MARIAM SPECIALS: "Cepat, minum air"

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Whenever we visit an unfamiliar land, there's always a new adventure waiting for us to explore. 

Exotic smells of spices filling streets of Morroco...

Familiar jazz tunes in a quaint Parisian cafe...

Saltiness of the ocean breeze by the Langkawi shores...

Buzzing of crickets in Bario at night...

Heck, a stimulation of senses is what makes travelling so addictive! 

But, what makes the best stories? Well, it's the people you meet while travelling. 

There's just something about their quirks, the way they talk or even how they just go about their daily lives, which leaves travellers very much fascinated by them. No, this will not be some Eat.Love.Pray tale about falling in love while re-discovering myself in a magical foreign land. (lol)

Jokes aside, in Bario, Sundays were community service days. All of us cleaned up longhouses, gardens, and whichever part of the village, that needed a little sprucing up. Frankly, I quite enjoy spending my Sundays giving back to the local community. After all, they took us in and fed us with such amazing hospitality, that really made us feel like family! So, giving back was the least that I could do, no? 

My first babysitting client. :) 

One Sunday, we were cleaning up a longhouse in nearby Arur Dalan. Since we were done with work early, we retired to the sweet tea & biscuits by the kitchen. I noticed how there was a young girl, dressed in purple matching top & bottoms, smiling at us from the kitchen. Her legs dangled from this cabinet she was sitting on, as she watched us snack. 

Seeing young children in Bario is quite rare, I suppose. Most kids live in quarters in school. People of my age usually further their studies in nearby Miri (or Marudi).  And, younger cucus usually return home to the Tepu' during school holidays. So, seeing a young child in Bario is quite the sight! 

I got to know from my friends that the young girl is Ashley's Tepu's granddaughter, who goes to school here. In case you're wondering, she's about 8 (I'm so bad at estimating kids' ages, so forgive me). If there's one thing about me, I'm not too fond of young children. So, I devoured more sweet tea & biscuits, while my friends, Divya and Xara, played with the girl. Food always triumps! Haha

Eventually, they got tired so I played the classic "Guess which hand?" game with her. To my surprise, she was really excited about the 50cent coin I was hiding in the game. I even pulled one of my old man's fav magic moves on her: making the coin re-appear from behind her ear. Buy me a cup of coffee and I'll show the move to you too, haha

Also, I taught her how to fold an origami paper fortune & played Battleship (imagine kids making those shooting noises with their fake ships) with her out of extra paper. Such a cheerful ball of energy she was! So adorable!

Paper fortune, making tough decisions easier since 1928. 

I was afraid she would get dehydrated from all the excitement. So, I devised an ingenious game to make her drink water. Divya would act as the Water Goddess, and can only be revived from her deep sleep, if the little girl drink water. The young girl was super excited at the game! And drank the water I poured for her.

"Cepat, minum, nanti kakak yang baring boleh bangun~ Tengok, dia tidur sekarang. Kalau kamu minum cepat, kakak itu dapat bangun, tau?"

(Parenting TIP: Pouring only an inch of water into a cup, makes the cup lighter & finishing it much easier for young kids. So, they'll get more motivated to finish many cups of inch-deep water, instead of downing a big glass. You can thank me later, haha)

After each cup, she would run and circle around Water Goddess Div, to see if the wakes up. Of course, I would give Div cues to twitch her hands, to show the magical revival energy was building up. The girl got more excited and drank a second cup. The third, and the forth came, before she got to witness the Goddess opening her eyes, and saying a few words, albeit still lying down.

"Ah~ Tengok kakak itu sudah dekat nak bangun! Tangan dia pun sudah gerak. Pandai kamu minum banyak air! Cepat, kalau kamu siap cuci cawan, kakak itu boleh bangun & main dengan kamu nanti~"

Kids will be kids, no matter where. 

Long story short, my new friend really loved the game! (Divya said I can open a daycare centre with my service, lol). And we continued playing, snacking, and drinking more of that awesome sweet tea, before we had to leave for cleaning up by the church. Saying goodbye was hard, for me. Seeing her face went from bubbly water girl, to a sad pout. Much sad :( 

We bid her farewell, as I put on my rubbery Kampung Addidas and headed to church. 

A few days later, I heard from Ashley about the young girl. What she said really made the entire play session soooooooo worth it. Kiddo, you're gonna grow up into such a ball of joy! 

Kakak, mana kawan-kawan kamu yang bangun selepas saya minum air? 

Don't you wish you get a celebration when you finish a cup of water too? 

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Author's Note: "Cepat, minum air" is Part 2 of a 3-part series of MARIAM SPECIALS. In case you're wondering "who's Mariam?", well, it's the author's Kelabit name!