Hello hellooo lovelies, after two weeks, I finally finished sorting out the photos from my recent travel. It took longer this time as it's much worse than the others, not in a bad way though, but in an exciting one, of course. ≽^•༚• ྀི≼ Safe to say we collected 2k photos from this trip haha.
It still felt sooo surreal till now that we've, at last, touched down at one of the places where we had spent our childhood time after about what, 20+ years? It was to also introduce to our maknae, lil bro, his homeland for he doesn't really get the chance to see it as we moved back to KL for good when he was just a little above one that year. Where do you think it is, from the dialect I used in the title, the place I talked about? („• ֊ •„)
Okay, as usual, I'm actually confused about how to organize the post haha. Should I make it in parts between stays, eating places, etc, or parts between days? hmmm but for sure, it's gonna be in parts else it's gonna be in pages! *lemme rethink and decide for a while*
Bok kamek tauk, definitely will divide them into parts of days~ so, let's dive into it!
DAY I: KL > KUCHING (yes, it's Sarawak~ any one of you guessed right?)
We took the earliest flight we could, that is, in the morning, so that we could fully enjoy the whole day at the destination without wasting time just being in the air haha. Touched down (and out from the airport) at 10-ish am then reached the hotel about 20 mins after.
Oh, the hotel we stayed at was The Waterfront Hotel, which we think is so strategically located between the attractions. It's not only nearby but also just beside each other with the hotel haha. We luckily booked this place without actually knowing it, tbh. Love love the place as it was cozy, too, other than its nice location. Surrounded by the Old Courthouse, the Roundtower, Plaza Merdeka, Carpenter St., Indian St, museums, and of course, the waterfront and the Darul Hana bridge itself!
Being close to both of the streets mentioned above made it easier for us to go buy souvenirs anytime we wanted! Went in the evening, then at night, and even in the morning just before our flight to......♡✧( •⌄• )....
Better stop now and continue with the first-day stories eh? hehe. Then waited to be picked up at 12.30pm by our guide that we booked to the Kampung Budaya Sarawak (Sarawak Cultural Village/ SCV). Yes, of course, you have to go there if you're in Kuching, right? Even if you've been there previously, you can eat their traditional snacks made fresh there! We're just sooo in love with the snacks that I ignored my allergen (not so allergen though) to things made with pulut or so since I have asthma haha. It's just that good!
\/ both snacks can be bought here in semenanjung so we didn't buy them even though the rose cookies is one of my favourites /\
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| .this is the one made me forget asthma lol. |
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| .lazy to take off my sneakers, hence waiting alone while my family buys the snacks. |
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| .one with our companies that day, halmoeni and her grandson. |
Before I talk more about SCV, we went to Plaza Merdeka which is just behind our hotel (it's actually connected) and had our very first meal in Kuching, that is, the gula apong ice cream. You seriously cannot miss it okay! Lol yeah, our first meal we had was in fact, a dessert, at 11 in the morning (๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑).
Back to SCV, we enjoyed the tour experiencing the cultures of the main races of Sarawak and learning a little more about their stories, the houses, the way of life, the costumes, the performances, and the snacks~ getting to hike to get into their houses with the traditional stairs which every time I climbed it, I kept thinking whether I'll make it or not. (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝) It was scary yet not so but maybe nerve-wracking but surely enjoyable and exciting even though I melted from the heat that day lol.
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| .lol if you see more of this kind of photos, it's because our guide was so excited to capture them for us. |
All in all, it ended beautifully with the full performances at their main hall that felt so short (I took a lot of videos hence the lesser quantity of photos of the performances, so might edit them later?)! *we actually booked for the morning session the next next day but with short notice, there'll be a music festival being held there so the tour moved it forward and made it happen for us with the evening session the day we arrived.
