Sarawak Day 2 - Kuching Waterfront & Top Spot Seafood

Assalamualaikum. 안녕

Previous post (here).

Quite impressed with my rajin-ness at the time being. Ndak lama kalau consistent gini, bolehlah scribble macam dulu balik. Gitu angan-angan tiada sempadan si Err. Ok jom sambung sebelum melalut dengan intro.

Balik dari Sarawak Cultural Village; semua pengsan dalam bilik. Perut lapar boleh simpan dalam peti masa ni. Yang penting kena recharged energy. Ntah apa yang penat sangat, walhal yang drive bukan kau kan Bie! 

Anyway, I woke up the earliest. Penat tidur lama-lama time travel ni. Koh!! Took my shower...got ready; and off I went exploring Kuching Waterfront alone. I did wake my cousin & asked if she wanted to join me...and I got a long sigh from her. Kiranya isyarat jangan kacau lah kan. I texted Bunda telling her that I'm going out for a while. Haruslah nan hado reply. The three sisters memang sungguh-sungguh tidur, ok?! 

30 May 2015

Kuching Waterfront

The Kuching Waterfront isn't that far from Tune Hotel. In fact, it is merely 5 minutes walking away from the hotel. Easy peasy route. I walked downwards toward the riverside. Sampai jak, nampaklah peniaga kiosk makanan semua sibuk buka gerai. Only few had began accepting orders. I didn't plan for any ngeteh session there so I just passed by. 

Main reason pi area Waterfront ni was for the sunset. I always believe the sun set beautifully near any flowing water; be it river or the ocean. Kuching Waterfront lines the south bank of Sarawak River; said to be the place to sample the city's cosmopolitan vibes.

#1 Soothing; view of the sunset from the Sarawak River

#2 Another take

#3 Mere sight of the New Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building

Tengah busy enjoying the view, I got a text from Bunda. Telling me to go back as it was almost dusk. Maghrib ni kalau masih di luar, ndak bagus. Burung pun tau balik ke sangkar, so why are u still not back yet? Katanye. Menurut perintah lah si Err. 

I took a different route to go back to the hotel; kali ni ikut jalan belakang hotel pula. And I saw the famous Cats' Monument at the roundabout just before reaching UTC. Oklah terjumpa awal, boleh bawa the rest bergambar sini lepas dinner. At least ndak bazir masa searching for it later.

#4 Kuching UTC building is located behind Tune Hotel

#5 Kuching Urban Transformation Centre (UTC)

Sampai hotel, solat & tunggu yang lain bersiap. Then off we went out for dinner. Baru tau kelaparan semua kan. Part venue dinner ni memang aku bingai ke laut. Ntah kenapa lah ndak terfikir untuk search di blog or directly tanya si DJ (she previously went to Kuching & dined there). Gigih ok bersimpang siur lintas jalan mau cari tempat tu. Siap ikut direction map di phone. 

Lucky enough the guard at the UTC car park approached us. Tapi tu pun lepas nearly 10 minutes looking around. Boo si Err! And dia pun macam tau-tau kami tengah cari Top Spot food court ni. He told us to take the elevator to the top level. Laaaa kenapa ndak tau pasal food court ni actually located at Level 6 of a multi-level car park next to UTC!?! Akibat bijak melantun ndak menanya orang, and ndak buat research prior going. Hambek. Nasiblah ndak kena bebel by the Three Sisters.

#6 How come signboard sebesar alam & seterang ni aku ndak nampak dari jalan besar

Didn't quite remember what we ordered for dinner because all makan-makan pictures sudah selamat hilang ditelan angin, sekian. We went to the famous Gerai #25; recommended by many. Including some close Sarawakien friends. But I guess memang bukan rezeki kami untuk makan sedap gendang gendung perut tali kecapi. Out of all the dishes we ordered; 3 didn't managed to arrived. Worst case; bila try tanya pelayan kedai semua buat muka blur ndak tau jawab apa. They didn't even try to follow up our orders. Semua pun sibuk hantar order pi meja pelanggan lain; including yang baru sampai dari kami. 

