Cat City: Revisited

My last trip to Kuching was around 10th May 2004, remember it quite well since it was the intake date for Matrix KPM back then. I skipped it and enter MCIIUM instead. Now after more 1 and half year I found myself back in Kuching, this time exploring it from a different angle and approach.

First of all is the trip itself, the last trip is with my dad; I actually followed him to a conference in Kuching. Staying in Crowne Plaza at the riverfront area my exploration is pretty much limited to the city area itself. For this second trip we hired a travel guide, aiming to explore the areas beyond the city. Unfortunately, this time around our flight is by Air Asia instead of MAS. (Hate the 'race' to get the seats).

Day 1

Nevertheless, the flight from KL to Kuching was very smooth with fine weather at our side. Upon touchdown I was surprised to see the airport in such a mess, undergoing massive renovation works. After all the immigration formality and picking up our baggage we meet up with our tour guide. His name is Peter, a Sarawakian of Melanau-Chinese descent.

The first stop is Kota Sentosa - for lunch. Peter suggested a food court which he said have a halal-food section. But seeing the signboard prominently display a beer brand we are immediately turned off. After all the rest of trip-mates are from a religious school (my sister, her teacher & a few of her schoolmates) so eating in such a place is not an option. I caught sight of a Malay restaurant signboard so I asked (my tone was more like directing tough) him to detour to the Malay restaurant. For me, halal food is a serious matter and I want to make it clear to Peter. The detour paid off as the restaurant serves Mee Kolok Special - delicious! :D

After that we head to a pottery factory, where the use traditional hand-crafting method instead of using moulds. Pretty much astonished by the sheer speed of the skilled workers, one vase in less than a half-minute! Then of course we buy some of the vase ourselves and a few other form of souvenirs. Grabbed a 'special' gift for Adil, Zaki & Acap.

We also enjoyed a breathtaking view of Kuching from of atop of the City Tower. Several famous landmarks are visible such as the North Kuching Town Hall, South Kuchig Town Hall and Kuching City commercial district. Not to mention the expansive view of the surrounding areas.

For an insight to Sarawak history our destination is obviously the Sarawak Museum. This two-storey historic building houses artefacts and display of various aspects of Sarawak - cultures, tribes, musical instruments, weapons, colonial history, flora, fauna and economic activities. For your information, the admission is free.

We checked in at Kingwood Inn and we are free for the night.

Jalan-Jalan Cari Pasal

Because of our late booking we didn't get to stay at a hotel in the city. Insted we are placed at Kingwood Inn, in South Kuching. For dinner, Hafiz and I volunteered to go out and buy for the rest; thinking that it's nearby as we can see two shopping complexes near the hotel. But we are greatly disappointed when we didn't find any halal food outlet there. We asked one local outside one of the shopping complex of the whereabout of a halal food joint then he said the food court inside have some. I looked at him in disbelief and left. Is he kidding? All the cooks are clearly non-Muslims! Looks like to some people halal food is simply food without pork and liquor.

Then we walked down Kuching South commercial district, most of the shops are closed including one Padang restaurant that we saw. We walked on until we reached Travillion, a new and 'hip' shopping complex. We scoured it in minutes, being ridicilously small compared even to Kuantan standard. Still no sign of a viable dinner option. We bought canned drinks and rest for a while. Then I realize we are already quite near to the very city itself.

Although we are quite exhausted and not to mention really hungry we deicided to move on to the City, knowing at least there's fast food joints that we are more certain of it's 'halal-ness'. After walking for another 15 minutes we reached the KFC in front of Kompleks Tun Jugah. We placed a large order and while waiting for our order to be fulfilled I decided to stock up with breads and tuna for tomorrow as we are going outside the City the next day, where it's harder to find even a restaurant (halal or not).

[I'll continue later for Day 2 & Day 3]