Sayang Kinabalu

OOOOkay...this blog has been sitting half finished for all of July. It's August - I'm just going to post it!

Our trip for June took us to Sabah - or rather, back to Sabah, where Jacob served as a Young Adult in Global Mission in 2009-2010. This trip was part business, part leisure, as Jacob had arranged to return to Kota Kinabalu to give a recital, teach a couple workshops, and play a concerto with the Jesselton Philharmonic Orchestra at the Tip of Borneo festival. He left for KK on Sunday June 23rd, and I was able to fly out the next Friday and take a few days off to make it a long weekend.

Jacob was hosted by his friend (and the conductor of the JPO) Yap Ling, whose wife, Grace, also performed as Jacob's pianist for the recital. On Wednesday evening he played the recital, which was set up as a benefit for Jireh Home, the foster home where Jacob lived and worked as a YAGM. Many of the kids were able to come to the recital, and even joined him on stage for the final song, Sayang Kinabalu, a popular traditional song about the beloved Mt. Kinabalu. In between rehearsals and teaching workshops, Jacob was also able to visit Jireh Home during the week, as well as reconnect with several friends. Oh, and he got to eat - and eat and eat - a lot of his old favorite food as well.

I arrived Friday night and the next morning, after a breakfast of (rather delicious) fried fish soup, we got on the buses with the JPO musicians and began the bumpy drive to Kudat and the Tip of Borneo (the northern most point of the island). We spent a large portion of the trip sleeping and, after a pitstop for snacks, eating Cheezels, while our high school-aged seat neighbors munched on fried anchovies like you would munch on potato chips :)

A bit hard to see, but a bunch of the promotional material
for the Sunset Music Festival had a picture of Jacob on
it from when he played in the concert in 2010 - too funny!

We arrived at the Tip of Borneo, which is a beautiful location - but incredibly windy. We had lunch and the orchestra set up for sound-check. Unfortunately, sound-check got cut short when the wind picked up and blew in some nasty looking clouds. It actually didn't rain much, but it threatened a bunch! Thankfully, it blew through and by 6pm, after dinner (as opposed to supper, which came after the concert), the JPO took the stage. After the opening piece, Yap Ling's daughter and son did a pretty awesome version of Smooth Criminal, including sweet costumes. Then Jacob performed the Trumpet Concerto in D Major by Leopold Mozart on piccolo, accompanied by the orchestra. Despite the wind, incomplete sound check and dramatic setting, the piece went beautifully and the crowd seemed to really enjoy it. Maybe I'm biased, but it was totally the best part. A close second was when the JPO ended their portion of the concert with the Pirates or the Caribbean music, set against the backdrop of the wild South China Sea. Fun night! Check out Jacob's performance here:

Another friend, Yap (not Yap Ling) gave us a ride back to Kudat where the JPO has provided hotel rooms for us for the eveing - everyone was so very, very hospitable and generous, it really blew me away. The next morning, Yap took us to breakfast and drove us back down to Tuaran, with stops along the way for a few interesting sites like the Kota Balud market. We stopped first in town for some Tuaran Mee, one of Jacob's favorite dishes, then made our way to Jireh Home.

We met up with Kelly Culhane, a fellow Ole and the current YAGM volunteer (or she was then, but has since returned to the States as her year ended). We napped a little, since the kids were all napping, and then we went on a long walk with about a dozen of the kiddos. That was really fun and special. I remember some of the kids slightly, but of course Jacob knew them really well when he was here before and it is cool to see them growing up. Truly special.

That evening we enjoyed a huge and delicious dinner - chili crab! - with the whole Jireh Home crew. Afterwards, Jacob persuaded several of the kids to get out their string instruments and play for us. For about a year, a teacher has been coming to the home to teach violin, viola and cello lessons. Most of the kids can play at least a little bit, and several of them were really quite good. A group of about 8 kids played 2 full songs - and they really knew what they were doing! So cool. We stayed for prayers and then the kids went to bed. We headed over to a nearby cafe/bar (wasn't there when Jacob lived here) for a bit of Tiger beer and camaraderie, then spent the night in the staff house.
















The next morning we bid everyone farewell and caught a ride into town with Kelly and Kisa, who were starting a long journey to Kisa's hometown. Once in KK, we found our hotel and wandered around a bit before hitting up Sri Latah Curry House - the same Indian restaurant we'd eaten at 3.5 years ago when I visited Jacob. It was worth the wait, and incredible to think back over the time and how much has happened and changed and stayed the same. This trip prompted a lot of introspection and discussion! We did a lot of walking around KK, a bit of shopping, and we hunted a long time for an ice cream store that has apparently moved since Jacob was here last.

Sri Latah - 2010

Sri Latah - 2013
Same same but...same!

In the evening we headed to a beach near to where Peter, the YAGM country coordinator in Malaysia, lives and met him for sundowners and dinner. Rommy, Jacob's friend and the driver from Jireh home, also joined us (in part to return Jacob's phone, which had been left at Jireh Home - THANK YOU ROMMY! - but mostly to hang out). It was a delightful evening, capped off with a bottle of wine drunk on Peter's balcony.

In the morning we met up with Yap Ling and Grace for a dim sum brunch, followed up by ice cream (Grace knew where that ice cream store had moved!).
Jacob was pretty pumped because on top of a great trip, he also managed to hit a Grand Slam (+1) of his favorite Sabah foods within 24 hours:

Jacob's Sabah Food GrandSlam+1

• Tuaran Mee
• Chili crab
• Kelapa Bakar (roasted coconut water)
• Cempedak ("Chem-pa-doc") Goreng - battered and deep fried cempedak fruit
• Sri Lata Curry House
  
  
  

(We eventually made our way to the airport and back to Sing)