I found this story of my travel back to Indonesia from Malaysia back in 2006 in my older blog. Looking back it was very funny (didn't seem funny at all then..hehe). So..here goes. Enjoy!

So..Im now back at home in Nanga Pinoh, West Kal. Been here for a couple of days and well..its been fun hanging out and catching up with family and friends. My friend just had a baby!!! I feel so old! I used to be Che che (big sister in Chinese) to the younger kids, now Im an aunt! Another very good friend is getting married right on the day when Im supposed to leave for Thailand . *sigh*

Now for the trip. It was lonnnnnnggggggggggg!!! I was on the bus from Kuching to Pontianak for 8 hours. Thankfully, 3 of my friends were there too. So we just sat there, talked and got bored. The day after that I went to Serukam from Pontianak , which was quite an adventure! It was a very hot day and I was sitting in this bus full of people. And the bus had to wait in line for fuel. Man..the line was longg!!!! Yeah, we are running out of fuel and gas here in Indonesia , or at least in West Kal . Anyways..we were waiting in line and believe it or not..the driver lit his cigarette!!!! I was like oh great! we’ll just blow up together here under this really hot sun at a gas station! Cool.

Thankfully, we got out of that gas station in one piece. So..the bus was back on the road, and I was trying to get myself comfortable..the seat was too small with leg-room enough only for people who are 4 ft tall!! I was like the tallest person in that bus even though it was full of men! (well..short men! Hehehe). And whenever the bus went through a bumpy road (which happened quite often, I might say), you could hear this bang thud sound as my head hit the top of the bus and I fell back down on my seat. (oh yeah..the bus was made to accommodate dwarves! I mean..seriously..Indonesians arent that short, really! What’s with all these miniature busses?!).

Anyways, I was an entertainment for the other passengers! Here in West Kal …everyone smiles and laughs at and with everything. Literally EVERYTHING! When they are embarrassed, they laugh. When somebody makes mistake on stage, they laugh. So..well..they laugh at me..or maybe, supposedly with me to make me feel comfortable. Truth is I felt ridiculous. And they kept saying tinggi mati (which literally means, dead tall). Im 5′4, by the way. Yeah..not all that tall really! So..anyways..people were giggling, my head kept hitting the ceiling of the bus, and I was trying real hard to make myself comfortable and chill eventhough it was like 1040. After a while, I finally was able to enjoy the ride, thanks to the beautiful scenery! But..there was this thing under my seat that kept bumping my feet. At first, I thought it was just somebody’s bag. So I ignored it. At one point, that thing rested comfortably on my feet and I started having goosebumps!! uh oh…so, I looked down and gave out this really loud yelp that sounded more like I was choking. I jumped on my seat, looking really pale, I believe. The bus was still for a while..then everyone was like "what? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?" and I looked at them and said "there’s a CHICKEN under my seat!!!!". More silence….I was looking at them with the most innocent face as if it was normal to scream that loud just because there was a chicken under my seat, and they were staring blankly at me trying to grasp what I had just said. Then…more laughs and giggles. Yup..its now official that I’m such an entertainer! The bus went on, and there I was squatting on my seat with a stupid chicken under it, people dying of laughter and my head banging the bus even harder. It was ok for a while, but after what looked like forever, I told the driver to stop, made my way out of the bus, and moved in front to sit next to the driver, which was yet another adventure coz the bus was totally fast and there was no seatbelt! The driver must have been an F1 racer! He was smoking and making jokes, and I kept thinking If something happened to this bus, Id be the first person to have a broken neck or leg, all because of that stupid chicken!!!. And because it was a holiday that day, the bus I was on was like the only bus that ran to Bengkayang. So, the driver took as many passengers as the bus could take, which was A LOT!!! I believe there were triple the numbers allowed in the bus (oh..that happens everyday, dont worry! Ha!). At one point,there were 3 of us sitting in front with the driver!!..and there were even more on the bus, as in ON it..on the roof!!! Once, we even stopped for a whole female soccer team who was going to another village for a match and guess where the sit? On the roof!!!! Yeah..wasnt it an adventure? I swear I could feel the bus tilting to one side! Oh my…(FYI, It wasnt my first public bus ride, but it was the greatest so far..ha!)

Thankfully, I arrived in Serukam just fine..no broken leg or broken thumb..no melted brain coming out of my earsno feathers stuck on my feet..so, I was doing great! Spent 24 hours in Serukam before heading back to Pontianak with some of the doctors, and then on to Nanga Pinoh. The bus trip to Nanga Pinoh wasn’t as great coz it was a night bus, although the road was even bumpier. Thankfully, this bus was made for normal size people, and there were no feather-balls resting on my toes this time.

Anyways, I had great fun in that bus even though it sure didn’t feel like it. :p Well, better run now.

p.s if you are wondering why I freaked out because of that chicken under my seat. Well..thats because I have this feather phobia thingy going on in my head!