Kuching means Cat in the Malay language and the city seems to have taken great pride in its association with cats. I came across across this large statue of a white cat with its paw raised in a welcoming gesture. Apparently, it is the famous kucing (spelt without the "h" in the Malay language but when it comes to pronounciation, "c" is pronounced as "ch" still like in the Eng lang), the Kuching South City Council Cat Statue.
And also, this collection of cat statues right smack in the city center. The latter appears to be one of the more popular photo-spots for tourists visiting Kuching and I had to wait for my turn to take a picture with the cats.
As we had done absolutely no research on what one could do at Kuching, we spent most of the day wandering around the streets. We also went to the Sarawak Museum below and looked at the various exhibits. The entrance fee, if I remember rightly, is minimal and the exhibits, mildly interesting. There are of course sections in the museum tracing the history of the various towns in Sarawak like Mri and Bintulu (both of which I intend to visit) and documenting the original inhabitants of Borneo Island, the Ibans. There is even a minature longhouse (the type of dwelling that Ibans have) in the museum.
We also went to Kuching's Chinatown. The picture below shows the entrance to the main street. Talk about congestion but our own Chinatown is hardly any different with cars parked along both sides of the road.
Kuching Waterfront is apparently the main focal point of the city center with many little stalls selling touristy and local stuff. Most of the better hotels like Hilton, Holiday Inn etc are situated at the Waterfront area. For a fee, one can purchase a ferry ticket to cruise the Sarawak river. I've heard from a friend that the river has many river-prawns but I didn't see anyone prawn fishing at all - the riverfront was rather deserted in fact.
Ah, and these are some of the local delights that were for sale at the stores along the waterfront. Multi-colored kuey lapis with samples available (in the pink containers) for potential customers. These were really cheap (I think less than RM 15 but I can't remember after all this time) and I bought one back home. No recollection of eating it though - maybe my mother finished it all...
For dinner, we went to the Cat's Eye Place (Bukit Mata Seafood Center), at least, that's the English translation of the Chinese name of the place which you can see in the picture below (the words in blue). 25 is the stall we ate at. Cat's Eye Place is known in Kuching for seafood and indeed rightly so as one is spoilt for choices in terms of the stalls and the variety of seafood neatly arrayed at each stall.
The difference between this place and Sedco Square in KK is that almost all the seafood at Sedco Square is live and kept in the tanks. I don't remember having the choice of live prawns at all (which I would have taken for sure) so I ended up choosing the plate of red prawns (similar to what I had in KK) and 2 of the freshwater prawns with blue claws (these sell for RM10 per 100gm in KK!)
Here is a picture of the reddish prawns fried in the restaurant's special style. The Slog Reviews: 9/10 - the shells were crunchy, buttery and slightly oily which contrasted sharply with the soft sweet flesh within.
I had two of the freshwater prawns steamed with garlic. Each prawn was split length-wise in half with loads of garlic and other garnishing on top. The Slog reviews: 9/10. That's the way to be cooking 'em freshwater prawns instead of how my mum cooked it fried in sambal!
I also had two female crabs steamed with loads of roe (see the reddish-orange bits in the shell). The Slog Reviews: 10/10. Dastardly fresh and cooked in such a way that the sweet flavour of the crab was retained in the meat which filled in the shell nicely. Definitely returning for more!
And guess how much the bill was for the whole feast? Only RM 89 (EGD 36)....unbelievable isn't it? 2 female live crabs, 2 freshwater prawns, about 5 reddish big prawns, 1 plate of Kangkong (RM 6 = SGD 2.40) and 1 other veg dish similarly priced. I'm glad I have a ticket to Kuching already for March 2010!
The next morning before going to the airport, we went to have Kuching's kolo mee at some really crowded coffeeshop near our hotel. It was a nightmare waiting for the food to come because there were so many people ordering and waiting around. The Slog Reviews: 7/10. As you can see, the meat was very thinly sliced and fresh. The noodles were light and springy but overall, I can't bring myself to rave over this bowl of noodles which is particular to Kuching. It's just noodles and some meat to me, if you know what I mean.
I also shared a bowl of Sawarak Laksa with my companion. Again, I would stress that the gravy is far different from Singapore's laksa gravy. This is far less richer in terms of coconut and is thinner. It can't be described as sour (unless you add the lime) but in no way is it sweet either. The Slog Reviews: 7/10. Always worth trying local food when in a foreign place but I'll just say that I wouldn't go back for more.
Before we went to the airport, we went to Kuching Civic Center located at Jalan Taman Budaya. Admission was free. We took the lift to the top of the tower where the viewing platform allows one a 360degrees aerial view of the city of Kuching. Do note that the viewing platform is only available for public access during the daytime. We saw a restaurant there but it wasn't opened. Anyway, here's a pic of the lovely city of Kuching taken from the viewing platform.
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