My Kuching Journey: Croc meows

There are many things that come to mind when one speaks about Sarawak. The natural wonders. The diverse culture. The colourful people. The unique food. Studying geography or the map of Malaysia, Sarawak is located in the East Malaysia- Borneo island looks much like a dog, and the Kuching city sits at its tail. Known as the Land of the Hornbill, Sarawak has much to explore, experience and discover. I am truly grateful to have taken the opportunity to visit Kuching- where cats (and many more) take pride!

My trip to Kuching stretched over six awesome days. Thanks to my friends who willingly took time off their holidays to bring me in and around Kuching, sharing and explaining, and recommending what Kuching has to offer. Coming from Kuala Lumpur, there are undoubtedly some differences between here and there. The sun rises and sets at least an hour earlier, which means I had to get used to when it is bright by 7am and when it is dark about 7pm. There are many roundabouts- and I'm talking about large radius ones. The roads are wider with many 4-wheel drives. The trip has been an eye opener and surely it broadened my horizon, looking beyond learning, and here I am to share my experience with you.

Day 1: Tomato Noodle, Jong's Crocodile Farm, Nightlight at the Waterfront, Homemade Siew Mai

Departing from KL's LCCT nearly noon, I arrived at the Kuching International Airport and completed the necessary immigration procedure before meeting my friend. The burger I had for breakfast digested fully when I breathed the Kuching air, and I was already craving for local food. My friend brought me to try the Tomato Noodles, and to say the least, I enjoyed the sweet-and-sourish taste of its gravy poured over crispy fried noodle.

Tomato Noodle. At 10th Mile market, top floor.

Lunch was more than satisfying. It was so good it told me that this would be another great food adventure. Fueling my stomach, my first visit was the Jong's Crocodile Farm- one of the major tourist attractions. I have been to crocodile farms before and the recent one I went to was rather disappointing. I thought they were almost all the same- crocodiles, that I didn't put my expectations high on this first visit. Fortunately, I was wrong because this farm has an interesting show (one in the morning and another at 3pm) - the jumping crocodiles. My suggestion would be for the show to have some commentaries. Sarawakian adult fee is RM 10.00- if possible, try to get a local person to buy for you.

Jumping crocodile. Its 'lunch' is hung on ropes above them. Prepare yourself for a loud snapping sound that entails.

The crocodile and me. Walking literally above them was scary imagining the 'if's like if it swings its powerful tail to break the bridge or fence.

The gallery displays some interesting materials. This is a skull of a crocodile. Note that some of the photographs displayed are disturbing (no photograph is allowed). There are pictures of human fallen victims to vicious crocodile attacks in the past.

The farm is home to other creatures too. In the water are Arapaima fish. You can feed them with breads provided at the corners of the feeding area- that if you can find the fish first. Some other attractions are sun bears, otters, iguanas- to name a few.

Posing with a crocodile statue at the entrance.

Done with the farm, I checked-in at my friend's home- my stay for 4 nights. Then, it was dinner at BDC.

Sea cucumber soup to start dinner.

Dinner at BDC was okay.

Taken from BDC, notice the lighted hornbill at the far centre? It perches on a roundabout and obvious from a distance.

Taking a 5 with the cat statue in Kuching. Don't be surprised to see many 'cats' around the city. Since it was still Raya celebration when I was there, this cat was dressed with Raya accessories.