Sunday, July 10, 2011

THE DAY SHE WENT AWAY

He couldn't believe it. This was not happening. He pinched himself, yes it was real. But why? Why was she going, what has he done?

They were sitting in the room. He asked her softly on the verge of tears. She bowed her head. He asked her, "So you have made up your mind? You really want to go? She nodded silently. He was confused. What has he done, or rather what has he not done. "What about the kids, if you can't stay for me, can't you at least think about the kids?" He was playing his last card. "I have made up my mind, I am not happy with you anymore. I have to find myself. I will come back for the kids when I have settled down," she whispered.

Jon and Edith have been married for 8 years. When they got married, everyone thought they were a perfect match. Edith was gorgeous and Jon strikingly handsome. They were so much in love or so it seemed. After a year into their marriage, a beautiful baby boy was born. In the fifth year, another baby, a girl was born. The family was complete. He thought he had everything, a beautiful wife, 2 lovely kids, a comfortable home. What more could he want. During the 8 years into their marriage, they never fought. Sure there were small tiffs here and there, but nothing serious. In the early years, Edith always made sure she spend the time with the kids during her free time. Lately, she was always doing something like direct selling meetings and outstations. He always give in to her every needs and he never questioned when she comes back late at night or when she suddenly have to go away for a weekend. He never suspected anything and trusted her implicitly. He also never suspected when she was always on her mobile, SMSing, sometimes talking softly. She would always tell him that the call was from a friend and they were talking about their direct-selling business. Yes he trusted her. He never saw it coming.

Was it his fault? His fault for giving in too much to her? He kept on thinking what had gone wrong? His heart was being shredded and yet he couldn't shout or get angry. Jon was in denial, still thinking it was not happening and perhaps it was just a bad dream.

He saw her packed and he left the room. Before that, he told her that she would have to tell the kids herself. He had tried his best, he begged her to think about it. He asked her, who is the man? Does he know him? She remained silent. He went out to the backyard. There he sat on the garden chair, looking at the beautifully landscaped small garden of roses, daisies, lilies, shrubs of herbs that she planted, the cotton candy clouds, the soft gentle breeze, the blackbirds, butterflies. Everything seemed normal. Don't they know he was dying inside?

After a while, he heard her calling him softly, telling him goodbye. He didn't turn. He heard the children cry and the nanny comforting them. He heard the car being driven from their driveway. She had left, she really left. Still he couldn't believe it. He turned to the direction of the driveway, he saw the tail light of her car, it stopped for a moment, then it moved and disappeared. His world has crashed. Then the floodgates of emotion shooked him. He was devastated, he felt cold and hot and then he began to sob. He cried for hours until he couldn't cry anymore. He couldn't remember how long he sat there. It was dark, and when he looked up to the west, to see the last ray of sunset, he gave a deep sigh and put a closure to the event. He heard his little girl calling and running out to him "daddy, daddy" with her outstretched hands. He got up knelt down and scooped the 3-year old, his precious daughter. His son was standing near the door, smiling and Jon felt, he has his world right here, with his beloved kids..and no one can take them away from him, not even their mother...






Rungus Longhouse Experience


Leonie (in Rungus traditional attire) trying out the ladder.

Dinner is served...



Leonie (2nd from left) doing the Rungus dance (can't remember the name)



Rice wrapped in leaves



The Gang

(a continuation of my earlier post "What a Weekend")
I have somewhat recovered from the tiring weekend events. Travelling is fun as we get to see and experience places not seen before, especially living in the longhouse. We stayed in one of the Rungus longhouses in Kudat, a homestay actually. I grew up in a kampong, so living without modern luxuries is really not strange to me. However, this experience was really different. The experience of living with bare basic amenities and somewhat primitive, really make me appreciate what I have now.... and the 'spoilt baby' in me is really thankful that I don't have to live there for long periods....:p. The absence of basic amenities is I think done deliberately to preserve the authenticity of the Rungus traditional way of life during the yesteryears. To me, prime importance is cleanliness and thank goodness it was quite clean. The view from the longhouse was spectacular, of hill padi, fish ponds and greens trees - cool clean air - so refreshing! The longhouse is made out from traditional materials of split bamboo and what looks like tree barks. The rooms were furnished with a mattress, pillows, bed sheets and mosquito nets. Light was powered by a generator which was switched-off at 1am.

The house seemed like it had not been lived-in for a while though - so the creepy crawlies were inevitable and that put me off. Imagine sleeping and suddenly finding scorpions or spiders or other bugs sleeping with you! So we resorted to sleeping in the hall, and then I discovered, there wasn't any door. So we were like sleeping in the open…lol. Thank goodness, the ladder was made out from a tree with cuttings on that served as steps and so no fear of wild animals coming in (but what about humans?). The bathroom cum toilet were way out and there wasn't any proper lights. The torch light wasn’t enough to warn me off the giant ants whose bites felt like fire! Gosh I thought I'd die of pain ..lol! We also had a taste of traditional food like rice wrapped in leaves…(ok will show you pictures). It was a humbling experience and what strikes me most is that the people are so welcoming and hospitable. Thank you folks… we’ll visit again.

KOISAAN CULTURAL VILLAGE (KCV)

"The Koisaan Cultural Village (KCV) The Koisaan Cultural Village is located at Hongkod Koisaan KDCA Complex, Km 8, Penampang...