Not intending to spoil our mood albeit sudah ada kejadian tarikan muka masam among the sisters; we finished what's on the table. Alhamdulillah my sayur midin sampai; lama mengidam sayur ni. Walhal di KK pun melambak kalau kena musim midin. Habis makan semua, I went to the counter to pay for the dinner. Told the counter lady about our makanan-yang-tidak-kesampaian & much to my surprise she just went 

"Ohh ya ka? Sorry ah moi. Ok total makan RM xxx"

Memang boh-layan kaw-kaw. Apa mau hairan, pelanggan masih ramai. And still ramai yang tengah tunggu vacant table. Kecewa gila aku. But I just smile & walk away. Mau bertukar hijau pun rasanya memang ndak guna. Kami cuma pelanggan picisan. Perhaps it simply wasn't our rezeki sebab setahu aku experience orang lain makan di sini semua ok jak. By the way, don't ask me how much we were charged because I seriously couldn't remember. But it wasn't that expensive lah sebab tu aku ndak berjaya bertukar jadi hijau *penangan dua tahun kepam cerita*

#7 Midin dibungkus as flower bouquet; kerlas ko Midin

#8 The infamous Gerai No. 25

After dinner, marilah walkertapaki bakar lemak. Bawa diorang pi Cats' Monument I saw earlier that evening. Jadi tiadalah kejadian ungkitan of why aku ada gambar monument ni tapi diorang tiada.

#9 Miss BibiErr before the Cats' Monument

And we continued our evening walk to the Waterfront. The environment seems more lively compare to when I first arrived earlier. Ramai yang duduk melepak sambil layan blue; ada yang ngopi ngeteh with friends. Kami just jalan tiada hala tuju. I purposely didn't plan any activity on that night.

#10 Beautiful evening view by the river bank

#11 The DUN building looks extra lawa at night

Ikutkan banyak benda yang aku berjaya captured sepanjang berjalan menyusuri Waterfront ni; tinggal kenangan dalam hati jaklah. Tried restoring every files in the phone but to no avail. Hence I concluded; those pictures I took might not meant to be shared anywhere. Fuh ayat sedapkan hati level Jemah betul kau Bie.

#12 One of the picture I managed to save 

We walked till nearly the end, and decided to called the night off. Masing-masing udah capek. Mau lepak ngopi di bing! cafe pun terpaksa cancel. Ingatkan alang-alang mau terus celebrate birthday Bunda at 12am sharp. But because we were all exhausted *including yang tukang plan* we went  straight back to hotel. Boleh faham kalau yang Tiga Beradik tu penat; apa kes aku & cousin yang baru belasan tahun tu pun TERikut penat. Adoi lemah!

#13 History walk where history plates are embedded on the pedesterian walk 

On the way back, baru perasan those history plates on the ground we're walking upon. Had I known about it earlier, I would have spend my time reading each of them. Ni ternampak pun malam sudah, dengan street lamp al-malap haruslah nan hado yang dapat dibaca. Insha Allah, ada rezeki repeat Kuching bolehlah buat semua aktiviti yang tergendala.

Sampai hotel malam tu, after bersihkan diri teruslah terjun ke dreamland. Al-ngantuks tahap gaban. Tomorrow perlu terjah luar Kuching. And since I have finally master the usage of Waze & Kuching's many roundabouts; Bunda gave me back my designated driver role. Sobs betul. Baru tripping the best co-driver tau.

eryantierdabdulkarim

Sarawak Day 2 - Sarawak Cultural Village, Kuching

Assalamualaikum.

Still embraced by the R hormone. Alhamdulillah masih rajin albeit taking nearly two weeks to resume scribbling *sigh* Previous post here. Let's continue with my 2015 Kuching trip. 

