Travel & Adventure

I was on assignment in Kuching last weekend for a few days and man, the city was HOT!

I'm not just referring to the nice sunny weather there but rather the guys. Ahem Perhaps my eyes played tricks on me but the dudes in Kuching seemed hotter than over here in West Malaysia. No, not all Kuching guys look like Kenny Sia (the local blogger poster child), thank heavens. Most of the ones I encountered in this trip were tanned, lithe and good looking complete with a most friendly and pleasant disposition. And these dudes speak Hokkien like nobody's business! Almost makes me wish I was born in Kuching instead of Klang. Almost, but not quite lar.

"Say, you speak Hokkien. Were you born in Kuching?" asked one dude.

"No, I'm from Klang. We speak Hokkien there, too," I said. Then I decided to thrown in the other name for my beloved hometown, "Pasang people speak Hokkien mar."

The dude and his cute friend blinked in surprise. "Errr, you mean Parkson (the shopping mall) in Klang?"

"No, I mean Pasang. Strange, everyone in Peninsular Malaysia knows that it means Klang. I guess it's not the same in East Malaysia?"

They shook their heads, "Nope, doesn't ring a bell with us folks."

I guess there are some differences between East and West Malaysians after all.

It was not my first time in the city though. But I've never had the opportunity to fully explore the city in my previous trips that mostly comprised of transits, conferences and a music festival.

In those trips, I noted a few things about Kuching: it was clean, well-planned, not much traffic congestion and sadly, not many friendly cats either. In this trip however, the roads were more congested than usual due to the Raya festive season and I met quite a number of friendly cats in a Malay village. Plus I discovered a whole lot of FUN things you can do in Kuching.

Kayak

You can kayak through the beautiful Sungai Sarawak and drink in the sight of the majestic
mountains, forests and rock formations. I can fully identify with the childhood rhyme of "Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream." It's so relaxing just floating down the gentle river, having your cheeks fanned by the soft breeze. How I wish such a place exist in Klang for me to kayak in regularly.

Dolphins

I never knew that you can go dolphin watching in Kuching but apparently you can! These are endangered Irrawaddy dolphins and there are about 71 of them swimming happily in the Santubong river mouth. You can watch them from a kayak or on a cruise. I chose the cruise on a river boat option and it was a joy spotting these shy gray dolphins emerging now and then from the waters. We also saw the rare proboscis monkeys (the ones with the big hook nose) hanging around on some nearby trees. It's such an amazing feeling seeing these animals in their natural habitats rather than being cooped up miserably in some zoo.

The Original Car Wash

This is probably one of the coolest places in Kuching to hang out in. It is both an honest-to-goodness car wash and eatery. The ambiance is funky with a red ferrari and dental chairs decorating the exteriors and red lanterns adorning the interiors. A visit to the washroom is a must to see the unique decor. The food is not bad either and I recommend the Mango Crush (ice-blended mango drink made from fresh mangoes from the owner's farm). You can also purchase the mangoes from the stand in front of the restaurant.

Sampan ride

Forget Venice. This is a low-budget way of enjoying a river front boat ride. For 50 sen per trip (RM1 after 10pm), you'll get to cross the river at the Kuching waterfront in a languid sampan ride. This ride will land you in Kampung Gersik where the cheapest and most delicious Dayang Salhah Kek Lapis shop is located. The Malay food at the local restaurants is also very tasty.

Alas, 4 days and 3 nights were just too short for me to enjoy all that Kuching has to offer. I did not have time to visit the caves, the Bako National Park, Gunung Gading National Park, and a whole lot more of kayaking on its majestic rivers.

Oh well. Some other time perhaps. Will post some pics here later.

Here are my lifesavers. The gadgets that allow me to be a domestic goddess in my office pantry. Or even in the jungle if I so fancy.

Let me introduce you to them starting from left to right:

A = The amazing Aeropress that makes grit-free coffee that is smooth and perfect! (Thanks, FM!)
B = Microwaveable jug to warm milk and boil noodles in the microwave oven
C = Steel container and cover
D = The fantastic mamak egg maker/boiler for perfectly half-boiled eggs everytime!
E = Electric kettle (can be replaced with a portable stove burner when there's zit electrical sources)

Here are the dazzling combinations of dishes and beverages that I can whip out with them:

A + B + E + Microwave = Smooth Latte
C + D + E = Indomie Ibumie with Half-Boiled Eggs
B + Microwave = Maggi Mee Kari
A + E = Espresso

Most of them are portable and require no electrical plugs to work. That means that I can have the perfect cup of latte and perfectly half boiled eggs right there in the heart of the jungle. And when I am stuck in the office because of work, I won't be starved for yummy food.

Now who says I can't cook?

I've managed to escape one particular activity that causes your life to flash before your very eyes for all my life.

Until today.

I happily signed up for this outstation trip assignment and assured my superiors that my toes were perfectly healed and since there was no mountain climbing nor strenuous walking involved, I should be fine. My legs still do hurt when I climb up and down the stairs but that shouldn't deter me from observing, interacting with people I meet and taking note of my travel experiences.

