18 hours in Changi

Cats Everywhere

Cats pointing out the four directions on a downtown roundabout.
A cat at the entrance of Kuching's Chinatown
Kittens in front of South Kuching's City Hall

Kuching's Architecture

Blue mosque on the north side of the Sarawak River
Kuching's North City Hall
Pink Mosque
Kuching's South City Hall
State Council/Assembly Building

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Sarawak Laksa for breakfast

Steamed buns and beef balls for lunch



The ABC special for dinner

A day in the village

Spent part of the morning helping the women prepare lunch of locally grown veggies.



Then, sang and danced the hokey pokey with my new friends.

They weren't kidding about Kampung Kiding

20 scientists, staff members and village porters set off to Kampung Kiding at 10 am. Three hours and 17 bamboo bridges later, we arrive!

Forget Dr. Scholl's ...

Came back from the jungle village a day early. Got me a one hour foot massage for $12 from a Chinese guy, alongside 6 other clients with their massage therapists in the same room, had dinner and a lime-ade for less than $2; and watched two telenovelas: one from India; and the other from Malaysia. Didn't understand a word anyone said all day, but I got my day of pampering in. :)

One Ringgit, Ringgit

· 1 guava Danish – 1 ringitt (30 cents)

· 1 iced lemon tea – 1.50 ringitts (50 cents)

· 1 liter of bottled water – 1.35 (40 cents)

· 1 bowl of Laksa – 4 ringitts (small: $1.05; medium: $1.55; large $2)

1 way taxi ride for 4 – 20 ringitts (almost $7 per cab; less than $2 person)

· 1 small package of cookies – 3 ringitts ($1 for Malaysian brand, $3 for US brand)

· 1 massage with reflexology (70 minutes) – 28 ringitt (less than $10)

· Oh, and their gas is subsidized. They are part of OPEC and are exporters of oil.

No surfing or soaking here

It is Sunday afternoon after 4pm and two thirds of my time in Sarawak have passed by. Thinking about what life would be like to live here, two comments come to mind. Sabim, one of our Gawai hosts in Kampung Apar, is also a musician with a wonderful smile, a warm personality and free spirit. When asking about the beaches here, he hinted that he knew how to surf, but didn’t. Why? Because people here don’t have that kind of free time to spend. When there is free time to spend, it is dedicated to time with family; and not something as solitary (aka selfish) as ocean surfing.

The second example of how life is spent here comes from a brief interaction with the owners of the condo here at Village Grove. They received a report from their plumbers that fixing the master bathroom’s tub stopper would be more difficult than anticipated. They were scared at what kind of damage had occurred to it, so they stopped by to investigate. After briefly assessing the possible solutions, they decided it was easiest and cheapest to simply remove the drain stopper when showering. In fact, in all the time they owned the condo, they had never used the tub, only the shower. The owner said, “We don’t have that kind of time to spend for soaking in a tub for half an hour or more (like you in America do). Five minutes in the shower, at most. We’ve got work to do.”

This leads me to ponder on the following question: Is our American culture SO self-indulgent and pampered that personal activities and hobbies are accepted as valued and much needed re-charging time? Here however, those same activities are dismissed, and maybe, even judged as an extravagance.

If this is what housework does to your bumm, I'm out

On the Waterfront

Last night was spent in downtown Kuching waterfront district. The highlight of the trip was a dusk boat ride on the Sarawak River. The traditional river vessel left shore shortly after 6:30p and carried six of our small gang (Mintzi, Alyssa, Leann, Rick, Mike and myself). We were joined by a young woman from KK (Kota Kinabulu) and her UK friend from Cambridge; along with another couple.

The cool breeze over the water lifted our spirits to another place as the evening call to prayer reminded us how heavenly Borneo can be.

Selamat Hari Gawai with Sago Grubs

Camera trapping a few flowers

Getting Oriented

UiTM's shares alot with new student orientation programs back home with upperclass students welcoming the first year newbies, large assembly halls filled with energy, faculty and university dignitaries, motivational speeches, songs and powerpoint presentations capping off the week's activities.

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NARL Scientists Caravaning to Celebrate Gawai

We hailed from all over the world!  Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, Montana, California, Texas, Arizona and Indiana!

Color everywhere

Way Different Borneo

I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. And yet, I knew that Borneo would be much different than I thought it would be.

Thought I could easily access a compatible ATM machine during my time here.  Turns out that I could access it all along; and at the same time, I couldn't.  Everyone in the group had been saying that their cards weren't working at the national bank ATMs.  Some people had forgotten to notify their banks (like me) of their travel abroad so they would not getting blocked access, others had international restrictions placed on their banks resulting in banks not able to conduct business with the banks here.

 

In the end, there was an ATM within walking distance from our condo at Village Grove.

I thought I would be losing weight during my time here.  Uhm, wrong!












I knew it would be hot and humid here!  But not this hot!





One thing is for sure, this place is AMAZING!