Sue left yesterday afternoon for meetings in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, leaving me with an empty apartment and a new car to explore with. I started my day with a run in the opposite direction to my first run two days ago.
I headed towards the bridge that links the peninsula to the centre of Miri, passing en route a large and completely deserted housing estate owned by Shell. I ran into the estate, saying hello to several patrolling "auxiliary" policemen en route. None of them challenged my right to be there - old white blokes seem to have a free pass.
The estate is in idyllic pine woodland next to a palm-fringed and empty beach and is perfectly maintained - roads swept and hedges trimmed, although no one lives there anymore. Shocking when I think of how many people in Sarawak live in tumbledown shacks. But then multi-nationals like Shell have the money to do what they want and they always look after their assets.
On the return leg I ran into the Boat Club, an expat and wealthy Malaysian's watering hole within the Shell estate. Sue has been encouraged to join, but neither of us feel very comfortable in such an overtly privileged milieu. I didn't find any boats at the club apart from an old glass-fibre dinghy, but there is a great view of the beach. By the time I said "hello" to the security guard at the gate to Sue's complex I had a real sweat on and the sun was starting to burn my shoulders. It feels good to back in Borneo.
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