It was the day of the Imagine Cup competition. Bart accompanied his students on this day. For Dad, Mum, the boys and I, we hired a van with a driver to take us round (RM300 per day). This was a better alternative to joining any package tour as it gave us more flexibility in our itinerary.
In the morning, we went first to Semenggoh to see orang utans in their natural habitat. Entrance fee was RM3 per adult. It was feeding time when we arrived and so we got to see the orang utans. Visitors have to be very quiet so as not to provoke the dominant male orang utan which was present. We left as soon as the boys started getting restless - which wasn't too long after we arrived.
[Orang utans at play]
Next stop was the Jong Crocodile Farm. Entrance fee was RM16 for adults and RM8 for children. Justin went in for free :-) Julian liked his visit here as there were many animals to see. If you're thinking of visiting, consider using insect repellent. Lots of mosquitos. The 'highlight' at the farm was the crocodile feeding in which the crocodiles would be lured to jump up to catch their meal. Frankly, what started off as an amazing spectacle turned to a pitiful sight after a while. There appears to be only a limited number of 'bait' so the feeders would pull the meat out of reach of the poor hungry crocodiles as they jumped in order to prolong the show. Imagine having your meal snatched away from you over and over again! Once or twice, I can accept, but the poor crocs, especially for the last two chickens, had to jump countless times. No, I can't say that I enjoyed watching that.
[Julian looking at the crocodiles]
[Jumping crocodiles tyring to catch a meal]
[A cassowary at the crocodile farm]
From the crocodiles, we made our way to Bau, about 40mins away. Justin and Julian slept on the way. We had lunch at a coffee shop in Bau. Justin continued sleeping (the boys had already eaten while at the crocodile farm). After lunch we went to see the Wind Cave. We didn't go inside. Just took a few photos at the entrance. Next, we proceeded to the Fairy cave. The entrance is very high up and we didn't fancy climbing, especially with Julian in tow, so our driver took us to another spot nearby for us to take some photos. After that we headed back to the city.
[Julian at a cave]
Enroute to Kuching we stopped to see pottery-making. Nearer the city our driver took us to see how bird's nest is processed. It's a really tedious task.
[Potter at work]
[Hearing a briefing at the bird nest factory]
Finally we visited the Sarawak Museum. It has two storeys of exhibits but we only covered the ground floor because of the boys. The boys were delighted to see the exhibits of old model vehicles (bus & train). There were also taxidermy of animals which we found educational for the boys.
[The boys and Dad at the Sarawak Museum]
We arrived back at the hotel at about 4.30pm. Bart arrived at about the same time. After a shower and a short rest, we went out for dinner. We decided to eat at Top Spot, a popular seafood foodcourt. We ordered midin (young fiddlehead ferns) cooked with belacan (prawn paste), sotong goreng tepung (squid deep-fried in batter), and ray fish with sambal. Our meal cost us about RM30. This was the best meal that we had during our Kuching holiday.
[Top Spot]
[Midin in belacan]
[Ray fish with sambal]
After dinner, Bart went back to Pullman Hotel to hear the announcement of the results of the Imangine Cup Malaysia Finals. Unfortunately, no overseas trip this year, unlike two years ago.
More on our Day 3 in Kuching on Chris & Connie's blog.
In the morning of our second day in Kuching, we went to the Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) in Santubong. Our package was RM80 per person for transport and entrance fee (the published entrance fee is RM60). We left the hotel at about 9.00am and the journey to SCV took us 40 minutes. For Angie and I, this was our second visit to SCV, but the first for the boys and my parents. Everything seemed pretty much the same as our last visit in 2005.
[Julian and Mom on the walkway to the Bidayuh longhouse]
[The boys and Mom stoking the fire at the Bidayuh longhouse]
[Justin and Daddy observing a lady weaving at the Iban longhouse]
[Dad trying out the blowpipe at the Penan hut]
[Justin and Daddy making their way down the Melanau tallhouse]
[The boys on a swing under the Malay house]
[Julian trying out a chinese ratan hat]
While my parents watched the cultural show which ran from 11.30am-12.15pm, we took the boys for lunch as they were hungry. Not even the cool interior of the theater could entice them to stay in (it was sunny and hot during our tour around the SCV grounds). Having our lunch during this time proved to be a wise move as the restaurant was less busy.
[Sarawak Laksa at SCV]
[Mee Kolo at SCV: Minus the char siew (barbecued pork) :o)]
We left SCV at about 1.30pm and made a quick stop at Damai Beach for a look-see before heading back to the city.
Upon our return to the hotel, we noticed that Justin developed red patches all over this tummy and parts of this face. Our initial suspicion was that it could be an allergic reaction to sweat. So, in the evening, while I joined my students at the Pullman Hotel for the preparations for the Imagine Cup Malaysia Finals, Justin was taken to a clinic in Satok.
After being prescribed some Calamine lotion and anti-histamine, Angie and the boys and my parents had a little adventure returning to the hotel. From Satok, they took a bus supposedly back "to Kuching" but the last stop was not anywhere familiar. So, they walked in the direction of the riverfront as this would then lead them back to the hotel. However, as they were walking, it started to rain. As they had only one umbrella, they decided to head to a nearby eatery for dinner since it was already about dinner time. They made it back safely to the hotel on foot at about 7pm.
