One afternoon at Joe's!

One stormy, wet evening marked the end of our experience at the paddy field with our tepuqs. Dearest Tepuq Ribet and Tepuq Uloh, both got drenched in that fun filled walk we did together running away from the storm. It was as if the rain was least of our concerns that evening, instead we just embraced that one last walk from the paddy to the long house sharing some delightful personal moments.

Walking back to the long house in the rain.

The next day the sun came shiny and bright, casting its first rays of the day, slicing through the morning mist while we walked to Tepuq Uloh’s paddy field. There, we had a short conversation with her husband and her while they did a little clearing up of the area. Once we confirmed our appointment, we continued our walk to Tepuq Ribet’s paddy field which was a little further. At a distance, through the fields of green we saw a glimpse of Tepuq Ribet in her big brown hat. We expressed our urge to step into the paddy but she insists we stay clean for the day. Here again, we had a short conversation, and reminded her about our appointment for later in the day.

Tepuq Uloh and her husband.

Tepuq Ribet

The clock striked 12PM and we were getting excited. We ran to Tepuq Uloh’s and saw that both she and her husband were all dressed and ready to go! It was so sweet to see Tepuq Uloh and her husband dressed extra nice for our appointment that afternoon. Our excitement was just building. We told them we will be right back. Both of us then proceeded to Tepuq Ribet’s to check on her, but to no avail. There were no signs of her at home and we did the fastest walk to her paddy to check if she was there. She was about to leave her paddy field when we reached, thus we did the walk together back to her house. Told her to take her time and here again came Tepuq dressed very sweetly for the day. She borrowed us her motorcycle for the appointment and off were to get back Tepuq Ulo and her husband. 

At 12.30PM, two motorcycles, five people, dressed a little extra nice, all excited and happy. Where do you think the appointment brought us to?

A lunch treat! :D

It was such a joyful ride to Joe’s that afternoon, catching up with Tepuq Uloh’s motorcycle which was going faster because it did not have two pillion riders like us! We arrived at Joe’s soon after and we managed to get one last round table available on that filled lunch hour. We made our orders and added three ABCs (Ais Batu Kacang) to the list as it was such a hot day and also because Tepuq Ribet has not had it in a long time.

While waiting for our meals, we all started recapping our whole journey together. It only then dawned to us that this was a farewell. As they mention their interest of coming over to the city to see us, both our Tepuqs facial expression had gone a little emotional. Tepuq Uloh had later secretly took out two kabuqs (Kelabit necklaces) under the table and told me (Ganit) to choose one. I hesitantly chose one and she laughed! To refresh the whole mood, our ABCs arrived and we shared some conversations about the old airport and a past plane crash incident that took place some time back.

When all our meals came, Tepuq Uloh’s husband recited prayers and we all held hands. It was during this very moment, we felt truly like a family. What started of as awkward and shy conversations 6-7 days back has now brought us to a family reunion lunch. Tepuq Uloh had a bad cough and we reminded both our Tepuqs to complete their prescription and head to the clinic for their appointments. In return, we received endless heartfelt blessings and really just continued having personal conversations even when we were done with our meal. Embracing that few moments left together. Towards the end, it got a little heartbreakingly sad; knowing once we lift ourselves from the seats, the journey has just come to an end.

We were about to get on our motorcycles, when I (Ganit) saw dearest and funniest Tepuq Uloh to tears. Told her not to worry and I’ll see her at home in few minutes! Started our journey back to the long house, running away from the dark clouds carrying a heavy downpour. Strong gushes of wind almost blew our hats away, when Tepuq Ribet suddenly gave us the tightest hug from behind while she leaned emotionally saying, ‘Rindu kamu dua, jangan pergi. ‘(Miss you two, don’t go). That was the moment that got us both. It was this moment that the storm did not bring giggles, but it brought tears. It hit us close to our hearts, we didn’t want to leave, and our time together was too short. We wished there were more time to spend together.

Daring riding the bike,while Tepuq Ribet held on to her hat with the dark clouds approaching.

For all the beautiful days that we were fed with home cooked food by the paddy fields, we thought this was a really nice idea to bring them out for a treat. Little did we know that we would be so emotionally impacted by a lunch date which we now look back as a family reunion lunch. There was a piece of element called comfort which is only able to be felt once two hearts accept each other’s presents. They were so welcoming and attached to us very quickly that it frightens us to know how sad they would have been once we left.

            ‘ Ganit dan Daring janji akan bawa Tepuk keluar makan bersama lagi! ‘

Ganit the lightning; Tharunnia,

Daring the thunder; Karthik.