This Precious Life

The next morning, we woke up nice and early but took a long time to wash up. We were thoroughly enjoying the idyllic Sabah pace of life.

As we strolled to the dining area for breakfast, we caught a glimpse of two giant grasshoppers perched on our food!

It turns out to be a single strand of palm leaf folded into the shape of grasshoppers. A souvenir by one of Mr. Tay’s staff.

We really appreciated this personal touch and carried it back to decorate our place in Singapore.

Again we were served generous portions of kampung food and coffee. On top of that, Mr Tay had brought a loaf of sunflower seed bread from Kota Kinabalu which we lavishly spread with a good dollop of butter and coconut sauce (kaya).

After breakfast, we went for a traipse in the jungle. The land area that Mr. Tay had inherited is approximately 23 acres but we only walked for about half an hour.

We visited the carnivorous Nepenthes plant which comes in a lot more shapes and forms than I knew. From tiny ones that grow in grouped clusters on the ground to purple bowl-shaped ones to hanging trumpet-shaped ones, to plenty more variations. It is totally different to the ones we grow in Singapore or Peninsular Malaysia.

According to Mr. Tay, the juice collected at the bottom of the cup makes really good hair gel but we didn’t try.

Other plants we stumbled upon, the cancer-defying lingzhi mushroom, floating aquarium greens that is home to the infamous frogs, and a few glowing orange fungi on our boardwalk.

Nature trail time is over, we packed up and left Weston for a belly smacking good lunch at Beaufort.