West Timor 15

Expediting Kupang

Day 15: 25th March 2006
It’s my brother’s 25th birthday and well…I was in Kupang, unable to celebrate the day with him.

Anyway, it’s our 2nd last day here in Kupang/Penfui/Matani. We all got up bright and early and after breakfast, we were packed into Pak Budi’s car and of course, the trusty Kijang. We headed to the Governor’s office and duh, meet the governor.


Didn’t have any other photos of our meet-the-governor session. However, this was taken in the building. And yes, all of us were wearing this orange polo shirt.

We went back to the hostel to change and then again in the Kijang, Pak Budi’s car and a jeep driven by Pak Lief, we were brought to a fruit plantation and had a great time goofing around and eating oranges. Damn freaking sour oranges.


Okay…I didn’t have any pictures that showed us in a fruit farm. Damn.

After the plantation, we went to a very poor village and distributed some clothes to the villagers. Oh, they were so happy to get clothes from us. Even though the clothes were not exactly new, they treated the garb like they were made from the finest threads. Humbled. I was very humbled.


Giving out clothes to the villagers.

As we were leaving, this old woman began to dance happily, wearing her newly acquired clothes. Wow, she was THAT happy.

After lunch, we slacked for a while and interacted with the helpers who had been with us since Day 1…feeding us damn well. They were so nice to us and when we were out, they would clean our dirty shoes and stuff. When I was sick, they even massaged my back. Would miss them so so so much. I was particularly fond of Ibu Ani…a very very sweet woman and of course, Anis, our honorary SF member.

Oh…I gave Ibu Ani my soft blanket and my Elle make-up bag. Don’t ask me why I brought my Elle make up bag to Kupang. Zip it.







In the afternoon, I, along with Weixiang, Marinah, Yihao and Shuxiang went to the orphanage for the very last time. We had to see the kids one last time before we left Kupang.


That’s Ako behind the tree. We were chasing chickens and then, that little bugger got tired of chasing chickens and decided to chase geese. The geese, in turn, chased me. I was screaming my head off and desperately trying to get away. Why? Geese pecked violently, that’s why!








We eventually left the kids…after much, much hesitation.


The walk back to the hostel was definitely sad for me. Though my dislike for kids is legendary, somehow, I have grown kind of attached to these little tykes.

Oh well.

In the evening, again we were whisked off to some place for a farewell party. The Chinese Clan and the Rotary Club had organised a sending-off party for us. Well, honestly I didn’t have a good time. I was sad and tired and well, I felt a bit used. The people there were using us to entertain themselves. It’s hard for me to describe it here…because urgh, most of the time, they were the ones enjoying themselves. Most of us were too tired to participate and besides, we had better fun talking to the helpers who came along with us.

We did, though, a performance. Together with the helpers, we sang Boleh Le Boh (a traditional Timor song) and Kapan-Kapan. Apart from that, we were made to sing our national anthem (and they made fun of us!) and we also threw in a Chinese song…Guan Huai Fang Shi (remember that mushy crap?)

By this time, I was coughing my ass off. I was seriously sick.

The party ended past midnight and after that, we all dragged ourselves back to the hostel. It was packing time.

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