Uniquely Kuching

On the 29th of June, a Monday we took to the road again to Kuching after spending nearly a month at Bintulu. Inul, the narrator of her travels through the jungles, countryside and small towns of Sarawak was doing better this time around. Less screaming and less messing around. Daisy, her mother was at her queenly best. The ten hours journey was met with heavy downcast and scattered rains for three quarters of the journey. Thus there was little photography work done . With this trip my cat's journey hit the 18,000 km mark. BTW, cats are easily identified with the city of Kuching because the city derived its name from guess what - Cat or 'kuching' in Malay.

I always look forward to coming over to this city. It is a city of convenience. A moderately sized city with a hinterland or urban sprawl that is relatively flat all around encircling the city for miles and miles on all directions. Kuching is a melting pot of all the indigenous cultures of Sarawak. A truly Sarawakian town. With the first available opportunity to drive downtown, just a few days ago I was met with something uniquely Kuching. It's no wonder they call it a city. Here you find the queer and the quest for uniqueness.

A scooter made in Kuching for local and export market, called " Demak"

It's indeed a unique 'Beetle" - yes, they build engines at the tail part.

The Apple Blossom Tree

We arrived safely in Kuching this late afternoon ( 6.30 p.m.) after a 10 hours journey by road from Bintulu. The weather was hot and sunny throughout except for a brief shower lasting for about 10 minutes before we reached the town of Sri Aman. With this trip Inul & Daisy ( see inset) would have chalked up another 600 km in their cumulative record to be the most travelled cats in Malaysia.

Along the Roban stretch of the Pan-Borneo Highway, I purposely made a pit stop at a primary school compound that has this beautiful Apple Blossom Tree or Javanese Cassia ( Cassia javanica) in early stages of flowering. Time flies. The last time that I wrote about this tree was here.,18th June,2008. With this observation, I can safely say that this tree flowers once in a year because I've been watching this tree ever since I had a picture of it taken approximately a year ago. Today I was keenly interested to have close-ups of the blossoms which I didn't managed to capture before.

Despite being native to South East Asia ( especially Malaysia and Indonesia) this tree is seldom planted in urban parks , roads or open spaces. I wish that more of these trees could be planted in future for its extremely lovely pink to red flowers that are heavily clustered. Propagation is through seeds that are borne in long pods after the flowering season. Note the ferny pinnate leaves and the prominent yellow stamens.

Another breathtaking view of the blossoms.

Daisy is alerted. She's got another 30 minutes to reach home. In the background slightly above her head are two 'durian' fruits in cement-ferro sculpture as icons for the town of Serian. Durian is known in Malaysia as the' King of Fruits'.

Long Journey to Bintulu

On Tuesday ( 3/3) we left Kuching for Bintulu by road. The journey began early in the morning ( 9.00 am) and would normally take about 10 hours inclusive of stopovers for refuelling, lunch and afternoon tea breaks. On this trip my daughter who works in Kuala Lumpur ( capital of Malaysia) joined us after a four days stay in Kuching. Our two cats Daisy and Inul will make this their 12th trip to Bintulu in their record breaking journey through Sarawak on the Pan-Borneo Highway. At the start of the journey, Daisy was not pleasantly pleased and snarled at Inul every time she approached her for comfort. However, all's well after we made the first leg of the journey.

On the first leg of the journey like the rest throughout the day, the weather was fine and hot. Luckily the car's air-conditioning worked well and we drove to Bintulu in much comfort. Not a single drop of rain fell on us and that indicated pretty well that the monsoon season is over. It does indicate too that water will be the most sought -after resource for the months ahead especially for those involved in the agricultural sector.

From Kuching I would drive with the barest fuel and then refuelled at Serian, a forty minutes drive from Kuching. The first refuelling would bring us half-way through the journey. The picture above shows a well landscaped roundabout as an introduction to Serian. Observe the symbol of the Durian fruit in the centre of the picture, which is done in cement ferro technique and coloured. However this time around we wouldn't be able to savour any real durians because the fruiting season has passed.

The second refuelling was done at Saratok, a small town within the Sri Aman Division and roughly situated half-way along our journey. Sarawak is divided into 11 Divisions or administrative units. The various divisions as one drive north from Kuching are Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei, Kapit, Sibu, Mukah, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang. I noticed that Saratok is the only town in Sarawak that plant the Wild Cinnamon tree ( Cinnamomum iners) as introduction to the town roadside landscaping. On this trip I saw the cinnamon trees were having a new coat of leaves where the young leaves appear reddish or light orange before they turn light green. The bark of one species i.e. Cinnamomum zeylancium yield the spice cinnamomum which is used for flavouring food and cakes.

This unique building houses the District Office or the local administration office of Saratok. What attracted me was the date of its construction - 1888. The building sat on top of a small hill facing the river.

Before leaving Saratok, we did the second refuelling . At today's price we can reach Bintulu from Kuching with a full capacity tank costing RM 100 - an amount that will ensure some reserve just in case. At the petrol kiosk, Inul became the centre of attraction as the pump attendants inquired about her. They all look surprised as I narrated them our cats adventure thus far.

The sight of heavy timber trucks loaded to the brim is common as we approached the end part of the journey especially from Selangau to Bintulu, the timber country of Sarawak. At the rest area near Selangau town, we came across a roadside canteen where every available car parking space was taken up by the timber trucks because the drivers were having a break at the canteen ( building with blue roof).

At the close of the journey, Daisy sensed the smell of salt sprays in the air. She became excited and big eyed knowing very well that Bintulu will be in sight in about half an hour time. By 7.30 pm we arrived at our farm in darkness and happy to have made the journey safely.

To Kuching By Road

Kuching here we go. Inul and her mother Daisy got a feel of the jump seat as they joined us to improve further on their record to be the most travelled cats in Malaysia. By this 10th trip back to Kuching , Daisy would have clocked a cummulative record of 12,000 km.

Most travelled cats story continues...

Inul ( in grey) and Daisy( white, yellow and black) enjoying their meal at Bintulu (10th trip)

The record attempt to become the most travelled cats in Malaysia continues with Daisy and Inul. Daisy has always been in the record making travel because since day one she always accompanied her kittens when they started the adventure. However on the 10 th trip to Bintulu this time around, two of the gang viz Einstein and Macy Grey were left in Kuching ( on their own accord). Previous trips have been told by Macy Grey, the eldest kitten then. So its Inul narrating the story now......join them here.

Put Your Leg on My Shoulder

A sisterly love. A brotherly care. Einstein joins Inul company in sleep..waiting for Big Sister (Macy Grey) to return home tonight. More stories of these loveable cats born at the farm can be glimpsed here.