Photo Travel : Kuching, Sarawak | East Malaysia, Borneo

For today's Photo Travel it is about Kuching, Sarawak. Sarawak is the biggest state in Malaysia and it is located in Borneo which is a huge island on its own. To find out more about Kuching which is the capital city of the state of  Sarawak check out this Sarawak wiki link.

Let's get down to the pictures and I hope you will enjoy them.

[caption id="attachment_2553" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Postcards of the ethnic people of Sarawak: The Iban"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2554" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The Charles Brooke Memorial, Kuching"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2555" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Charles Brooke Memorial - The Iban Warrior"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2556" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Chinatown, Kuching"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2557" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The Old Court House, Kuching"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2558" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The General Post Office, Kuching Town"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2559" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Indian Mosque Lane, Kuching"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2560" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Masjid Bandar Kuching - The Indian Mosque in India Street, Kuching crammed amongst the shop lots"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2562" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The super old skool spice shop along India Street in Kuching"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2563" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Three prominent buildings/landmark in Kuching"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2564" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Boat cruise along the river at the Kuching Waterfront"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2565" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Bot Tambang at the river Kuching"][/caption]

 

7 Random Interesting, Quick Facts About Kuching, Sarawak

I'll make this a short intro or more like a no intro at all. So here goes the 7 Random Interesting, Quick Facts About Kuching, Sarawak that you may want to know and probably agree at how interesting they really are. Let's get on with it ...

• I overheard a remark made by a fellow Brit on our shared van to Kuching town which was “Kuching is WAY greener and cleaner than Penang Island”. That I totally have to agree hands down.

[caption id="attachment_2327" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A postcard picture of a cool dude of the ethnic people of Sarawak talking on the phone . This is yet another random interesting facts about Kuching, Sarawak. Mind you, Kuching is pretty urban and modern though, you don't get to see much of people dressing up like this in Kuching town. :)"][/caption]

• Kuching town center is pretty much 'walkable' provided that you walk around with good shoes, sunblock, sunglasses, hat/cap/umbrella because Kuching's heat is like “sweat dripping by the buckets kinda heat” and drinking up water throughout your 'walkabout around Kuching town' is a definite must!


• Main Bazaar Street is packed with shops after shops of Kuching's antiques and handicrafts. If you are into Arts and Galleries, it is a must to drop by “Artrageously Ramsayong Art Gallery” located at this Street. You must take a look at the intricate weavings of the bemban mats weaved by the local ethic people and appreciate the amount of effort being put behind the making of those intricately delicate and yes, outrageously beautiful mats.

[caption id="attachment_2328" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Bemban Mat with Aeroplane design"][/caption]

• Kuching Waterfront which has an awesome view of the Sarawak River is pretty interesting by night time and there will be a lot of food stalls opened in the evening too. Do watch out for a man dressed in traditional Iban attire (nothing much really, just a tiny little 'underpant' with a long piece of beautifully weaved cloth covering the front), with lotsa interesting tatoos too, playing a Sape ( something like a guitar) and it's totally live music. You can drop him some tips and enjoy listening to him play some excellent tunes with his Sape. Oh, he got things amped up a little bit because he'd plugged his Sape with an amplifier. So if you hear some sort of traditional music playing around the waterfront, go hunt for its source and you may find him there.

[caption id="attachment_2329" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Iban guy playing Sape at Kuching Waterfront * excuse the picture quality of my low pixel camera phone :)"][/caption]

• I've never seen this anywhere but only in Kuching where they actually sweep up the street along the waterfront using a huge, fallen tree leaf and at first I thought it was a joke, but no really, the cleaners who cleans up the fallen leaves use one of those huge tree leaf to sweep up the street. How more eco-friendly can you get than that? Way to go Kuching!


• Sarawakians are so nice, warm, chatty and friendly where you can literally smile and walk up to a person and have a nice conversation over things. Trust me they will be more than happy to talk to you and help you if you ask for any especially when they find out that you are out of town-ers.


• The people are so friendly they kept on asking if I was from Kuching which was really odd and there came to a point where a friendly old lady literally came up to me and striked up 'interesting yet partly interrogative questions about my A-C ...haha' . Also, the lady cleaner at the Kuching Waterfront was really nice she was part sweeper, part Kuching tour guide at least to me and really you will be very happy and all smiley when you are in Kuching or anywhere around Sarawak. The local people are really that nice! :)

Suffice to say that I'm really glad I've finally stepped foot at Kuching. Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia and of course, I'll go back down to Sarawak to explore more of the rainforests and the national parks. Hopefully, the next time around I'm down in Sarawak, I can learn up more Sarawakian slangs which I did learnt a few from the friendly 'old lady' and probably blend well with the locals again. It couldn't get any better when complete strangers simply open up to you during your travel. It makes traveling simply worthwhile.

