Images of Kuching Today

A nice spray of the strongly fragrant frangipani ( Plumeria acuminata) which I bumped into at the Mile 10 bazaar roadside. To see newer varieties of the plumeria, please go here >>>>

http://alltheplants3.blogspot.com/search/label/Plumeria%20acuminata

Next to where I sat was this interesting water fountain which I thought was cool in its originality. With the sound of falling water, a good cup of coffee and free wifi, Mile 7 is beginning to catch up with Kuching inner city. More images of Kuching can be browsed here >>>http://mykuchingklikz.blogspot.com/

Mile 7 is on the way back home. So I decided to have a good fried rice with salted fish at the "After 7" outlet there. The "After 7" street extension had free wifi and I had a cool time browsing the Internet while observing the mixed crowd that kept on droppin' by the place.
For more Kuching's street scenes please gto >>>http://mykuchingklikz.blogspot.com/search/label/Street%20scenes

Images of Kuching Today

The traffics lights weren't working and we saw one good samaritan volunteering against the rain and confusion to help re-direct the traffic ....KUDOS to the good man.

Satok Sunday market starts early. Dropping by on Saturday afternoon the place was already abuzzing. The weekend shopping will continue till Sunday afternoon.

The flower section at the Satok Sunday market offers a good bargain for an up-to-date collection of orchids for sale . The market is a regular weekend haunt for Kuching orchid lovers, hobbyists and enthusiasts.

Images of Kuching Today

Flower power at Satok Sunday market

This weekend flower market is part of a bigger attraction called the Satok Sunday market. Many new varieties of plants can be bought here at reasonable prices. Besides flowers, fruit trees and orchids are available . More images of Sarawak orchids can be seen here.

Ethnic art on sliding door

At the Kuching Waterfront shop I noticed this creative use of Sarawak's ethnic design for a decorative wooden sliding door. Sarawak's diverse ethnic traditions have produced some wonderful designs ideas. To see more ethnic design art please click here.

Serikin shopping

Serikin is a popular shopping destination for local tourists from Sarawak, Sabah and more so from Peninsular Malaysia. It provides a growing market for goods made in Indonesia for the Malaysian tastes. Chiefly among them are textiles, personal accessories, rattan goods and many more. For more stories about rattan mats from Serikin please click here.

Images of Kuching Today

Young Malay girls at Kota Samarahan.

A group of young Malay girls posing for the lens. They are part of a large crowd gathered at the Dewan Suarah's open ground to take part in the State-level Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration held at Kota Samarahan, near Kuching. Click here to see more about a Malay wedding couple.

The " Ketapang " tree ( in Malay) changing leaves.

This Sea Almond tree belongs to the Combretum family (Combretaceae). Typical of the Combretum family, it has branches with upturned twigs. Another peculiar habit of the Sea Almond is its seasonal deciduous behaviour when its leaves turned red and fall before the next generation of green leaves takes over the crown. To see more flowering trees of Kuching and Sarawak, please click here.

The Square Tower was initially built as a fort. In the 1920's it turned into a dance hall. Today it is a tourist attraction.

Kuching is the home of the Brooke's ( 1840's onwards) and later British colonial-style architecture in Sarawak. No other towns in Sarawak has the colonial buildings heritage kept in well-preserved conditions like Kuching. A dozen or more of these colonial legacies can be found within walking distances from the Kuching Waterfront and other major international hotels here. To see more of British colonial architecture in Kuching , click here.

Images of Kuching Today

Tall palms are iconic of Kuching's exotic look.

Kuching's tropical sun and humid climate makes it an ideal setting for a tropical garden city. It is gaining reputation as a popular tourist escapade and gateway for jungle adventure into

Sarawak's deep rainforests. Exotic palms, landscape gardens and road beautification around the city help create a pleasant city environment.

Click here to see more images of the city's greenery.

Sarawak's very own Elvis

On Saturday last, four impersonators of Elvis rocked the stage at the Sapphire Lounge, Ban Hock Road. Kuching's loyal Elvis fans were entertained to Elvis evergreens of the 60's and 70's.

Click here for more stories and images of the night.

Nepenthes bicalcarata ( Tropical pitcher plant)

In Sarawak's peat swamp forests and heath forests ( locally known as 'Kerangas' forests) are found many varieties of the pitcher plant. This red coloured pitcher plant bears two fangs which protrude beneath the lid. Its leaves can grow to about one meter long and the pitcher can extend 25 cm high.

