15 Mar 2011 – The Rivers vs Pan Borneo Highway

Mon: thanks Chuan for dinner@The Heritage****but most of all do appreciate you for taking the time to meet and for helping out with info about transportation and accommodations for the next stop!

Tue: the Ekspres Bahagia departed KCH 0830hrs speeding down the calm waters of the Sarawak River (bypassing some industrial areas and some villages) into the end bit of a slight choppy S China Sea (nothing else but the sea) and then back into more shelter water on the Rajang River (some industries and villages) to Sarikei. The ride took app 3hrs 15mins and cost 40MYR. It was a comfortable trip but would not want to attempt it during monsoon season. Did certainly check with the weather first, especially after the earthquake in Japan!

Imagine the slow boat in the 1930s, that would take at least a day to get here then! Sarikei the capital of the Sarikei District, Sarawak/E Malaysia. It is located on the Rajang River near where the river empties into the S China Sea. With an app area of 985sq km/380 sq mi and a pop app 57,000 is culturally mixed with mostly Iban, Melanau, Malay and Chinese predominating. Checked into the Dragon Inn for 40MYR/per night, clean room with bath attached and most important unlimited internet access! Too hot, lazy and tired to go out to take pix now. Pix from town- akan datang/coming soon! A nap sounds good for now 🙂

Human nature is above all things lazy – Harriet B Stowe

13 Mar 2011 – The Sarawak Club

A rainy morning in search of sites owned by the LAM family many moons ago! Kwong Lee Bank /KLB, main office in KCH used to be owned by the LAM family from 1905-1964, absorbed by Overseas Chinese Banking Cooperation/OCBC in 1964, later by Malayan United Industry/MUI Bank in 1983 and at present bought over by the Hong Long Bank/HLB in 1994. Thus HL Bank is able to claim that it is founded in 1905!

The Sarawak Club was established in 1876 and is reputedly one of the oldest private membership clubs in the whole of Malaysia. This have been my afternoons hang-out since arrival. There is a library with internet access in addition to the swimming pool which is a comfortable form of excises after all these yummy local food!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126362025803

So coincident that Ting just posted a lovely pix on FB of a Hornbill from Sungei Buloh/SIN. Borrowing her pix to show what the real Hornbill looks like. Thanks Ting. Was just taking pix of The Hornbill Restaurant and the club facilities here. Sarawak is popularly known as the Land of the Hornbills, which is the national bird of the State. The locals view the bird as a symbol of purity. They use either the bird itself or it’s representation in their religious ceremonies. In Sarawak, as in other SE Asian countries, it is a protected species.

The high ceilings in the lobby & dinning areas give an airy feeling in these hot climates. Across the road from the pool is a building looking like a table with many legs. It is the Civic Center and visitors can go up to the viewing platform to get a panoramic view of the city below. It also has a planetarium where you can learn a bit about the constellation.

Fly me to the moon
Let me sing among those stars
Let me see what spring is like
On jupiter and mars – Bart Howard

12 Mar 2011 – A Prayer@Jemak Mosque for the People in Japan!

Masjid Jamek/Jamek Mosque is located at Petra Jaya adjacent to the State Library. Regarding houses of worship, the mosque is the most peaceful and serene place for me. There are no statues, icons, deities etc inside; instead there are pretty stained glass windows and tall pillars with tasteful mosaic domes covered with beautiful Arabic calligraphy. Today, a silent prayer was said for the people affected by the earthquake and tsunamis.

The Astana=palace in English, resides the current Yang di-Pertua Negeri or the Head of State/Governor of Sarawak. This palace is situated on the north bank of the river, just across the river from Kuching Waterfront. Charles Brooke (3rd and last Rajah) built this as a bridal gift to his wife Margaret in 1870.

Parliament Building by KCH River with Lawrence looking across the river at the KCH City Mosque.

Lunch@White Rajah Restaurant***/Regency Rajah Court Hotel. Food so-so. Lawrence & Mabel know the GM/Mr Lang? and coincidently he was also having a late lunch. Asked if it was possible to buy the disposable place mats and coasters of old historic prints and was immediately presented with two sets. The camera was happily clicking away while Lawrence went to get the car and we ladies took our time to admire the decor. As we were approaching the door, this young waiter approached us to ask if our bill will be settled by Mr Lang? What a polite and diplomatic way to inform us that the bill was not paid! Mabel & I thought that Lawrence took care of the bill. But the point is that it is impressive how this young waiter dealt with the situation. Must write to the management to congratulate them for such service.

Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends -Walt Disney

11 Mar 2011 – Greetings Again from Cat City!

KCH postings 7 Mar 2008, 15 May 2009, 26 Mar 2010. Must like it here to return every year since 2006!

Kuching KCH/古晋 officially the City of Kuching (431.01km^2/166.4 sq mi, pop app 600,000),is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysia state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo and the 4th largest city in Malaysia founded by the representative of the Sultan of Brunei in 1827

More than 150 years ago, Sarawak was essentially KCH. KCH was known as Sarawak first, then the word Proper, was added to Sarawak, thus Sarawak Proper, so as to distinguish it from the larger Sarawak which, in 1841, consisted of only the area between Tanjung Datu and the Samarahan River. In 1872, Sarawak Proper was given its present name, KCH, under the rule of the second Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Brooke.

