Homestay in…Papar

My Saturday afternoon absolutely worth it on that day. After meeting up with my colleagues we set out from our workplace and drive to a little town called Putatan for lunch. We decided to choose Thien Thien restaurant as our retreat and sanctuary while rain was pouring outside. I have chosen Chicken rice to be my stomach companion that day and…too bad it didn’t last that long. As soon as the last spoon enters my mouth my stomach still feels ‘empty’…I started to wish the best thing that could happen at Papar.

Our captain that day is Ibin and we started being loud inside the van since none of us actually know the direction of the ‘Koposizon Homestay’. Me and Agnes started singing a new song from three little boys about how hurtful it is to be heartbroken in love…kills our time though’. The view is absolutely spectacular, I could see houses built in short stilts…makes me wonder why it’s built on stilt anyway. On the left and right houses is surrounded by planted trees and it gives you a perspective of how cool and soothing it is when you are sitting and relaxing at one of the houses. While singing, my stomach starts to rumble…and I was saved by the nuts!...not just any other nuts mind you…its Macadamia Nuts from Hawaii…thanks to our GM…hehe

When we arrived at the turning point, Mr. William Lee greets us and led us with his van to enter the particular homestay location. The area is rather big and separated by several villages and the particular village is called Papaga village…not related to Papaya folks :)

The first house belongs to Madam Henrieta. It was not a house…it was a Mansion! Okay..seriously…it’s a house. But, a really big house. It has an exceptional beautiful front and back lawn with lushes of green trees, plants in pots, water tanks…I mean this is a homestay. You can’t be expecting a swimming pool or gym of some kind right. I took pictures from her personal room…smart lady :)  it has the room with the best view!.

Next we move to another house and i changed my mind about the best front lawn view…the second house is rather small with no second floor but the front law view is certainly breathtaking. I decided not to quickly made up my mind on which is the best as I am ready to expect a more surprisingly amazing views. Yet I am very sure that the real attraction of Papar homestay then other homestays is its suburb view and harmonious feeling.

The third house is equally interesting; the host provides a Pink room! That’s good news for you pink lovers! You can also enjoy the beautiful craft of a traditional dusun costume. The fourth house is ultimately my favorite…why?...because the host serves us Food!...yes yes! You may call me free loader, I don’t mind! Positive thinking aspect did mention that hunger desire could move a man to a thousand miles. Mine is from KK to Papar, that’s hungry enough. We get to taste the delicacy of Sago plant. Papar is also well known as a Sago producer. Sago can be made into several products including pancakes! The wonderful Mr. Lee serves us coffee and tea, banana fritters, jackfruit fritters and special for me and Joe ; nasi lemak in pandan leaves…I do wonder why out of 6 person the two of us were being offered, well doesn’t matter I did filled my stomach that day.

We also get the chance to chat with one of the clients at Mr. Lee house, Tyler a Canadian traveler and he shares with us his passion in meeting with the real people instead of just looking at the outer features of a culture. Suddenly I am thankful that mostly the homestay host is an elder people instead of just recently married…I can imagine how the dinner talk would be. During the coffee time Mr. Lee also shares with us a more unique delicacy of Sabah. ‘Butod’…as fancy as the name is; this wood worm can only be found underneath a sago bark. Some says it has a creamy taste. I like my coffee so I try to think as little as I could about the vision of ‘Butod’ as a meal. Mr. Lee has a frozen version. He kept it in a fridge, dead and frozen the creature still never fail me to feel squirmy. “We can still deep fry it” Mr. Lee said. I smile and push the ‘Butod’ to the next person beside me. One photo is enough.

After our stomach is filled, my camera memory has been minimized and after collecting some fliers, we took a group photo with the river as a background. Mr Lee wishes us well and generously offer us mango fruits from his tree. We set off for another an hour journey back to KK. I had a wonderful memory of the views in my head and I honestly wish that I was born in such serene village but then I realize…doesn’t matter where you born. Home is where the heart is.

-Everyone has ordinary beginning but not everybody has phenomenal ending-