What I didn't realise was, by signing up, I also agreed to participate in all the activities in the itinerary including the very much dreaded activity I mentioned in my first sentence .... PAINTBALL.

That is one word that strikes a chord of fear in my heart. An equally scary word to me would be bungee jumping. If bungee jumping to me is like wanting to commit suicide but not quite, then paintball is enlisting in the army to be in the thick of warfare but also, not quite there lar.

I don't like strategy games like Risk and such. Heck, I don't even like watching Rambo with his brawns and mindless shooting sprees. I never had a secret fantasy of joining the army or the SWAT team. And most of all, I don't like getting shot at and having paint splattered all over me.

In short, there is nothing in paintball that I like. So I never bothered.

There are times in life when you think you detest something until you try it and discover that it's not as bad as you think it was. As I don my camouflage shirt, vest and face mask and went into the fighting arena with my team members, I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, I was wrong about paintball. And I would discover that it would be somewhat enjoyable or bearable at the very least.

I hoped in vain.

The duration of suffering was short - a mere 5 minutes per game due to the large crowd that we had. Or even lesser if a team manages to seize the opponent team's flag - a bright orange T-shirt draped languidly on a tree in this case.

I walked into the fighting field holding the heavy gun called the 'Marker' with sandaled feet that felt like jello. I felt like a lamb being led to the slaughter house.

"10 seconds count!" shouts the marshal.

And then the 10 seconds were up and we were running on the forest grounds made slippery by heavy rainfall earlier that morning. Our guns shot at the 'enemy' rampantly. I hid behind a big barrier and just shot at anyone I saw from the opposing team. I must have shot 20 to 30 pellets and caused at least 1 casualty when suddenly I felt something hit my cheek and a splash of bright pink paint stained my left ear and cheek. My mouth tasted the metallic taste of paint. Yucks.

I raised my hand to indicate that I was dead and walked over to the side.

The marshal was barking orders at me for safety reasons, "Sheath your gun! Don't open your face mask until the game is over and you are out of the arena!"

It was good that he constantly shouted these reminders as an unlocked gun can cause a lot of damage to someone who had no face mask to protect their eyes and face. And it's not uncommon to want to rip that darn face mask off your face - it's that uncomfortable! It fogs up after a while and when you can't see a thing in front of you, it freaks you out even more being out there in the battle field. There is a way to prevent fogging by breathing in through the nose and exhaling through your mouth. But that takes practice. Something I don't plan on doing after this.

Soon the game was over when our enemy managed to grab our flag and I staggered out to freedom, took off my face mask and took in big gulps of fresh air.

"Can I skip the next two games? I don't want to risk injuring my toes as I didn't bring proper sport shoes," I told the person in charge. Which was all very true. I just didn't add that paintball just plain freaked me out.

She took one look at my scabby toes and quickly agreed. Another girl tried her luck but since her toes were in perfect condition and she had no other injuries to boast of, she didn't get let off the hook.

So yeah, I was saved by my toes - literally.

Enjoy the pics but do not be deceived by my smiley face. They were taken before the game began when I was still harboring hope that I'd find paintball palatable.


My Sungai Tengi team


While they were strategising, I was photo shooting


Me in camouflage and sandals!


The torture equipment


Photo credits: My pic taken by Alex

Yes, Kah Lai - we saw Abe Lincoln's profile in Deer Cave. Here it is:



My body and feet are healing very nicely and soon I hope to be out traipsing in sun again. That's the thing about being bitten hard by the travel bug, you just forget all the aches and pains and only remember the thrill of exploring a new place.

My work pile's getting bigger now that I'm made web editor. So if I don't blog as much, it's either because I'm out of town or attending meetings/events/wine and dine sessions or planning, editing and chasing deadlines.

Herewith I welcome myself back to the lifestyle of the urban jungle. Tell me why I missed it so much whilst in the real jungle

Lips asked for pics, so here they are. These were all taken by Edward as I didn't bring my baby along - when you hike with a backpack, every gram counts! So baby stayed at home like the good boy that he is.



Almost every evening, there's a bat show near the show caves (Deer and Lang caves) at the Park HQ. The black line is actually a group of bats flying off from the cave towards the jungle to look for grubs (insects) to eat. This was taken the day before we began our hike (Sarawak Chambers - Camp 1 - Camp 2 - Camp 3 - Camp 4 - Summit). Exploring the beautiful show caves was easy peasy, even a kid could do it.


Mossy Forest - it was sheer pleasure trekking from Camp 3 to freezing cold Camp 4 when you have this forest to go through. It's like stepping on soft green carpet. I almost expected to see a hobbit peeking out from behind the trees. Surreal.


More of Mossy Forest


While climbing the summit we get snatches of breathtaking views such as this and the one below




View from the Mulu summit (2376 m)


After the descent, we looked back and heaved a huge sigh of relief and satisfaction for having conquered that mountain.