Bored in Borneo. This has been my life since Day 1 of Chinese New Year. There are three vertical lines with one horizontal line slashed across them carved in the trunk of the tree that serves as my lookout post, indicating that I have been here for four days. There is next to no broadband here, I've been using an empty coconut shell to try and somehow amplify my iPhone 3G signal. It's not working. It's ironic that I'm staying right next to Signal Hill because there is practically no signal! To the left, the South China Sea. To the right, the rainforests of Borneo. Straight ahead, a sleepy coastal town---city is too generous a word for Kota Kinabalu---where everyone drives at an infuriatingly slow pace. A spider monkey just broke into the kitchen and stole my Tasmanian cherries that I hand carried all the way from Kuala Lumpur. Great.
Quite a few of my London friends are envious that I am in the exotic (relatively, I suppose when your closest encounter with nature was having your country house flooded by rain, spider monkeys and jungles don't look so bad), verdant, lush island of Borneo. But I assure you it's not nearly as glamorous as it seems. I'm only here in Sabah for a few days to visit my maternal grandparents because that is what one does during the first few days of Chinese New Year.
I'm not even sure if Sabah is still technically part of Borneo, but let's just say it is because 'Stranded in Sabah' doesn't quite have the same ring to it as 'Bored in Borneo'. Oh wait, a quick Google search indicates that Sabah is on the island of Borneo. Excellent.