Foodie Road Trip : Food You Must Have A Try While in Kuching, Sarawak

One major thing that I always seemed to look forward to during my travel is to hunt down for some of the best local cuisines and try them all as much as I could. One my first ever trip to Kuching, Sarawak about last month, I pretty much have some basic ideas on what are the food that you must have a try while in Kuching, Sarawak and listed below are some of the local dishes that I had tried, tasted and enjoyed in Kuching. So let's see what they are!

• Laksa Sarawak version Planet Sambal. Planet Sambal is a restaurant located at Jln Padungan which is "within walking distance" from let say Kuching Waterfront if walking is your thing and you seriously do not mind walking under the hot sun for about 40 minutes or probably more. Hehe. Yeah, I love to walk and it is so worth it to walk this far and accidentally bumped into this shop for a pretty good Laksa Sarawak. Although I was anticipating the curry to look curry-ish red instead of the one I had which was kinda greyish looking curry. The taste is excellent which is something I had never tasted before.  I could taste the distinct taste of the 'kerisik' - stir fry dessicated coconut and the laksa is very fragrance topped with generous amount of shrimps and other little bits of vegetables which is an excellent combo!

[caption id="attachment_2308" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Laksa Sarawak at Planet Sambal Kuching"][/caption]

• While in the restaurant, I saw a few locals eating this bowl of white gooey stuffs called Linut or Ambuyat which reminded me of sticky glue and I couldn't resist myself from not trying it out and so I ordered one for RM3.50, I think. It came in a pretty big bowl, it's all white and sticky, pretty tasteless, warm and I think it's best eaten warm and I had to ask the waiter how I should I eat it. Haha. So you just swirl the sticky sago around your fork and dip it with the sambal belacan and swallow it down your throat. I attempted a couple of swirls, dipped in sambal and swallowed hard and I rest my case. I would say, it was an interesting food to eat. Hmm...

[caption id="attachment_2309" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Linut or Ambuyat with sambal belacan"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2310" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="(bottom to top) Laksa Sarawak Biasa, Linut, Laksa Sarawak Special - Planet Sambal"][/caption]

•  Planet Sambal also have a new dish listed which is the Laksa Lobster Sarawak. I was stuffed with my Laksa Sarawak and the Linut, so I had to pass on this one although it really look tempting and delicious. You should try it out if you are in Kuching at least at Planet Sambal, Jln Padungan. :)

[caption id="attachment_2314" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Laksa Lobster from Planet Sambal"][/caption]

• The next day, during our breakfast hunt, we walked down along Bishop Street and found probably the only Malay coffee shop opened along the street and one of us ordered Laksa Sarawak. Look closely, you will notice that this version of the laksa is different from the one I had at Planet Sambal. I would say, this is very curryish and suited much better with our tongues. Or probably we are used to having this type of red curry Laksa before, hence we concluded that we prefer and like this version of the Laksa Sarawak. But still, I would suggest you to try out the Laksa at Planet Sambal because it sure is different.

[caption id="attachment_2315" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Yet another version of Laksa Sarawak located along the narrow street of Bishopgate"][/caption]

•  We also tried out on other seafood which are pretty cheap in Kuching comparatively to seafood prices back in KL. The picture below, I wanted to show you that I tried out what the local calls it as 'Midin' - a stir fried fern or for the rest of us Malaysians it's better known as 'Pucuk Paku'.

[caption id="attachment_2316" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Midin - some kind of 'fern' that is usually eaten stir-fried or in Malay it's called 'pucuk paku'"][/caption]

•  While at Sarawak Cultural Village, we went to this Sago processing area and out of the Sago flour, you can make this lovely, sweet, light cracker called Tebaloi. It's an excellent food for snacks.

[caption id="attachment_2317" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Tebaloi - Sago Crackers made from sago flour. Really yummy and great for a light snack."][/caption]

•  This is the famous Ayam Pansuh or Manok Pansuh - chicken cooked in bamboo which I didn't have the chance to try. Haha. Maybe next time though.

[caption id="attachment_2318" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ayam Pansuh or Manok Pansuh - chicken cooked in bamboo"][/caption]

Among other things you should have a try while you are in Kuching are these :

• Umai - A choice of either raw prawns or fish,  looks really yummy and the picture is beautifully captured by http://jamesjg.com/food-and-dining/umai

• Kek Lapis Sarawak - colourful, layered Sarawak cake. There are a lot of varieties and you can buy them best at Kampung Boyan. To get there take the 'bot tambang' at Kuching Waterfron for 5o cent one way to cross the Sarawak River towards Kampung Boyan. There will be shops selling a lot of these Kek Lapis there. You can also buy 'Terubuk Ikan Masin' - freshly salted fish from this area.

• Mee Kolok/ Kolo Mee - I haven't had the chance to try it but there are two version of this Mee Kolok - halal and non-halal.

• Fresh, cheap seafood at Top Spot Seafood Centre. There are a lot of stalls to choose from and the seafood centre is opened at night.