30 May 2015

Kuching

We arrived at Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) half past 2pm. Only Bunda & I decided to enter; while the rest opted to spend their super-blazing-hot afternoon at Damai Resort located just opposite the SCV. Apparently, Bunda & I share the same interest in our places-to-go list. But; winter doesn't fascinate her as much as I do. Anakonda kan budget Elsa. Suddenly cakap pasal season kau! Rindu kampong to the max *sobs*

One-day entrance Fee: RM 50.00 (adult)

Opening Hours: 9am-5pm daily

#1 SCV Map (source: here)

#2 This green passport was given to visitor at the ticket booth

#3 Of course we did cross over to the longhouse via this bamboo bridge. 

At that time, whether the bridge could support me or not wasn't a concern to me. But if I were to go there now, I'd prefer to walk on the ground to reach the longhouse instead. Like seriously; kenaikan berat badan adalah di luar kawalan di kala ini. Fuh. Tiba-tiba masuk topik lain pula kan.

#4 Bidayuh Longhouse (Rumah Bidayuh)

It's all about the bamboo. From carvings, plumbing, instrumental equipment, bridges, flooring & walls. The cultural show hasn't started when we arrived; else we would have been greeted with gongs & war drums to welcome us. We didn't participate with their rural activities i.e paddy pounding as we didn't even enter the house. No one's in the house hence we just passed it. 

#5 The longhouse from another angle

#6 Sculpture contributed by a Javanese man; which symbolizes the Sarawak Cultural Village - Seven Rock for seven ethnic people in Sarawak.

Next is the Iban Longhouse. Nama berita (what's the news)? Is simply a gesture by the Iban to say Hello. I took a lot of photos inside the house because of the joyous atmosphere the people in the house brought. Unfortunately again, due to my brilliancy I cannot share any of them here. Gone with the wind they had. Anyway, we were greeted by the Iban's warm smiles soon as we entered the house. I saw people doing various kind of things; Pua weaving, making kuih jala to name a few. Luckily I didn't encountered any hanging skulls while wandering around the house. Or did I missed them? 

Practically, Iban longhouse is always built by the bank of a navigable river & visitors approaches it form the boat jetty. They built their house to last 15 to 20 years or until the surrounding land was exhausted. 

#7 Built of axe-hewn timber, tied with creeper fibre & roofed with leaf thatch

#8 Notched log serves as staircase which then bring visitor to the open verandah (picture #7)

Ruman Penan; where Penan warrior although being shy nomadic people of the jungle is the master of shooting with the blowpipe. And of course they manufactured the blowpipe themselves. As we entered the Penan Hut, I saw a Penan busy 'cleaning' a blowpipe previously used by visitors. For just a small fee, visitors could try their blowpipe shooting skill; which of course supervised by the pro. Silap haribulan, boleh tertelan pula ammunition dart. 

We didn't try because we ain't that adventurous enough *flip tudung*. Our first encountered with the Penan at this hut is proof enough of how shy they are. Tunduk jak bila jawab soalan kami; sehabis baik dia cuba mau avoid eye-contact. Based on my reading, ada juga Penan yang aktif bersosial. Zaman sekarang udah maju buk. 

#9 The shelter is constructed to last for a few weeks or months 

#10 My favourite house of all the Ethnic showhouses 

Although we have to climbed flight of stairs before reaching the house; my heart fell in love upon seeing it from afar. Super cantik; to my eyes that is. The lady whom greeted us at the entrance pun sangat gentle & lawa! Her smiles (and all the ladies there) made me feel as if I'm home. We spent time the longest here. Bunda siaplah posing at each areas in the house. And kali ni, kami sempat tengok their performance. Macam tau-tau jak aku sudah jatuh hati kan, dan-dan plak sempat kejar show time bagai. 

