Cat City - Day 2

Day two in Cat City started with a nutritious bowl of kueh chap. Little boy liked it too. If you don't know what that is, see my earlier post, or do a google. That little stall selling kueh chap near the church, is much more delicious than the one Auntie Liz recommended in KK. Irene had curry mee, which was just ok.

We walked to the Waterfront again. There were some interesting blacksmith shops along the way. Since it was still early in the morning, most other shops were still closed.

The plan for the morning was to get across the river to see Fort Magherita. To get across the river, you'll have to hop on one of those little sampans, for a fee of 30 sen per person (so cheap hor). You get to chose from HOTLINK sampans...

And DIGI sampans.

Being a 019 user, I wanted to take a CELCOM sampan, but there were none to be found. Obviously the Sarawak River is not CELCOM territory.

After getting off the jetty, we walked into a little village, then passed a school, walked along some trails, and came to a police station. There were some interesting police vehicles on display. Probably vehicles used during zaman komunis or zaman britis, now retired and pancit. Little boy had fun with those macho machines.

The Fort was just beside the police station. Don't know much about it's history. I suppose it was used to cannon-fire headhunter boats during an era long passed. Sad to say, the Fort was quite run down. No proper maintenance, overgrown with lalang. And see that humongous structure that they're building in the background? That's going to be the new State Assembly building. Don't know how it's going to look when completed, but I would say for now, it spoils the skyline of the Kuching River only.

Don't you think this will be a good place to shoot a horror movie?

As we went back to the jetty, our HOTLINK boatman was already waiting for us. We had earlier agreed to go with him on a short Kuching river tour, to make up for the Sunset Cruise that we missed out.

Seeing Kuching River on a sampan. Not as cool as on a real cruise, but will make do. Cut cost ma.

Nice leh.

Little boy enjoyed the boat ride too.

After the 30-minute boat ride, we were back at the Waterfront.

The place was still quite deserted. And it was getting hot.

Little boy did not seem to mind though. He was having fun running around, and falling down.

From there we walked to the Tourist Info Center at the Court House complex across the road. Had to pay for our lodging at Bako. The staffs there have lots of info to offer. Then made a short visit to the Textile Museum nearby.

Walked on towards the Merdeka Palace Hotel. Edwin said it's the most expensive hotel in Kuching. The Agong and whatsoever VIPS stayed there when Merdeka celebration was held in Kuching. The hotel lobby certainly looked grand and classy.

Our destination was the Sarawak Museum, just beside Merdeka Palace. We're wierd people, who visit museums while on holiday. For the uninformed, there are more than 10 museums around Kuching for museum geeks who are interested.

The museum building was really beautiful.

Tried to take some photos without flash. But the guards still noticed. Bummer. Wonder why they don't allow people to take photos in museums. Their displays are so cool. Even got two giant whale skeletons in full length.

Edwin caught up with us after the museum. We checked out from the church, had a quick lunch, and headed for our next destination: Bako. Edwin joined us for the trip. He needed a break from crazy hospital work and city life.

Kampung Bako is about 30 minutes away from Kuching. That's were tourists hop onto boats to get into the Bako National Park.

Little boy got very scared of his first speed boat ride, clinging on to mummy for help. It was a nice but bumpy boat ride.

That's Mount Santubong if I am not mistaken.

We arrived at Bako National Park after 40 minutes or so. It was about 3 pm already.

Not having much time to spare before sunset, we quickly checked into our jungle chalets, and went for trekking. Little boy stayed in the room with mummy. I tak larat carry him.

The brochures claimed that Bako was teeming with wildlife. Well, there were not many that we saw. There were a couple of these proboscis monkeys, a big 'tame'boar that came looking for food in the evening, and that was about it.

There are many treks in Bako to be explored. Some could be reached within half an hour, others, half a day. Since we did not have much time, we chose the Teluk Pandan Kecil trail, which apparently have the best beach in Bako.

The interesting thing about Bako is, the vegetation changes very dramatically. One moment you could be walking through open low forests like this.

The next moment you could be struggling through dense rain forest. Really cool!

Here we are at the cliff overlooking Teluk Pandan Kecil, after a 45-minute trek.

Nice ka? So so ler. So quiet punya beach.

On the way back, did a side trek to Teluk Paku. Another beach, even less impressive. Then, we walked back to Bako HQ to enjoy the sunset.

Had dinner at the HQ canteen. Then settled for an early night rest. Haven't been doing exercise for a long long time. Got really tired out by the trek.

Cat City - Day 1

We were in Kuching last weekend.

