Time that I post: Sarawak!!!
A few months ago, my Sarawak trip, some selected pictures
Day 1:
We arrived at Kuching, Sarawak at around 4pm or so. Checked into Harbour View Hotel. It was followed by a small chill out with Farrell at James Brookes Cafe, before we went to dinner at this place called the Junk. It was good stuff there. Sarawak was basically part of the Brunei Sultanate before it was being annexed by James Brookes as a private empire. The population there, native one, has no direct relations with the Malays in West Malaysia. It has no significant historical links with Malaya until 1963, with the implementation of the British Grand Design, and the 'eagerness' of TAR. Its role in the Indonesian Confrontation that followed, is however the significant part in Malaysian history. The Sarawak river, just near our hotel is a huge one, compared to that of Singapore's one. The first day ended with the dinner at the Junk and after that was the fated match between Arsenal and Birmingham... no forgiveness there.
Day 2:
We moved off to Stass. Our guide was an Iban native by the name of James. Our host in Kampung Stass is another guy who has lived through the Confrontation period by the name of Steven. So he was able to give us a first eyes account of what happened there in Stass at that time. Our first stop for the day was Bau, a small town just north of Stass. The town was used as a battalion HQ during the Confrontation, and the HQ was located at a used gold mine, which is now an artificial quarry contaminated by arsenic. It just happened that day was also nomination day for Malaysian election. So we sort of witness some part of it. A bit no difference from what we have in Singapore though. Oh... we stopped by a pepper farm. Apparently, Sarawak is an exporter of pepper and it has a lot of pepper products.
We finally arrived in Stass after some rocky ride. Thank God for road but we should not take for granted the roads we have in Singapore. Our rooms are just simple kampung rooms, but man, they were stuffy and hot. We stayed there for one night. Throughout the rest of the day, after lunch, we walked around the kampung to search for historical traces of the Confrontation. There was a school there that used to be a base for defending the kampung. Although the place was not the best place, the base was there to show the presence of Malaysian government, to foster the feeling towards the Malaysia for the native Dayak there. We were able to find traces of the base in the school then.
After the visit to the school, we went for a jungle trail to the Kalimantan border. It was a perilous trail as it was all wetland and muddy. We saw jungle farms where people there just harvest in the jungle, planting all sort of crops. To them, the jungle was like a supermarket... literally. And so, we reached the border of Sarawak and Kalimantan. And we became illegal immigrant for a few minutes in Indonesian ground...
After the trail in the jungle, we went off to visit a festival house in the village, followed by visit of the river that Farrell took to Kalimantan the other time he came. We were shocked after that, during our rest at one of the small shops there that there's a newly built computer center with broadband that we could use. We gladly went inside and started using internet. It was a good feeling.
The villagers kindly treated us with great reception in the evening with some sort of a block party style. One amazing thing that I realised is the the village, (I realise that it was a general trend in Sarawak) has a big Catholic Church. Hmm...
Day 3:
We moved out of Stass into other kampungs. Along the way, we saw some nice rivers and went in to play with the water... speaking of being childlike. Of course, we visited a head house... which literally houses 'head skull' from the head hunting last time. The people who still believed in their traditional pagan beliefs believe that the spirit of the skulls will come and haunt them if they dun appease the spirit. Well, something to think about. And so we spent the whole day cruising on rocky roads from one point to another. When we checked in back to Harbour View, we were so glad. Later that afternoon, we decided to go shopping for a present for Farrell, for bringing us on this wonderful trip and treating us at expensive restaurants.
Later that night, we went off to... pizza hut for dinner. It was a stupid decision, but we did went off to Secret Recipe after that for cakes. Saw a Singapore Chicken Rice restaurant... that sells cheaper chicken rice.... what is Singapore chicken rice becoming in Singapoe, man?
Day 4:
Day 4 was a day when we toured the Kuching City for colonial traces. The day started with a walk from our hotel down to the Sarawak Museum. It was just too bad that we couldn't take photo inside but there was really good exhibits inside the museums. The tour was followed by examining some colonial buildings nearby, including a post office, a police station, the court house and the river fortresses. Along the tour, just before lunch, some guy came up to us and told us that the Chinese arrived much earlier than the British, which missed the point... oh well.
