9th december 2008. I rose from my bed happily. Nini (my cousin) and I were so excited to see our hometown after quite a long time we left it. I could still remember the last time I went home prior to my aunt's wedding and that was 6 years ago.
The plane took off at 9.30pm but we reached LCCT quite early. excitement was framed on our faces. The flight was smooth although the weather wasnt so good. there were 2 stewardess and a steward accompanying our flight that night. Nini was attracted to the steward whose name was Syahrizal. Amazingly, she hardly blinked her eyes looking at the guy as if he was an angel from the sky. would it be love from the first sight? maybe.. but maybe she was just admiring him. when the steward demonstrated the safety precautions in the hub of the plane,Nini was watching, silently and smiling from ear to ear. while me, was just playing with my rubic's cube. that cube has become my new preoccupation after Chan Jun Shen. sigh.. alright,enough with the 'love' tale.
We arrived at Kota Kinabalu International Airport 5 minutes to midnight. Nini and I were trusted to load luggages onto the trolley. while the rest of my family members were already stepped out of the terminal.3 cars waiting for us. they belong to Aunt Azizah,Uncle Jaju and Uncle Suhur. they were all mum's siblings. Aunt Azizah peered at me before she had the courage to approach. she said that she didnt recognize me at first. maybe because, physically, i've changed a lot. After all,it has been 6 years since my last visit.
It took us approximately 30 minutes from KKIA to Likas, where my grandma's house was situated. when we reached there,Hanif(My brother) went out of the car and ran to the nearest drain to vomit. He groaned and asked mama, "is there any other way to go Sabah? I cant stand being in the plane", maybe he felt dizzy at that time.we gigled and made a move into grandma's house. It was a 'village' house which made of 50% of wood and another 50% of bricks and stones.huhuhu. It was as huge as a bungalow yet very ordinary and it didnt have that kind of fancy look. There was where my mum grew up. when we got into the house, nenek was sitting and waiting for us and was accompanied by my uncle, the bridegroom-to-be. The last time I met nenek was last year when she came to KL just to visit us. She didnt change that much. her bun of hair still in black, her face wrinkled and her cheeks were saggy a bit. But the thing that I noticed the most was that she became a lil stooped than before. we had a chat for awhile before going to bed.
Aunt Azizah directed us to our temporary room. Nini and I had to stay in the middle room of the second floor. At the moment we entered that room,it looked so untidy and menacing. clothes here and there with unfolded bedspread and opaque mirror. As if it was left unuse for ages.However, the room would be 'our' room for 2 weeks. It was a claustrophobic little room. we tidy it a bit and slept since our eyes felt heavy as we were already drowsy. Zzzzzz...
The sun rose from the east, spreading its ray to the whole Sabah, giving a sign to everybody that it was another day to be faced. the sky streaked in purple and blue and I could hear the wake up calls the roosters made. It was a beautiful morning. i grabbed my phone and called Chan. Waking him and wishing him a very good morning. That morning, Nini and I had a walk around the village. so many things have changed. some for the better and some for the worse. I went to the jetty nearby nenek's house. and there I can see the Likas river.to my disappointment, the river looked dirty and the flow was no longer zealous as before. sigh... to be continued..