# 11 Gongs & tajau-s; things normally found in houses of Sabahan's ethnic as well

# 12 In love with the painting. I enjoyed the melodious tune of the sape played by that man

# 13 *love love love* Orang Ulu longhouse was built to last because of them practiced settled agriculture, and some have developed rice field irrigation. Making the search of a new farmland unnecessary  

They said we shall be entertained by tall tales of spirits & demons at the Melanau Tall House. Alas, I guess we missed the timingss. No tale-telling session when we entered the house. Only few craft-ladies doing something with beads & sago pearls. By the way, Melanaus consume sago in preference to rice. Hence, they cultivate these plants themselves. No wonder even it's only a showhouse; there are many high palm trees surrounded the house. I bought my favourite tebaloi snacks at a small shop located behind the tall house

#14 Traditionally the Melanaus often lived near the sea within reach of pirates; therefore they built massive house forty-feet above the ground as means of protection

#15 Bamboo dance; or what we call Mogunatip (Kadazan ethnic in Sabah)

Bunda reminiscing her zaman kegemilangan by gracefully dancing the Mogunatip. Otai masih berbisa; and obviously she forgot to didn't pass those skill to me. This dance definitely need skills, alright? Silap percaturan terkepit kaki between those bamboos...harus bakal nangis sehari semalam. Belum part pangkal ankle lebam biru-hitam. Oh yeah, speaking from experience I am.

#16 Snacks made from sago pearls

# 17 No one in the house nor near its vicinity to greet us Selamat Datang *yo'oh*. Sangat sangat sunyi gitu so we didn't enter. Ambil gambar dari laman rumah sajo (bukan bias tau)

#18 The Chinese Farmhouse; unlike local ethnics is built at ground level

The Hakka clan was the first Chinese settlers to Sarawak. Speaking of the Chinese Hakka reminded me of my late Nenek; who once married a Hakka lad. She spoke fluent Hakka although the marriage lasted only for few years. And haruslah tiada siapa among her children (apalagi cucu) speak Hakka. The cucu(s) can speak fluent Mandarin sebab diorang masuk SJKC. Haruslah si Err adalah terkecuali dia fluent Korean jak.

# 19 The only similarity with late Nenek was the kelambu

Before exiting the cultural village, we passed by the Chinese Pavilion to get to the shop which is located next to the entrance/exit gate. Was meaning to get some souvenir for myself but ended up walking out the shop empty-handed. Tiada yang menarik jiwa raga. Siapa yang rajin boleh masuk Chinese Pavilion tu; go up to the top floor & enjoy the view of the whole village.

Reunited with the Aunties & cousin at Damai Resort. Memang kena bebel lah kami dua; kononnye lama sangat dalam SCV tu. Hello, tiket adalah RM 50.00 hokey. Haruslah ndak boleh masuk lebih kurang. Lagipun datang jauh-jauh dari Sabah; it wasn't like everyday we will go to SCV pun. Tapi merajuk lebih kurang jak dorang, lapar + panas memanglah mengundang bebelan. 

We reached the city half past 4pm. Sebab semua penat level dewa tertinggi, we didn't singgah anywhere on the way back. Terus semua kebabom tidur once sampai hotel. 

#20 View of Kuching City (nampak awan hitam terus masing-masing mengharap hujan)

Ke mana si Err lepas bangun tidur petang tu? Acara solo pusing area Waterfront; layan sunset gitu. For that, aku continue next entry. Wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

Sarawak Day 1 & Day 2 - Arrival, Chong Choon Cafe & Cat Museum

Assalamualaikum. 안녕

Dan kembali bersiaran *sambil vakum rumah, buang sawang*. Entah berapa lama semangat ni akan bertahan. Entah apa yang buat busy tahap melangit. Perasan-busy sebenarnya, memang jauh dari busy sebenar. Pasrahlah. 

Anyway, ni cerita 2 tahun lepas. Gigih mau update hokey!! Sebagai bukti, Si Err ni menjejak Malaysia juga. Instead of kejadian lupa diri almost all the time; kan mengaku kampong nun di Seoul sana. *kuis pasir*

As usual, bila kejadian sudah bertahun lama haruslah penyakit lupa munculkan diri. Gambar pun banyak yang hilang sebab haritu gigih update handphone; clear sana clear sini. Ntah apa aku TERdelete. Ndak habis penyakit bingai. Jadinya continue jaklah dengan apa yang ada. Jangan jak ni jadi pencetus alasan penyakit Malas datang lagi. Ngek.