During lunchtime, we went down to Indian street of Kuching and found a hidden mosque there. Machiam like playing RPG, finding a hidden item. After lunch, we went off across the Sarawak river to visit Fort Magarita, a police fortress used to look out for pirates during the Rajah days. The fort was used against pirate attacks on Kuching during the reign of the Brookes. It has a good view... but dun know why they are no longer maintaining the fort now. In the fort, there is a room filled with skulls... just for fun.
After the field tour, we went off for the river cruise. It was just too bad that we couldn't see the sunset. I have decided not to post any photos of the cruise trip. The only thing worth telling is that after the cruise, we took a photo of Farrell pointing to the 'Say no to alcohol' sign. Ironic, as Farrell wanted it to be, as Farrell is a typical Canadian who drinks beer for a living =P.
Dinner we went to a Queen Victoria Pub or something for a good meal. I started telling the crowd my trademark cold jokes. It was good, although people eventually threatened me to stop. Farrell actually had to bail me out of the whole mess.
Day 5:
We played tourist this day. No field trip or whatsoever. Just touring some of the notable places. Our first stop is the Orang Utan Rehabitation Center to groom Orang Utans back to the nature. It was a fairly fresh sight to see Orang Utan feeding, without the restraint of fences or whatsoever. After that, we went off to see some buaya feeding again. The crocs were so stupid... or greedy, whatever you wanna call them. The croc farm was followed by a stop at a Dayak Longhouse. I almost started drinking again, after tasting the rice wine at the welcome. It was good, I wanted more, but decided to stop. After this, we went off to a pottery factory for some cheap shopping. Overall, the day was just tourism.
Day 6:
Home sweet home. Not withstanding, we presented Farrell with the gift we bought for him.
So that's all for the trip. But before I end off, here's some bonus pictures I took:
And below are the people who went with me to Sarawak:
Day 1:
We arrived at Kuching, Sarawak at around 4pm or so. Checked into Harbour View Hotel. It was followed by a small chill out with Farrell at James Brookes Cafe, before we went to dinner at this place called the Junk. It was good stuff there. Sarawak was basically part of the Brunei Sultanate before it was being annexed by James Brookes as a private empire. The population there, native one, has no direct relations with the Malays in West Malaysia. It has no significant historical links with Malaya until 1963, with the implementation of the British Grand Design, and the 'eagerness' of TAR. Its role in the Indonesian Confrontation that followed, is however the significant part in Malaysian history. The Sarawak river, just near our hotel is a huge one, compared to that of Singapore's one. The first day ended with the dinner at the Junk and after that was the fated match between Arsenal and Birmingham... no forgiveness there.
Day 2:
We moved off to Stass. Our guide was an Iban native by the name of James. Our host in Kampung Stass is another guy who has lived through the Confrontation period by the name of Steven. So he was able to give us a first eyes account of what happened there in Stass at that time. Our first stop for the day was Bau, a small town just north of Stass. The town was used as a battalion HQ during the Confrontation, and the HQ was located at a used gold mine, which is now an artificial quarry contaminated by arsenic. It just happened that day was also nomination day for Malaysian election. So we sort of witness some part of it. A bit no difference from what we have in Singapore though. Oh... we stopped by a pepper farm. Apparently, Sarawak is an exporter of pepper and it has a lot of pepper products.
We finally arrived in Stass after some rocky ride. Thank God for road but we should not take for granted the roads we have in Singapore. Our rooms are just simple kampung rooms, but man, they were stuffy and hot. We stayed there for one night. Throughout the rest of the day, after lunch, we walked around the kampung to search for historical traces of the Confrontation. There was a school there that used to be a base for defending the kampung. Although the place was not the best place, the base was there to show the presence of Malaysian government, to foster the feeling towards the Malaysia for the native Dayak there. We were able to find traces of the base in the school then.
