The toilet in my room is leaking. The hose connecting the water source to the cistern decided to break off for no apparent reason at all. I can't shut off the water supply as the tap is stuck. So the water drips, and drips, and drips...
Decided to borrow a monkey wrench from the clinic to fix it. That is when my troubles really started. No a single hardware shop or kedai runcit in Song stocks the broken part. Trust me, I went to almost all the shops, as there aren't many to start with. I asked them when the new stock would arrive, all they could answer was "Dunno when!", in Iban or Hokkien obviously! I asked if they could order the part for me, all they could say was that they would try but could not promise when it would arrive. Since they did not even bother to ask me for my contact number, I guess they're not even going to try. So I guess I'll just have to let my tap
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| DRIP & DRIP & DRIP |
until I next go to Sibu, in 2-3 weeks time!
The thing about living in a jungle is, what I used to take for granted in KL/ Seremban now comes at a price... in terms of time, effort and money!
Take the tap for example, I now have to pay more for my water bill as those precious drops literary flow down the drain. And my wasted effort & time looking for a part that is non-existent in Song!
Then there was an issue with bulk photostating. Wanted to xerox about 200 pieces on a weekend. The only photostating service (that charges a whooping 40cents per copy) decided not to open on a Saturday afternoon (think Murphy was on overtime) when I needed the documents copied and bound by Monday morning! Thank God there was a patient being sent to Kanowit, so I thumbed a lift with the speedboat for the 1 hour journey, got my photostating done as the case was being handed over and got back just before it got dark! 2 1/2 hours to get 200 sheets copied. Must be a record!
On with my ranting...
In Song, you do not get much choice when it comes to groceries. There's no Giant, Carrefour or Tesco which you can just pop into to get whatever you need. Like that day, had all the ingredients to make a tom yum soup but discovered I ran out of tom yum cubes. In the end, my tom yum became a mixed veggie soup as the only kedai runcit that was still open at 6.30pm did not stock tom yum cubes!
Going to the local market is also like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get! Aside from the local Iban veggies, most of the stuff here is brought in from Sibu. Including the meat & fish. Chicken wings come frozen by the boxes. You want fresh chicken, there's plenty of live ones clucking around in the market but you'll have to slaughter them yourself (which reminds me I need to blog about a miring ceremony!). When it comes to fruit and veggies, everything is seasonal. Like that day, bought some baby corn. It was soo good, I decided to go back for more, only to be told that what I bought was the last for the season. Sigh! Here, you plan your menu at the market and not before hand as you might not get your essential ingredients.
For luxury items like chocolates, Pringles, crisp, biscuits, milk tea or even certain 'brand' items, this calls for a shopping trip down to Sibu! Yup, so during my trips to Sibu, I stock up on everything from coffee, Ribena, instant noodles, bug spray, toothbrushes, shampoo, toilet paper, fresh food to replacement fluorescent lamps & other hardware!
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| My stash for the month! |
I never thought I'll be one of them, but I now carry my groceries like the locals in one of these ugly China plastic bags! Hahaha!
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| Joining the masses! |
Just an update:
Discovered to my horror there was a puddle at the ground floor sitting area 2 days later. When I looked up, saw a vile looking perspiring damp, fungusy patch on the ceiling. The water from the leak had somehow seeped thru the tiles, all the way from the top floor and was now pooling on the ground floor.
In the end had to SOS a church member for help. He came, took a look at the problem, sped home on his MB and reemerged with the part needed (rummaged from his collection). Although the spare part was probably a cast off from some other plumbing job, it stopped the leak alright! Thank you Cikgu Nawang for saving the day!
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