions, the driver had to pull over, make several phone calls and finally take the map again before he knew where to go. At one point I thought about offering to drive, as the street is next to the city's biggest park and really not hard to find. I guess Melbourne's taxi drivers aren't the worst after all!

Mok and I - it's Christmas everywhere....

Arrived at the guesthouse at around 5pm and went upstairs to find it unmanned. There was a sign with a phone number but I had no energy left at all so I left my bag there and went to the cafe next door for an iced Milo. I was a terrible burden to the 5 staff who were too absorbed by their Malaysian soapie on the TV to notice that I was there... even though I was their only customer! Eventually I went back upstairs, having seen a couple of people go inside and Mrs Lee opened the door. She had seen me at the cafe and decided that the bag belonged to me. Dillenia is an oasis and she was just lovely. I chose a dorm room since there was only one other person in there, Mok, he's a teacher who works over near Mulu but is in town overseeing exams. The living room is very homely and with a constant supply of tea, I'm obviously a fairly happy camper. Mok asked if I wanted to get something to eat so we patronised that venerable icon, McDonalds, in the local shopping mall.