Heading East

Last weekend marked my first time ever on East Malaysian soil. Sarawak, specifically. For some reason while I was there, I kept referring to West Malaysia as a completely different country. You guys know the feeling?

"Oh..they don't have this in Malaysia!" Hang on, I still am in Malaysia. I feel guilty to be so disconnected from my country's counterpart. Foreign, even.

Well anyway, this first visit was a good start to knocking down that barrier. In many ways, it actually felt more '1 Malaysia' there. I'd rather not state why lest I get into trouble with some... certain authorities :) Peace I declare and pictures I leave with you.

Camwhoring in the airport :)

Cat monument. Our tour guide was going through the entire history of why Kuching was named as such but I got slightly distracted by that darned giant cat and the insane heat in the van we were in. I think it was named after the river? Eugene Ting, care to clarify? Haha. Speaking of which, Eugene, I kept looking out for possible 'Ting residences'. I was curious to see where you lived! I spotted a 'Ting & Ting Supermarket' (or something like that). Family business you never told me about? Haha.

Sarawak laksa. Yums.

My parents and I were there with a few of my dad's colleagues. My dad was the only guy; the thorn among roses.

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre. There's hundreds of acres of land in this particular wildlife centre but it's home to a mere 27 orang utans. The figures say a lot about this diminishing species. And such a shame too, cos they're adorable!

Feeding time. If I'm not mistaken, this female orang utan is named Delima. As for her baby, I'm not too sure.

My passport to the Cultural Village. Basically a huge piece of land filled with the different man-made houses of the various tribes in Sarawak. Loved this place! The houses they lived in are amazingly built and structured. Of course, the ones I went into were just for display and no one actually lives in them.

Menenun kain :) Wish I knew how to do that.

"Marilah kita berjoget!" (Let's dance!) I wish she'd really said that.

A little bit of a pottery class. This guy can make a clay goodie in just 2 seconds. Swift hands I tell you, swift! I tried my hands at it. Failed miserably obviously. Would rather not document my embarrassment here.

So there it is. A tiny part of Borneo that I can check off my map of "Places to Visit". Probably should start travelling around the rest of West Malaysia too. Any takers? :)