a fishy experience

that night we ate at a food court...got the 2 to try the famous kampua mee..i've tried better ones.later at night phillip let me hear a tupac song that he had rapped to n recorded,apparently he wanted me to sing the chorus;never got about to doing that.
my dad came back from KL at 10 the next morning n he followed us to kuching in the afternoon.As we were waiting for the boarding gate to open,the air suddenly smelt fish,it was kinda gross but i didnt heed it n then it got unbearable.at that point i realised that my pants were wet n the smell was coming from the chair.i got up in horror to find that i've been sitting on some kinda fishy liquid.i was reeking of rotting fish water.some ass had brought fresh fish into the plane..bloody uncivilised morons.fortunately,i brought n extra pair of pants.even after changing i had traces of that same disgusting smell.throughout the flight i was cursing the person who carried the fish;willing him to endure bloody diorhhea for a year n dying a slow death.hehe.

thank god my dad came along,or else we would have been broke by the end of the trip.he met a sales rep from kuching who regularly somes to the sibu hospital on the same flight and she got us a 2-bedroom apartment at the somerset gateway which cost about 200+/night.The place was incredible..there was a washing machine n n electric clothes drier.the place was perfect.my dad took the yellow-themed room n the four of us took the pink room (girl power?maybe..)pat came along.after taking it all in for about 2 hours,we embarked on our journey to look for food to soothe our growling stomachs.i could literally feel the stomach acids eating at my easophagus...;)

we had chicken rice at a nearby stall n then we went to buy some groceries at the sarawak plaza;apples,iced lemon tea,milk,bread,toothpaste n soap powder...after sarawak plaza,we went on to the starhill of kuching,the tun jugah shopping complex where i fell in love with a purple top from WOC (think the USM colour is becoming one of my favourites)

i had my moms camera with me,so we took pictures at the cat triangle.then we went on walking along the waterfront which was beautifully lit up.though there was a slight drizzle,it didnt dampen our spirits..there were stalls set up along the riverbank n everyone there was friendly and relaxed.across the river was the fort margharita n brooke's residence which is currently the ydp of sarawak's residence.standing by the riverbank,the whole scenery was breathtaking to behold.its nothing like the penang esplanade,trust me.
pat was already whining by the time we reached some stalls that was selling sarawakian souvenirs.jo n mai yin bought cloth that was woven in traditional sarawakian design while i bought sarawak batik,having in mind a nice baju kurung.mai yin also bought some handmade wooden spoons for her mom..after bargaining to a price where all aprties agreed,we paid the lady n left.

we crossed a small pavement to a posh-looking malay restaurant coz pat was starting to act like a brat.my dad ordered buttered prawns,midin belacan, fish and chicken.while waiting for our orders to arrive we walked over to this aquarium looking thing (it didnt have water lah) where they kept live crabs,its legs were tied.the man there proceeded to tell us bout how cheap crabs r in sarawak as compared to KL.then he started talking bout soft shelled crabs which none of us had seen before.since they didnt have any live ones,he brought one out from the fridge to show us.call me ulu, but the crabs shell was almost non-existent,it was that soft..
the man was actually trying to get us to buy his crab burger that apparently won some award;the most creative burger or something.the whole soft shelled crab is fried n placed between the burger buns together with other stuff u get in burgers;lettuce,mayo etc.imagine,the whole crab(not deshelled) in your burger.well,since he was so nice be 'ta pao-ed' 2 burgers.the fish that came was malnourished, it didnt have meat at all,just crunchy skin..the midin was nice;midin is some kinda ulam thingy n the prawns were good too...the chicken dish should have been named 'chilli onions' intsead of 'chilli chicken' coz onions seemed to be the highlight where else the chicken was like garnish.when the bill came,it was a whopping rm 100.i felt sakit hati a lil for my dad,but he sisnt seemed to mind,maybe coz he felt bad for ordering the stupid fish.

the interior of the restaurant was nicely done,there was a water fountain set up in the middle n we took pictures.after dinner we walked some more n took more pictures..now,if only i can remember where the pics were taken...

since we were getting beat n the rain was threatening to pour,we decided to head back to the hotel.after showering n putting the clothes for wash, we settled in front of the idiot box with a glass of iced lemon tea each,watching crime night on discovery.before we left the apartment,crazy mai yin had switched on the air conditioning system at 16 degrees celcius that my fingers and toes almost turned into popsicles..it was a cold night,but four ppl on the 2 joined single beds generated enough heat to keep me from freezing to death.i'd rather die of a heat stroke anytime...

the next morning,my dad's friend,another sales rep picked us up n took us for brunch,sarawak laksa...was kinda good.then he drove us around town,randomly pointing out places to us n telling us what it was about..he dropped us off at the museum n told us to give him a call when we're done coz he had to go home to pack.he was leaving to miri that evening.i thought i would die of boredom in the museum,but it was extremely enlightening..there was this makeshift double storey long house inside the museum.all of us climbed up the narrow piece of woodwhich were cut just a little at sections so that it acts as a ladder..the piece of wood was only about 10cms in diameter...u couldnt stand on the top floor,i guess its only meant for sleeping...being dark n cosy.though we saw the 'no cameras' sign outside the museum,we thought no one would notice us taking one picture...we guessed wrong..the guard came n sternly warned us not to take anymore pics..

