JUST TO SHARE (Lau Tai Onn): My Trip To Kuching, Sarawak

The blogger’s note: My wife Soh Ai and I went for a free-and-easy 4D3N trip to Kuching, Sarawak from Friday April 18 to Monday April 21, 2014. We booked our own AirAsia tickets, but the itinerary as well as the accommodation and transport for the trip were planned and arranged by my cousin brother Pan Mook Weng. He and his wife and 3 former colleagues of his were our tour companions.

Kuching is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. The city covers an area of 431 km² and has a population about 165,642 on the north, while 159,490 on the south.

This is my first visit to Kuching and, to be exact, also my first visit ever to East Malaysia. It turned out to be an unexpectedly enjoyable trip, many thanks to Pan's good work and genorisity in sponsoring our accommodation through redemption of his time-sharing holiday scheme membership points.

A detailed travelogue in Chinese language on this trip can be found in my other blog, namely http://lautaionn.blogspot.com/2014/04/20144_24.html for readers who can read Chinese.

As the saying goes, "a picture speaks a thousand words", the following photos and captions serve to give a brief account of the trip:

1. SIGHT-SEEING

Places visited or activities in chronological order were: Fairy Cave, Bao Ling Shan Temple, Wind Cave, Tasik Biru (Blue Lake), Siniawan Old Street, Kuching Waterfront, Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, Annah Rais Bidayuh Longhouse, Sarawak Ethnology Museum, Chinese History Museum, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Carpenter Street, China Street, India Street, Jalan Gambier, Main Bazaar, Sunset River Cruise, Cat Museum, Orchid Park, Damai Beach Resort, Sarawak Cultural Village (traditional houses of Malays, Melanau, Orang Ulu, Penan, Iban, Bidayuh and Chinese).

Fairy Cave takes its name from a stalagmite structure at the entrance that is said to resemble a Chinese deity, Kuan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy.

The cave is dark with gorgeous winding and steep cement steps.

The enormous cave entrance provides sunlight into the cavern which is massive.

Fairy statue and the supposedly collection of droplets of holy water in the Fairy Cave

Bao Ling Shan Temple with Buddha statue

Wind Cave named for the constant cooling breeze which blows throughout the cavern.

It is a series of three dark tunnel caves filled with insect-eating bats and their stinky guano. Underground streams run through the cave and boardwalks are available but they are not lighted hence the necessity to bring ones own torchlight.

Tasik Biru, a picturesque and mysterious artificial lake about 300ft deep. This place used to be a gold mine where Hakka miners excavated gold with simple tools, but later laid to waste when the gold ran out, forming an expansive lake from the rain water or underground spring.

Siniawan old town with vintage wooden shophouse buildings

A homestay hotel in Siniawan old town

Statues of cats, landmarks of Kuching, found just about everywhere based on a mistranslation of the city's name

Kuching Waterfront, which lines the south bank of Sarawak River, is THE place to sample the city's cosmopolitan vibes.

Scenic view of the State Assembly Building (DUN) at night

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre is home to a bunch of rescued or orphaned orangutans, and their offspring, including some gorgeous babies.

Semenggoh Nature Reserve where orang-utans live here and roam freely

Tourists gathered before the nine o’clock feeding to be briefed on the behaviour of the orang-utans – and given some tips on our own behavior: we are entering the orang-utans’ jungle and there are no fences. Don’t get any food out. Let go of your bag if an orang-utan grabs it. Don’t use tripods or walking sticks because they look like guns. Don’t stare orang-utans in the eye.

Tourists walked along a forest track for around five minutes and gathered on a wooden viewing platform, facing another wooden platform.

The most fierce big male orang-utan

Annah Rais Bidayuh Longhouse

The Sarawak State Museum is the oldest museum in Borneo. It was established in 1888 and opened in 1891 in a purpose-built building in Kuching. Sponsored by Charles Brooke, the second White Rajah of Sarawak, it is now called Ethnology Museum and houses various ethnic displays and historical items from Sarawak.

Chinese History Museum. A small colonial-era museum that used to be the courthouse for the Sarawakian Chinese, then the office of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. It now houses a small permanent exhibition of Kuching's many Chinese groups.

Tua Pek Kong Temple is the oldest Chinese temple in Kuching, built in 1843, and located strategically at the heart of Kuching. It was just at the opposite of Chinese Museum.

