Unlike our “play-by-ear” KK adventure, Kuching was pretty much pre-planned all the way. Day 5 was our day to explore the town and day 6 and 7, would be guided day trips with Henry (Thanks to the recommendation from Jason and Val). Day 8 would be last minute shopping before returning to Singapore.
As usual, I get up before the sun whenever I’m on holiday, and I love to explore the town to see it ‘wake up’. Morning view of the Kuching waterfront. HAZE…
I decided on taking the “Kuching” trail to see the 3 kuching statues along their Chinatown (Kuching is a Chinese town, so their Chinatown is pretty much just another street). This is the tacky, cliché tourist one. Everyone takes their picture here to prove they’ve been to Kuching (btw, Kuching is Malay for cat, but historians are still arguing about how Kuching got its name… certainly not because of cats)
I… WANT… TO… EAT… SOME… BBQ…
2nd tacky kitty statue.
This statue is actually the one leading into town, so it’s kind of like a ‘welcoming’ statue. There’s some story about it being donated by so-and-so, but I never really bothered to read it.
Did I mention I missed pork. Well this place had freshly butchered pork. No refrigeration to keep the meat chilled, no sanitary practices whatsoever. I feel suddenly hungry.
Breakfast was Pork Mee Special. A little liver, a little intestine, some stomach, prawns and fishballs. As Anthony Bourdain would say “ahh. The good stuff”
That’s the view from the room. Pity about the haze.
In Kuching, we pretty much had a rough idea of where to go and what to see. We had already grabbed maps and decided on following the ‘Kuching Heritage Trail’. Touristy I know, but heck. I’m a tourist. First stop was the ‘Tua Pek Kong’ temple. Supposedly the oldest temple in Kuching.
Lovely sign along the Waterfront Bazaar. Souvenir shops have taken hold of the shop houses here. Quaint little mom and pop shops that used to sell everything from furniture to toys to sundries have been converted to airconditioned tourist traps. Very much like Chinatown in Singapore. Everything’s been cleaned up and given a facelift. Unlike Singapore, most of the old world charm still exists. Behind the façade of the tourist store, you can still peer in and see what the shop used to be like. Very interesting stuff.
Day view of the Sarawak State Assembly (DUN) building.
The former courthouse. Currently the Sarawak Tourism Board HQ.
Pillar dedicated to the white Rajahs of Sarawak. (hit wiki if you wanna know more)
Doesn’t that look like some guard holding a spear on top of the fort? Like something out of the 19th century. Actually, it was some dude with a big straw hat repainting the roof.
SPICE!!!
From the top… Butter, Margarine and Ghee…
I know Kuching was not named after cats, but since I love cats, I had to visit the cat museum. It was mostly crap. Displays had no rhyme or reason. There were categories, but in all honesty, the curator was really stretching the theme. At least it was free.
The Astana. Will not bother with history lesson, go hit wiki or google.
View from the waterfront. That’s the Hilton where we stayed.
A really interesting temple we found along Carpenter street. The temple’s façade faced sideways towards the next shophouse instead of into the street.
It’s pretty easy to get around Kuching. And there are history lessons displayed pretty much everywhere. I did enjoy the Heritage trail and reading all the signs detailing the histories of the area/buildings. Educational, and more importantly, entertaining.
The Sarawak State Museum. I really liked the displays on the 2nd floor. Not so much the stuffed animals on the first floor. The stuffed animals were really creepy.
Ribbed.. for HER pleasure. I won’t say more. Just hit this
LINK
Another view of the Sarawak State Assembly (DUN) building.
Midin fried with belacan. Midin is a fern, harvested wild from secondary forests and it’s delicious. Its wonderfully crunchy even after cooking and it doesn’t have that horrid bitter taste normally associated with vegetable stems. I loved it.
As usual, I get up before the sun whenever I’m on holiday, and I love to explore the town to see it ‘wake up’. Morning view of the Kuching waterfront. HAZE…
I decided on taking the “Kuching” trail to see the 3 kuching statues along their Chinatown (Kuching is a Chinese town, so their Chinatown is pretty much just another street). This is the tacky, cliché tourist one. Everyone takes their picture here to prove they’ve been to Kuching (btw, Kuching is Malay for cat, but historians are still arguing about how Kuching got its name… certainly not because of cats)
I… WANT… TO… EAT… SOME… BBQ…
2nd tacky kitty statue.
This statue is actually the one leading into town, so it’s kind of like a ‘welcoming’ statue. There’s some story about it being donated by so-and-so, but I never really bothered to read it.
Did I mention I missed pork. Well this place had freshly butchered pork. No refrigeration to keep the meat chilled, no sanitary practices whatsoever. I feel suddenly hungry.
Breakfast was Pork Mee Special. A little liver, a little intestine, some stomach, prawns and fishballs. As Anthony Bourdain would say “ahh. The good stuff”
That’s the view from the room. Pity about the haze.
In Kuching, we pretty much had a rough idea of where to go and what to see. We had already grabbed maps and decided on following the ‘Kuching Heritage Trail’. Touristy I know, but heck. I’m a tourist. First stop was the ‘Tua Pek Kong’ temple. Supposedly the oldest temple in Kuching.
Lovely sign along the Waterfront Bazaar. Souvenir shops have taken hold of the shop houses here. Quaint little mom and pop shops that used to sell everything from furniture to toys to sundries have been converted to airconditioned tourist traps. Very much like Chinatown in Singapore. Everything’s been cleaned up and given a facelift. Unlike Singapore, most of the old world charm still exists. Behind the façade of the tourist store, you can still peer in and see what the shop used to be like. Very interesting stuff.
Day view of the Sarawak State Assembly (DUN) building.
The former courthouse. Currently the Sarawak Tourism Board HQ.
Pillar dedicated to the white Rajahs of Sarawak. (hit wiki if you wanna know more)
Doesn’t that look like some guard holding a spear on top of the fort? Like something out of the 19th century. Actually, it was some dude with a big straw hat repainting the roof.
SPICE!!!
From the top… Butter, Margarine and Ghee…
I know Kuching was not named after cats, but since I love cats, I had to visit the cat museum. It was mostly crap. Displays had no rhyme or reason. There were categories, but in all honesty, the curator was really stretching the theme. At least it was free.
The Astana. Will not bother with history lesson, go hit wiki or google.
View from the waterfront. That’s the Hilton where we stayed.
A really interesting temple we found along Carpenter street. The temple’s façade faced sideways towards the next shophouse instead of into the street.
It’s pretty easy to get around Kuching. And there are history lessons displayed pretty much everywhere. I did enjoy the Heritage trail and reading all the signs detailing the histories of the area/buildings. Educational, and more importantly, entertaining.
The Sarawak State Museum. I really liked the displays on the 2nd floor. Not so much the stuffed animals on the first floor. The stuffed animals were really creepy.
Another view of the Sarawak State Assembly (DUN) building.
Midin fried with belacan. Midin is a fern, harvested wild from secondary forests and it’s delicious. Its wonderfully crunchy even after cooking and it doesn’t have that horrid bitter taste normally associated with vegetable stems. I loved it.
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