After the visit to the school, we went for a jungle trail to the Kalimantan border. It was a perilous trail as it was all wetland and muddy. We saw jungle farms where people there just harvest in the jungle, planting all sort of crops. To them, the jungle was like a supermarket... literally. And so, we reached the border of Sarawak and Kalimantan. And we became illegal immigrant for a few minutes in Indonesian ground...
After the trail in the jungle, we went off to visit a festival house in the village, followed by visit of the river that Farrell took to Kalimantan the other time he came. We were shocked after that, during our rest at one of the small shops there that there's a newly built computer center with broadband that we could use. We gladly went inside and started using internet. It was a good feeling.
The villagers kindly treated us with great reception in the evening with some sort of a block party style. One amazing thing that I realised is the the village, (I realise that it was a general trend in Sarawak) has a big Catholic Church. Hmm...
Day 3:
We moved out of Stass into other kampungs. Along the way, we saw some nice rivers and went in to play with the water... speaking of being childlike. Of course, we visited a head house... which literally houses 'head skull' from the head hunting last time. The people who still believed in their traditional pagan beliefs believe that the spirit of the skulls will come and haunt them if they dun appease the spirit. Well, something to think about. And so we spent the whole day cruising on rocky roads from one point to another. When we checked in back to Harbour View, we were so glad. Later that afternoon, we decided to go shopping for a present for Farrell, for bringing us on this wonderful trip and treating us at expensive restaurants.
Later that night, we went off to... pizza hut for dinner. It was a stupid decision, but we did went off to Secret Recipe after that for cakes. Saw a Singapore Chicken Rice restaurant... that sells cheaper chicken rice.... what is Singapore chicken rice becoming in Singapoe, man?
Day 4:
Day 4 was a day when we toured the Kuching City for colonial traces. The day started with a walk from our hotel down to the Sarawak Museum. It was just too bad that we couldn't take photo inside but there was really good exhibits inside the museums. The tour was followed by examining some colonial buildings nearby, including a post office, a police station, the court house and the river fortresses. Along the tour, just before lunch, some guy came up to us and told us that the Chinese arrived much earlier than the British, which missed the point... oh well.
During lunchtime, we went down to Indian street of Kuching and found a hidden mosque there. Machiam like playing RPG, finding a hidden item. After lunch, we went off across the Sarawak river to visit Fort Magarita, a police fortress used to look out for pirates during the Rajah days. The fort was used against pirate attacks on Kuching during the reign of the Brookes. It has a good view... but dun know why they are no longer maintaining the fort now. In the fort, there is a room filled with skulls... just for fun.
After the field tour, we went off for the river cruise. It was just too bad that we couldn't see the sunset. I have decided not to post any photos of the cruise trip. The only thing worth telling is that after the cruise, we took a photo of Farrell pointing to the 'Say no to alcohol' sign. Ironic, as Farrell wanted it to be, as Farrell is a typical Canadian who drinks beer for a living =P.
Dinner we went to a Queen Victoria Pub or something for a good meal. I started telling the crowd my trademark cold jokes. It was good, although people eventually threatened me to stop. Farrell actually had to bail me out of the whole mess.
Day 5:
We played tourist this day. No field trip or whatsoever. Just touring some of the notable places. Our first stop is the Orang Utan Rehabitation Center to groom Orang Utans back to the nature. It was a fairly fresh sight to see Orang Utan feeding, without the restraint of fences or whatsoever. After that, we went off to see some buaya feeding again. The crocs were so stupid... or greedy, whatever you wanna call them. The croc farm was followed by a stop at a Dayak Longhouse. I almost started drinking again, after tasting the rice wine at the welcome. It was good, I wanted more, but decided to stop. After this, we went off to a pottery factory for some cheap shopping. Overall, the day was just tourism.
Day 6:
Home sweet home. Not withstanding, we presented Farrell with the gift we bought for him.
So that's all for the trip. But before I end off, here's some bonus pictures I took:
And below are the people who went with me to Sarawak:
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