Sa..dua...tiga..empat...lima...enam...tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuujuh!
Selamat ngintu ari Gawai ngagai bala kita ti bisi maca blog tu. Gayu guru gerai nyamai, lantang senang nguan menua. Anang guai ngabang enda pala agi sebening, enggai ke bebadi ba jalai alun. Ooooohaaaa!
Sia juga mo bilang Kotobian Tadau Tagazo Do Kaamatan sama kamurang urang-urang Sabah. Pelan-pelan kalo moginum ah. Aramaiti! *pardon my rusty Bahasa Sabah hehe*
Folks in Sabah will celebrate Kaamatan, the yearly Harvest Festival, on 31 May, followed by a celebration of similar purpose across the state lines in Sarawak called Gawai Dayak on 1 June (although we start partying the night before hehe).
I typically take one week off from work to fly home and celebrate Gawai with my family. This is because I would first have to fly to Kuching, spend one to two days there, and then travel to my mother's rural hometown.
However I have been missing Gawai for two years in a row now due to work. Last year, it was because the boss wouldn't let me take leave (she's a Singaporean so she didn't particularly have the mental capacity to process the significance of Gawai). As for this year, I recently went home in the second week of May, and flew back to Red Henna City after two weeks.
So much has happened since early April. Let me do a recap:
1. I decided to leave my job
I honestly loved the work I do, creating marketing content for multiple mediums. Most of my colleagues were fun to work with as well.
However, after much consideration, I had to accept the fact that the company culture was not a great fit for me. It was heavily Sino-centric, with Mandarin and Cantonese being the official languages in company events and meetings.
As a writer, I rely on words to process meanings and it was very frustrating to attend something conducted in a language you barely know, let alone understand. Very often I had to steal a colleague to be my translator, denying them the chance to fully be immersed in the event, and having to do this never failed to make me feel like an invalid.
There were also other reasons why I left that I would rather not mention here.
2. My grandmother had a stroke, so I flew home
"Nenek is in the hospital", texted my sister on 27 April.
I swear my heart stopped beating at that exact moment.
Later on, I found out that she had suffered a mini stroke at home, while seated during tea. Luckily she was not alone during the attack.
When I called my parents afterwards, both of them tried to sound normal on the phone, retreating into their protective mode, so as not to worry me. They had done this many times before, such as when Nenek had a nasty fall last year, or when they got into a car accident. I know they mean well, but no matter where I am, I am still family and deserve the right to know, goddammit!
They realised that their cover was blown when I asked upfront about Nenek.
Nenek was immobile and had a feeding tube inserted, hence she needed round-the-clock care. Dad became the designated driver and stayed at home to do the chores. Everyone else (save for one horrid, selfish person who shall not be named and shamed here) looked after Nenek in shifts.
I flew home a week after she was admitted into the hospital as I had an interview two days prior. Because I was not working, I would take the week night shifts as the rest had work or school during the day and needed their sleep. In return, they would sacrifice their off days and weekends to be at Nenek's side so I can get some shut-eye. Some of us even pulled 24-hour shifts because we didn't have enough manpower.
The day I flew home, I actually had a high fever (worst trip ever hahaha) and self-medicated while at KLIA2 (Panadol, multivitamins, Tiger Balm, Clarinase, and a mountain of tissues) so I could be well when I touched down. Un-fucking-fortunately, the fever ended up overstaying its welcome (never welcomed to begin with anyway) and I had it for one whole damn week due to lack of sleep.
Nenek's appetite had improved after the feeding tube was removed, and she slowly regained about 75% use of her right arm. My sister and I resorted to many things (including smuggling in my sister's tiny B&W TV hahaha) to keep her entertained and awake during the day, so that she could return to her normal sleeping cycle. Since admitted to the hospital, she had been sleeping all day due to boredom and then stayed awake all night.
After her morning bath and breakfast, we would carry her to her chair for physiotherapy. Then we'd let her listen to the Iban Radio broadcast on our phones, watch aeroplanes and birds go by, let her watch Hawaii Five-0 (she loves cop dramas), and even let her browse through our phones to see photos of our dogs and family members. We also insisted that she have her meals on her own while seated there.
