Monday, February 20, 2012
Kuching the Miao Miao Land
6 of us took Airasia to Sarawak Kuching for a long stay from 8th to 14th January. It's really fortunate to have friends from Kch to host us and bring us around. Kch is a peaceful and quiet city charaterised by lots of well-preserved heritage buildings, small shop lots and plenty of roundabouts. You will be surprised to see HUGE roundabouts, with housings in the middle. Mother of roundabouts! Win hands down. Imagine yourself telling your friend over the phone you stay at the roundabout. HAHA.
Kolo mee is the best noodle i have ever tasted in my life. It is the specialty in Kch and there's many versions of it. I wish i could have Kolo mee for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Midin and Manicai are also my favourite local dishes. There's one night when we had dinner at one of the seafood restaurant at Damai Beach. They served Bamboo Clams, which my dear friend claimed to be crunchy. gg. epic friend is epic xD
The most enjoyable moment for me in Kch was the walk in Sarawak Cultural Village. We got to appreciate the life and housing of different races living there. The staircase of the long house is so simplistic that it is nearly impossible to climb without the handle. I guess noob people like us will just jump down from the second floor during emergencies. The cultural dance performance was spectacular and it lasted for an hour in the auditorium. The pipe blowing skill of the Iban has left a great impression on me. The eagle dance, which put most of my friends to sleep, amazed me with their graceful footwork and buoyant movement.
There was one unpleasant and unforgettable moment at the waterfront in Kch. 8 of us were separated unfortunately by the road traffic. So 2 groups of us agreed to meet at the fort across the river. We were conned by a boatman who brought us to a route that we were not told was a shortcut to the fort. 4 of us, luckily all guys, have to brave through tall grasses on soft ground with all the mud and puddles, with just SLIPPERS. We could not see the ground until we set foot onto it. So we tried our luck. Thank goodness there's no snake. Some of us got stained with mud. Luckily my white shorts were spared because i tried to walk like a robot.
Jong's Crocodile farm and zoo was an awesome place to hang out with friends. Lazy crocodiles lying motionlessly in the puddles entertained us with their pretentious smile. Some camouflaged with algae all over the face, swim in the lake like a moving log in disguise. Deadly and stealthy as always, this humongous beast change their pace in movement in a split of a second to hunt their prey down. The weather wasn't good on that day. It was pouring when we ran from one feeding center to another to watch the show. A piece of meat hung over a wire was transported above the lake to lure the hungry beasts. A swarm swam below it, making circles around the meat, as if they were planning when to strike. It's not surprising to see some turned out to be a clash between the titans. Greedy crocodiles that didn't utilise their brain lost the hanging meat from their first bite as they started to chew in the air rather than pulling it down to the water using their body weight. There was one which approached the bait but missed it a few times due to its horrible gauge of distance. We were so amused and called it the crocodile with diplopia!
Damai beach is an awesome place to relax especially during this off peak season. There's no one at the beach except us! The sand is so fine and the ground is quite flat, suitable for beach games like volleyball or beach soccer. But it was disappointing to realise that there's no volleyball or frisbee for rent. I regretted for not bringing my own onto the plane :( We did nothing much on the beach, just soaking ourselves in the water and bombing each other with wet sand. No jumpshots taken, no sports played. It was poorly planned.
Bako National Park was the hightlight of the week! We traveled from island to island and observed enormous mine stones erected at the seashore. We then jungle-trekked the park with SLIPPERS. Each destination was like a few kilometers walk which took about an hour to complete, so we had to plan our route. Fortunately in jungle like this there's no leeches. Only soil, puddles, ponds, branches, twigs, grasses, sand, rocks and some man-made stairs at places where it's impossible to climb. It was not shaded at some places and those who got sunburn the day before at the beach, turned into red lobsters at the end of the day. Most of the time, i bet, we kept looking at our steps and forgot to look around the scenery. True story.
We also visited the Hot Spring at Annah Rais. In the middle of the cooling river there was a site where the sand turned hot as you sink into it. It was incredibly hot and your feet will get burn if you stand there for more than 2 seconds! It's amazing to move your foot and feel the difference in temperature, as if the water is compartmentalised by nature into hot water and cold water.
Kuching is a nice place to chill and relax, with mouthwatering delicacies and tropical weather. It is an attraction to those who love the sun, the rain, the beach and the forest.
