I was in Miri

I was in Miri city the week after the Merdeka day (Independence day of Malaysia) to do my first round of calls after joining my new company. It was a week of new exploration and also a time to meet up with my mate from Kuching, who had moved to Miri a while ago.

My Area Supervisor came down with me to show me the ropes and the ins and outs of the place. I was glad that he could make it this trip with me. If not, I was afraid that I would have wasted so much time just trying to figure out who to see and where to go in a very limited period of time.

My Area Supervisor noting down in a map all the important people to see.

Besides my work, I guess the next fruitful event during this trip would be to meet up with my good friend, Cindy, from Kuching.

Cindy has moved to Miri since the middle of last year after having decided that she would come and work for an oil and gas company as an accountant. And, being a true accountant, she is very good with figures.

We had spent many nights with other friends in karaokes and happy hours in pubs before she moved here. Since she left us, the gang soon dissipated and continued on with our own lifes. None of us was really sure whether this was due to her leaving, or us having our own ways to go in life. I guess both played a part.

My first night in Miri Cindy came and pick me up in her new silver Citra. I was surprise to see her in her new car. I had known that she was looking for a car back in December last year, but it failed to register in my mind that she could have bought a car months ago.

Cindy and I went to Halo cafe for dinner. I did not even know that there was one in Miri. Frankly speaking, I was both surprised and not. Surprised because I never thought that Halo would actually thought about investing in a city like Miri and not Kuching. Not surprised because I had always thought of Miri for being more productive in terms of singing cultures and bands.

I ordered spaghetti and Cindy ordered something that looked like nachos, but not entirely a nacho. I was quite doubtful about the food, and hesitated in putting them into my mouth.

Cindy with the spaghetti from Halo cafe, Miri.

There was a stage where young people, mostly students, would come by and sing for the night. There is a romantic notion to the idea of singing in one of the cafes like Halo. It is something that a student would think of doing to be romantic while earning some bucks for the semester.

That night, three boys performed on stage. They looked like they were in their late teens. One of them can actually sing very well. The guitarist seemed to like to echo whatever his other mates had just said. It was rather amusing to listen to them talk.

Cindy and I started to send in our dedications after dinner. It was fun seeing them trying to fish out the lyrics for some of the songs that we had asked for, and others they had to cover with other similar songs, since none of them knew how to sing it. I liked the voice of the percussionist. I thought that he had a better voice.

Cindy and I talked about our friends back home, and how each of us had fared since our departures. She is doing pretty well now, and I am simply glad and happy for her.