When Iliya, my eldest girl, told me she was posted to Entilibon, in my mind was,”what? Where is it?” but I managed to congratulate her first, and then only asking where the place was. Congratulating her is a must, because it shows that she has a career, one that she chooses, and on another part, God has placed her in the best place for now, because that’s what I have been asking for, though on the surface it doesn’t seem so.
For those of you who are in the dark as I was initially,
Entilibon is a remote village that lies 12km from a small town called Telupid.
Telupid is a two hours and thirty minutes’ drive from Sandakan, and roughly
four hours from Kota Kinabalu, which implies that it is in Sabah.
That was two weeks or so before the date she was supposed to
report for duty on the 20th January. On the nite of the 18th, we, me
and my wife + Iliya, arrived in Sandakan and stayed there for two nites,
visiting the Orang Utan and Beruang Matahari Sanctuaries as well as a visit to
Agnes Keith House and later at nite to the pasar malam by the seaside, and
buying stuffs for Iliya.
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| ERL Station Salak Tinggi |
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| Sandakan, we are here!! |
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| Kg Air |
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| Sun bear |
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| Sepilok's Orang Utan |
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| Signing in |
It took us slightly more than an hour to get there. We had lunch consisting of nasi kukus ayam berempah @ Sabah version, before continuing our journey straight to Entilibon. The road heading to the interior parts of Sabah was quite okay although there were constructions happening here and there for the Pan Borneo project. Hopefully in a year or two, this road will be completed. The drive was a pleasant one since not much traffic was on the road. Left and right was virgin jungle almost all the way. But palm oil estates were abundant too. I regret for not taking photos. Guess I was so focused on my driving then. Once there, we viewed the room where she would stay so that we would know what to buy in order to set up the room and make it feel a little homely. The room is in a quarters within the clinic’s vicinity. After a while, we went to our rented homestay somewhere in between Telupid and Entilibon.
The homestay looked very minimum at best, but it was clean, had two rooms complete with air conditioner units, a living with a smart tv and a kitchen with freezer and kitchen utensils, and a bathroom. Very practical.
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| before |
That nite, and the days and nites that followed, we had our meals at Telupid. Telupid is a small town, dusty with potholes here and there. But it has all the basic amenities and shops. There are banks, grocery stores, mamak restaurant that operates 24/7, Tealive, KFC, market, restaurants, bundle stores, hardware shops and the lots. Which means it is adequate to get your supplies in order to live life peacefully and without the hustle and bustle of city life. And the pace of life too is very relaxed. I noticed this when I was driving to and fro Telupid. Everyone drove at a slow and steady speed, as if nothing to worry and to rush for. Not much work was seen during my four nites’ stay there. Probably because the local people lived as farmers, and did odd jobs now and then. By the way, from Entilibon to Telupid is a 12km straight road journey. And another regret too because no photo’s available.
For Iliya’s room, we painted it just like her room at home, put up new curtain, albeit temporarily, bed, desk and chair, closet and wardrobe table, freezer, a stand-fan. Simply put, the makeover was very obvious. Everything was new. I wanted her to be comfortable, though it can never be compared to home sweet home lah, to have all the basic facilities and stuffs, and not to miss home so much, especially so for these coming couple of weeks or perhaps months, until she really settles down.
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| after |
After staying in Sabah for six days, it was time to leave
for home. With a heavy heart. I felt sad to leave Iliya there, but knowing that
Allah knew best, I offered her my prayers and words of encouragement to lift
her spirit. Fighting!!
It has been eleven days since she is there. I know she is
strong girl, a resilient one, and she can persevere being there. All she needs
is to find comfort. Hopefully the basic stuffs prepared for her there can help
to ease her days and to keep her company and happy for now. Nevertheless, once
she realizes it, her rest and contentment and comfort, are within herself @ in
her heart.
Papa will always pray for your well-being and happiness forever.
Because you will always be my lil girl.
hope to visit you again, inshaAllah.
And now from afar, I send you my prayer and endless love. 🤍
