journey to sabah

hmm...I think I should have write about this three weeks ago but I just started blogging yesterday...and also my life had been quite hectic for some time already...anyhow back to the story...when I first knew that I got posted to Sabah, things weren't go well with me...to put it simple, I don't want to go...I don't have any solid reasons whatsoever but even if I don't get to be posted back to my hometown or anywhere in Terengganu, I don't mind going other places as long as it is still in Peninsular...be it to places as high as Cameroon Highlands or as far as Langkawi (I guess that is the furthest island from Kemaman...lol)...but Borneo...hmm...I just went speechless...

My dad always reminded me to ask for Terengganu for my posting...well, he just wants me to take care and look after my mom...and he also said that don't ask for Sabah or Sarawak because it would be difficult for any of us to travel around...but when I got Sabah, my family just went "nak buat macam mana, dapat Sabah pergi je la sana"...they kinda accepted the result...meanwhile, Asmah and her family were delighted to hear the news...I was still speechless...

I thought to myself "how hard can it be?" (quoted from Jeremy Clarkson)...then worst thing did occurred - I got Keningau...for most of you who haven't had clue or any idea how Sabah's map looks like...let me put it in a simple words that you can imagine...it's far from the sea and separated with other districts by the Crocker mountain range...and so far, I was the only IPBArian who got there...



my flight from KLIA was scheduled at 2pm...but then it was delayed for one hour and a quarter...by the time we (me and the other KPLIs from all over the country) reached KK, it was already dark...there were about 140 of us and the some officers of PPD Keningau waited for us at the airport with 4 buses to take us to Keningau...from what I've heard...there are two routes to Keningau...the old road is through Tambunan and the new one passes Papar...even most of the Sabahans themselves haven't been to Keningau because of the condition of the road...for those who had been posted to area in Keningau, like my uncle about 20 years ago...it was not a pleasant journey through Tambunan...if you thought the only way to be over the cloud is by taking a plane, you are wrong...you can be above the cloud by bus if you were to take this road...and only God knows how cold it is when we reached the summit called Gunung Emas...

we arrived at Hotel Juta in Keningau at approximately 10.30pm after three and a half hours ride...everyone seemed to be very tired and sleepy...we had to register first and get the room key...I was among the last person to register (my dad kept calling me to know my whereabouts and it got me distracted)...when I wanted to register, I couldn't find my name...I went through one-by-one in the name list and my name wasn't in any of them...I was sleepy and I couldn't care less...I just told the officers in charge that my name probably had been transferred to other district (even I don't know about it...just followed my instinct)...and because of that, I got a room only to myself (the others had to share three per room)

the next day I contacted my uncle who is in Papar and told him about my situation...called Asmah to help me find out my name at the JPNS...and my dad just to make him felt uneasy (lol)...after spending quite some credit...Asmah told me that her dad found out my name was at Tamparuli...and to make thing more dramatic, the taklimat was being held at the same time but in KK...after some discussion with Keningau's officers, the asked me to check out right away and go to KK all by myself by taking a cab...and I have to pay it myself...without thinking much, I took my stuff, check out, went to taxi station, off to KK (just like that)...

arrived at KK almost two hours later (thanks to the driver who was willing to drive fast through the mountain range, and the view was spectacular...will be going there again to take some photos...heh)...I had to pay Rm120 for the cab on my own (dammit) but I was quite lucky as by the time I got to the Airport View Hotel, they were still there...I managed to catch up with Faa, Yao and Dayah but Adel has gone to Ranau already...found the person in charge and got my posting letter...the name of my school is SK Bundu Tahuri, Tamparuli (I know it sounds weird but whatever as long as I can get out of Keningau...muahahaha)...then I got sent to the PPD Tamparuli...

there were 22 new teachers at the PPD and to my surprised there were only 3 from Peninsular...not only the other 19 are Sabahans, the live nearby to the school where the can travel from their house...most of them are from Tuaran (which is 10km from Tamparuli)...the furthest might be just Kota Belud (I think about 45km...not really sure...but they can still travel from their home)...the two girls from Peninsular have relatives in Sabah, so they don't have much problems in terms of place to stay...after a long introduction about Tamparuli, here are some that I could remember ;p

- popular because of the song "Jambatan Tamparuli" ;)
- about 37 schools, 70% considered pedalaman, but only 1 school is P2
- mostly SKM (sekolah kurang murid)
- the best district in Sabah (most of the school got 100% in UPSR) [note: pressure...hmm]

after the meeting, everyone went back to their home except me...I was still tired since first time landed here the day before...really wanted to rest and sleep and eat...my uncle came to get me and took me to his house in Papar where I spend the weekend there and prepared mentally for what is about to happen the week after...anyway my first 24 hours in Sabah was really chaotic that I already need a long school break...haha...will be posted about my school on the next entry...