Kuching, Borneo

31 juillet 2011

Return to Kuching

So here we are back at the Singgahsana Lodge in Kuching and it is VERY hot indeed.We had a wonderful lunch before we left – a `dimsun` which consists of ...actually I don`t know what but delicious steamed food in brought to your table in little baskets with lids .It was just as well I ate because I couldn`t eat on the plane because of too much turbulence making me feel sick .Pat ate mine (good food on Malaysian Airlines too so it was a pity)

We settled into our room ( with four poster bed ) and then went out for something to eat again ( Pat`s 4^th meal and my 2^nd) and then a walk along the river where we listened to some musicians and looked at crafts for sale ( and bought a few things of course)

30 th July

Had to sleep with earplugs because we`re right by a road so we look like aliens as the earplugs are orange ! We had breakfast upstairs in the bar and chatted to a couple of women who`d spent the night watching female turtles lay eggs and hide them in the sand. I`d like to try ( not lay turtle eggs , go to the island ) but I`m not sure how feasible this is.

We then took a water taxi to the opposite side and wandered around , looked at an old fort which seriously needed a revamp and met a really nice chap who showed us the rooms he rented out -I have to admit they are gorgeous . We`re going across to eat with him tomorrow – chicken cooked in bamboo ! After that we went to the orchid exhibition – yes another one .It was great , my sister Kirstin would have loved it . There were prizes for best orchid arrangement etc a bit like the Burridge fair of my childhood -an mega-exotic variation a `posy in an eggcup` category ! There were hundreds of different varieties , some as big as my hand ( almost )

After that we went for a fruit juice at a cafe that has an identity problem -or is he just keeping his options open .The menu has Lebanese, Egyptian .American food and you can even smoke hubbly bubbly if you want to risk TB from the pipes. I saw a group of very middle-class looking 15 year old puffin` away like Thomas the Tank engines -Pat said he was going to ask if their parents were OK with this but I held him back !maybe Malay parents are relaxed about this sort of thing!

On the way back we noticed little fires all along the street and incense burning ( we are staying in the Chinese quarter in temple street ) We found out they were burning money to send to ghosts in case they need it .This happens on the last full moon in July .I think this is right -another source told me the fires were lit to chase away the devil It`s as confusing as Halloween !

Crossing the road to our lodgings is a bit of a nightmare but what`s good is the little green man on the crossing walks faster and faster as your time to cross runs out – you can see him hurtling like mad but getting nowhere ,like a treadmill !

Pat is lying on our four poster bed having a late siesta .We`re going out for a meal soon – they do great soups.I have to pick up my laundry first … another great invention ( and cheap) will write again tomorrow . It may rain so we`re doing a few museums between restaurants !

31^st July – Museum day

Before I talk about today I`ll add a bit about last night .We went out for something to eat at the oldest Chinese restaurant in Kuching with a very unChines sounding name ,`Life Cafe`

Good meal as usual – chicken soup and ginseng so , very healthy. After that we went for a walk along the river to the square where hundreds of people were catapulting luminous blue spinning tops into the air .I wished my granddaughter Emmy had been there to see it !Also her mum who is a sucker for all things twinkly ! One chap would shout 1,2,3 ( I suppose he said that ,it was in Malay) and everyone sent theirs up into the sky .It was great !We had a few power cuts( no connection to catapults ) during the night but it was fixed quite quickly. We also picked up our 3 kilos of laundry which cost us the grand sum of 21 ringgits ie 5 euros ...I could get used to this life!

So today we thought we'd go to the museums we hadn't seen ..the natural history , the Sarawak Museum and the fabric one. On the way there we stopped and bought some `money to burn` . Then we went to the Chinese temple to put it into an incinerator where the ashes transport it to a loved person who has passed on. I sent some to Mum .You can burn clothes and shoes ( made of paper) too but I decided money covered everything! The lady in the Temple was really welcoming and explained the whole procedure.

After that we went to the museums ,I won't go into too many details because it's difficult to describe them BUT all I can say is `they were great` although I was glad I'd seen all those taxidermined animals , reptiles and fish after going into the jungle rather than before !

In one of the museums I won a free cup of cappuccino because I was able to recite a tongue twister three times without faltering ...I have to admit it was in English and not Malay BUT they said fair's fair and I drank my winnings ! The last time I won anything was in Carrefour Chambery when I won a bottle of champagne for knowing that Sylvia Kristel starred in Emmanuelle ( my name was announced all over the car park – the price one has to pay for being knowledgeable )

We also decided to have a meal and a chat with the manager who knew of our friends Sheila and Philip and knew their son Raffy ….everyone knows Raffy !

Now we are back at Singgashana ,Patrick is having a nap and we`re going to cross the river and go for that bamboo chicken meal in a tampan ( wobbly but fun ) Tomorrow we think we`ll go to Bako national Park because we just love the proboscis monkeys....