Travel Journal - Back to Sandakan in the search for white rabbit sweets

 

After lunch we decided to head back to Sandakan, so that I could look for some white rabbit sweets to take home.

Trevor and I used to love these sweets, but haven't been able to find them in the UK. Apparently they're quite common in Malaysia, so I thought it would be nice if I could bring them back for Trev.

 

So Florence and I dropped my brother off at his favourite spot while we popped to a few shops.

I was well chuffed to find the sweets as well as some sour plum powder, which beautifully compliments crispy chicken with five spices with a squirt of lime juice!

 

There are so many little things my sister-in-law did to make my stay as enjoyable as possible. Little things like taking me to a different shop to buy a cup of lime juice for me to try as I'd really been enjoying the local lime drink with sour plum at the bottom.

 

We arrived to my brother with a table full of drinking buddies.......aaargh......not again.....

 

Anyway, a few hours later we headed home. My brother, began speaking about his first marriage, and some of the dreadful things that had happened. I could tell he was really struggling to talk about it and my heart broke for him. I had always referred to her as pyscho-Debbie.......but, gee whiz, that truly was the case. And I know there are always two sides to every story, but, my crumbs, I am pleased he is no longer in that relationship.

And I am grateful he has found someone as kind as Flo, and that she accepts him as he is.

I'm not sure I could because he just has such a sharp tongue and strange way of treating people, and Trevor showed me a different way a long long time ago, and I personally wouldn't stand for that. But that is me.

 

And I find it quite insulting that Karl has said I am a very soft person, in a bad way. Yes, I probably should be harder, BUT I would rather be soft as I am than be rude and hurtful to people. That is the choice I have made.

I agree that I need to stand up for myself more, and I need to be brave in speaking my mind, and not bottling things in.

But I chose not to be hard; I chose to be soft.

 

We finished off my last night in Borneo Malaysia by singing some Afrikaans karaoke at home......no, I'm not joking!

My brother is actually pretty good.....Afrikaans music suits his voice. And again, Florence has learned many of the words to the songs and sings with him....really sweet.