I MISS HOME!

I miss home!!! For the past few months, I’ve been away from the comfort of my own home because I had to travel for work purposes. I’ve been staying in my hotel room being served everyday with good house keeping and excellent food from the restaurants. The extremely comfortable goose down duvet and firm king sized bed with many luscious pillows welcomes you every night to bed. The spacious room with its own private mini patio overlooking to lush green man made jungle take away all worries. The Olympic sized swimming pool and well equipped gym with sauna take away all the stress from work.

my temporary bed

my temporary bathroom

my temporary patio

my temporary view

my temporary play ground

That’s what I’ve been living with for the past few months and furthers more to come. All this may sounds like a great life but I still miss home. Nothing beats my own bed and home. Don’t forget my two precious dogs. Don’t worry kids, daddy coming home soon!

HOLIDAY!!!

Hurray!!! Long holiday coming up. After a grueling and tiresome work day after another, I’m looking forward to my long awaited holiday by the beach. Yes, that’s where I’m heading to with a bunch of friends over the long holiday. Sun, sea and sand, what more could one asked for? Gonna get my much deserved rest and relax while soaking up the fresh air that my brain needed to revitalize it after all these while. See if I can also get some tan on my skin. Hehehe!

MAGENTA

Magenta

Fine dining, the phrase itself will make you think twice when you are going to dine at that place. Think about proper clothing (no t-shirts, shorts or slippers), proper table etiquette and have to speak softly will makes the whole dining experience kinda bored and stiff. There’s only a few restaurant in Kuching that can be considered fine dining status apart from those in the hotels. One of them is Magenta located at Nanas Road near to the infamous Sunday Market at Satok. Although it is considered a fine dining restaurant, it is more relaxed than other establishments. It’s more of a place for good food and great company without the rules and regulations of fine dining restaurant. They still serve great food and services though. The restaurant itself is an old wooden house bought over from a Baba Nyonya family some time ago. The compound is big enough to accommodate 30 cars and they still retain the old charm of the wooden house. If you passed by there, you won’t be able to tell that it is a restaurant except for the sign board in front of the gate. The restaurant is tastefully decorated with lace curtains to make the illusion of partition and the table and chairs used are of the old wooden type that you can see during the olden days. Sleeping Buddha and other oriental inspired art décor are strategically placed around the place makes the illusion that you have step back into time to an old Chinese house.

charming old house

relaxing patio outside the restaurant

soft lighting and wooden furniture makes the whole dining experience unforgetable

old charm

oriental inspired decor

sleeping Buddha

The food is mainly Italian with a mix of fusion cuisine. We didn’t order much that day because of a very heavy brunch we had earlier in the day. We had fried calamari rings and cheesy herb garlic bread for appetizer and tom yam soup. As for the mains, we ordered their special pizza and also cheesy steak for a change. The most anticipate part of the dinner is dessert. Since we went there on Sunday, the dessert is free with every main course you ordered. Magenta’s desserts are well known and we ordered tiramisu, carrot cake and a type of dessert with jelly, cream n cake in a glass.

health drinks (refreshing and healthy)

cheesy herb garlic bread (for those who love their cheese)

fried calamari rings (the batter is crispy and goes well with the tartar sauce)

tomyam soup (a great soup to lift up ur appetite)

fiesta pizza (authentic Italian pizza)

cheezy steak (an alternative to the usual, one bite, you'll want more)

tiramisu (rich and sinful, goes well with the crystalised caramel)

a new dessert (layers of cake, jello and cream)

The price for the food here are higher than normal restaurant but cheaper than those fine dining restaurant. A good place to go if you require a dose of good food and good environment without the hassle of being proper. Buon Appétito!

p/s: all pictures courtesy of Calvin

FAIRY'S CAVE

Fairies do live on earth. Well, at least that’s what I thought of since there’s a place in Kuching called Fairy’s Cave. It’s a little unknown place about one and half hours drive from Kuching through the town of Bau heading towards Serikin. There’s sign board along the road so you won’t get lost, but if you do, do ask the lovely local people. They are more delighted to help you. There used to be guard’s to look after the place and rent out torch lights to visitor but now the guard house is empty. The facilities inside the cave like staircases, railings and resting platforms are not maintained properly anymore. Who to blame? Well, thanks to our ‘very efficient’ government and Sarawak Tourism Board for that. As I said earlier, they do like to do stuff but not maintained it. What is the purpose anyway? To get your name inside the newspaper? Let’s not talk about it and focused on the cave it self. You have to be fit and have fetish for height in order to fully enjoy the cave. It’s dark in some parts of the cave so it’s advisable to bring along a good torchlight and not forgetting a good pair of shoes that aren’t slippery. Other than that, you are advised to fully enjoy the splendid of nature and explore the many tunnels and depths of the cave. Words just can’t fully explain my experience in the cave so I live you with some pictures to enjoy. Just watch out for those guanos!

the empty guard house and the steps you have to climb to get up into the cave

more steps at the entrance of the cave

more steps inside the cave

even more steps to get into the main hall.... slippery.....

the great hall.... look at those steps...up n down... so many tunnel to explore... so little time...

the mouth of the cave.... this is wehere the bats come in and out

look!!!! a face.... hmmm......

