Kuching - Sarawak Museum

Besides the Chinese History Museum, we also went to the Sarawak Museum which is about 10 to 15 minutes walk from Kuching Waterfront, just along Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg after the Padang Merdeka. Established in 1888  after receiving sponsors from Charles Brooke, the second White Rajah (White King) of Sarawak, this building was built with every intention of it being a museum. This museum often being considered as one of the best museums in Southeast Asia and is the oldest museum in the Borneo island.

Sarawak Museum

The building still manage to retain much of its original designs even during the Japanese Occupation. According to Wikipedia, little damages had been done on the building due to the fact that it was under the direction of a kind Japanese officer.

Still looking magnificent

The exhibitions in the museum are extensive, covering from wild animals found in Sarawak to the archaeological findings,  pre-historic earthen wares to indigenous living lifestyles. When it comes to indigenous section, you will be amazed at how detailed and elaborated it covered, from the masks used by different tribes to the replica of a traditional Iban longhouse inside the museum.

wild lives in Sarawak

Inside the longhouse

Traditional music instruments

Extension to the museum was built at the other side of the road with a overhead bridge connecting it. Over there, you can read up information about Sarawak and the districts in it, about the developments happening over there and so on.

Indigenous items

The best part of it is that you can enter for free. Yes, just like the Chinese History Museum, Sarawak Museum is free of charge. Plus, it is air-conditioned so you can enjoy your afternoon brushing up your history at the same time, escaping the heat from the sun. In my opinion, Sarawak Museum definitely live up to the hype of being one of the best museums in Southeast Asia.

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Kuching - Kuching Waterfront

Kuching has a lot of wonderfully rich and historical buildings all lining up along Kuching Waterfront. Just like Ipoh and Penang where the presences of the British empire can be seen throughout the cities, the same can be said for Kuching for you can find a lot of neo-colonial style buildings along the streets surrounding the area.

Square Tower which used to be town's jail

You can actually make Kuching Waterfront as your starting point for your Kuching heritage walk. Standing at any spot in the waterfront and looking out across the Sarawak River and you can see there are some historical monuments at the opposite riverbank. Fort Margherita and the Astana are some of the heritages lying over the other side of the river.

Sarawak river with Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) overlooking the river

Kuching - A (Unsatisfactory) Trip

The first thing you should know about this Kuching trip of mine with my family back in September were not a real holiday to begin with. It was more of a exploration type, where we were scouting and examining the conditions of the place as my sister was going to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak for her degree study. This trip was our first to the East Malaysia and we were not sure what to expect. Since Peninsula Malaysia and East Malaysia were separated by the South China Sea, the living lifestyles between these two parts of Malaysia are quite different.

This was the first family trip that involved aeroplane

When we arrived at the Kuching International Airport and took a cab to the city, we were rest assured that it wasn't that much of a difference after all. Yes, even though Kuching is a city, it is nothing like Kuala Lumpur or Penang in term of modernity, or even Ipoh, as my sister put it. The shopping malls (the priority for my sister), even their biggest, The Spring, were incomparable to the ones in Ipoh, however little there may be in my hometown. However, what they lacked in term of advanced modernity, they substituted with simplicity of lives. People there are genuinely friendly and nice with no sense of rush, especially on the road.

The hotel we stayed in - 360xpress

Big and comfortable for five of us

Throughout our 5 days stays, we did not really go anywhere that spells unique or special. It was more of helping her to prepare for her first away from home experience, buying necessary items, familiarising the places, and so on. Hence, it was shopping malls after shopping malls. The only few things worth talking about is the Sarawak National Museum and the weekend market. More on that in the next entry.

My favourite - kolo mee

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

While both Sabah and Sarawak are part of the Malaysia constitution, they have their own immigration systems. Passports are not needed for Malaysians but you need to have Dokumen Perjalanan Terhad (loosely translated to Limited Travel Document) if you plan to stay more than 3 months. However, while we were in Kuching, we did not need it so I'm still a bit blur as to the rules and regulations to it. 

Macau (澳门) - Macau Maritime Museum

*Merry Christmas!!! Hope you guys have a wonderful and fantastic Christmas celebration!!!*

Other than the Macau Museum which we failed to visit, we also did go to another museum, which was the Macau Maritime Museum. Actually, it was the A-Ma Temple that we wanted to visit which was right next to the maritime museum but unfortunately, it was raining rather heavily at the time so we made a detour to the museum to have a look at the exhibition (and not wanting to be under the rain).

