Bintulu, sarawak, was where I grew up as a little baby. Going back in time, the family moved to Bintulu in 1979(till late 1986). Back then, Bintulu had nothing and the orang utan was still the king of the jungle. And I finally returned to say hello the orang utan :)
As the plane touched down at Bintulu airport, I remembered travelling to Bintulu on a MAS propellar aircraft, a Fokker, I think. You had to change planes from Kuching, then fly to Miri and the final destination, Bintulu. That was the route 20 years ago. But now, it’s all good. You’ll be in Bintulu right before your friend could finish his psychology essay paper. Bintulu is definitely different from what I remembered.
The ride to the hotel was a bit sentimental. I have short memories of Bintulu. Roads were wider & better. Bus stands at every 2-3 kilometres of the small highway. More stone than wood. Shops everywhere. Bungalows anywhere. It’s kind of like Langkawi.
“Parkcity Everly Hotel”:http://www.vhhotels.com/information.php?hid=6, that’s the name of the hotel I stayed at. 4-star & not bad either. Although it’s located a little bit far from bintulu town, the distance is just about 10-20 minutes walk. Now, here’s a tip. The Junior suites is just the same as the Deluxe double bed rooms. The difference between these two rooms are the wooden flooring, a better toilet interior, fully furnished minibar fridge, full access to the hotel’s business facility room. If it’s for business, take on the Junior suites.
Girls, girls, girls. In KL, the females are beautiful, you won’t be able to spell “beautiful” when you are facing eye to eye with one. But over here, they’re beautiful & exotic. Damn.
The town is full of bargain shops. Almost every shop sells the same thing. Tt’s like petaling street, except shops. What’s more, you can get stuff a little bit cheaper & better than from KL. Fake Nikes, Adidas(or Adicolor, with 4 stripes instead of 3), cute & melancholy silkscreened tshirts, bags and many more. There’s really nothing much to see or buy from bintulu town.
However, after completing my round of the town, I head back to the hotel for an informal dinner with Bintulu Port staff. Most of them were Dad’s former staff & most of them remembered me by my baby napkins and my endless whispers that can tear your eardrums. Such a crybaby. Food was slurpeeelicious. If there is such a word. It was spicy, sour & sweet. Yum.
The rest of the trip was business as usual. To sum it all, I do feel like home back there.
_P/S: This trip happened in August 2006._