Hi! Back to my journal of passion...travelling and food! (after surviving from the hectic world of working life). Alright, this month I am going to write about my travel to Kuching, Sarawak. It was my second time there though....but this time was more interesting =)
Wondering where to go and what to do in Kuching? I'll share with you my experience. Since I spent only my weekends there, there were not much places to visit and activities to do because of the time constrain. Actually I only had one day to experience Kuching to be exact, as I had other matters to tend to. So, I just visited places near the city. My travel partner this time was my younger sister. Thanks sis!
Alright, let's get to the main point. We started our tour around Kuching by 9am on a Saturday. After breakfast, we headed towards the waterfront for the 'bot penambang' to cross the Sarawak River. There are several interesting places across the river, near the waterfront. Among them are the Orchid Garden, Astana, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak, as well as villages where home-made 'kek lapis Sarawak' are made and sold.
the cat statue in the middle of the city symbolises the name of the city, Kuching
'bot penambang' to cross Sarawak River
Astana, the official residence of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak (Gavernor of Sarawak)
Dewan Undangan Negeri Sarawak (Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building)
The first place we visited was the Orchid Garden. There are many types of orchid, with different colours and shapes. The garden is quite large and we were free to walk around and most importantly, snap photos =)
Next, we visited the waterfront Bazaar where they sell souvenirs from Sarawak, and took a taxi to the Cat Museum near Petra Jaya. The museum is a must-go for cat lovers. You can find out everything about cats, interesting facts, displays and photos, not forgetting souvenirs =) There was no entrance fee charged, but you need to pay for bringing your camera to snap photos inside. No big deal...just RM2 for phone camera, RM3 for compact camera and RM4 for DSLR...worth it!
Kuching Waterfront Bazaar
the Entrance of the Cat Museum
After visiting the museum, we went to Satok Market. It is something like 'pasar tani + pasar malam', where most villagers sell their produce including native-made handicrafts. You can find almost everything, from meat, vegetables, fruits to clothes, accessories, utensils and souvenirs, also pets and flowers for your garden. The Satok Market is only open on weekends, starting from late afternoon on Saturday to Sunday.
Then, came the time for food! I always love trying out food which I never ate before. So, we searched for a restaurant serving one of Sarawak's cuisine...Mi Kolok! The restaurant we visited offers two types of Mi Kolok, which are 'Mi Kolok Sapi' and 'Mi Kolok Ayam'. We ordered both special dishes besides our 'Teh C Peng Special'. The Teh C Peng is a three layered drink which is very popular in Sarawak and since we ordered the special one, it has a mint flavour. We had a delicious and satisfying lunch! Alhamdulillah =)
Teh C Peng Special
Mi Kolok Sapi Special
the soup for the Mi Kolok Sapi Special
After lunch, we took a taxi back to the waterfront for the 'bot penambang' to cross the Sarawak River again. Time for shopping! We bought several home-made 'kek lapis' from Kek Lapis Dayang Salhah as well as 'ikan terubok' (salted fish). They were packed in boxes for us to carry conveniently. Then, we crossed the river back and walked to the hotel for prayers, refreshment and a short rest before going for a cruise. By 5pm, we walked to the waterfront again for the Sarawak River Cruise. The cruise took one and a half hour time along the Sarawak River. We were served complimentary 'kek lapis Sarawak' and orange juice. There was also a Sarawak ethnic dance show during the cruise. I snapped some scenic photos along the Sarawak River during the cruise.
Masjid Bahagian Kuching
Ethnic Dance performance
Ethnic Dance performance
After the cruise, we went food hunting again! We had our dinner at Top Spot, a place popular for their seafood, even for the locals. There are many stalls at Top Spot which are located at the top floor of a parking building. All the stalls there serve mainly seafood. As usual, we tried something different which can't be found at our place. We had three small sized dishes with rice. But the small size was quite big for two of us. Anyway, the food were delicious and we enjoyed our dinner very much =) Alhamdulillah.
'umai' or jelly fish (kerabu style)
'midin' cooked with belacan
oyster omelette
We walked back to the hotel after dinner and had an early rest as we needed to check out and travel to the airport early the next morning to catch our flight. We had an enjoyable trip in Kuching, although we only had one day to explore the city. We'll go back and explore other parts of Sarawak next time, insyaAllah.
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