Macau Maritime Museum

Macau has a rich history in maritime as it was the major trading port back in the Portuguese colonial period in the 16th century. As you walked through the extensive exhibitions, you will get to be a step closer to the olden days of Macau. Models of boats and ships are on display as well as detailed maps of the routes taken by famous explorers.

Some of the replicas being on display...very detailed craft work

We spent about an hour or so, absorbing as much as we can in this educative detour. After that, when the rain had stopped, we went out to admire the temple. Due to the fact that all of us were rather dried up, we just stood out admiring this heritage building from afar. Maybe, next time, we will step our feet in it.

The A-Ma Temple, one of the UNESCO Heritage Site

That’s the end of the Hong Kong – Macau trip which took ages for me to finish. Laziness is my nature. Next stop, Kuching!

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

The entrance fee for the Macau Maritime Museum is MOP5 for kids of 10 to 17 years old and MOP10 for 18 and above. Those under 10 and seniors over 65 can enter for free. The museum closed on every Tuesday so plan well if you want to visit it.

Macau (澳门) - Venetian Macao

*I just came back from my Singapore trip two days ago and suffice to say, I had a blast and fond memories to treasure. When I’m done with the last few posts on my Macau – Hong Kong trip and my short entries on Kuching (yes, it’s ages ago), I’ll share my adventures in Singapore.*

Macau, without going to casinos, is like haven’t been to Macau before and I had already wrote about my gambling fun here. But there is something worth sharing about one particular casino/hotel located in the Taipa Island. That particular casino/hotel is the brand new and well-known Venetian Macao.


The main entrance

The dome

Beautiful interior

Maybe it’s because the architecture of this casino is a replica of sort of the Italian style which is very grand and stylish that set it apart. For whatever the reason may be, it is a must see when you come to Macau. It is especially so for its signature attraction, the gondola rides.

Shopping has never been this eye soothing before

The clear blue 'sky'

Have a gondolier serenades you a song

Modeled after the beautiful town of Venice, there is a canal built inside the shopping strips where the gondoliers will navigate the gondolas and serenade songs to you. Do look up at the ceiling while enjoying the ride for you will see wonderful recreation of classical Italian arts of angels and all. Charming as it is, we did not go for the ride due to the fact we wanted to ‘explore’ the casino. Haha.

The exterior

View from the opposite side of the road

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

The gondola rides are MOP118/ride for adults and MOP88/ride for kids. If you want a private gondola, it is MOP472/ride. It is roughly equaled to RM 48, RM 36 and RM 192 respectively. Spare some time in the Venetian to admire its beauty. While you are at it, walk across to the City of Dreams and Hard Rock Hotel which basically means more casinos for you to go to. If you are having a bad stream of luck at Venetian, try again at either one of them.

Another grand hotel cum casino, City of Dream

Singapore - Wicked, Here I Come!!!

Due to the fact that the damn connection at the mamak stall is superbly slow (plus, I'm preoccupied...), I have to continue the remaining few entries on Macau after I'm back from my vacation. In about 3 hours time, I will be on board on my train ride to the Lion City. The main attraction for this trip has to be the Wicked musical that I'm going tomorrow night! Can't wait the popular musical which is guaranteed to be a defying gravity experience, for good.

See you in a week time!

*TO BE CONTINUED*

澳门 (Macau) - Margaret’s Café e Nata

Speaking of Margaret’s Café e Nata, I missed its delicious pastries and sandwiches whose portions so hearty that it can serve as both your breakfast and lunch at the same time. It is like a buffet of sort, only that services are provided. The first thing you need to do is to determine what sort of breads you want to have. They have baguette, croissant, and so on for you to choose from. After choosing the bread, the next step is to choose the fillings. You can mix all sort of fillings they have, such as bacons, scrambled eggs, ham, and many more that my poor brain cannot remember. 

Margaret's Cafe e Nata

Croissant with ham for breakfast

Baguette with scrambled egg and minced pork the second day

Personally, I really liked the sandwiches that I bought there. It worth every single penny spent on it due to its wholesome portion and its tastiness. Nothing too special about it, yet there is something unique to it. Before heading to Macau, I had found out about this Margaret’s Café but only about its Portuguese egg tart, something that I craved for since the first time I had it back at Ipoh from King’s Confectionary. Originated from Macau, or at least famous in Macau, I had been on the Portuguese egg tart diet ever since my arrival there. 

