Kuching Tour

Kuching Tour

Day 5, (last day) 7 / 5 / 2011

9.30 am. After breakfast we drove to UNIMAS to have a brief tour of the campus. We were quite impressed with the golf course at the entrance to project a nice feeling for the visitors. The buildings were of modern architecture and the lake garden area was also well landscaped. We drove back to town to visit Dayang Salha Layer cake factory which was located just over the opposite bank. We did some last minute shopping at the Bazaar for souvenirs before checking out at 1.30 pm. We returned the rented car at the Airport at 2.00 pm and took off at 3.00 pm, touched down at Penang at 5.00 pm. leaving sweet memories of the Cat City.

Crossing the Sarawak river by boat - fare RM0.50 per head ( one way )

Sampling many varieties of layer cake.

We got what we wanted

Symbol of the Cat City

A sape nicely framed

Kuching Tour

Kuching Tour

Day 4, 6 / 5 / 2011

We rented a Proton Wira for two days and drove around with the help of GPS. After breakfast we drove to Bako National Park jetty point where we parked the car and took a boat ride to Bako National Park. The boatman was willing to take us for a cruise to see sea-stacks with an extra charge. We spent four hours in the park, walking around looking for animals and jungle trekking. We saw a monitor lizard and a big wild boar roaming around the park HQ area searching for food. Connie and I took a short trail along the coast which took us two hours to and fro. On the way we spotted three proboscis monkeys. After an exhaustive walk, we had a good rest and had lunch at the park cafe before the boatman took us back to the jetty at 3.15 pm. We drove back to town and rested in the hotel room until dinner time.

Boat ride to the Bako National Park

A sea stack with an interesting shape.

A family of proboscis monkeys

The lonely wild boar

Kuching tour

Kuching tour

Day 3, 5/5/2011

9.15 a.m. After breakfast we had a van and driver ready to take us to Semenggoh Wildlife Sanctuary to see orangutans. Yu – N did not come along because he attended the Imagine cup competition at Pullman hotel. By the time we reached there at about 10.00 a.m. there was already a crowd, mostly whites, busy taking pictures of Richie and his family ( 4 or 5 ), some feeding and some swinging from tree to tree. Next we visited the Jong’s Crocodile farm cum mini zoo nearby. Besides crocodiles there were many species of animals like sun bear, otter, civet cat, cassowary ( a flightless bird), arapaima ( a giant fish species from the Amazon ). At 11.00 am. it was “show time” where many hungry crocodiles in a pond were made to jump for a chicken hung above on a cable. To some this show was amusement but to me, this was real cruelty to animals. We left the crocodile farm at 12.00 noon to Bau for lunch. We visited two caves, the Wind caves and the Fairy caves. Since it would be difficult to explore with the two little boys, we satisfied ourselves by just taking a look at the entrances. On the way back to Kuching we visited a pottery, a factory making mainly ornamental vases, a bird nest processing factory and the Sarawak museum. We arrived at hotel at 4.00 pm. completely tired out and enough of touring for the day. After rested we treated ourselves with a nice dinner at “Top Spot” restaurant.

Richie enjoying his feed.

They must be Richie’s kids, still young and playful.

Handsome cassowary – a flightless bird

Poor crocodile : “How to jump so high ?”

Entrance to the Wind caves

Kuching Tour

Kuching Tour

Day 2 4 / 5/ 2011

This was the first breakfast we had in hotel. There was a good spread of food and varieties of Western, Oriental and local delights. After breakfast we had a package tour to the Cultural Village at Santubong from 10.00am. – 1.00 pm. The Sarawak Cultural Village Tour featured different models of Longhouses of Sarawak natives – Bidayuh, Penan, Iban, Orang ulu, Melanau besides traditional Malay house and Chinese farm house. The best attraction of the tour was the cultural dance performance telling stories of happenings in their daily living with nice music accompaniment. We had lunch in the village cafe savouring some local delights like kolo mee and laksa. Our tour guide cum driver took us to Damai Beach Resort for a brief view of this beautiful resort hotel before sending us back to town. After resting awhile we took Justin by taxi to see a doctor for body rashes. We had a bus ride back to town and had dinner in a Chinese hawker store while waiting for the rain to stop. We took a short walk back to hotel shielding ourselves from the drizzle with an umbrella and 2 raincoats. What an adventurous evening !

Justin watching Grandma pounding rice.

An Iban lady demonstrates the weaving of a traditional dress.

An orang ulu playing the sape

Angie climbing up a multi-storey Melanau house with Justin.


Connie demonstrates how to grind wet rice powder using a set of “mor”

Connie demonstrates how to carry a pair of “lor ”

“Justin, would you like to sleep on this cradle ?”

Cultural dance performance

A Simple and Happy Anniversary

1st April 2011

Connie and I were ‘foolish’ enough to get married on 1st April 1973. This 1st April 2011 was our 38th Wedding Anniversary. Since everyone was home, it was a good opportunity to take a family photo for remembrance. After singing and cake cutting ceremony, we all enjoyed ourselves over a tiramisu.

Everyone was struggling to maintain a smile for an auto ‘timed’ shot except Rosalie. She ‘seemed’ to be busy reminding grandpa to look in front while Gabriel gor gor trying hard to attract her attention to look in front.

Kuching Tour

Kuching Tour, 5D4N (3rd – 7th May 2011)
Tour group consisted of Yu – N, Angie, Julian, Justin, Connie and yours truly, Christopher.

Day 1 – 3 / 5 / 2011
Took off by AirAsia from Penang International Airport at 10.00 a.m. and touched down at Kuching International Airport at 12.00 noon. We took taxi to town and checked in our Hotel, Grand Margherita.
After lunch we rested in the room from 3.00-5.00 pm because we were quite reluctant to walk around town under the hot sun, while Yu – N , Angie and their 2 kids went for a boat ride.
We all went for a river cruise from 5.30 – 7.00 pm. to admire the nature and culture view on both sides of the river. The leisurely cruise gave us a good view of this Cat City with many high rise buildings and famous landmarks like the Dewan Undangan Negeri, Astana, Chief Minister’s residence, Fort Margherita, etc. There was also a solo cultural dance performance by the orang ulu tribe depicting a hunting trip with a blowpipe. Cordial drink and layer cake were served on board. The cruise ended just as the sun bid us farewell for the day with a splendid display of its beautiful rays perfectly blended with the cloud. We called it a day after dinner at Ipoh Town Kopitiam (in Kuching not in Ipoh.)

The Cruise Boat - EQUATORIAL

Blowpipe dance

Beautiful sunset scene

A panorama of the Sarawak river view
Sarawak State Assembly on the left bank, Kuching City on the right bank.