Update as of 12 Aug 2018: Alhamdulillah managed to get back all my Sarawak pictures. Thanks to Dropbox. Like seriously I totally forgot about its existence.

I bought the flight ticket few months before the trip. Kuching has always been in my places-to-go-list since forever. Sebelah jak Sabah & Sarawak kan, pun belum si Err menjejak. So, harus si Err excited bila dapat tiket murah.

And sebabkan beli tiket promo jadinya landed Kuching adalah di tengah malam. Nothing much we can do so we headed straight to the hotel from the airport. I didn't go solo for this trip. Bunda + her two elder sisters & a not so little cousin tagged along.

#1 Upon arrival. Selca-back satu for Miss Err

It took us less than 20 minutes to reach our hotel; by airport taxi. I've made a booking at Tune Hotel Waterfront Kuching prior the trip. Checked in adalah easy peasy although we arrived way too late. Terima kasih receptionist Tune Hotel Kuching for the excellent service. Booked 2 double rooms, and I was in the same room with the cousin throughout our stay. Biarlah yang tiga beradik tu stay bilik sama. Bolehlah isi masa bergosip bersama. Bunda's room was quite far from my room so memang selamatlah jantung dari gegaran pagi. Aunty is a very very early morning kinda person hence it was a blessing not having them next door.

#2 Walau sudah tengah malam, receptionist masih senyum manis. Thanks TH Kuching!

#3 Shared the room with my cousin. Only us two, double yeay!

#4 Add on air conditioner & toiletteries (in that black bag) so kenalah bayar extra

#4 Typical TH bathroom. Bersih, water heater tiada problem, air pun laju...so we have no complain.

Right, intro macam biasa memang melalut ke laut. Lama ndak men-scribbled so please; pardon me. Melepas gians while roh rajin merasuk diri.

30 May 2015
Kuching, Sarawak

We started our journey a bit late on our second day in Kuching. Company tempat aku booked kereta sewa buat lawak spastic seawal pagi. They were supposed to send the car I rented by 8am but around 830am baru bagitau they've cancelled my booking. Reason being? Tiada kereta yang sesuai for us 5. Mampu? Sudahlah plan lepas lunch mau pi Sarawak Cultural Village nun di ceruk Kuching. Memang mengundang sumpahan berbakul. Tapi itulah, marah sampai bernanah mulut pun tiada guna. Buat penat jak. Instead of layan marah, I decided to find solution. Not letting anyone nor anything kacau mood Cuti Cuti Malaysia gue. At first, aku mau booking jaklah sama Tune Hotel (they do provide this kinda service; inclusive of driver lagi) tapi rate hotel haruslah kebabom mahal. Google punya goole, alhamdulillah Allah permudahkan. Dapat respond cepat, and kereta pun sampai on time. Jangan tanya contact number etc etc sebab aku lupa. Haritu ada jot down details tapi ntah mana aku simpan.

Settled urusan kereta sewa, masa untuk cari breakfast. Sebelum semua bertukar jadi Hijau Hulk. I asked Bunda to drive while I navigated the Waze. Aku masih belum tau fungsi Waze masa tu (sekian terima kasih). Install app pun pagi sebelum keluar bilik hotel. Pastu kalut minta ajar cara guna benda alah tu dari cousin aku nun di Kolumpor. So yeah, I used Waze for the first time in my life in this trip. Pasal tu aku ndak berani drive sambil ber-Waze. Kang ndak pasal-pasal kereta tu terbang.

First stop was Chong Choon Cafe, Jalan Abell. Had my VERY first Laksa Sarawak here. Sumpah sedap. Baru masuk kedai, tercium bau laksa...lantas jatuh chenta. Masa sampai tu memang sudah masuk peak hour tapi syukur lagi sebab cepat jak dapat seats. We waited for less than 5 minutes. Parking pun main senang dapat (walhal Bunda main berani mati jak parked depan kedai).

