Kuching - 3 Jan 2008

When I was told I had to make a trip to Kuching for training as well as help out in whatever ways I could, I was not exactly reluctant. Mainly because I knew I was not going to be alone, there would be a few colleagues on the trip together.

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We booked Silkair round trip for only about S$200+ per person. Was quite a good deal.

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We took the afternoon flight & arrived at Kuching International Airport around 2-ish.

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Among us was a Sarawakian, she was borned in Kuching, her homeland until she moved in to Singapore after her studies. You would not be able to tell she was actually from Kuching.

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Her aunt came to pick us up from the airport & drove us to the Hotel where we were supposed to unload & head straight to work. We booked a 3-bedrooms suite in the Merdeka Palace Hotel in Kuching costing about RM400 a night. It was reasonable.

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Fragments of the hotel

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A snap of the 'humongous' hotel from across the street. Why humongous? Well, the rest of the buildings in Kuching were short & small. There were not more than 2 hands-count of tall buildings.

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Our suite housed 1 master bedroom with own Bathroom, TV & study area. One Twin Bedroom which was the one I slept in with a colleague which only has a queen bed, wardrobe & a nice sliding door that opens to the Living area & another proper door that opens on the other side.

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One smaller bedroom which has a single bed, a wardrobe which our male colleague slept in, OH YES, we bullied him & banished him into that small dark room.

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My room & his room has a common bathroom (not connected & right outside both the rooms) which we shared. There is a Living Room with sofa-set and a common study area + TV, a dining room with dining table, another common toilet (no bath just toilet), a small pantry with microwave & coffee & tea making facilities, a common dressing area where all of us plugged in our own hairdryer, hair curlers & straighteners.. Quite a cool accommodation!
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The Hotel Lobby. It was quite a grand hotel with beautiful architecture from the exterior & elegant interior if one can disregard the fact that it was pretty old.

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The Hotel Cafe where breakfast were served.

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For this trip, we were basically supposed to perform hard labour. We, the 4 of us, 3 ladies 1 man, were the first batch to prepare the shop for its opening on 9 January. The second batch shall arrive on the 6 January to takeover.

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So after we settled in the Hotel, we took a taxi to the Mall where we were supposed to work. A mall that we all agreed, looked like a factory!

We laboured until about evening, we took a walk to a supposedly nearby neighborhood to purchase brooms, mops, pails & other stuff we need for the next day.
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Weather in Kuching was wet & gloomy for the days I was there. It was to our advantages though the tracks are rather muddy.

The housing of the people here were mainly 'landed property'. What sets the Not-So-Poor apart from the Not-So-Rich in terms of housing is the size of their home & compound though all are LANDED.

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Our local friend also told us the shops, coffee shops & most shops are closed in the early afternoons.. the street were quiet & slow.

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I did not see anyone rushing for time, walking quickly.. in fact, there was hardly humans walking on the street. It was a quiet & slow city. Kind of nice. Feels like a place where there were no peak hour jams, no deadlines, no rushing for that bus or train etc..

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She also told us that there were not many taxis in the city because most locals drive. I was quite surprised. She told me she had never taken a local taxi all her life when she was living in Kuching because she was driven everyday. Wow..

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I also noticed the people in Kuching looks quite well-to-do silently. They are not the branded freaks nor loud high-profile type BUT the subtle & comfortable with their lives sort. Envious.

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Her aunt picked us up from the Mall & sent us to a nearby place where 2 of my colleagues wanted a massage. Apparently, in Kuching were street full of massage parlours that looked like ktv suites. According to her, the people in Kuching massages all the time. I guess as much, they pretty much nowhere to go & not much work to do. We took a tour of the massage suites she brought us to & indeed, just like a KTV suites. It was clean & smells really good. Nothing sleazy but proper massage parlour.

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After that, she also brought us to enjoy nice local food. I am particularly fascinated by their local vegetables called the Bilin. The said that Singapore has lots of Bilin lying all over the roadside & no one ever eats them. Throughout this trip, I ate lots of Bilin, I liked it alot particularly fried with chilli & lime. VERY YUMMY!

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After the hearty meal, we retired back to the hotel.

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Everyone was so tired yet stubborn & not wanting to go to bed. By 11pm, all were snoring at the Living Area sofa!

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Best of all, my local friend could still drag her body out partying with her long-lost schoolmates!

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I have to admit defeat. I went to bed at 12mn.