A Morning Visit to Serikin

On any Saturday and Sunday you'll see as if the whole of Kuching converge on the tiny town of Serikin, an hour drive from Kuching city centre which I made today. Here local visitors and tourists from West Malaysia, Sabah and even Brunei flocked to shop for items that are produced from people across the Indonesian border. Serikin is a border town on Malaysian soil and is enjoying brisk business by allowing traders from the Indonesian border to sell their products and wares to Malaysian citizens and foreign visitors along its narrow and crowded singular street. I would estimate the total length of the street at 300 meters and on both sides are erected hundreds of makeshift stalls and tiny shops that sell anything from antiques, textiles, leather, glass wares, rattan mats, souvenirs from diverse range of materials like bamboo, rattan, wood, beads, silver etc., However the most popular item seemed to be the rattan mats that come in various sizes, colours and patterns. An average rattan mat size of say 6'x9' would fetch a prize of about RM 110- 150 depending on quality of workmanship and type of rattan used. Below are pictures of the rattan mats.

Today's weather was extremely hot and sunny. However the shopping crowd grew as the day progresses and that caused a traffic jam about a kilometer long as cars kept on coming to the only main parking space in town. Coincidentally today is a public holiday ( Malaysia's King official birthday) and double as a weekend holiday -cum-school holiday. It took me about an hour to clear the jam. To be at Serikin is to experience a totally different kind of shopping. It's not the sleek and air-conditioned shopping malls that are prevalent in cities. Here people walk the street in hot weather and bargaining is a must. Well, it's never too late to try and polish your bargaining skills here. Remember your Malaysian Ringgit (RM) is worth lots more than the Indonesian Rupiah. At today's rate RM 1 = 3600 Indonesian Rupiah. In Indonesia One Ringgit Malaysia can buy you a full meal, while One Ringgit Malaysia in Serikin or Kuching for that matter will only get you a bottle of plain water (500 ml)

This scene got me blown away. A street hawker with a push cart selling home-made fast food and snacks. He moved his eatery up and down the street, a brilliant idea I thought.

View of the narrow street and the shopping crowd.

Couldn't believe my eyes. A kilometer long traffic jam of shoppers to a tiny border town.

Kayan Burial Hut (Salong)

In the not too distant past, the Kayans of Sarawak used to inter ( bury) their dead in special burial huts called " Salong".  Today while visiting the Sarawak Museum grounds, I had a closer look at two tall Salongs, made from the hardest timber of Sarawak called the 'belian'.  Both  are at least 10 meters high and have been brought to the museum gardens from their original locations hundreds of kilometers away in the interior regions of Sarawak.

There was one that is constructed as a single pole and another as a double pole. 

( Inset is painting of a Kenyah warrior with his head trophies)

Single Pole "Salong"

Double Trunk " Salong"

This double trunk "Salong" was originally erected more than 150 years ago on the banks of Long Segaham, above the town of Belaga in Sarawak.  This burial hut was ordered to be built by the chief of the Kayan tribe in Belaga to inter his young daughter named Lisan.  It was reported that it took five craftsmen plus many helpers and five years to complete the carvings on the solid 'belian' tree trunks.  In 1973, the "Salong" were  presented by the people of Belaga to the Sarawak Museum.

Close Up of the "Salong" or Burial Hut

Above is a picture of the Sarawak Museum's original building dated 1891.  Over time the Museum authorities added more buildings, offices etc., to house more collections to cover archaelogical and anthropological  artifacts, artworks, etc., Today the Museum is a must visit place for tourists or local visitors to Kuching.

View of Kuching Waterfront

In my earlier posts about the sights and scenes around the Kuching waterfront, I have used still images. In this post I'm inserting a video clip that I hope will give a better story about this unique spot. The video story board starts with a long shot of the newly completed Sarawak State Legislative Assembly building which stood imposing and out of scale to the surrounding landscape. Then as I pan slowly to the left you can see the still waters of the Sarawak River and the wide pedestrian walk along the waterfront. Somewhere towards the middle of the video I tilted down the camera phone lens ( N93 i) to the mosaic pavement with Sarawak ethnic design motives. Finally I pan further left to show the view of the waterfront with tall hotels and suites as backdrop. Before the video ends, I froze the shot to a pontoon where two passengers alighted from the small ferry boat called ' tambang' in the local dialect. Have a nice day and an enjoyable weekend. ( Note: The next post will be published from Bintulu as we'll be taking the 10 hours journey by road to Bintulu early tomorrow morning.)

