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.)

Photographing Kuching

I'm back in Kuching. As usual I'd pay a visit to my favourite haunt- the Kuching waterfront area. Two things stood out. First the obvious. The lettering 'ASTANA' is now replaced in bold letters. Secondly, despite having many walks around the Kuching waterfront before, I failed to notice a relief sculpture that was somewhat hidden in a corner at the crowded waterfront area. The title of the relief is 'Pak Tambang' and is dedicated to the boatmen (in Malay 'Pak Tambang') who ferried thousands of people from both sides of the Sarawak river around the Kuching waterfront daily. How often do we take things for granted in life? These unsung heroes have an awesome record of ferrying people safely for generations. Now the going rate per crossing is 40 sen which is peanuts for the thrill , safety and comfort of crossing the river.

Relief sculpture in bronze and mosaic ( approx. 2 m x 3m ) entitled 'Pak Tambang' depicting the unsung heroes of the Sarawak River.

In the far background the wordings signifying the 'ASTANA' stood out in flashy and bold stainless steel lettering. The Astana is currently home to the Governor of Sarawak. In history it was always home to the three white Rajahs of Sarawak who ruled Sarawak from 1841- 1946.
Note: All pictures taken before in this blog and now is still using my camera phone N93i.