#5 Rupa biasa jak from the inside

#6 Consists of few gerai-s in one shop

#7 Ordered my first Laksa Sarawak from this Ahjussi

#8 Angah's choice of breakfast; rojak

#9 Mine! 내 것

#10 Our drinks & Bunda's carrot cake.

Lepas makan, semua jadi waras kembali. Semua dapat berfikir dengan tenang. Barulah best teruskan perjalanan. Sebelum pi Sarawak Cultural Village; we decided to visit The Cat Museum first. And sebelum sampai, berlakulah kejadian sesat. Puaslah cari dalam Waze but it led us to some buildings. Panik sementara. Sudahlah Kuching ni kaya sama roundabouts. Sekali terlepas junction, pasrah kena drive sampai jumpa another roundabout. Tiada u-turn sesuka jiwa mu.

Cat Museum, Kuching

Luckily sesat ndak lama, sebab si Err telah bijak bestari pi tanya one of her Sarawakien bestie. Turned out the museum is located on the ground of the Kuching City North City Hall (Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara) building. This is the first museum in the world; devoted to all things feline. Semua excited mau masuk kecuali Aunty sebab dia ni less of a kucing lover. 

#11 This sign is placed betul-betul tepi roundabout. No wonder terlepas pandang

#12 Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara

#13 Semua pasrah dengar arahan si Err posing dengan photo op ni

Admission Fee is FREE but RM3 is charged for camera & RM5 for video camera. Open from 9am to 5pm & it is close on Public Holiday.

#14 Greeted by this giant cat
Terus rindu budak-budak di rumah. Sobs

#15 Meow-Bartender P to the Yo

#16 Secomel

#17 Cats have their own postcards sent among them as well

#18 In his Iban's traditional costume
Kerlas ko jo!

#19 Among the famous cat-couples at the museum

Spent nearly half an hour in the museum. I took quite loads of pictures actually tapi semua tinggal kenangan jak lah. *Thanking my brilliance at this moment* Too many cats thingy in the museum, hati sangat happy. Except section cat graveyard & cat funeral. Mengundang sebak.

Kami ndak lama sangat for we still have place to go that evening. Sudahlah jauh nun di ceruk bandar, kenalah gerak awal. Sebab perjalanan a bit far, sorang demi sorang tumbang ke alam mimpi. Except Bunda & I. Kesian we'olls anak beranak terbulikan. 

Before jalan jauh, perut perlu dijamu. We stopped at Bemmers Cafe located not far from the museum. Thanks DJ to her JJCM Kuching Itinerary I got to know about this eatery. It's a food court style cafe; meaning banyak gerai in one place hence varieties of food to choose. I tried the Mee Belacan just because I saw my favourite telur hitam on the bowl. And turned it is sooo good. Been searching for the recipe since then but to no avail. Insha Allah mesti terjumpa juga. Yang lain order rojak, mee kolok etc. No one complain about the food they ate so aku assume semua kena di jiw lah kan.

So where we're to next? Sarawak Cultural Village it is. And macam biasalah, akan ku sambung next entry. Semoga roh rajin masih dalam diri. Will try my best to keep updating this blog. It has been nearly a year. Sikit lagi anniversary untuk latest entry aku published. Nov 2016. 

Before I end this entry, cuci mata kejap gambar aku ambil selaku co-driver. Koh!

# 10 Gunung Santubong from afar
Automatic nyanyi lagu Puteri Santubong. And Cik Driver pun paksa-rela dengar suara aku menyumbang. 

# 11 Beautiful skies & lots of clouds accompany us throughout our journey to SCV. 

And by saying lots of clouds I mean super duper panas terik mengigit kulit it was. AC dalam keta pun ndak mampu lawan bahang di luar. Tabahlah demi menjejak.

Till next entry. Wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim