City Slickers! : Day IV
The day started off with another hearty breakfast out of town (forgotten the name!). Four bowls of exquisitely-made noodles with char siew, a piping hot bowl of pork and vegetable soup in the middle and a round of coffee and milo only cost MYR12! It was delicious and freaking cheap. A very quiet place with real honest folks. Nic dropped his wallet there some days back and he actually got it back. After breakfast, he headed back to town pray at the oldest Tua Peh Kong Temple in Kuching. The temple's located at a busy intersection in town and is currently under restoration. Just opposite the road was the Chinese Museum, supposedly the only Chinese Museum in Malaysia, according to the caretaker. The simple, one-room museum housed musical instruments, clothing, artifacts and stories about the various Chinese groups that came to Sarawak in the early days.
Finishing that, we visited the Waterfront. Nothing much to see there. Just interesting to note that one can a take boat tour to see dolphins from there. Walking opposite the road, we did some last minute shopping for souvenirs at the pre-war shoplots. Mostly wood carvings, layer cake (with all the colours of the six-colour rainbow), gambir, tongkat ali, pua, tourist-y t-shirts and other handicraft. Our next stop was the museums. Parked our car at the St. Thomas Cathedral and walked over, passing by Merdeka Square. We stopped at the Sarawak Art Museum (where contemporary and tribal arts collide), followed by the Marine Museum (a whole bunch of aquariums), Ethnology Museum (taxidermy heaven) and Sarawak Museum (Sarawak Cultural Village under one roof).
Having depleted our batteries, we headed over to the nearby "open-air" foodcourt for lunch. Had an average laksa, seow bee (Kuching style Siew Mai with meat that is too ground for my liking), pork-vegetable soup, squid and kangkung salad, fruit rojak, more mee kolok and KH's elusive "White Lady". It's basically shaved ice with syrup, canned fruits and squeeze of lemon. After lunch, we walked over to the Harmony Arch area to sample POS's favourite fishball noodles. Also tried some pork satay (see the pattern? Pork, pork and more pork).
Later, we managed to get a great view of Kuching at the Civic Center observation tower. There's only 3 floors to choose from in the elevator, but there was a big-ass difference between the 2nd and 3rd floor. The view was great, but the sky was a little downcast. POD then brought us to SinPiao, a hidden hypermarket of sorts selling crafts and local foodstuffs. His Sarawak heritage secured for us a 25% discount off the retail price. Bought some rice crackers, Bario rice and smoked prawns. Dinner was at POD's uncle's favourite restaurant in town (Something Something 2004-- Kuching-ites love putting the year in). I was surprised that the lady boss could converse in Cantonese. A hearty meal of braised pork trotters, steamed siakap, midding and beancurd.
On the last night in Kuching, we had checked out of Hung Hung Inn and transferred over to Somerset Gateway. A great leap in terms of cosiness. KH and I had a great night there-- always wanted to feel how it was like to lie in a hot bath with him. ;P.
...Next: Epilogue...
Finishing that, we visited the Waterfront. Nothing much to see there. Just interesting to note that one can a take boat tour to see dolphins from there. Walking opposite the road, we did some last minute shopping for souvenirs at the pre-war shoplots. Mostly wood carvings, layer cake (with all the colours of the six-colour rainbow), gambir, tongkat ali, pua, tourist-y t-shirts and other handicraft. Our next stop was the museums. Parked our car at the St. Thomas Cathedral and walked over, passing by Merdeka Square. We stopped at the Sarawak Art Museum (where contemporary and tribal arts collide), followed by the Marine Museum (a whole bunch of aquariums), Ethnology Museum (taxidermy heaven) and Sarawak Museum (Sarawak Cultural Village under one roof).
Having depleted our batteries, we headed over to the nearby "open-air" foodcourt for lunch. Had an average laksa, seow bee (Kuching style Siew Mai with meat that is too ground for my liking), pork-vegetable soup, squid and kangkung salad, fruit rojak, more mee kolok and KH's elusive "White Lady". It's basically shaved ice with syrup, canned fruits and squeeze of lemon. After lunch, we walked over to the Harmony Arch area to sample POS's favourite fishball noodles. Also tried some pork satay (see the pattern? Pork, pork and more pork).
Later, we managed to get a great view of Kuching at the Civic Center observation tower. There's only 3 floors to choose from in the elevator, but there was a big-ass difference between the 2nd and 3rd floor. The view was great, but the sky was a little downcast. POD then brought us to SinPiao, a hidden hypermarket of sorts selling crafts and local foodstuffs. His Sarawak heritage secured for us a 25% discount off the retail price. Bought some rice crackers, Bario rice and smoked prawns. Dinner was at POD's uncle's favourite restaurant in town (Something Something 2004-- Kuching-ites love putting the year in). I was surprised that the lady boss could converse in Cantonese. A hearty meal of braised pork trotters, steamed siakap, midding and beancurd.
On the last night in Kuching, we had checked out of Hung Hung Inn and transferred over to Somerset Gateway. A great leap in terms of cosiness. KH and I had a great night there-- always wanted to feel how it was like to lie in a hot bath with him. ;P.
...Next: Epilogue...
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