Top 5 Manis List!

A full batch at the church! Photo credit to Alicia.

1)   Arriving in the arms of my team!

Not sure if I could have expected a better way to be welcomed into a new space, so new so foreign to me. Arriving a week later than my whole team meant I lost so much prior experiences, the adjustment phase and basically getting familiar with my surroundings and the people around me. However, I have had the best team (YAYY BATCH 3) mates I could have ever asked for. Starting from my surprise presence and all of their memorable screams and reactions to informing me bits of pieces of things I should know around the place made me feel at ease very quickly. I am so glad I pushed myself to recover fast and so thankful for being given a second chance. All of you deserved to know how it felt like to have a full team and I’m glad the last addition, the number 13 made it in time! To all of you Batch 3 members, thank you and I love all of you dearly.

2)   Church bells!

It was my first time stepping foot into a church. What a beautiful place to experience a first time than in Bario. I loved the whole ambiance, the slow building crowd and the sermon being read in Kelabit was quite therapeutic. I very especially enjoyed the tambourine dance by the young local girls, clapping and singing along to all the songs. It was a new feeling altogether. However, the peak of this whole experience had to be the performance our whole batch did in the church on a cloudy Sunday morning. We performed two songs and I personally thought our group did a really good job despite only having practiced a couple of times. But, it was fulfilling to see and know that people who attended church that very morning sang and clapped along to our songs.

3)   Ice cold water.

I was warned by my team members the day I arrived that the bathing water would be ice cold. And I went, ‘Oh I’m fine with cold water ‘and a team mate replied, ‘This is something else, trust me’. And, I recall my first bath just for the first time wanting to get out of the shower as fast as possible. This coldness has to be included with the dropping temperature in Bario. I wouldn't say I hated it, but it was very interesting how I never got used to this one routine. I am reminded every day how shrinking cold the water is and the chills that run down your spine will bring your mind back awake even if you have had a long day. Cold like no other definitely!

4)   Meals by the paddy field.

Oh boy, what do I say about the afternoons I had lunch by the paddy fields? Tepuq Ribet and Tepuq Ulo are the awesomest! Together, they bring more than enough meals thinking my team mate and I are monsters. Such tasty foods ranging from chicken curry, mixed vegetables, pineapples, rice, fried chicken, juice and even a can of Coke!! Yes, now tell me why I wouldn’t call them the awesome duo! Hehehe. We would have lunch at about 12.30PM, under big tress or sometimes a wooden hut; on hot sunny days sometimes cool breezy afternoons with food prayers being led by Tepuq Ulo’s husband. My, the conversations we had over lunch are the most remembered. The jokes the both of them crack can leave you laughing till you feel tears in your eyes. It was on these days I have felt truly blessed and very appreciative, to have shared and experienced a little of life with Tepuq Ulo and Tepuq Ribet. They have made me feel so comfortable and have gone all out, all out, to make us happy.

Meals by a beautiful paddy.

5)   Let’s play ball at the paddy field!!

 I believe this was only the second day of my arrival in Bario, when everyone had planned to play ball at the paddy field. It was a bright, cool Sunday afternoon and everyone walked to a paddy field not far from the long house. The paddy was wet and muddy which was great to play ball. The game was called Captainball and the batch was split into two teams. Initially, the game was slow and clean, but within 20 minutes everyone got competitive and also started to push ‘clean’ people into the mud fully! Highlight of the whole game day was when a few children decided that they wanted to join the game. The more the merrier as we would have expected! Overall, it was such a fun, carefree hour we had as a complete team for the first time! Everyone did not miss getting down and dirty, not forgetting ending the match with mud face arts :) Hoping for another Captainball match at the paddy with the same team again!

Dressed to get down and dirty!