Actually I have been to Kuching a couple of times. Been to most of the tourist attractions already. Even spent 2 weeks there in a stretch when attending a kursus induksi a few years back. Anyway, Irene and Ryan haven't been there, so we booked low cost tickets to Kuching back in February. An excuse to get away from work also la.

Planning a holiday trip with little boy was a new experience. Spent some time on the Net looking for places of interest and accomodation. Quite different from my previous travels during bachelor times... would just land in town and find whatever hotel available.

It was great that my old coursemate+housemate Edwin who's working in Kuching GH offered to fetch us around and be our tour guide. Thanks so much!

Landed in Cat City on Friday afternoon. Edwin fetched us from the Kuching Airport. I've got to say the airport is really nice. But forgot to take photos to show la. It smelled new, looked modern, and was very spacious. Emm, I'll show you the airport photo later, taken on our way home.

We went to check in at our "hotel". Church to be exact. It's the Anglican Diocesan Guesthouse. WHAT? STAY IN A CHURCH??? Yup, you read it right.

Well, didn't fancy the idea of spending lots of money for a 4 or 5-star hotel. Just needed a comfortable place to sleep for the night, since we're outdoor most of the time. Bored of hotel rooms, so typical, so lifeless. Wanted something with more "character". And so... we booked this guesthouse in a church, hoping it will turn out fine. Hehehe.... By the way, the locations is great (saw on Wikimapia). Less than a hundred meters from the Kuching water front.

The Anglican Guesthouse turns out to be a pleasant surprise. I must show you the photos. For a start, it's SPACIOUS. Even comes with an aircon.

It comes with an attached little KITCHEN.

And that place exudes CHARACTER. Felt like we're staying in a museum. OK the furnitures are a bit worn out. But hey, that's what make antiques. LOL!

Upstairs, it's even MORE SPACIOUS. Those are the smaller rooms with two beds, no aircon. Since the place was empty, we got the whole area to ourselves.

The wierd thing is, I am pretty sure a place like this appeared in my dream some time ago. Gave me some creeps. If you ask people who know the place long enough, sure got some ghost stories to tell.

After a quick bath and some rest, we went exploring the nearby Waterfront.

There was this Sunset River Cruise we wanted to try out initially. But the ticket price of RM 65 per person, without dinner lagi, really put us off. Not worth it, we thougth. So, took photo only la.

Didn't manage to eat lunch earlier. Looked around for a nice makan place around the Waterfront, but there were hardly any. Finally found this Little Lebanon restaurant that serves Mediteranean food at the Court House building. Food was so so, but the atmosphere was pretty cool. They've got those fruit flavoured smoking pot... forgot the name already.

The Kuching Waterfront was quite quiet. Not many tourists, not even locals. Dunno why. The last time I was there, there were lots of people lepak-ing around at dusk. Little boy was having a good time trying out his newly found walking skills around the Waterfront.

Ahh, it's sunset scenes like this that gives the Kuching River its charm. Now imagine the British Rajah Brooke looking out from his fortress, khaki troops patrolling the riverside, and boats carrying tattooed headhunters and livestocks cruising along the river. Stuffs like that make the orang putihs crazy about Sarawak.

It gets pretty romantic, walking along the Waterfront as the sun goes down, and the breeze cools up. There were some stalls selling handicrafts, and a couple of simple eating places.

We went to have a look at those posh hotels along the Waterfront, such as the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza... enquired about the prices. Emm, expensive la. Did some shopping at Parkson. And then went back to our "hotel" for a good night's rest.

His name is David

This guy, no, this boy, is gonna win American Idol 2008. Mark my word.

Chinese New Year 2008

Have not been updating this blog for quite some time. During Chinese New Year, a wonderful couple came over to our place at Kingfisher Ujana... only to find a deserted house and a missing car... hehehe, we were far away across the South China Sea. And so came the prompting to update this blog.

Didn't had much interesting thing to share. Nah. Was facing some difficult time adjusting to the working environment at a different workplace... and some other things troubling me. Just didn't have the mood to do anything.

Time really flies. Felt like New Year's day was just over, and now we're into the second month of 2008. Looking at the new year resolutions that I made on ushering in 2008... hmm seems like not much progress. How about you?

Anyway, we came back from Seremban today. Had a long Chinese New Year break. 10 days! I say this again, time flies. Before we know it, it's time to go back to work.

We flew back to Seremban two Saturdays ago. Went on Malaysia Airlines (MAS) tickets. Came to about RM 1200 per person. Multiply that by two person and a kid... Actually, I was using the free two-yearly government return-home flight tickets la. Couldn't afford flying MAS with money from my own pocket. Even then, had to pay a bit, coz Little Boy did not exist yet when the tickets were issued, and some charges were added.

