Something to Declare

Post No. 8. If it’s Thursday (redux), we’re still in Borneo

Thursday, March 23. Yesterday’s post should have referred to Wednesday, not Thursday (the time differences are confusing). After arriving in Borneo on Thursday late morning, we had a city tour of Sandakan, the main city of the State of Saba. First stop was the Puh Jih Syh Buddhist Temple, welcoming us with cheery swastikas. No anti-Semitism intended. We were told that the swastikas (an older Indo-European symbol) were counter-clockwise, not the clockwise swastikas co-opted by the Nazis).

The four points of the “running cross” refer to the ancient view of the “four elements,” i.e., Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

Then on a City tour of Sandakan, a view of the Sim Sim water village (houses built on concrete stilts over the water, dating from 1881).

We visited the Agnes Keith House, formerly the home of an American author, married to a Brit, known for her three autobiographical accounts of life in British North Borneo. The house is a memento of British colonialism, where we had High Tea, including scones and clotted cream, and cucumber sandwiches. (Channeling our inner Brit ‘colonizer.’

After that, to the Sepilok Nature Resort, our accommodations for one night.

The next day (Friday) promises more jungle, wildlife, and nature.