So there you go a list of food you must have a try while traveling in Kuching, Sarawak. That's a wrap for Foodie Road Trip as for now. :)

Rainforest World Music Festival 2011, Kuching Kicking Off Fri, July 8 2011

Oh yeah, the most anticipated Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF 2011) in Borneo - Kuching is kicking off tomorrow - Fri, July 8 2011.  I'll be flying down to Kuching tomorrow morning and I'm getting very excited! :)

It is going to be both my first time heading down to Kuching and joining the Rainforest World Music Festival. Double the excitements there ! I am expecting  to have a jolly good time throughout the three days event and hopefully I get to meet a lot of awesome, interesting people along the way too.

Another major thing to look forward to at the festival is the fact that  I'll be camping for three nights  in a row!  Man, you don't get to camp often, so I figured, why not be a true music festival go-ers and do it the best way which is to camp. I'm pretty sure fellow campers are really fun people to be around with. :)

For the love of music, discovering new cultures and traditions from the Sarawakians, stepping foot for the first time on another beautiful land of Borneo - Sarawak and for a good weather no matter what the weather forecast has predicted and yes, for a safe flight, good times and meeting interesting, unique and equally beautiful people, let's the party started tomorrow!

It's still not too late for you to come and join the rest of us at this Rainforest World Music Festival 2011. I will only get my festival tickets at the door so come on down to Kuching and join us from tomorrow until this weekend. The more the merrier, ya'll! If you are coming along, see you there!

 

 

 

Where Would You Prefer to Travel In Malaysia?

If you are a Malaysian traveler or more like a Malaysian who likes to travel, one of the most common goal for us is to travel to all 14 states in Malaysia. Personally, I have 2  more states ( Terengganu and Sarawak) to complete my personal  'cuti-cuti' Malaysia travel. I spent most of my growing up and adult years roaming mostly in the Peninsular Malaysia. It didn't occur to me to check out on East Malaysia or Borneo or simply put it as Sarawak and Sabah not until two years ago that I made my first trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. So the question now is, after having traveled to almost all states in Malaysia, where would I prefer to travel in Malaysia?

The answer to that will be Sabah and Sarawak! Yes, if given a choice to travel and discover more things in Malaysia, I would prefer to explore more of  Sabah and Sarawak or the Malaysian part of Borneo. I am going to list down the reasons why you and I should travel more to Sabah and Sarawak:

- When I was about 12, I had this teacher by the name of Dr.Mayala of an African descent who asked me where I was from and I told him I am from Malaysia. Dr. Mayala replied," Oh, that's Borneo right!" and I was like, "No, I don't live in Borneo".  At 12 years old my Geography was not that good, not that it is any better now and if only back then I could explain to him that a part of Borneo which is Sabah and Sarawak is a part of Malaysia which is the East Malaysia and I am from West Malaysia. Just in case you are a bit confused myself included, Borneo consists of three different countries which are Sabah-Sarawak of Malaysia, Brunei and Kalimantan of Indonesia and it is the third  largest island in the world.

So, the I'm trying to get here is non-Malaysian usually associate Malaysia to Borneo and unfortunately, the bigger part of Malaysians (people from the Peninsular Malaysia) have little knowledge of the other part of us Malaysians - the Sabahan and the Sarawakians. Imagine yourself going abroad and meeting fellow travelers who are non-Malaysians and most of them should have traveled down to Sabah/Sarawak and you will be utterly clueless of what they are trying to share with you because you are a Malaysian that have never been to Sabah and Sarawak. Ouch, that will be absolutely pathetic, really. Haha.

- I have to admit that my knowledge about Sabahan and Sarawakian are really limited even after having traveled to Sabah twice by now. There are something about people from Borneo that are uniquely different from us Peninsular Malaysians and the only way for you to discover more about them is to visit them in their home ground of course.

I have to say that people in Borneo are more welcoming, very friendly, helpful, down to earth and polite. Yes, I have to highlight polite! Haha! I think they sound polite because of their close to "Bahasa Baku' accent. If you are looking for something of a change from the typical Malay, Chinese and Indian people that we have in the Peninsular, you really should make sometime to discover the other larger part of Malaysians - the ethnic people of Sabah and Sarawak on their way of life and believe me, you will love them. :)

- Sabah and Sarawak are really huge. Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah the second largest state in Malaysia. You don't ever dream to discover Sabah or Sarawak from just a week's travel over there. I believe you will need months to discover both Sabah and Sarawak in one shot. So there is more than enough reason to travel more to the East of Malaysia.

- Both Sabah and Sarawak is a haven for an outdoor adventurer. I love the outdoors and with these two states you get to explore the beautiful sea, the ancient old rain forests, the unique animals only found in Borneo like the Orang Utans, Proboscis Monkeys, Borneo Pygmy Elephants to name a few, the majestic mountains and caves and jungles waiting for you to discover and explore.

From the people to the places - this part of Borneo is something worth traveling to in Malaysia and it will always be the preferred travel place of my choice in Malaysia. If you are a Malaysian, do make a point to travel there will you. We have cheap airfare now thanks to AirAsia so there is just no excuse to not get out, travel and explore more of our lovely country, Malaysia. So where do you prefer to travel in Malaysia? By any chance, will it be Sabah and Sarawak?