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.