Passed by these monuments on the way back to the hotel and the guide willingly allowed us to take photos of them haha fortunately the road was clear to randomly park there... it reminded me of the same situation we had in Seoul for the Gwanghwamun photo lol~
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| .sorry for the blurriness of the van's window lol, we didn't go out for this. |
Then, we returned and just had our dinner at the Plaza Merdeka as it was an exhausting and full but without question wonderful day for us.
DAY II: CRUISE DAY
Woke up early again that day to go for a wildlife cruise near the SCV location, unexpectedly. In the Santubong area~ I meant I thought it'll be quite a distance between both places but no haha... it was all hazy so I couldn't and didn't wanna take off my mask, so ya'll be seeing pictures of me, in the open area, on the boat with still a mask on ya haha.
\/ mont santubong from different angles and places /\
Anyways, it was a cruise to spot the monkey with the long nose (proboscis monkey), the crocodile anddd the dolphins (Irrawaddy)~ we spotted the dolphins a lot of times far and near, with the beautiful backgrounds of Mount Santubong and Sejinjang. It didn't feel like we were in the middle of an open and vast ocean with those sightings... only realising it after we were done with the tour lol. It's good though as it didn't interfere with our feelings of getting scared to be enjoying it right? The guide said there are about 4 species of dolphins that can be spotted there but it'll be an infrequent chance except for the Irrawaddy which always hang around the area~ but that's okay cause the dolphins we met were just sooo adorable and very welcoming~
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| .we also found this tiny blue crabs everywhere along the river. |
The monkey was the first and easiest to be spotted quick and clearly jumping around the trees~ while the crocodile was almost a missed shot but on the way back to the shore, the boatman, with his sharp eyes, caught a glimpse of a big, muddy, camouflaged crocodile~ so the mission was completed nicely. We actually found a baby crocodile before the dolphins, too. We spent the longest time for dolphins and were supposedly served a meal to be eaten (regret a bit not taking a photo of it there hee) while watching but were just too thrilled for it that we brought the meals back to the hotel hehe ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ).
\/ 4 photos below are the views from our hotel and hotel room
Back to the hotel at noon, took a break, and strolled out to Indian Street and nearby areas before heading to our next cruise; the sunset cruise by the Sarawak River ~ before that, the daily dose of ais krim gula apong was taken at another IG Ais Krim-Ais Kacang branch which offers more variety of snacks or food haha
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| .our hotel sneaks at the left side of this photo showing how near it is. |
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| .the brooke monument with four diff languages at each side. |
Was so glad that we took the cruise with this timing since we got to admire all three ambiances of the city; the day, the sunset, and the night~ 3-in-1 for a one-time price is totally worth it, right? Instead of going for the day or only night views~ It was a magical moment to have experienced the city and the river from a new perspective~ we were served light traditional snacks and a glass of juice on board... as I said, it was mesmerizing yet a bit intolerable with some of the selfish passengers (who then got told off too by the staff) to not block the views of other passengers for their dance performances and the humidity of the cruise while waiting for it to sail, cause they don't put any fans. (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ ) I know they want it to be natural but still... luckily it was slightly better when it moved and yes, this cruise also performed their traditional dances but more lightly and simply than the ones at SCV.
/\ sarawak homeboi \/
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| .realising what bro told me to do so the sun would be inside the circle haha. |
Ended the touristy play with dinner at one of the MUST TRY nasi lemak chains in Kuching; Peanuts Anchovies which offers toast, pies, and other local delicacies, too~ the sambal was good my lil bro said but a bit on the sweet one to my dad haha. I just had a peanut butter abon toast as it was already after 7 (iykyk)~
psst: after a day of being on and off the boats, we felt like our bodies kept swinging even when we were only sitting haha. But no, it's NOT a dizziness, it's just that you felt the motion of maybe adapting to the waves of the water, you know what I meant? lol hope you got me. 𓆝 ⋆｡𖦹°‧🫧
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Jumpa agik kelak in the next post(s) for the remaining 3 days~ iboh lupa~
-끝-
Your used-to-be Sarawakian gurl,
Dyna d Dayn,
(慧琳, 다이애나)
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