TAO

it's not a temple

Chill out place 101. It might look like a Chinese temple with its all red color but once inside, it’s a totally cool and chic place to chill out after a long hard day. A lot of other establishment had mushroom along the Padungan area in Kuching but this is the one that stands out from the crowd.

TAO

From outside its all red and inside, it’s tastefully done up with everything Chinese and Buddhism. It can be called Buddha bar of Kuching. There’s a pond in the middle of the lounge area with mini waterfalls to makes the whole environment more relaxing. There are just so many things to see and explore when you are there. Just be careful not to be mesmerized too much by the things around you til you fall into the pond. There are two levels of chill out zone for your pick.

ahhh..... the sound of flowing water...

again... this is not a temple

Buddha bar of Kuching

The food and beverage there are your normal lounge stuff with added extra. You can try out their health drinks that can either boost your energy, cleanse your body or perk you up. It’s all natural with lots of goodness. Now, who says you can stay healthy while lounging. If you looking for something to fill up your stomach, there’s a wide selection of cakes and pies to go with you drinks. The pies are highly recommended since we had two when we went there.

healthy and yummy food

Services there are handled with a big smile by their staff so you can just six down, relax and chill out.

BORNEO HIGHLANDS

welcome to Borneo Highlands

We all know about Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands or even Frasier Hills. But have you heard of Borneo Highlands? Hmmm….. I bet you haven’t. This is like one of the many hidden gems in Sarawak that is not promoted properly. I went up there during the Chinese New Year holiday and it was really an eye opener for me not to mention a body and soul lifting experience. You have to booked your room at their office (Borneo Highlands Resort) located at RH Plaza near BDC in Kuching. They have many packages to suit different needs ranging from spa packages to golf packages. What we got is promotional package which is buy one free one. Great deal! You have to provide your own transportation up to the foot hill of the resort. The journey up takes you around 1 hour through small villages and lush greeneries. Once you reach the foot hill of the resort, you can parked you vehicles near their guard house and from there, the resort transport will take you up to the top. You can opt to drive up but I won’t do it if I were you. The road leading up is so steep that I felt we were on a roller coaster ride when travelling up to the resort. Once you reach the resort, it was all ohh….and ahh…. I never imagine a Cameron liked place exist in our own back yard. There’s waterfall and clear streams flowing through, clouds covered mountain tops, Dutch style chalet, crystal clear swan’s lake and not forgetting lots and lots of colorful flowers.

crystal clear waterfall

the real swan lake

dancing in the lake

paradise

rumours says that the house belong's to Tun Mahathir

beyond the mountain

my secret garden

this is where it all started

a rose for you

a flower for my mum

wild orchids

The resort’s staff will greet you with a refreshing glass of sugar cane and guide to your room. The services provided by the staff there are on par with those from Four Seasons or maybe more. Really admire their attentiveness and helpfulness. The rooms are simple yet cozy and overlook to the resort and beyond. It’s just like back to the nature. One thing that you have to know is the resort only serves organic vegetarian foods. I was a bit skeptical when I heard about it but changed my mind when I had my 1st meal there. It was something different and refreshing. Is makes the whole stay there like a cleansing spa sessions when you can enjoy their jungle spa for free. A really rejuvenating experience. They even provide tour around the whole resort and even bring you up to the Kalimantan border.

heaven on earth

shall i cross the border? hmmmm....

I know pictures are better than words so I better leave you with some pictures that I’ve taken. It was really an escape for me and I can’t wait for my next trip up again.

STB

One of the many things I did during the Chinese New Year holiday was exploring the hidden gems of Sarawak. On my quest to find these precious places, I stumbled on a place called Borneo Highlands. It’s not a widely known place but it was the only highland resort here in Sarawak. The mysterious and annoying thing is why doesn’t the government or the so called Sarawak Tourism Board promote this wonderful and beautiful place to the public and world? I really wonder sometimes if the government or the Sarawak Tourism Board really does their part in promoting Sarawak. I meant, ya, they do promote certain places that is already well known to the world and sometimes they do like really take interest and put a lot of effort into promoting new places. BUT……. After a while, what happen to those places? Neglected or being passed on. What I really want to stress here is if you really want to promote something, please do it properly and PLEASE keep on maintaining it and not just do the initial stage and go. Please do the small things and not only focusing on the big stuff because it is the small things that count. Please don’t blame it on the public for not supporting if you are not doing your work properly. Well, enough of talking about them since I think they will not change anyway. It’s up to the ordinary people like us to promote our own place.

TIME

Time passes by very fast when you are submerged in your own world. It’s been a month since I make an entry here. It’s not that I don’t want to do it but time just doesn’t permit me. At last I’m able to sneak in some time to just write a few simple stuff that has been happening around me for the past one month. Chinese New Year is long passed but the air is still lingered with the smell of it. It was really a great time for me since that’s the only time I can really gorge myself with all the abundance of food and drinks without feeling guilty. It’s also a time whereby I got to meet up with old friends and be merry. Ah….. I miss that period. Now it’s back to work and work is what it is all about now. I’ve been traveling back and forth from Kuching and my hotel room seems to be my second home now. I kinda miss bed now.

piggy year

where's my ang pow???

spring is here

let's not forget to thank GOD

fireworks lite up the sky

colours of sweet and sour