For more images of the pitcher plants click here.

Images of Kuching Today

Delicious mangoes

Deep purple eggplant fruits.

Going bananas over bananas

Fruits at the Satok Sunday market.

Images of Kuching Today

A river cruise boat is seen berthing at the Kuching Waterfront area.

A towering mature ' Angsana' tree ( Pterocarpus indicus) at the Sarawak Tourism Complex compound nearby the Kuching Waterfront area.

,A yellow hybrid of the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flower (' Bunga Raya' in Malay) on sale at the Satok Sunday market.

Images of Kuching Today

A Yellow Flame tree in full bloom at Sarawak Museum garden.

Golfers at play

The colourful Medan Pelita - a multi-storey car park cum shopping center.

Images of Kuching Today

Foodstalls along Jalan Satok during the month of Ramadan

Foodstalls at Mile 7, Kuching

Images of Kuching Today

Tourists at Kuching Waterfront

Arch at China town section of Kuching City.

The Square Tower - a colonial heritage building at Kuching Waterfront

View of Kuching City from inside Fort Magherita

Images of Kuching Today

Entrance to Indian Mosque -built in 1834

Modified cars show

Modified scooters show

The Astana - residence of Sarawak's Governor

Images of Kuching Today

Old-school barber service

Cordyline terminalis

Golden shower

' Bungor' tree flowering at Kuching Waterfront

Sarawak's Colonial Legacy

My office in 1978-1979 (Picuture taken yesterday, 10 May, 2010). Previously called " The Pavillion" by the British. Today this building is converted into the 'Sarawak Textile Museum'.

A visit to Kuching City, especially within one kilometer radius of the centrally located Kuching Waterfront will instantly bring back memories of Sarawak's colonial building legacy. I was fortunate to have worked in one of them in 1978-1979 ( picture above) when I was entrusted to be in-charge of the educational radio broadcasting section of the Sarawak Education Department's arm of Educational Mass Media Services. The building where I worked for two years was previously called the "Pavillion". In 1909, the British made the Pavillion as a Medical Headquarters and was converted to the State Education Headquarters in the 1970's. When the Education Headquarters moved into a new and bigger building, it was made to house only the Educational Mass Media section personnels. There I was enjoying a room the size of 20'x 20'. It was luxury to have worked in such a big office and the job was magnificient to me because it enabled me to travel to all the four corners of Sarawak to see and conduct training to teachers on the use of radio lessons which was broadcasted via the airwaves from Kuching to all the nooks and corners of Sarawak's jungles, coasts and deep interiors.

The Round Tower ( A.D. 1886)- functioned as town dispensary when first occupied and in the 1980's it housed a section of the Judicial Department. This building is nearby my EMS office where I used to work.

There is so much of history in Kuching that I've no reservations in declaring that it as one of the most historical cities in Malaysia ( top 5) besides Pulau Pinang ( or "Penang") where the British admiral Francis Light first set up a British settlement in 1786. As for Sarawak its British legacy started with the ex- British India soldier who turned adventurer by the name of James Brooke. In 1839, James Broke arrived in Kuching from Singapore and since then proceeded to establish the Brooke Dynasty ( lasting for about 100 years) before they passed it on to the British Crown colony in 1946, after the Japanese left from having occupied Sarawak for about five years (1941-1946). Of course, as history has it Sarawak together with Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia ( previously British Malaya) formed a new sovereign nation in 1963 called Malaysia and with that achieved independence from the British colonial regime. By all accounts Malaysia's independence was greatly engineered by the British and only half of the struggle is local.

As part of the Brookes and later British colonial legacy, I am amazed to see the permanency of these architectural marvels bearing in mind that at those days buildings were essentially constructed out of bricks alone. Reinforced bars for columns or floors were unheard of then. It is for this reason that these buildings' columns do look massive or bulky. Lately I decided to take and compile pictures of these colonial buildings and they can be seen by clicking the pop-up "pages" below this blog header above, under the page name " Colonial Kuching". Have a browse and enjoy colonial Kuching awhile. I mean you don't have to travel to Kuching to see them yet. Treat these photos as appetisers. Bye for now.

Images of Kuching Today

At the MBO Cineplex, the SPRING, Kuching.