Orchids at Satok Flower Market

On every Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning when the weather is fine it's pleasant to be at the Satok flower market. The flower market exists only during the weekend when the shopping crowd gathers for the best bargain on food and other domestic essentials that are the prime appeal to the shopping experience here. And the flower market is just another delightful add- on to the shopping fiesta which originally started on Sundays but over the years has moved slightly forward due to popular demand. At the flower market new plants varieties are regularly showcased by nursery owners around Kuching. Today I was extremely impressed by the rich and spectacular collection of orchids available for sale. You can have a good idea of the many varieties by clicking the video below.( Note: The quality of the video may not be excellent. Guess it must be my nervous hands and too eager feet. Anyway , hope you'll enjoy it :))

Close up of 'Normah Orchid' above was taken at the Padawan Wild Orchids and Pitcher Plants Centre sometime ago.

Waterfront Scenes

Today as I walked along the Kuching Waterfront area I noticed the new DUN building ( Dewan Undangan Rakyat) surroundings are slowly being tidied up and grassing works are underway to control erosion and beautify the river bank . I guess upon completion, this building will be another tourist attraction for Kuching city. The building will house the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly - a law making and local governance body that ensures that the practise of democracy is kept alive and functioning in Sarawak. However the area around the building seemed lacking in any tourism -related facilities and presently is best viewed from a distance.

The tourist buzz is much lacking these days. Is it due to the global slump? River boats are parked by the pontoons but there are very few tourists to join the boat ride. The scenes looked economically eerie for today.

A Complex Story

Public space around Court House cum Administrative complex, 1948

Old Court House Complex and surrounds, March 2009.

The time lapse between the two pictures above is about 60 years. It surprises me today how intact the buildings, monuments and spaces at the complex area are after such a long long time. My interest in this complex story started in Bintulu a few weeks ago when I was flipping through some old photo albums kept by my father. He was a young man in Kuching around 1948 when the above picture was taken.

The Court House Complex has a very long, colourful and significant story since it was developed starting in 1868 and over the years till 1924, many new additional buildings were added. During the Brooke's and then the British colonial rule, many functions of the government of the day were held here. It was the seat of government, native court, judicial court, Council Negeri meetings ( i.e. local government meetings) , public clinic and even functioned as a hospital. When Sarawak achieved independence, the complex was home to the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly meetings starting in 1963 right on till 1973.

The Clock Tower was added in 1883 to the porch at the entrance of the complex. The complex buildings are very colonial in style with massive round columns, wide verandas and balconies, brick walls and pitched roofs using 'belian' shingles. In front of the Court House Complex is a Memorial dedicated to Charles Brooke, the second white Rajah of Sarawak. The memorial was unveiled in 1924. It has a marble relief of Charles Brooke's head and above it the old crest and coat of arms of Sarawak.

Today the Old Court House Complex is being re-used as the State Tourism Complex. Tourists can easily obtain brochures,maps and many Sarawak tourism related literature here for free. Besides that it does have exhibition hall, an eating outlet and souvenir shop.

Above is a view of the Kuching waterfront area from the Complex, showing the new Sarawak State Legislative Assembly building ( with gold coloured roof) in the far background nearing completion.

Part of a building block within the complex in the background is converted into an eating outlet called 'The Little Lebanon'.

There is another interesting connection with this complex story to Bintulu. It was on the 8th of September 1867 that the first ever Council Negeri meeting ( i.e. local government meeting) was held in Bintulu and presided by Charles Brooke. Thus making Bintulu the birthplace of 'modern' democratic practice in Sarawak.
Thanks to the British, democratic principles and practises were introduced early to the peoples of Sarawak.

I Call Thee - the Rajah Brooke

Sunday is a good day to visit the Sarawak Museum. Tourists and local visitors flocked to the Sarawak Museum everyday, including Sunday. A must place to check out if you are in Kuching. What caught my attention today was this over-sized replica of the Rajah Brooke Birdwing Butterfly ( Ornithoptera brookeana) on the front wall of the National History Museum building here. This gorgeous, chastely beautiful of all butterflies has deep velvety black wings that are marked by a band of spots in brilliant metallic green colour. For those familiar with the theory of 'natural selection' and 'the origin of species' might like to note that Darwin had incubated his theory for many years but did not attempt to publish it until his contemporary Alfred Wallace hatched upon the same idea. Alfred Wallace travelled to the Far East especially the Malay archipelago and Indonesian Islands area including Sarawak ( Borneo) to collect samples. It was during his travel here that he named the birdwing butterfly as Rajah Brooke, after the first white Rajah of Sarawak -Sir James Brooke.

The Natural History Museum at the Sarawak Museum garden area.