JUstin's rashes improved after that. Our later suspicion was that it could be due to dust on the bed as the boys were jumping and playing all over. Justin slept on the other bed the second night onwards, and no more jumping on the beds for the boys!
More on our visit to the Sarawak Cultural Village on Chris & Connie's blog.
We went on a 5D/4N holiday to Kuching from 3-7 May 2011. Mom and Dad came along with us. The trip also coincided with the Microsoft Imagine Cup Malaysia Finals in which my students were participating.
[Our approach to Kuching International Airport]
[Justin's maiden flight]
We arrived in the afternoon and checked-in at the Grand Margherita Hotel. We had a quick chicken rice lunch before heading back to the hotel to rest.
[Hotel bed tested and approved: We chose the Deluxe Double which had 2 queen-sized bed... this suited our needs perfectly]
Later in the afternoon, we introduced the boys to the "bot tambang" which took us across the river (50 sen per person, one-way). We didn't venture very far as it was very hot and humid. Furthermore, all this while, Julian was pestering us to "see kucing (cat)"... he had seen photos of us with statues of small playful cats from our previous trip to Kuching. So we crossed the river again to see Julian's cats.
[The boys' first bot tambang experience]
[Posing with our bot tambang]
[The playful cats of Kuching and the boys]
[Daddy and the boys at the metal hornbill monument beside the James Brooke Bistro and Cafe]
In the evening, we went on the Sarawak River Cruise from 5.30-7.00pm (RM60 per person). It was a nice and relaxing cruise, enabling us to see popular landmarks such as the Astana, Fort Margherita, the new state legislative assembly building, Brooke Dockyard, the state mosque, and the traditional Malay villages. We were served orange cordial and kek lapis (traditional layer cakes) on board. Halfway during the cruise, the boys konked out... they had had a tiring day.
[Mummy and the boys on the cruise]
[The Sarawak River at sunset]
More on our Sarawak River Cruise experience on Chris & Connie's blog.
Justin turned 21 months on 25 April 2011. He weighed 10.85kg during his quarterly visit to the clinic.
Here are his updates:- He is already entering the 'terrible two' phase. His tantrums are more frequent and he's not easily pacified. He doesn't really respond to reason, either.
- He's getting more active physically.
- He likes to sit on the swing at the playground and can even get himself to swing faster!
- He can say 'bear', 'da' (duck), 'ji' (cheers), 'chek eh' (cheng ay - hokkien for wear shoes), 'ot' (hot), 'ba' (rainbow), 'noo noo' (our robot vacuum cleaner), 'bu' (blue & balloon)
- He would often say 'eeee...' (whee) continuously (and loudly) when we drive down a slope.
- He's fond of biting people. He does this out of excitement and also out of anger. Either way, it hurts! Julian appears to be his most consistent victim...
- He is often jealous when Julian sits on mummy's lap or when mummy carries Julian.
- Although he is generally good with food, he doesn't seem to like rice very much at dinner time. He's more receptive to rice if it is wet with soup or some gravy.
- He likes raisins.
- He seems to prefer solids to milk.
- He is relunctant to drink his milk, especially at home. Since his hospitalisation, he has been demanding to be breastfed very frequently. Before his hospitalisation, he was down to being breastfed only at bedtime and once or twice in the middle of the night. In fact, we were in the process of weaning him. Now it seems we're back to square one.
[Justin the Iron Chef]
[This is what you get when you get me mad...! Justin's bitemark on Julian's back]
[Justin's Mamee moment]
[Snack attack... again]
[Playing with papaya]
[Justin's swing-a-ling time]
On 21 April 2011, we decided to take a trip to Pulau Aman - without the boys :-)
We got to the jetty in Batu Kawan at about 9.30am. The boat only leaves at 10am, so we walked around and took some photos. The boat ride to Pulau Aman takes 10-15 minutes, arriving on the northern tip of the island.
[Boat Schedule to Pulau Aman]
[Our boat to Pulau Aman]
Once on the island, we just simply walked around. We first walked southward on the east-side of the island, passing the local clinic and the dilapitated new jetty. Then retracing our steps, we explored the west-side, stopping by the oldest breadfruit tree in Malaysia, and the Telaga Emas (Gold Well).
[Pulau Aman village]
[Oldest breadfruit tree in Malaysia]
[Telaga Emas]
One of the reasons for our visiting Pulau Aman was to try out the mee udang (prawn noodles). This is with the savoury tomato gravy. We decided to try the one at Warung Kak Timah just a short distance away from the jetty. We're not sure if this was the best place to try mee udang on Pulau Aman. Anyway, it was served with 3 large prawns (RM6) - delicious! We also tried the sotong goreng tepung (tempura squid) which was also very good (RM5) - delicately crispy outside, soft inside. Their fried kuey teow was not so good, though.
[Mee Udang Kak Timah]
[Sotong Goreng Tepung]
We had wanted to go over to the neighbouring Pulau Gedung after lunch and then try to sample the mee udang at another stall later that afternoon. Pulau Gedung apparently has a few more historial sites. However, the boatmen were all resting that day. Since there wasn't much else to do, we decided to head home.