out of curiousity,we asked the guard the reason behind the rule.he just smiled n said he was just doing his job.jo started overreacting,saying "sure got something wan...sure the pics can capture spirits or something like that..y else isnt he telling is the reason?he just doesnt want to scare us..shouldnt have taken the pic.." she never fails to amuse me...

to ease her anxiousness,we asked the front desk guard, n he said the reason being is so that the antiques can be preserved for a longer time.each time a person get hit by the camera flash,one cell in the persons body dies..same way,each time a flash hits the artifacts/antiques,its in the process of destruction...
my dad left us n crossed over to the new museum while we lingered longer n walked to the dataran museum where a band was rehearsing for the international kuching jazz festival that was to be held there that night...it was a lovely park which joined into a cemetery...we took pics there, n by the water fontain.the cleanliness of the place was amazing,i felt ashamed on behalf of the semenanjung ppl.
the sun was blistering our skin n left us dehydrated...so we bought ice cream from an old man selling homemade ice cream.then we brossed over to the new museum where an exhibition was being held.

we saw mat salleh's will n his last letter to his family before his execution..for a split second,i swelled with pride in being malaysian.outside the new museum,we took pictures at this high rise pole looking thing which is actually a burial ground for a few sarawakian patriots...
after a while,my dad's fren came to pick us up n took us to the damai beach which was a private beach for their guests only.but me managed to get permission to look at the place.

i have no idea y we were such angels to ask for permission,i dont think they would have noticed us walk in.jo n i wandered of to a secluded rocky place n we took pics there while mai yin n pat rolled up their pants n wadded in the water..we met up with them n collected some seashells when the wind began to blow furiously n a soft drizzle began to fall.looking up,the clouds were a raging dark grey,so we headed back to the lobby where my dad n his fren were sitting.it was almost time for that man's(forgot his name) flight,so we hopped into his unser back to the hotel.initially we planned to visit the cultural village,but cancelled our plans coz the entrance fee was bout rm45.only after we returned to semenanjung we learnt from elaine (who also went to kuching during the hols) that for IPTA students,the entrace fee was rm10.

i wasnt that psyched to go there coz it was too commercialized n i really didnt think that we would get the real feel of the culture which we got during our long house stay the next week.thats rm 10 saved.
by the time we got back to the apartment,we were starving so we went to sarawak plaza to get something to eat.

the rain stopped,so we walked along the waterfront n hailed a sampan that took us across the river.it costs us a mere 30 cents.we walked through the lil wooden houses to the margharita fort only to find it closed,but we managed to peek through the slit at the doors.the centre of the fort was a patch of grass that rooted many canons in a circle pointed outwards n up.we took pictures at the majestic solid wooden door of the fort.outside the fort were war time vehicles used to transport criminals n refugees,we climbed9my dad included) into the jeeps n clicked away at the camera.then we walked on to a beautifully lanscaped orchid garden...

as i was clicking away,i began to wonder y the roll of film never end.then i checked the numbers on the screen,it never moved.i was furious at pat,coz she used the camera in school before we went to kuching,n according to her, her dumb friend loaded the film...all those pics in vain!!she knew i was angry at her n terasa,i felt bad the moment i scolded her,but i guess my ego got the better of me...mai yin then tried to pujuk her..thankfully i brought my camera,so we managed to take pics there..we crossed the river again n had to take pics again at the cat triangle,but it didnt come out that well,thanks to my lousy camera..nonetheless...it was something.
at the apartment,we showered n got ready to go kai-kai some more,particularly the jazz festival.pat refused to come along, but i talked her into coming...tickled her literally..

first,we ate at this seafood restaurant (seafood again),but this time the food was quite good n it wasnt as expensive,bout rm70 for the 5 of us...fish,vege,tofu n something else,i really cant remember.after stuffing our faces, we took the 25 minute walk to the dataran museum to watch the jazz festival,steve thornton performed with his band,jazz,but with a more ethnic-jungle feel to it,no saxes..quite good but it got quite monotonous after a while. i preferred the band that played before him coz i think jazz isnt complete without the saxophone...the crowd was encouraging although they had to stand all throughout coz the field was muddy n wet..we went home with terribly soiled shoes...pat(who was half dead by then) n my dad found a cemented ground to sit on..while we were busy scanning the crowd for good looking guys..we found one..but he disappeared soon after.we retired early that night..

the next morning we went to the port by cab to take the 5 hr boat ride back to sibu..halfway through the journey, i went climbed the steps to the top open air part of the boat n sat there for the rest of the journey.mai yin n the others joined me a while later..the speed of of which the boat was going and the wind that blew hard against our faces slapped our hair in every direction;by the end of the ride,i looked like i just walked out of a hailstorm.

that ride on the rejang river,though long,was the most relaxing experience i've had in a long time.looking at the magic of god's nature that surrounded us,everything else seemed so trivial and it felt darn good to be alive..