It have been raining (almost) daily in the afternoon for the last few days. while I’m not too sure if our ping-pong weather (Swinging from hot morning to wet afternoon) has made me caught the flu bug, it was fortunate that it wasn’t too serious.

And fortunately as well, there were days when rain didn’t paid us a visit in the evenings. So happy to catch a glimpse of sunset at Kent Ridge Park. While certainly not the best I’ve seen but was still pleasurable & calming, perfect antidote for daily work stress.

Added bonus was the Cat’s Whiskers Plant (Orthosiphon aristatus, 貓鬚草) that were blooming in the foreground as well. Apart of its attractive cat’s whisker like flowers, this is a useful local medicinal plant that traditionally being use for treatment of urinary tract and kidneys issues. Anyway, more of that next time…….

The golden sunset hues reminds me of curry, and the Mojiko baked curry rice. I always wanted to attempt at home but never got into it until one day, I happen to some leftover Japanese Curry in the fridge…….

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Bidayuk mainly live near river basins & on steep limestone mountains around southwest of Sarawak. They were given the name “Land Dayaks” by early European travelers due to their unique choice of dwelling. Their longhouses were tacked to the steep hillside in the mountain like the gigantic staircase which forms a natural fortress against their enemies. Besides that, the hilly terrain allow them to construct gravity-fed water supply. Small river above the house was dammed and with help of bamboo conduits, water was carried into their dwellings.

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Quote from VirtualMalaysia.com
The Malays originated from the Malayo-Polynesian group of races. They first reached the Peninsula around 2000bc from Yunnan, China.

That was quite a surprised for me! (NOTE: I think Peninsula means West Malaysia here) As for Sarawak, they originally migrated from Sumatra. Also, Sarawak was after all notionally part of the territory of the Sultan of Brunei before James Brooke came along. Hence there certain amount of cultural & historical affinities with Brunei Malays as well as Sumatra Javanese, which the inhabitants originated from.

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Though the first Chinese came to Sarawak as traders and explorers in the 6th Century, early migrants worked as laborers in the gold mines at Bau or on plantations during the 19th & early 20th century. Chinese farmers (mostly hakka or foochow) also migrated to Sarawak in the early 1900s, at the inviting of Rajah, to help built a farming middle class. No wonder Hakka & Foochow food were so wide spread around Sarawak.

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At about 17 arce on the foothhill of the legendary Mount Santubong (810m), award winning Sarawak Cultural Village offers an excellent introduction to the lifestyle & culture of locals. Not only there are replica of traditional houses representing every major ethnic group (Bidayuh, Iban, Orang Ulu, Penan, Melanau Malay & Chinese), these houses are stuffed & staffed with traditional furnitures & members dressed in respective ethnic group traditional attires.

Not to be missed as well is the multi-cultural dance performance in the village’s own cosy theatre (Don’t worry about the heat as they are air conditioned in the theatre). The adjacent restaurant also cooks up delicious tasting local food specialties as well as special Sarawak traditional Food set.

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Sprained my left wrist yesterday. Was trying to reverse my scooter into the bike parking lot, but the ground was wet & I almost slipped. Fortunately the scooter didn’t fall, BUT unfortunately I twisted my wrist while trying to prevent it from falling. While the sprain wasn’t too serious, it’s bad enough to prevent me from doing the usual housework & cooking … grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So no home cooking & house will be extremely messy next week LOLz

Touchdown to Kuching International Airport in the late afternoon. Going through the custom was a breeze. Though the airport wasn’ t huge, they were modern & efficient. To get to Kuching town centre, just purchase a coupon from (about RM18) the taxi stand before hoping into the taxi outside.

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Oh dear, I lost some of those information & brochures I needed for the Sarawak posts. Will hunt for them this coming weekend, in the meantime, have something to munch.

This was my first attempt of Insalata Capresee. Basically it’s a italian salad that made up of Morrazella, Tomatoes & Sweet Basil. Just sliced & arrange them alternating as show below. Freshly grind black peppers and drizzled with your favorite the extra virgin olive oil. I added Balsamic vinegar as well as I liked this.

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A couple of leftover leaves from last year have my mind scrambling & deciding the best days to utilize them. These have to be cleared by Mar 2007 else they will be forfeited. As it was merely a few days, it doesn’t make good sense to go on long trip. Hence I needed somewhere nearby, but something new as well, since I love new experiences.

Eventually, it was between East & West Malaysia. But since I haven’t made any trip to Borneo, I just thought Sarawak, Kuching will be a great place to start my Borneo Adventures. Well, not too hard to decide, right? *chuckle*

A few clicks online for ticket & accommodation. With my Standard “battle” order, which usually a small hard case, day pack & camera bag along with a dreamy vision of Sarawak Laksa & Kolo Mee……. I’m off to the land of Hornbills. Of course, I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of the magnificent Rafflesia as well as beautiful wild orchids & Nepenthes(Pitcher Plants) in the National Park too.

As the plane approach Sarawak, the meandering river creates a very beautiful landscaping when view from above. There are many rivers in Sarawak, so much rivers that if you drive from one end to another, you will requires the boats to transport your car over the river before continuing on next part of your journey. Fortunately, bridges across the river have been fully completed recently, so the use of boat is no longer required.

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I’m going to squeeze the last of Fukuoka in all into one post. Though it’s still not really complete, but I guess that should suffice for now. Expect a LONG POST.…..

HAKATA STATION

Starting from Hakata Station, JR recently introduce the shinkansen from Hakata to Kagoshima. Only takes 2hrs 12mins @ 7800Yen. Just for comparison, the highway bus I took from Fukuoka International Airport takes about 2hrs to reach Kumamoto, nearly half way point to Kagoshima. So you can pretty much guess the huge saving in time.

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I simply have to share this seafood donburi @ Fukuoka Fish Market. I’m not too sure if they were listed anywhere, but I chanced upon this while trying to visit the Fukuoka Fish Market.

My visit to fish market was unsuccessful, apparently they disallow any outside visitors. This happened to Tokyo Tsukiji a few years back, when a bad incident with tourists prompted the closure of auction area to the general public. Too bad, I almost made it to Tsukiji, unfortunately, I overslept; Auction starts as early as 3am. but darn … I’m still in slumberland!!! kekekeke … come to think of that, I should have camped outside the gate, but it’s really really freaking cold in the morning. Oh well, that’s history ……….

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