Miri Trip

We left for Miri on Friday and came back on Sunday morning for what seemed like a too-short trip to enjoy the quaint and peaceful town, and to attend the church wedding and reception of our good friends Leong and Remi. They both went to college with H and Leong is now H's colleague whom he sees on a daily basis. They're very good friends to us and have been there for us through many of life's trials and joys.

We flew Air Asia (thanks Dad for the free tickets) out of LCCT at 1500 hrs, opting not to take the ealier flight (I think the one other flight from LCCT to Miri is at 7 a.m. and I do not want to travel with a toddler at 5 a.m.!). Gib was wayyyy more vocal and excitable this time around in comparison to the last time he was on a plane (Sabah trip in October '08) and although it was cute, it was a wee bit embarrassing too when your toddler shouts; "Plane ni tengah isi minyak!"... "Okeh, dah sudah isi minyak dah! Jom naik! Fly! Fly!".... and even "Kita dalam cloud! Kita dalam cloud tau! Ini plane nak pusing pulakkkkk!"..... Goodness. What a racket!

The flight was good and smooth, but the arrival was not. Because..


We had to fill up three separate forms declaring the state of our health and que up for a good 20-30 minutes to get through the health check for swine flu at the Miri Airport.

FYI, I wanted to take pictures of the health workers and of us at the terminal, but was forbidden by the staff there. They had quite a few guards posted around the area and photography was strictly forbidden. Go figure! I can't quite understand what the big deal is. Maybe they don't want the word to be out that serious health checks are being carried out in the local airports in Sarawak, hence the picture ban.


Above is the only picture I managed to snap before the doomsday operators approached me again. Even Gibby had his hands sterilised and his temperature checked. He kept asking me; "Ban sakit ke, Mummy? Ban sakit ye?" at the top of his voice. Quite difficult to explain the concept of health check to him when he was feeling fine and dandy.

We stayed at The Imperial Hotel and it was very good! The two-bedroom apartment was veryyy spacious and the facilities are better than some five-star hotels I've stayed in. After a quick shower and some coffee, we waited for our friends Che'Na and Maya to come in from Brunei (they work in Brunei), then off to Dragon Seafood Restaurant we went.

The verdict? Well... it was very tasty for sure, but I've had better. The prices were average, not really cheap lah. They're famous for their lobsters but we didn't have any because we're not big lobster fans. The crab cooked with salted eggs were really good though! I guess personally I still prefer seafood in Kota Kinabalu because of the wider selections. Oh who am I fooling. I was hoping for slipper lobsters and Dragon didn't have that :(


The few "usual suspects" who made it to Miri for the wedding holiday. From left; Che'Na, her friend/colleague Maya, our good friend Tam and myself. And where was the apple of my eye?


Sleeping in the RM50 stroller we bought when he was 3 months old for travelling purposes. Definitely one of our best buys ever! Okehhh, anyway..

After refusing to sleep in the plane (he slept for 20 minutes only on the way to LCCT), Gibby the spoiltsport slept like he was shot and was extremely cranky when he was woken up for his meal (very unlike his usual self who'd jump at a good meal). Hungry Grumpy Mummy just ignored him and proceeded to stuff my face while patient Baba (Gibby, you better appreciate your Baba when you grow up, you hear me??) carried him around the restaurant trying to settle him down.


Once he settled down he ate with gusto and even insisted on holding onto a piece of crab by himself. He didn't dare to eat the crab of course because of its sharp edges.

The next morning, we woke Gib up nice and early at 8 a.m. to get ready for the church ceremony which started at 10.30 a.m.


Sleepy-eyed Gib.


Looking at the ocean from our room window.

I honestly like Miri. It's such a quiet, peaceful town. The trees remind me of KL when I was small (back when KL had more, bigger and older trees), and they actually have sidewalks along most of the main roads. How great is that? We even passed a few public parks (with "Taman Awam" signs in front of them) and I find it great that they have so many of those parks while over here, everyone in Damansara and Taman Tun only have the Kiara Park for leisurely activities. Something not right with our town-planning.

Anywayyy..


Within a few minutes, my little morning person was up and about, singing and dancing around the room.


The groom; Leong with H and Gib who was busy doing his Spiderman-fingers.


I tell you, it isn't easy to contain a two-year old dynamite within a church's pews. How do people bring their toddlers to church? I absolutely salute those who do! I have yet to bring Gib to a mosque or religious occasion (except for relatives' nikah because we let him run around like a pocket rocket outside!).


So guess who ended up telling him unending stories of Darth Vader and Iron Giant...? The occasional exclamations of "Iron Giant tu baik ke?".. "Dia ada sword colour red ke?"... "Nanti Ban nak campak Emperor tu tau!"... are a small price to pay to maintain peace and tranquility while the wedding sermon was given and the marriage vows were read out loud.


So after about 12 years of courting, Leong and Remi were finally church-wed :) They both gave a beautiful speech dedicated to their parents and emo-Gibby's-Mummy just couldn't help but shed some tears. It brought me back to my own wedding day when my Mum cried happy tears and I cried along with her, and for me our wedding marked the start of a wonderful life with a wonderful companion.. and life just gets better and better. Our wedding day was definitely memorable to me and I could just imagine how happy the newlyweds and their families are.


But of course, nobody was happier than the two-year old pocket rocket who rocketed out of the church as if he'd been imprisoned for centuries. Look at that cheeky-smug look on his face.

After the photo-taking session, we were served with refreshments. Then we headed back to the hotel and hung out in the apartment watching TV while our friends Che'Na and Tam went out to lunch and to explore the surrounding area. Bad parents that we were, we fed Gibran maggi-in-a-cup (which to him is a rare treat because we seldom give him this.. so he was actually so happy that he jumped up and down when he saw it! Hahah!).. and then all three of us took a nice nap. At 4-ish p.m. we went down for a swim at the hotel pool. Nice! Their gym looks really nice too. I'd definitely recommend this hotel for people heading to Miri.

At 6.30 we headed to Eastwood Valley Golf & Country Club for the wedding dinner.

The men and the toddler. Don't ask me why they were all sticking out their tongues. Lets just say this picture really shows their true colours.


Gib with his Baba and Leong's younger brother. Gib didn't have that much to eat (he's into carbs, and apparently the 8-course dinner didn't appeal to him) but had a ball munching on nuts and titbits, and playing with the plates and bowls as if "main masak-masak". Of course his Baba had to take him on quite a few walks in between courses and some toilet visits were included too. I'm glad to say, Alhamdulillah, he didn't pee or poo at all in his diapers throughout the trip, but as we were leaving Eastwood Valley that night, he accidentally peed all over himself when H brought him to the toilet. Poor kid. Couldn't tahan already, I think. A night shower at the hotel, plus the cold hotel room and some sniffling people around didn't help his antibody and he was sniffly by the time we boarded the plane on Sunday morning.


Gib said he enjoyed himself on the trip :) Of course he meant he enjoyed the plane rides, not really the trip itself! As for us, I think we're hoping to go back to Miri someday soon. It's a nice and peaceful place to go for a family holiday, for sure.