We get up early to be ready for 8:00. That's when the driver comes by to pick us up to take us to the airport.
We ended going down to the breakfast buffet at 6:00 because the room directory indicated the restaurant provided a continuous meal service from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm. But when we get there, we find that it opens at 6:30. Oh well, back to the room to do more packing.
It was raining during the ride to the airport. The driver indicated that traffic slows down when it rains, mainly due to accidents. We saw the aftermath of a fender bender on one of the many cloverleafs leading out to the airport. While it didn't affect us, I could see a long lineup of vehicles waiting their turn through the bottleneck.
At the airport we get into the queue for our Malaysia Airlines flight and discover to our surprise that the flight is full and we are being advised that we need to book on the next flight. So we kick into action explaining that we had reserved seats and that we are on a tour and are scheduled to meet our guide at the airport at a specific time. It's kind of interesting to watch Judith in action when dealing with all the glitches as it pertains to travel. There has been more on this trip than we've been used to as we had to use a different provider than the one she selected for our other two trips. In a quiet, charming, but take no prisoners approach, the glitches get resolved. She gets what we think is necessary and we're on that flight. Not sitting beside each other, but as long as we have boarding passes, the mission is accomplished. I think I would also get the same result too, but since I think she enjoys the challenge that this interaction brings, I usually take a back seat and just enjoy the entertainment.
At the Kuching airport we proceed to the baggage claim area. Judith is walking with some man who is her newest best friend having struck up a detailed conversation with him on the flight over. If you ask her, she'll say it was him that initiated the conversation, but it does take two to continue it. My experience was sitting beside someone who knew no English and the other who was only awake when the meal was served. Somehow I think that wouldn't have stopped Judith from making a new best friend had she been sitting in 22E.
We find our driver and guide Benard, who takes us to our hotel. It's the Hilton Kuching overlooking the Sarawak River. He talks about he history of the area. The state of Sarawak had been part of Brunei, until 1842 when the Sultan gave it to an English adventurer, James Brooke, for helping the Sultan thwart a rebellion. The capital was established at Kuching and Brooke was given the title Rajah. His nephew Charles became next Rajah and is known for building several buildings under his reign including his home, Astana Palace, which now serves as the official residence of the Governor of Sawarak. The third and last Rajah was his son, also Charles Brooke. In 1941 the Japanese overtook Sawarak and dissolved the Brooke government.
After the surrender of Japan, Sarawak was given by Brooke to the British Crown. The British made further infrastructure improvements. In 1963, the colonial status ended when the states of Sarawak, North Borneo and Singapore agreed to combine with the Federation of Malay to form Malaysia.
We drive through town--it's about 20 minutes to the hotel and because our flight was late, we only have time to check in and quickly get ready for our walking tour. In fact, we forget to take our obligatory hotel room shot for the blog and later when someone asked whether we had a river or city view, we couldn't answer.
Benard takes us to the Tua Pek Kong Temple. It's a Daoist temple dating back to about 1840. It's one of the few buildings to survive a huge fire that burned down many city blocks in 1884. Benard explains the ritual of praying, the burning of joss sticks and the ritual money. It seems so familiar having participated in this ritual many many decades ago when I was still living at home.
Next up was a section of Chinatown along Jalan Padungan. Lots of food and clothing being sold.
We walked over to the main post office. Built in 1931, it used to be the former police office and the stables for the Rajah's horses. The building is a real architectural contrast to the other colonial era buildings.
Next was the Chinese museum showing the history of the Chinese in Sarawak. Kind of limited interest unless you have some kind of ancestral tie to these Chinese. It used to function as the court house for the Chinese community to keep it separate from the main court.
The Old State Mosque is a beautiful structure with golden domes. Although it's still in use, most go to the newer and larger State mosque located in on the other side of the river.
There were lots of other historical or landmark buildings on our tour, too many to add here.
The only other structure worth noting was a cat statue we saw. The Malay word for Kuching is "kucing" so most think that's where the city name came from. The city has many cat statues dotted through it, but the most bazaar was one we saw:
Our tour guide recommended a seafood restaurant, Top Spot" for dinner. After the tour we came to the room for a late afternoon power nap and then headed for the restaurant.
It's located on the 6th level of a parkade. But it's not just one restaurant as we had assumed. It's a seafood food court with several restaurant vendors and central seating in the middle of it. There must have been at least a dozen places selling seafood and another half dozen selling drinks or deserts.
Judith and I went to the one called
Top Spot and ordered some prawns, a mixed vegetable dish and midin, a vegetable from the fern family. The dishes were all tasty. I ordered green tea from drink vendor and we had to pay that separately. The green tea wasn't what we expected. It was a brilliant green colour and was sweet and very warm. Judith didn't drink hers, but I thought it was aright.
After the dinner, Judith wanted an orange and asked the seafood waitress for one. She quickly yelled over to the drink waitress for one orange. When we saw the drink waitress disappear to the back we quickly realized that they thought Judith meant an orange drink instead of a single unpeeled orange. We flagged another drink waitress down who had to get the owner out to figure out a price for an orange. I guess no one ever orders a single orange.
We walked back to the hotel and stopped in at the 7-11 to buy ice cream. There are about 3 of these stores within 5 blocks--we're not sure why you need so many. I picked out a KitKat ice cream drumstick. Mmmm
Off to bed. We're cycling tomorrow.
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