Waterfront Colours

Yesterday I visited the Kuching Waterfront after missing it for quite a while since my arrival here early this month. I have taken a number of photos of the Kuching Waterfront in this blog and some of the shop houses too. The strong and varied colours of some of them can be seen here. This morning I had the itch to render two of the shop houses I took pictures of yesterday. I had it done in mixed media as a trial sketch finished in just about 40 minutes.

Kuching Waterfront Shop house, 18 x 14 cm, mixed media.

The Kuching Waterfront is my regular haunt now and I guess many paintings in future will feature the scenes around the area. The above is a start as I need to do lots more for my coming 2nd solo exhibition. Anyway, more pictures of colourful sampans are shown below. These sampans too will be target for my future paintings and sketches. Soon the Kuching Waterfront will be very busy with a regatta which I am looking forward too. I guess I'll not miss it this time because I'm in Kuching till the end of the month. The regatta is to be held towards end of this month.

Sampans or small river ferry boats are receiving a coat of colours at the Kuching Waterfront,in time for the Kuching Regatta.

Bamboo boardwalks

What interested me while window shopping at the Spring yesterday was a small set depicting a rural village house.  It was tucked nicely  at one corner of the shopping mall.  The floors were made of bamboo strips and the hand rails were of bamboo culms.  You can still see a lot of the rural longhouses still using these materials for their decorative as well as functional appeal.  Another interesting thing I saw were the decorative poles that are made from soft wood and shaved with a sharp knife, thus producing its unique curls ( see top picture).  I have seen many of these in Bintulu where  the curls ( shavings?)are dipped in various coloured dyes.  These decorative poles are widely used among the natives during auspicious occasions.  By the way bamboo boardwalks can withstand rain and shine and thus used in the open though their life span will even be longer indoors and coated with varnish etc. where they are used as walls, ceilings or for table tops.

Kuching's Little India

Kuching is full of antiquity. Like today while shopping at downtown Kuching for textile and some spices I came across this signboard which indicated that the Indian Mosque here was built in 1834. The signboard reads 'Gambier Street' but now is changed to Gambier Road because of its development over time into a major shopping area for spices and textiles. The place was bustling today and you can get all the major spices of the world here. Historically 'gambier' was traded along this street and was a major revenue earner for Sarawak since the early 19th century. Gambier is a shrub grown widely in Sarawak from which is extracted a substance used for dyeing and tanning of leather.

The Indian Mosque is actually situated between the Gambier Road and India Street. Today is Friday and therefore I decided to perform my Friday prayers here by taking a short break from my shopping schedule. The picture above is the entrance hallway from Gambier Road. It's still early and the Main Prayer Hall in the center is still not yet fully occupied. By prayer time I noticed all available spaces inside the mosque were taken up. Well, you can say today it's full house.

This is the entrance to the mosque from India Street. I saw two blind men being led into the lane in time for the Friday prayers and sermon. Besides the Indians the Muslim faith is also practised by other races of Sarawak especially among the Malays and Melanaus.

Spices a plenty and from all over the world!

Above, a young Indian spice merchant talks happily over his mobile while waiting for customers.

Last minute shopping at Satok

Today ( 29th Sept'08) is the second last day to do shopping for the Hari Raya on account that the Hari Raya will fall on the 1st of October throughout Malaysia, giving a full 30 days of fasting this year. At Satok tents are being put up to enable the customers do last minute shopping . Tomorrow will be the last day for shopping, come rain or shine.

Weekend shopping at Kuching

I went again to the flower market at Satok ,Kuching yesterday(24/8) purposely to buy more varieties of heliconia to bring back to Bintulu for additions to the Heliconia Valley Project. collection. In the foreground of the picture below are bougainvilleas.

The prices at the flower market here are reasonable and bargainable. You can purchase fertilisers( in small packings), prepared soil mixes, flowering plants of all varieties and species like the orchids, roses,hibiscus,bougainvilleas,fruit trees,palm trees,grasses, aquatic plants etc,etc,.The plants are sold here by small nursery owners, part-time gardeners, garden enthusiasts and freelancers. They need only to pay a token fee to put up their goods at the alloted places on a daily basis.

An interesting array of plants sold on temporary lots allocated by the Kuching City Municipality for a token fee. The Flower Market opens from Saturday afternoon till Sunday afternoon, every weekend.

Later on the way back home, I stopped at this uptrend shopping mall called 'The Spring'. For more pictures please find them here.

Food Shopping in Kuching City

Yesterday I had a field day shopping for food in Kuching City.

First pit stop: The Spring, a newly opened  uptrend mega shopping mall in uptown Kuching, approximately 5 kilometers from down town Kuching. The food court was excitingly decorated and the range of food excellent from local to foreign menus. Here I tried the pasta.

2 nd pit stop: Top Spot, A sea food food court at down town Kuching, within walking distance from all the  major tourist hotels and accomodation. Something special on the menu was a plate of 'midin' which means jungle ferns in the local lingo. Fried with 'belacan'( local prawn paste) it is a culinary delight eaten by the lowly and the high nosed.

3 rd pit stop: Ikan Terubuk market at Satok Road , where the famous ikan terubuk is salted and sold as a must souvenier for tourists from Semenanjung Malaysia.

Below is a cu of the ikan terubuk fish.

When fried, these the terubuk fishes are great appetisers and therefore should only be taken in small portion.

Three Fat Worms for One Ringgit Malaysia

I went to the town , about 20 kilometers from my farm , to do my normal Sunday shopping . At the local jungle produce market called the 'Tamu' I came across this collection of sago worms or technically maggots.  These worms will metamorphosize to become adult beetles later.  Inflation has hit Bintulu.  Three of these sago maggots are sold for one Ringgit Malaysia at today's inflationary times ( Previously it was a a foursome for a Ringgit) .These maggots are kept alive feeding on the inner flesh of the sago tree bark.  They are a gastromic delight among the local Melanaus and Ibans who might swallow them live or for the less adventurous throw them into the frying pan first before eating them.

New Shopping Experience in Kuching

On this trip we returned again and again to 'Boulevard' shopping center,located at Mile 4 , Kuching-Serian Road. More shops have now opened in the center. I paid a visit to the Popular Bookshop and bought a book on Monet.

Shopping for Scarves

On 31 May, my wife went shopping for scarves along Gambier Road, Kuching. Oh ! There's so much to choose from. They literally over flowed onto the five- foot way. Where's she? Oh! There, the lady in pink.