sarawak trip - tips for all of yous

Day1 - Friday
Check in for flight from KLIA to Kuching on Air Asia. Tickets bought much earlier end of last year. Total cost for return tickets for 2 to Kuching was RM 235.00. I think you can't get any cheaper than this anywhere. So do book your flight as early as possible.

Flight took 1 hour 45 minutes at 29,000 feet. Magnificent view of kuantan cost lines. No complementary drinks from Air Asia but that's how they keep costs down and pass that saving to us the customers.

Arrived about 11:45am in Kuching International Airport. Proceeded to taxi counter at the airport. Taxi coupon from the airport to Kuching town is RM 17.50. Plenty of taxi waiting, no problem at all. Journey from the airport to town took about 30 minutes. We were greeted by traffic congestion, a clear sign that Kuching is no doubt a bustling city like cities here in the peninsular.

Checked in to Harbour View hotel. Managed to get good rates at RM125 per night including breakfast. We're planning to stay for 2 nights. No problem checking in to our rooms before 2pm checkin time. Excellent service at the reception counter and room is great, comparable to any 4 star hotels. We got ourselves into a room with a view of the Sarawak river. Wonderful :)

We're out of the hotel for our first tour of the Waterfront tourist strip at 4pm. The Waterfront strip is just across the street from our hotel. In fact Harbour view is the hotel closest to the tourist strip and main bazaar. Holiday inn, Hilton and Crown Plaza hotel are a good 500 - 1KM away from the main bazaar. Worst choice is the Intercontinental hotel which is so far away almost on the other side of town.

Keep an eye out for beautiful sculptures along the Waterfront strip as well as historical information engraved on metal plates on the pavements. They will introduce you to Sarawak history as you walk along the beautiful well kept strip. Check out those beautifully decorated water taxis ferrying people across the Sarawak river. They only cost 4o cents so go head give it a try. I guarantee that you'll like the experience.

I planned for us to go on a sunset cruise along the Sarawak river. We found the river boat and got ourselves tickets for the 5:30pm cruise. The cruise cost RM45 per person for a 90 minutes cruise along Sarawak river. By the time we headed back to dock, the sun was setting and the view itself from the river boat is worth the cruise fare.

Docked at 7pm and went back to hotel for bath (yes, room with bathtub, not shower) and we're out again for dinner in Taman kereta. Taman kereta is near Kuching Hilton. It is actually between UOB building and standard Chartered/ BCB building. It's Park with a seafood center on the top floor. Best seafood in Kuching town! Cheapest too. Less than 10 minutes walk from harbour view hotel.

Once in Taman kereta, shop around for stall with the freshest seafood that you can find ( or biggest lobster in our case). Don't worry they are halal because they serves nothing but seafood and veges. We had a big lobster ( a little over a kg at RM50/ kg) Big seafood dinner that cost a lot less then my trip to lobsterman PJ.

When in Taman Kereta, try the local veggie called Midin. They are absolutely delicious. But those who has asthma history should refrain. Learned that the hard way. Best way to have Midin is to be fried with belacan (goreng belacan). We had our lobster done in a butter fried, much like butter prawn. Big mistake, the butter just ruined the taste of the lobster flesh. Better opt for charbroiled or black pepper lobster.

We walked back to the hotel with full stomach and in my case a bad case of sesak nafas due to allergic reaction to the midin earlier. Oh sleep at last!

Day 2 - Saturday
Woke up and headed for breakfast at the hotel's cafe. Nothing to shout about, normal hotel buffet breakfast. We had a light breakfast because I planned for a Sarawak specialty lunch today. We went to the museum on a taxi ride (The museum opens daily at 9am). Taxi around the city from your hotel will cost RM6. Beside the museum is the warriors Memorial Park, a great place to learn about how Sarawak people struggled against the British/ Brooke family colonization.

Went over to Sarawak museum new wing across the road but found that they are in the midst of renovation. The souvenir shop was open though. :) Sarawak Islamic museum is just behind the new wing. Went back to Waterfront strip but this time we head for Cafe Katulistawa right beside Holiday Inn. I had Laksa Sarawak and Munchkins had Kolok Me for lunch. Both are Sarawak specialty of Malay (Laksa) and chinese (Kolok me) origin. These are a must try. I was told Cafe Khatulistiwa's Kolok me and Laksa Sarawak is about the best halal ones (for Kolok me) in town. Laksa Sarawak at Cafe Khatulistiwa cost RM13, Kolok me cost about the same. Go for beef Kolok me instead of chicken, they're tastier.

We proceed to the main bazaar, right across the road from the Waterfront strip for some window shopping. Planning things to buy before we go back to KL.

Later that evening we took a taxi to Pasar Satok in Jalan Satok. This is a big weekly pasar tani or they called pasar tamu in Sarawak & sabah. Pasar Satok starts on Saturday evening all the way to Sunday morning. It's a great place to observe locals on their daily fare. Don't forget to sample some of Sarawak exotic fruits when in Satok. There's a few stalls that sells Sarawak famous Ikan Terubuk Masin. They cost RM10 per fish for the bigger fishes and RM5 - 8 per fish for the smaller ones. Get the smaller one with spots on their body as this species is the tastier one. Don't worry the stall will pack those foul smelling preserved fish tightly in a nice box. They will last a week without refrigeration so no worries even if you're leaving on monday like myself.

We decided to hit Taman Kereta for more seafood dinner. This time we had 2 smaller lobsters less than half a kg and giant prawns just deep fried. Oh heavenly and I was very surprised to see the bill came a lot less than what we expected. You got to love kicking just for its' seafood.

Walk back to hotel, we definitely needed the exercise after 2 nights of seafood.

Day 3 - Sunday.
Woke up, breakfast at hotel's cafe. I've got tickets entrance tickets with return shuttle to Sarawak cultural village in Damai/ Santubong. We checked out of Harbour View and boarded the tour shuttle to Damai at 9am. Asked the driver to send us to Damai Lagoon resort which is 5 minutes walk from the Sarawak Cultural Village. Journey from Kuching to Damai took 45 minutes. Nothing much to see along the way unless you're interested in mangrove vegetation :P.

We arrived to Damai Lagoon Resort at 10am and found that they could not find our reservation. We left our luggage there and left for Cultural Village on a free shuttle from the Damai Lagoon Resort. We were hoping to get able to check in into our room by the time we get back from the Cultural Village. More on this later.

We had so much fun at the Cultural Village. We took our time visiting each traditional houses, listening to the guides there. There's a cultural show in the auditorium at 11:30am. A must see! The show ends at 1pm and it was time for lunch. We sampled Umai (raw fish cooked by juice of a kind of assam fruit) and also Manok Pansoh ( chicken cooked with ginger, garlic and tapioca leaves in bamboo, lemang style).

After lunch we continued visiting the rest of the village but sadly the guides were all on lunch break until 2pm. Tip here is to finish visiting all the traditional houses before the cultural show at 11:30. After the show you could take the 1pm shuttle back to Kuching town or in our case back to Damai Lagoon.

To be continued...
*** things to do - proof read this article, add links to pictures where appropriate