The Rajah Brooke in flight sucking honey from the Pagoda flowers.
Location: Kambatik eco-farm, Bintulu.

It is not easy to come across the birdwing butterflies. However at my eco-farm in Bintulu, they are everywhere. From my experience birdwing butterflies like upstream waters, marginal forest areas where there are plenty of food sources and bright sunlight. In Bintulu I see them frequently visiting the Pagoda Flower ( Clerondendrum japonicum/paniculatum) blooms, Hibiscus flowers and the Bleeding Heart flowers ,too.

Afternoon at the Beach

The Damai Beach at Santubong

This afternoon was spent walking the beaches of Santubong, a 40 minutes drive from Kuching city. The beach is set against the Santubong mountain backdrop. While Sarawak has a very long coastline, only a very few isolated spots are developed into recreational or tourism attractions. Santubong is one location that has been intensively developed by the Sarawak State Development agency to the detriment of other potential spots throughout Sarawak. Obviously this has got to do with the fact that Santubong is closest to the capital city and the State government has far too long downplayed the role of tourism as a foreign exchange earner.

Today's hot and sunny tropical weather was ideal for swimming and sun-tanning.

I like most the view towards the hill where modern hotel apartments are given a touch of Malay high pitched traditional roof design. The greenery is everywhere and the wilderness around it makes the place authentically tropical and peaceful. Today was a fun afternoon.

Blooming bougainvilleas at Satok, Kuching.

This picture I took while in Kuching last week.  Today I am in Bintulu and enjoying the fresh air, country peace and nature at my eco-farm.

The above shot shows two cars entering the Satok Road, which is a very popular shopping and banking area in Kuching.  At night there are hundreds of stalls open for eating out early or late.  The flyovers caught my sight with their blooming bougainvilleas.  I am pretty sure this variety is the bougainvillea poultinii species which is generally the preferred choice due to its pink colours , free flowering and  dwarf characteristcs like in this case even though it is dense it is not straggling. 

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre

I went to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre to witness the 'orang utan' ( Pongo pygmaeus) literally to mean ' man of the forest' in Malay. The centre is part of a big nature reserve that let orang utans forage freely in the jungle there. At the centre you can see the orang utans emerge from the jungle to have their meals served on feeding platforms . Today the visitors were lucky when 8 of the orang utans, adults and babies came out to enjoy their meals .

Twice daily ( 9 am and 3 pm) the park rangers serve food consisting of the coconut, papaya, sugar cane, banana, tapioca etc on a raised platform.

At the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, the orang utans are rehabilitated to prepare them to join the rest in the wilderness after they are sufficiently weaned out at the centre.

Tourists took this opportunity to take their photographs of a lifetime. Entrance fees to the centre is RM 3 per adult. For more pictures of the orang utans who came to town today, click here.

Scenes around the Sarawak Museum Garden

Today I went to see the Sarawak Museum grounds.  The Sarawak Museum building has stood the test of time since it was built in 1891 by Charles Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak.

This is the view of the garden area of the Sarawak Museum seen from the back of the building. The Sarawak Museum building is in the middle ground of the picture. The tall building in the background is the Merdeka Palace, a 5-star hotel within walking distance of the museum.

The road sign indicates other buildings located close by the museum ground. This is the gradual climb  leading to the front of the museum building.

Walking up the small hill on which the museum is situated I met a line of the tropical and native palm of Sarawak called the  sealing wax palm ( Cyrtostachys renda) having orange sheaths. This variety is unique because normally the prevalent variety is the red coloured ones.

An interesting garden feature within the museum garden grounds. There are plenty of blooms that caught my attention today like the official flower of Malaysia called the hibiscus ( Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) or the shoe flower grown by the many colours and varieties as shown below.

Sarawak River boat cruise

Today is the 7th day of the Hari Raya in Kuching. I took a few hours this afternoon to check out any interesting happenings at the water front area. Closeby the water edge I saw groups of tourists boarding a river cruise boat to enjoy a two hours journey looking at the sunset, the river scenes, local food and drinks served together with cultural performances for the tourists on board the double-decker boat. I was informed that the cost per pax for the enchanting experience is RM 48. The boat leaves around 5.00 pm to enable the tourists catch the setting sun normally seen around 6.30 pm onwards around the Kuching vicinity.

Conical shapes at Kuching water front

I am attracted at the use of conical shape for both the bronze sculpture in the foreground and a mammoth building under construction in the background.

Close up view of the bronze sculpture. The bird silhouette resembles that of the 'kenyalang bird' otherwise called the rhinocerous hornbill. Sarawak is also officially known as ' The Land of the Hornbills'.