HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Here we go again! Come out and play! Have a scary nite and play safe.... Hehehe!

FIRE! FIRE!

to the rescue

all gone up in smoke

Fire! Fire! That’s what I saw one day when I was returning home from my Raya visiting. The whole thing was engulfed by the fire when we reached the scene. All that was left were smokes and a pile of rumble which used to be a temporary hut. Firemen and police were busy going about with their stuff while the on lookers were busy discussing the theory of how the fire came about. That’s what we Malaysian like to do when there’s a big disaster or event going on. Come to think about it….. I’m one of them actually. Opps!!

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

What’s the meaning of Raya celebration? I don’t know if you ask me. All I know are it’s to usher in the new year for the Muslim community and to eat all the rendang, lemang and ketupat as you can. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfithri for all you guys out there. The Malay community are particular generous during these period. You can basically barge into their house without even knowing them and they are more than happy to serve you with all the food and drinks they can offer. That’s what Malaysian is: generous, hospitable, warm and always smiling. Hope you guys enjoy these photos while I enjoy the food!

food glorious food

yummy food

hungry yet?

where's my food?

FISH BALL & PORK SATAY???

Well… my Raya celebration has come to and end now. Besides eating and sleeping, I don’t think I’ve done anything worth neither mentioning nor remembering. During the whole duration of the holiday, I basically just eat and eat. You know lar, that’s what Malaysian do during festive season. I think I’ve gain a few pounds during these period of time. Have to do some wonder to lose all this FAT! Since we are on the food topic, let’s go to one of my favorite tea break place for some fish ball soup and pork satay. To some people, it might be odd to pair fish ball soup with pork satay. In fact, these two items go hand in hand in this shop. The place is behind the Kuching Post Office and opposite a temple at Carpenter Street. People have been coming here for their fish ball soup and pork satay for more than 20 years! You get the idea of how people in Kuching love their fish ball soup and satay when you are there to see it for your self the crowd at the shop.

hungry pleople

iron chefs

They start selling around 12.00 noon and by 4.00 p.m., all left is just clean bowls and plates. The fish, prawn and pork balls are all home made by themselves which includes their famous pork satay. The pork satay is really tender and juicy and goes well with the chunky peanut sauce. Try to be fast while eating there because you don’t want people to stand next to you waiting for you to finish and go. That’s what human do when they want something bad!

fish ball soup

pork satay

BUSY WEEK

It’s been a very busy week for me so far. That’s the reason for the long absence of me. I’m going from meetings to another meeting. There are times when I forgot what day it is or where I am. Luckily, the week has come to and end and I’m looking forward to my deserving rest over the long weekend. Going to have a long break for the Raya celebration and don’t miss me when I’m gone. Hehehe! Will do my duty to report for you guys what I did during this holiday period. Most probably will be stuffing myself silly with all the lemang, rendang and satay. So be good while I’m away.

my home for the past week

airport is my home sweet home

RELAXING WEEKEND

After a grueling week ahead, what we all need is a nice relaxing weekend to recharge and refresh ourselves. Looking forward to a good weekend and hope you guys will have a great one too. Don’t be naughty and play safe people. Signing off for the week now. Cheerio!

ORIENTAL PARK

Oriental Park

Ever dreamt of watching you ‘char seow’ for ‘kolo mee’ being BBQ in front of you while sipping your coffee? You’re in luck if you want it. There’s an old coffee shop tuck away at the back of the warehouse of the Department of Irrigation and Piping at the town centre just next to the old mosque and Brooke’s Dockyard in Kuching. The coffee shop (Oriental Park) is nest to the old Cathay cinema. It's a nice quiet place, where it eminence of the nostalgic era where people come here to have their morning coffee and half boiled eggs while enjoying their morning papers. The place is run by a family of five since the late 60’s. The mum done all the cooking while dad is the person responsible for the delicious strip of ‘char seow’ in you ‘kolo mee’.

dad in action

mum in action

You can just smell the charcoal roasting the succulent n juicy ‘char seow’ in a make shift BBQ pit in front of the shop. Very tempting yet sinful considering how much calories are in those strip of ‘char seow’. The ‘kolo’ mee’ comes with generous helping of ‘char seow’ and garnished with green vegetables. Nice tangy noodles with the smell of pork lard, dash of vinegar and lots of fried onions. Yum! Yum! Nevertheless, me and my friends tuck away into our bowls of ‘kolo mee’ while enjoying the scene of ‘char seow’ done in front of us. That’s what I called open kitchen concept.

kolo mee

char seow

After we had satisfied our hunger, we proceed to pay for our meal. A bowl of ‘kolo mee’ will cost you around RM 2.50 (USD 0.70). When we wanted to pay, the owner refused to accept our money because the owner was actually my friend’s uncle. Well, they kept on pushing the money to each other and even end up chasing each other around the premises. The scene reminds me of those Hindi movies where there’s always couples chasing around each other around a tree. Too bad there isn’t any music playing at that time. At last everything was settled and we left the coffee shop satisfied.

