Taking advantage of the long holiday (25-29 December 2008), we decided to take a vacation to Kuching, together with my parents, sister (Kak Liana), brother-in-law (Man) & nephew (Eirfan).
Since Wahida & my parents (who took a late flight from K.Terengganu and arrived at LCCT only around midnight) was not keen of taking the 45-minutes drive back to Bandar Sri Damansara, we spent the night at the KLIA Concorde Inn (which is 15 minutes away from LCCT). And seeing as the flight to Kuching was at 9.45 a.m., it was actually a good idea - we only had to leave for the airport at 8.15 a.m. and we were fortunate that the flight was not delayed or anything.
As Eirfan was the only one who ‘purchased’ the Xpress boarding, someone had to ‘accompany’ him to board the plane. Seeing as the one who has to accompany Eirfan also has the duty to reserve seats for the rest of the group, Man 'volunteered' Kak Liana and I to board first (because he feels that the act of booking seats on a flight are ‘frowned upon’.. hahaha!)
We landed at the Kuching International Airport about 11.30 a.m. and waited for my uncle (PakLong) and aunty (Auntie Ros) to pick us up. [PakLong is a lecturer in UNIMAS and has made Kuching his home for the past few years and Auntie Ros, who is lecturer in UiTM Shah Alam, was there on a visit]. Since there were 6½ of us (the ½ being Eirfan) and PakLong drives a Proton Wira, we had to get another car – so enter Zul, who just started his judicial duties in Sarawak.
My parents decided to to stay at PakLong's apartment at the Riverbanks Suite and the rest of us checked into the Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites (were booked in advance through the GoHoliday package). Since we booked two rooms, the hotel offered to upgrade the rooms to a 2-rooms suite. After much deliberation (took us almost an hour to come to a decision), we decided to take it. Alas, by the time we got back to the receptionist with our decision, the suite was already reserved by someone else (damn…!). By the by, the rooms we got were also ok, with the exception of the view - which was facing the hotel's parking lot (double damn…!).
Anyway, that night, PakLong treated us to dinner at this interesting eatery called the “Top Spot Seafood Centre”, which is also known as “the Carpark” simply because the place is at the rooftop of a car-park building. A bit noisy but the food was nice.
On the next day, we chartered a van, which came together with a driver, Hj. Razak (013-8957760). And thanks to KakLiana, the whole-day rent for the van was only RM150 – quite reasonable compared to the other rates we came across.
The first destination that day was the Kampung Budaya / Cultural Village, which was a 35-minutes journey from the Kuching town centre. The Cultural Village showcases seven authentic traditional houses (Bidayuh, Iban, Penan, Ulu, Melanau, Cina & Melayu) and occupied by members of Sarawak’s ethnic groups, going about everyday activities.
The Village also includes a multi-ethnic cultural performance in the Village’s air-conditioned mini-theater. And we were fortunate to have witnessed a rare dance performed by Eipan of the “Fun-Fun” tribe.
Next stop was the Muzium Kucing / Cat Museum, which is the world’s first museum for cats and devoted to everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, related to feline – even things which has the term “cat”, such as “catwalks” and “cat burglars”, are exhibited there.
For dinner that night, Pak Long brought us to D’Airiz Café, a Thai-based restaurant, near Satok, for dinner.
The third day was reserved especially for Wahida’s favourite pastimes i.e. shopping. In the morning, we decided to walk and do our shopping at the shops along the Kuching Waterfront (a riverside walk stretching approximately 1km long along the Kuching river, linking various hotels, shops and shopping complexes with downtown Kuching).
Finished with the ‘first round’ of shopping, we met up with Mama and Auntie Ros at the Crown Plaza Riverside. While waiting, we had a snack at the famous ‘Sugar Bun’ (a local fast-food franchise, which originated from Kuching and is very popular among the people of Sarawak, Sabah & Brunei).
For lunch, too lazy and tired to walk to anywhere, we went to the Khatulistiwa Café, a Bidayuh style architecture, which was just next to Pak Long’s apartment building.
The ‘second round’ of shopping was then done at the Pasar Minggu Satok, a weekly, weekend-only market, which offers everything from T-shirts and souvenirs to udang kering and kek lapis Sarawak. According to Hj. Razak, the Pasar opens 24-hours, starting from Saturday afternoon till Sunday evening.
On our final night in Kuching, Pak Long planned a dinner at the Holiday Plaza but wanting to lepak with Zul, Wahida and I decided to visit the well-known “Raja Ayam Penyet”, which is actually a small warong but was packed with people. The ‘King’ specializes in the Ayam Penyet (a simple meal that comprises of roasted chicken, white rice, ulam and a very hot sambal belacan) but also offers a variety of other food as well.
After dinner, we went for an evening walk along the Kuching Waterfront while enjoying ice-cream for dessert. We also ran into Nadzri (my former Perindu hostelmate in UiTM) and his new wife, who was on a work-trip.
As our flight back to LCCT was at 9.05 p.m., we spent our morning shopping at the shops along the Kuching Waterfront (again!). We then checked out from the hotel at about 1 p.m. and spent the rest of the day at Pak Long’s apartment.
Just after Maghrib, we left for the Kuching International Airport (Thanks again, Zul, for the ride). Since there was also no delay for our flight to KL, we arrived at LCCT at about 11 p.m., as estimated.
We chartered a van back to Bandar Sri Damansara and finally reached home at midnight – thus ending our trip to the wonderful City of Cats.
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