I know what I will be doing on the last day of 2009 - a half day of work in the morning and a flight to catch in the evening to countdown to 2010 in KK.
I flew in on an evening flight from Kuching to Sibu, Sarawak on the last day of 2008 to countdown to 2009. After checking in to Kingwood hotel, we went straight to the city center where the fireworks would be. It was really crowded and this was the closest I could get to the big screen with the words of the new year 2009.
The fireworks went off at midnight for about 5-10mins.
After the fireworks display at the city center, we went off to enjoy some "private" fireworks which are very common in Sibu apparently, especially during the Chinese New Year. Private fireworks are banned in Singapore and I have heard that they are banned in Sibu too but enforcement and the penalty in Sibu for breaking such laws are far less severe
I took a quick city tour of Sibu later on in the night. There wasn't very much to see in the night except, perhaps for this statue of a large swan in the city center. The word "Sibu" apparently translates to Swan. In the background, you can see pics of the shophouses in Sibu - most of the older buildings are that height as land is plenty there.
The next morning, I got a view of their famous Rejang River and the hotel's swimming pool from my hotel's room window. Now a word about Kingwood Hotel in Sibu which was during that time, the only 4 star hotel in Sibu and probably still is. The Slog Reviews: 7.5/10. The rooms are spacious and clean but very far from luxurious. Only the bare essentials are provided in the toilet. However, the alternatives out there are far worse so if you ever go to Sibu, do book a room at Kingwood Hotel.
Rejang River in Sibu is the largest river in land-locked Sibu. I went to the pier for a look-about and was impressed by the level of activity around the pier which operates as a ferry terminal for the nearby islands. The "ferries" are very long, made of wood and not air-conditioned as seen from the picture below. However, these are the only means of reaching some places in Sarawak.
I also visited one of the more popular roman catholic churches in Sibu - the Sacred Heart Cathedral. There was a huge statue of the Jesus in the garden - it was taller than the buildings around even.
Within walking distance to the pier is the central market. It is very much like any other wet market in Singapore, except forthe sight of these live chickens wrapped in newspaper. No chicken can hop or fly away when it is trussled up like this. Managed to get a picture of one of the stalls with rows of newspaper wrapped chickens .
I also went to a farm in the nearby town of Bintangor and saw a black pig for the first and last time. I learnt that this particular noisy old hairy beast would have only have 2 more months to live. Its date of death: Chinese New Year. The purpose of its death: For a family feast. So this probably is the last pic of it alive.
The farm had rows of pepper plants. Each plant grows up to 2m in height. Here is a close up picture of the pepper fruit/seed which I took. Sarawak is famous for its pepper and these are sold everywhere, even at Sibu's and Kuching's airports.
I left Sibu for Kuching the following day as my flight back to Singapore was from Kuching. I'll write about Kuching in another post. In the meantime, here's wishing all of you A Happy 2010!