Did not go back to Seremban for Chinese New Year last year, coz Irene was not fit for air travel as Little Boy was almost due to see this world.

This is Ryan's first trip to his grandparent's home in Seremban. He has never seen the house where his daddy grew up. As usual, he was very excited. Lucky little fella, he has flown twice to West Malaysia even before he reaches one year old. He tolerated the flight pretty well. Didn't cry much. Slept through most of the journey, and disturbed other passengers while he was awake.

Spent the rest of the evening recovering from jet lag (huh?). Mum brought us to the nearby Jusco for some last minute Chinese New Year shopping. Wow, we were greeted with the Jusco sales - discounts up to 70%! And they were open till midnight!

More shopping the next day. Went to mum to KL. Little boy got to see his little cousin Aden, who are staying in Petaling Jaya. Then, it was more shopping at Sunway Pyramid and Midvalley.

On Monday, brought my mum, Irene and Little Boy up to Genting Highlands. It's a first time for Irene and Ryan. Wanted to go somewhere cooling, and Genting is the nearest hill resort. The few days before Chinese New Year was low season, so we managed to get very good room rates online. We booked a triple room at Theme Park Hotel, with buffet breakfast, for only RM 98.88.

Though it's a bit far from the main "attraction" in Genting, but can't complain la, since we got a nice room with a view like this.

For those of you who have never been to Genting Highlands... well to sum it up, it's a very easily accesible (only about 45 minutes away from KL) hill resort with plenty of entertainment facilities for children (outdoor and indoor theme parks) and adults ($$$ Casino, concert hall). Have not been there since uni days. We used to joke about people who go to the casino... 'going to donate money to Uncle Lim (Goh Tong) ah?'.

Here's the outdoor theme park. Didn't enter la. Little Boy is still too small for those rides.

And here's the Water Park. Nice places to keep the children occupied all day (they sell unlimited rides tickets) while the parents are busy trying out their luck at Uncle Lim's place.

It was cold even during day time. Clouds came in and chilly winds blew. We had to wear jackets to keep warm. In conjuction with Chinese New Year, the workers made lots of effort to beautify the place.

Flowers in full bloom! Feeling like being in paradise. Little Boy enjoyed the cold weather very much even though he was shivering.

Brought Irene and Little Boy to try out the Genting Highlands cable car. I remembered enjoying the trip very much the last time I tried it. Spanning 3.4 km, Genting has the longest and fastest cable car in South East Asia.

Irene was a bit nervous, but Ryan looked really bored.

We thought there wasn't much to do at the lower cable car station. And we were in for some pleasant surprises. Firstly, there was this exhibition of wierd creatures... some of them look like monsters coming from an Ultraman movie. Only noticed the no-photography sign at the end of the exhibition, ehem...

Then there was this wonderful shop that was selling a crazy selection of dried fruits, sour plums, cuttlefish, candies and cookies... with free sample of EVERYTHING on display. Wow, I had a good time there. (And came home with a stomachache).

Back to Genting Highlands. Even after the sun sets, there is still the Indoor Theme Park to keep you entertained (and your wallet drained).

On Chinese New Year eve, my brother and his family came back to Seremban to join us. In the evening, we drove back to Malacca, our hometown. Many of my father's relatives are staying in Malacca. Going back to Malacca for CNY has been an annual pilgrimage for as long as I can remember. We used to even stay overnight when we were little kids.

We had our reunion dinner in a restaurant. In the past, we had steam-boat at my uncle's house. But it has become quite a task to prepare food for twenty-plus hungry adults, so the eat-out at a restaurant has become the annual affair. It's time for Low-Yee-Sang, a bit of alcohol, and catching up with the latest stories

On the first day of Chinese New Year, we drove to Malacca again after lunch. We had the yearly gathering at my deceased granduncle's house. There is now a whole generation of distant cousins that I can hardly name. Back in those years, their parents were just teenagers.

This year, I made an effort to search for satay-celup, a delicacy which I've not eaten for more than ten years. It's quite like a steamboat, but the soup is replaced with a thick and rich bean sauce quite similar to the satay sauce. I was lucky. They were open for business as usual, holiday or not. We drove back to Seremban later at night.

Having enough of travelling, the next couple of days were spent hanging out at home, resting to the max, and eating mum's delicious home-cooked food. Had some friends and relatives dropping by our place, and did some visiting as well.

Really tak biasa. In the past, I used to get hundred plus ringgit of angpau money. This year, Little Boy gets the angpaus, and I am the one giving.

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

To see more photos, click HERE.