Simpang Mengayau



The Tip of Borneo

    Yesterday was the patron saint's day of our son and of my homeland and I'm quite sure that Saint Patrick would be astounded to think that it was celebrated so worldwide and in ways that he could never have imagined. After leaving Andrew at the airport yesterday I stayed on in KK and went out with a few friends.We called in briefly towards the end of the evening to the big Saint Patrick celebration and by that time there were many tourists and locals wearing those tall green hats, that I have yet to see in Ireland, and having a very "merry" time. We were in time to see the Irish dancing which was performed by local Sabahans called- guess? - yes River Dance -wearing green costumes and doing a very good attempt, apart from some odd angled twists to the legs. The next item was "traditional" music again played by local musicians playing the clarinet, electric guitar and piano. At this stage I decided to go home! All I can remember when I was growing up in Northern Ireland was having a day off school and going to watch the School's Rugby Cup Final. I have a vague recollection of someone making green jelly once but not much else. In the collection of  war letters written mostly by my father there are some that were written by my mother and were returned to sender and never opened or read. I have read a few and in one dated 17th March 1942, only a month after the Fall of Singapore, I found a little dried bunch of shamrocks that my mother had worn all day just praying and hoping that my father was still alive. It was many months before she knew that he had been captured and to read it is heart wrenching. Does the tradition of wearing shamrocks continue I wonder or has green dye, tall hats and beer taken over?

The green crested lizard  in my garden.

   Andrew and I had a lovely few days this week at the Tip of Borneo, Simpang Mengayau,and the beach there was absolutely beautiful and nearly deserted. There are many islands just off the Tip that have caused much strife historically often between Sabah and the Philippines, not to mention the Dutch, Spanish, British and just plain old pirates. In 1881 the chief of the Rungus tribe asked for help from the British against marauding pirates and then in 1882 the British North Company was established on Pulau Banggi which gave the British the foothold to claim North Borneo as theirs in 1888. The Rungus tribe are famous for their bead work and living in longhouses which are still evident today. As we looked out from the Tip where the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea merge, we were saying that we could not have predicted in a million years that we would have been sitting doing this, this time last March.

 Andrew has now left for Mongolia and has left a small pile of his shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops while cramming his suitcase full of snow boots and a very thick coat ready for minus temperatures! What or where next I wonder?