Nenek was finally discharged after three weeks of staying at Le Château de Hôpital. At the time of writing, she is still unable to walk on her own, and had to hold on to something when she stands up. My parents decided to take her home to the longhouse for Gawai despite her immobility, hoping that the festivities and catching up with our relatives would cheer her up and motivate her to start walking.
Throughout her ordeal, Nenek never stopped praying for recovery. A devout Christian, I would catch her mumbling a prayer a few times a day. To be honest, I don't think I'd be able to show faith as strong as hers if I was in her shoes. I'd probably start drinking gin and tonic every day hahaha.
3. Behold, the spanking new KLIA2
I flew to Kuching 5 days after the new airport was open for business. Skybus only started operating from 9 May onwards to and from KLIA2, so I took a cab to KL Sentral, and then boarded the KLIA Express.
The new airport is actually a huge shopping mall with an airport attached, almost like an afterthought. Plenty of the shops were still under renovation. One of the things I love about it is AIR-CONDITIONING, something that LCCT severely lacked. In fact, an American friend who was visiting years ago was shocked to see that our low-cost terminal looked like a huge barn!
KLIA2 had stationed many helpful staff to help with enquiries, but I really don't appreciate trekking for miles just to reach the boarding hall. They also need to put up more signages, especially for places that are hidden away from the main flow of foot traffic.
The bus counter was located in a corner with no huge signs, and while there maybe 10 counters in place, only a few were open and the staff really took their time to process bookings.
Security was tighter than when I last flew. We were asked to take out all of electronic devices and place them in a tray (previously we could leave them in bags for the scan). We were also asked to take off our belts and watches.
4. Aboard Malindo Air
I boarded Malinda Air for the first time during my trip home. Was pleasantly surprised to discover huge legroom, a TV screen, and light refreshments served onboard despite being a low-cost airline. We had a rough landing though.
Little did I know that things would be worse during my trip back to KL via the same airline. In KIA, the airline shared the boarding hall with another airline flying earlier than us and bound for Indonesia, so we weren't allowed to sit there until they had boarded their plane.
When it was time to board and our plane was not even in sight yet, I asked the ground staff if we were going to be delayed, but she confidently said that we would leave in time.
What a liar.
Our flight ended up delayed by more than an hour, without any announcements, or even apologies from the captain or any of the crew. I had planned to take the 6.30pm Skybus to 1Utama so that I would be home before 10pm. Since I arrived way later than that, I took the 8.30 Aerobus to KL Sentral, then hopped into a cab to go home. I got home close to midnight.
5. In the midst of all the chaos, I co-founded a software company
As someone whose career has spanned more than eight years now, I am blessed to be able to cross off a few things on my bucket list:
a) Be an educator - done!
b) Work for a non-profit - done!
c) Work for a global brand - done twice!
d) Work in advertising - done twice!
e) Be a writer - done!
f) Start my own company - RECENTLY DONE! :)
My friend (and sometimes arch nemesis lol) Mickey and I have known each other for more than five years. We've always wanted to collaborate professionally as we knew our different personalities, knowledge and set of skills were actually complementary. I have worked with many software engineers before, and he is, by far, THE BEST amongst all of them. We both love tech, and while I can't code from scratch (he can), I am *ahem* great with people and I also have marketing experience.
We finally started operations for RedBean Software in early May, although the groundwork was actually laid a few months before. We kicked off the process by having many frank discussions about the direction of the company, what our roles would be, and the kind of products and services to offer, amongst other things.
In the end, we decided to offer software consultancy and a range of customised products such as mobile apps, desktop software and web/cloud solutions for businesses. Our first breakthrough came when a potential client issued an RFP, before our company even had a logo! Unfortunately the project didn't go through as they decided to do it internally.
Since returning from Kuching, both of us have been busy fine-tuning the RedBean Software brand before launching our presence online: the company website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.
RedBean Software is our dream come true, and I couldn't ask for a better business partner. :)
Kotobian Tadau Tagazo Do Kaamatan and Selamat Ngintu Gawai Dayak, everyone!
Cheers,
The Geek Goddess