Margaret's Portuguese egg tart

Koi Kei's famous version

I think I had at least one a day throughout my stay at Macau. I had tried the one from Margaret’s as well as the Pastalaria Koi Kei, the famous confectionary shop there. While both are delicious in its own way, I think I prefer the Koi Kei one better, if my memories served me well. Too ancient already the taste of it. Writing this makes me hungry and craving for it only.

There are a lot of it in Macau

The one and only Margaret's Cafe e Nata

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

If you are locating Margaret’s Café e Nata, you need to be very alert for it is located in a hidden alley. Walk along road heading to the Nam Pan Hotel and keep an eye out to the alleys on your left. It’s either the first or the second alley. To be precise, here’s the address:

Edifico Kam Loi,

Nam Van, Macau.

Macau (澳门) - Largo de Senado and Ruin of St. Paul

As I had mentioned in the last post on how casinos are scattered everywhere in Macau, sometimes, it can be very distracting to the real beauty of Macau. However, for those who are determined to experience the third world charms of the country, it is all within the heart of the country.

Look at this charming place...

After our hearty breakfast at Margaret’s Café which we accidentally stumbled upon (and will talk more about it), we went to Largo de Senado (Senado Square), which is the centre of Macau. This is the place where you get to absorb the colonial beauties of the Portuguese architectures which are aplenty and surrounding the square. Most of these buildings had been converted into souvenir shops and shopping areas while retaining the original architectures of the buildings.

with its charming road sign...

surrounded with distinctively Portuguese colours...

St. Dominic's Church

Macau (澳门) - Gamblers' Haven

Macau Tower from afar

There is no doubt that Macau is filled with old world charms, no thanks to the years of Portugal's reign of the island. However, Macau is more famous for its brightly lit neon signs, drawing tourists into the many big casinos that residing in the island. In my opinion, all these casinos, while no doubt being the main tourism drive for the island, are hindering it from being fully an historical city.

The many grand buildings gracing the streets of Macau

There is a reason as to why I'm more in love with Hong Kong than Macau (you can read about my Hong Kong trip adventures here). Both are islands with urban developments but here's the difference. For me, Hong Kong's developments are more to shopping and cityscape while Macau's delving into gambling world. There are simply too many casinos in the island, clouding all its colonial charms.

Water show at the front of Wynn Casino

More developments still to come

That's being said, I'm just a regular tourist and being in Macau, it is near impossible not to step my foot into the gambling world. While I'm no big time gambler, I do love a good game of chances, of course, preferring being the winner's end. Yet, luck's not at my side for throughout the three days stay, I did not win anything. I just lost a total of HKD 500 which was not much but for a student, that's quite a lot. Yet, this HKD 500 was well spent for I got to enjoy almost endless fun of 大小 (big small), roulette and baccarat.

Besides, you cannot say you had visited Macau without going to the casinos. And I had.

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

If you are a frequent to the casinos, then you should have noticed that there are no clocks being on displayed. It is part of the tricks of getting you to stay as long as possible in the premise. Therefore, unless you want to end up losing all your savings (or winning till the casinos cry, however unlikely that is), you better arm yourself with a watch to keep track of the time.

澳门 (Macau) - 新南滨宾馆 (Nam Pan Hotel) and 祥记面家 (Oja Sopa De Fita Cheong Kei)

Bidding farewell to Hong Kong was a hard thing to do considering all the fun time and great adventures we had in the island. We even procrastinated our departure for as long as we can but we can only delayed up to a certain hour and before we knew it, we were on our cruise back to where we came from - Macau, not Malaysia. 

Macau welcomes you

This time around, the ferry ride back was not as nauseating as it was the first time around. We managed to catch an hour's nap during the cruise. Once we reached the terminal and were done with the immigration works, we took the free shuttle bus to Grand Lisboa Hotel which was NOT our hotel. It's just a free ride to Nam Pan Hotel, a walking distance to all things to love about Macau.

About the hotel, things to compliment about it; friendly and helpful receptionist, spacious room, homey feeling, rather clean room and bathroom, free Internet access, and a good spot to go absolutely everywhere. The bad thing about it, its mattresses, or lack of it. It's like sleeping on the rock for the only thing separating the bed and us was a thing layer of 'mattress'. But considering how considerably cheap it was, there's nothing to complain.

Five minutes in and it's already messy