Day 1: Petabi Le ke thang!

My million-ringgit view from the infamous white verandah! 

Woke up to a mist of white mist (lol) at my favourite verandah area. The morning feels slightly chilly even though I wore my heavy duty winter hoodie. Guess the women's blood here in Bario is much thicker than mine. :)

City girl speak: It feels so nice to see such unpolluted weather.
Every god-given privilege of nature stays preserved in its purest form & in tact. There's plenty of lush greens, which contributes to the un-concrete (lol) landscape at Sinah Rang's long house, our accommodation in Bario.

The clucking of hens...
The footsteps of stray doggies...
The oinks of pigs...
The buzzing of crickets...

All those new sounds, I spent the whole afternoon (evening too) getting used to.
Oh, a symphony of nature, at its best!

One of my favourite meals, with my Tepu & her son's BBQ party by the paddy field! 

Best meal I've ever had! 

Funny & Interesting mentions:-

• Meals here are amazing 

Sinah Rang is such an amazing cook! She whipped up (to me) such exotic food, such as bamboo shoots, pineapple chicken curry, midin sauteed, mashed potato leaves, and mashed midin with an oil-bath concoction. 

I realized food here is either a spicy, sour dish or with a salty taste, which is too much for my liking but it turns out, Bario salt is really awesome of a local produce. It's a bit pricey compared to normal salt, but I heard it has higher iodine content than sea salt! (Glo's pro tip:))

Maybe that's why women here look younger than their age. 

• How appreciative our host is

Before eating, Sinah Rang gathered us into a prayer circle, before our food buffet. She prayed in Malay and also thanked God for sending her kids (that's us!) home & to help the ladies here learn English.  

The thing that touched me the most is when she said," Although the food here is nothing fancy, I hope God will take away any illness that the food may bring them," 

It's so humbling to see her putting others before herself. Also, she referred to us as her kids! <3
(P.S. Her lovely embroidered brows are more defined than mine. Hmmm~ So jelly.) 

• Meeting my lady

My lady is Tepu' Ribet (she later told me before had kids, she was Mariam). A really tiny lady who has awesome sense of humour! <3 laughing. Speaks basic English, but she could be shy since we just met. Super excited to work with her! 

Me and my Tepu Ribet, posing after our cultural night~ 

My grandma Tepu Ribet's name before her kids, Mariam, later became my Kelabit name! World, meet Violacea @ Mariam. :)