Kuching - A Cultural Stronghold

Greetings!! I have changed my subdomain and the layout. What do you guys think?? I'm quite satisfied with it, with the exception of the "popular posts" could not be put on the side bar, else it would obstruct the post. Anyway, here's the post for my trip to Sarawak. 

On 5th of April, my family and I went to Kuching, Sarawak. It was a trip decided a week before the trip, after my dad said he had 4 days off and wanted to go for a vacation. That's how I got the chance to visit this beautiful and friendly city. The whole trip was planned by me with a little contributions from my dad. There was at least a main attractions in each day with city sightseeing for the spare time.

Before I start writing about my journey, here's a little story about the the city name. The name Kuching, when search in dictionary, means cat. Coincidentally, right before my trip, a radio channel (which I forgot which channel) mentioned about the origin of the name Kuching. Apparently, the name Kuching came from a fruit called mata kucing or from the direct translation of old (Gu) well (Jing) in Chinese.

We took an early flight and reached Kuching at around 10am. Since it was quite early but not early enough to catch the cultural show in Sarawak Cultural Village at 11.30am, we decided to have an early lunch in Padungan Street (This time I will be accumulating the food section in the last posts to reduce repetition).

Before we headed to Sarawak Cultural Village, we went to Fort Margherita and Brooke's Gallery since it is on the same direction we were heading to and we had some time left.

According to Sarawak Tourism, Fort Margherita was named after Charles Brooke's wife, Ranee Margaret and was built in 1879 along the Sarawak River to guard the city from being attacked by the enemy.

Until the World War II, there would be guards patrolling the fort and they would cry "All's well" every hour which was answered in sequence by their fellow guards from 8pm to 5am. This was said to prevent them from sleeping while on duty. (Info from the stone tablet located at the fort)

Brooke's gallery is housed in the fort, which we did not go for it as we roughly knew the history about the Brooke's and due to the lack of interest of history. Seeing the majestic building is enough to satisfy me.

Was built in memory of Annie, James Brooke's wife and their son Francis Basil Brooke

The fort is actually located near a park around a government area. Right here, you could see the famous Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN), a state assembly:

DUN

Or you could opt to see the DUN at night across the Sarawak River, which is at the Waterfront, near Carpenter Street. Totally recommend you all to see it at night with the lights on.

Too bad the phone camera we have could not capture the beauty of the DUN

Then, immediately we went to the Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV), an award-winning living museum from 2pm to 5pm. How can you not visit the various ethnic groups when come to West Malaysia (especially when you can know the state's rich cultural diversity all in one place)??

The entrance

We were given a passport that contains all the information we need, including a map and a dance synopsis for the cultural show.

In SCV, we could see the traditional houses and costumes of the major ethnic groups in Sarawak, experience the traditional games, watch them demonstrating their expertise in making handcrafts and their traditional snacks and watch them dancing to the traditional musical instruments' beats. There are even homestay for those who wish to immerse themselves in the rich culture.

A beautiful pagoda near the entrance

Chinese Farm House

The bedroom 

Traditional pepper process machine

Pottery Kiln



Beautiful man-made lake

Malay Town House

I like this recreational area <3

Kuih kapit and kuih bahulu made in traditional ways for sale. The smell is irresistable

Top Spinning - with only RM 1, you can spin the top 3 times.



Here's a demo by the sifu.

Melanau Tall House - they prefer to eat sago than rice

A huge house with lots of rooms

The dangerous looking steps

Ceramics and stuff

With the Melanaus

Parang Ilang Shed

Forgive my finger

Orang Ulu Longhouse - famous throughout the region as sword-smiths

A musician with such amazing backdrop

Rice pounder

such details handcrafts

Iban Longhouse (Sea Dayaks) - account for 1/3 of all Sarawakians

Inner verandah

Bidayuh Longhouse (Land Dayaks) - built their houses in mountain fastnesses, tacked to a steep hillside like a gigantic staircase for protection again maraudin enemies and for access to pure, fresh water (info from the passport above)

Bidayuh's handcraft

They will start playing the music and dancing as soon as there are guests.

And finally, is the cultural show. There are 2 slots of cultural show everyday - 11.30pm and 4pm. Each lasts for about 45 minutes. You will get to enjoy their traditional dances paired with their traditional music and for the finale you even get invited to join in to their dance. The me in the past would not have joined in, but surprisingly I went for it even though I danced like a chicken. It was fun!!

The theater where the cultural show takes place

Apparently the mortar that the performer bites weigh about 20kg and he is supposed to lift it up with his teeth while dancing to show the agility of the warrior and is a feat of endurance

The whole SCV experience was amazing. It is interactive and the people there are really friendly and they speak good English, which makes it a foreigner-friendly tourist destination.

At about evening, we went to Padungan Street for a short city-sightseeing while searching for dinner (and some cat statues photo-taking session).

And that's all for the first day. Although there wasn't many places we went, but being able to experience the whole culture thing is definitely worth the time.