The largest and most kitsch Cat Statue is this huge white concrete version glaring at passersby with its paw raised. With blue eyes and often dressed in a top hat and waistcoat, or a big bow tie, the Great Cat was erected in 1990 and measures in at 1.5 metres / 5 feet in height.

Carpenter Street or Jalan Carpenter is an old street in Kuching. Due to its location, it is considered the backstreet to Main Bazaar, which acted as the main thoroughfare fronting the river. In the old days, Carpenter Street was called "attap street" because of the thatch houses on both sides. This was where carpenters set up their workshop, earning the street its name.

A facelift took place in 1884, by courtesy of a big fire that razed all the wooden houses along the street. Charles Brooke, the then White Rajah of Sarawak, issued a decree that henceforth the houses to be rebuilt with non inflammable material. This necessitated the construction of the more permanent brick shophouses along Carpenter Street, a few of them surviving till today. During those days, Carpenter Street was a lower working class neighbourhood filled with opium dens, gambling joints, brothels and other clandestine activities. These were eventually cleaned up by the British.

Today Carpenter Street marks the entrance to the Kuching Chinatown. There is a big Chinese archway here, and the shops stock the daily necessities of the local Chinese in Kuching.

India Street lined with shops selling all kinds of goods, particularly textiles

Going on board the Sarawak River Sunset Cruise

A cruise on the Sarawak River provides the unique insight of the riverine of the life of Kuching. One will see “tambangs”, small house-like boats used for ferrying locals across the river from the Malay Kampong built on stilts and also the fishing village. Also can be viewed are the Astana (former residence of the Rajah Brooke and now the Governor’s residence), Fort Margherita (built during the reign of Rajah Charles Brooke and now a Police Museum), Satok Bridge, the State Assembly building (a stunning building which stood majestic on the banks of the muddy Sarawak River), Malay village with their daily chores and towards the Sarawak Bureau Convention Center and etc.

Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building.

This is a nine-storey high building with a distinctive "payung" (umbrella) roof and an iconic landmark for Sarawak. Reinforced by nine gigantic pillars and numerous arches, the building reflects the sovereignty of the people’s power as well as the support of all the races in the state.

The Cat Museum has a large collection of cat memorabilia, since "Kuching" means "Cat" in Malay. The museum is located at Kuching North City Hall at Petra Jaya, on top of Bukit Siol. Cat lovers will find all range of exhibits, photos, feline art and cat souvenirs. Some interesting cat characters like Felix the Cat, and Garfield the Cat are also housed here.

Inside Orchid Park

Sarawak Cultural Village. Known as a local “living museum”, the village features the traditional buildings of the indigenous people of Sarawak.

Entrance to Sarawak Cultural Village

The model of the Sarawak Cultural Village

Malay house

Melanau house

Penan with blowpipe

Iban longhouse

Bidayuh longhouse

Chinese house

Waiting outside the theatre for the cultural show to begin

2. ENTERTAINMENT

Traditional dances performed in sequence by: Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu, Melanau and Malays

Welcoming dance by all natives of Sarawak

Iban dance

Bidayuh dance imitating the movement of eagles

Melanau dance

This was a talented Orang Ulu blowpipe hunter, who successfully shot darts at balloons from a distance.

An audience being asked to try the blowpipe shooting

Malay dance

Audience from the floor invited to participate in dancing on stage

Grand finale of the show

3. DINING

One of the most popular seafood stall in Top Spot Food Court

Sweet-flavoured prawns

Fish with tamarind sour sauce

Bottom left dish was bamboo clams in curry, while the top left was Sarawak’s famous wild fern, midin served with belacan

Red Bean Ice (Air Batu Campur)

Foo Chow Mee

Nasi Goreng Kampung

Chicken Fried Rice

4. ACCOMODATION

4-star Grand Margherita Hotel

4-star Damai Beach Resort

Sea-view from the guestroom balcony

5. SOLO & GROUP PHOTOS

The only group photo of all seven of us in this trip to Kuching

A pose with my cousin Pan Mook Weng (pic left)

A pose with a Penan man

‘Passport’ for collection of village stamps from the various houses.

All village stamps collected on our 'passports'

6. SHOPPING

Sarawak pepper has gained international recognition by chefs and gourmets as one of the most favourite pepper ingredients due to its distinctive flavour and taste perfected through years of government funded agro-research.