WHY OH WHY???

While on my way back home from work one day, I was in a pretty good mood and thought of a smooth ride home since it was beyond the rush hour. All of a sudden, there’s a massive traffic jam in front of me. Well, I thought it must be another accident since it just rain a few moments ago. So as a law abiding citizen, I follow the usual rule and drive slowly following the rest of the pack. As I follow the slow moving cars in front of me, guess what I saw? The accident actually occurred on the other side of the road and not on the side that I’m traveling. By now I know why the jam had occurred. People just basically slow down to see what happened and some might even take down the car license number to buy 4D. F**k! What is wrong with Kuching people? This is what happened every time when there’s an accident. People will just slow down and look! Well, listen here citizen of Kuching. Next time if you want to slow down and look at an accident, please make sure you can offer some help or if you are just some annoying busybody who only want to look, move along and don’t slow down. Please don’t create a traffic jam because of your annoyance. Move along PEOPLE. Thank You! Phew! That goes all my frustration.

MEOW!!

There was this very morning whereby me and my gang decided to give our boss a break by taking an impromptu leave just to go pretending as tourist happily snapping pictures. We started our little journey around 6.30 a.m. (even real tourist aren't that hardworking).

Kuching at 6.00 a.m

We started off pretty well around the waterfront area, snapping away happily. We hop from the waterfront to the nostalgic wet market (Main Bazaar) area where all Kuching civilization started. The Main Bazaar is basically where people from all works of live come together every morning to do their daily groceries and even catch up with the latest gossip in town. The re-freshing smell of vegetables blending with the aromatic smell of freshly brew coffee is just so different from what you used to every morning.

Kuching Waterfront at dawn

Kuching wet market

Curious ‘ah sam’ and ‘ah po’ exchanged glances with us while busy doing their daily routine. We even encountered a group of people squatting by the five foot way playing ‘ho lo chim’. When they spotted us with cameras hanging around our neck, one of them quickly approached me and started to interrogate me. Asking which daily I work with and where I’m from. Scared as shit since the guy got tattoos of dragon and phoenix on his body, I politely replied that we are tourist from Singapore. Quickly we make our way off the gambling pit to a safer ground. It was a tiring day but good day for us. Just hope our boss will not see this blog. Oppss!!

different view of Main Bazaar

different view of Main Bazaar

LET'S PLAY LANTERN!!!

Carpenter Street comes alive every year on the 15th of 8th month based on the Chinese Lunar calendar. This is where the Mid-Autumn Festival or fondly known as Moon Cake Festival are held for the past 4 years. The celebration brings together not only the Chinese community but also the Malays and the native people as well to understand and also enjoy the diverse culture of Kuching. There's something for every one to do and see there. From the young til the old, you are bound to be entertained, just be prepared to walk all the way from Carpenter Street up to the Court House.

Carpenter Street main entrance all deck up for the Mid-Autumn Festival

There are street performances of much varieties such as traditional Chinese orchestra, Chinese chess competition, Bonzai display, traditional dances, old folks singing and much more.

traditional Chinese orchestra mesmerizing the crowds

Chinese calligraphy in display

the Bonzai garden

For those young or young at heart, there's plenty of rides and games to keep you busy. Who knows, you might even win a teddy bear or two at the carnival.

yippee!!! see me spin.......

After all those walking and playing, you can refresh yourself with some cooling drinks or flavoured ice (kantong). If you want to satisfy your hunger, there's always galore of delicacies that you can try. Be it a simple hot dog or something more exotic like Mongolia meat, there bound to be something that suits you.

flavoured ice (kantong)

Last but not least, how could we forget bout the most important element in this festival. Lanterns of course!!

stalls selling colourful lanterns

1st Step

Welcome earthlings! For those who know me, welcome back and for those who are new, hope you enjoy your stay here. In this blog, i will take you along with me on a stroll through what i see, smell, hear, touch and taste in life. You will get the ups and downs of life basically. So, strap on your safety belt and prepared for a roller coaster ride. Cheerio!