KCH was named after a tidal stream called Sungai Kuching/River Kuching that ran between the present-day Tua Pek Kong Temple and Chinese History Museum. The stream originated from Bukit Mata Kuching/Cat’s Eye Hill where there was an abundance of a local fruit called Green Longan (Isau, Dimocarpus longan ssp malesianus), vernacularly known as Mata Kuching/Cat’s Eye. KCH is thought to derive from the Malay word kucing=cat. Many of the locals refer to KCH as the Cat City but it more likely comes from the Chinese word for port cochin coupled with the Malay name mata kucing for the longan fruit, a popular trade item.

Thu: Tiger flight roared on schedule into Cat City. Uncle Yat Ming somehow lost his baggage after claiming it… must have been the excitement of seeing brother Lawrence again after an absence of over 50yrs! All’s well that ends well, thank goodness some honest soul found the bag and called the police and the happy and rightful owner reunited with his bag 🙂

Thanks to Lawrence for dinner@Top Spot****with my favourite veggie, medin/FiddleHeads which is wild fern found only in this area.

Appreciations to Lawrence & Mabel for hosting today’s lunch***@Telang Usan Hotel in the company of family, Mabel’s brother Raymond and his Danish guests.

Just got news about the major tsunami after a 8.9 earthquake Japan with the footage on TV all confusion right now, but looks bad and the tsunami could be on its way to other places. To the people in that area, please stay as safe as they are able to.

Did you know that the word tsunami, which is now being used worldwide, is a Japanese word? This is indicative of the extent to which Japan has been subject to frequent tsunami disasters in the past – Junichiro Koizumi

9 Mar 2011 – Family Tree/Jungle!

Past two days have been tourist guiding family from LA, a cousin also name Amy LAM, married and divorced a Norwegian!! How coincident can that be and to also discover that we have much in common!!! They are from LAM Ji Chiew’s (granduncle) branch and from now when referring to the family jungle, AmyY will be handling this branch. LAM Song Kee’s (grandfather) branch will be handled by AmySG LAM. For those who think that SG=SIN, do remember that I existed before computer. SG are the initials for my Chinese name Su Guan 🙂

Tue: Chinatown and a visit to 4th aunt who is the eldest of the LAM Song Kee’s branch. Thanks to Les & Ivy for yet another yummy seafood dinner at Long Beach Seafood. Cousin Andrew was commenting that cousin Michael liked the chilly crabs@Chinatown Heritage Museum, but that really is nothing to write home about compared to that of Long Beach Seafood 🙂

Today: @Tiong Bahru Market to meet 10th, 11th & 16th aunties for lunch. Then@New Asia, 70th floor at City Hall to get a some views. Just finished editing and uploading pix for the three previous postings, now to unpack the HKG bag and repack for the KCH’s flight which is  leaving tomorrow! Will bring my laptop for this journey, just hope that there will be online access crossing my path 🙂

Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family – Kofi Annan

7 Mar 2011 – Byebye HKG (edited 9 Mar)

Sat: relaxing morning chatting with Henry. A fun evening karaoke at Richard’s studio until the early hours of Sun, looked like Miu needed his beauty sleep or were we such bad singers 🙂

Sun: Lamma Island/南丫島, also known as Pok Liu博寮, is the 3rd largest island (an area of 13.55 km²) in HKG. Takes app half hour on the boat to get there. Thank you Henry for his time and for introducing the island. Appreciations to Harry, Johnny, Richard and friends for the gracious hospitality. This certainly is the best HKG trip.

Mon: the bus ride to HKG airport on this lovely morning is picturesque with skyscrapers, suspension bridges and mountainous background. Back in SIN in time for the Mary Black Gala Concert and Fundraiser@the residence of the Irish Ambassador. Mary is an Irish singer and is well-known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world.

Somehow the pix from this performance are not good… either too tired or just not too focus! Perhaps the fact that there are more pix to be uploaded for the last two previous posting is not helping. Anyway will need to go back and edit when the mind is clearer!!

A clear mind is nothing but the ability to bring thoughts together, to tie already known ideas with less known ideas and to express them in exact and clear words – Helvetius

5 Mar 2011 – Family, Friends & Food (edited 9 Mar)

Thu: a most interesting day with grand uncle LAM JiChiew’s branch of the family. Thank you for a very impressive 8-course delicious home-made lunch by 86yrs old uncle CHANG. Appreciations to auntie LAM KeiChan/married CHANG and to cousin Michelle CHANG. To uncle Richard LAM YatMing, auntie Helen, cousins Amy & Andrew LAM, glad to meet them all and hope that their will get over their jetlags.

Eastlake Seafood Restaurant/東湖海鮮酒家***in Causeway Bay. Thank you David YUNG for yet another yummy dinner but thanks most of all for taking time to meet.

Thanks to Richard for movies Season of the Witch**@Windsor Cinema-about a 14th century Crusader returns to a homeland devastated by the Black Plague. A beleaguered church, deeming sorcery the culprit of the plague, commands the two knights to transport an accused witch to a remote abbey, where monks will perform a ritual in hopes of ending the pestilence. Richard was not too happy that I was returning a text message in the cinema… apologies to Richard.

Fri: a day of home cooking lunch & dinner by Johnny@Johnny Al Fresco*****What a memorable treat with a lovely group of young people who does not mind being with us, the baby boomers Richard & Harry who needed  a massage 🙂

Go to the places that you’ve never been
See all the people that you’ve never seen
Do all the things that you do in your dreams
And you’ll see it’s a wonderful life – from Cliff Richard