Returning To The Land Of The Hornbill (Part 1)

It has been almost 2 years plus ever since I stepped foot on the Land of the Hornbills. With Raya here and there's a few days of holiday that can be salvaged (I only managed to scrap 3 days of days off than the normal 4 days others are enjoying), I took the opportunity to go back to my mom's hometown. The Raya trip was suppose to head down to Singapore; however... with so many set backs (the currency is darn high at the moment and mom's passport being at the Chinese embassy for her visa), we made last minute changes to the original plan. It was my dear's her first trip to Kuching too, she eventually enjoyed her inagural trip. As for me, I don't really enjoyed it that much as there were just so many places that I wished that I could revisit but the trip was just too short to be true. I called it the "super-fast-in-a-blink-of-an-eye" trip. I was disappointed with the number of days I have, that's all I could say.... Period!

The last minute air ticket costs RM1500 return for 2. Thanks to mom for her sponsorship for this last minute trip, I didn't have to cough blood for the pair of air tickets. Someday, AirAsia would suck our wallets dry for this. Now who says everyone can fly? That is indeed and absolutely rubbish. The flight to Kuching is 3/4 full. The flight was eventually piloted by my little brother on that day and he provided us with free meals. All costs are covered by him for the stuff we eat. I had the Chicken Lasagnia, my dear had Chicken Rice while mom had the Oriental Noodles. It was very oily but it tastes absolutely good.

The flight to Kuching were smooth with rain greeted us on arrival. Aunt Tsai came pick us up at the airport. Crowd is an absolute factor at the airport where families are waiting for their loved ones to return. We hurried off to get out of that place as the crowd are getting more and more ridiculous. We had dinner then went back to aunt's place to call it a day as there's nothing much to do then that night (it was almost 11pm when we reach home).

The following morning is a bit cool as me and my dear were still bed when mom knocked our door to wake us up. After shower, mom took us to her friends newly opened stall nearby Precinct 88 to have our very first dose of... Sarawak Laksa (sorry, forgot to take the pic for this) and also...

Ko Lok Mee (well, Aunt Kim sold out her normal noodles and we have to settle for the green vegetarian noodles instead).

We also had the "Chu Bee" kuih which is made of glutinous rice floor wrapped either in sweetened peanuts or glutinous rice.

Mom and her friends were at their usual business of gossiping this and that while me and my dear took a stroll around the area. My mom's second elder brother (Uncle Thomas) happened to pass by the area and he came over to say hie for a while. We made a date with him to see him at grandparent's place later in the evening as he's on his way for Raya home visit with his friends. All of the reason why I am back in Kuching... is just to be at my grandparent's kampung home!

Later we went to The Spring, Kuching’s latest and largest shopping center. I used to remember my friends back in Peninsular Malaysia will asks me if Kuching are really that secluded and backward primitive that people still live on top of the tree. Eventually this place has grown out from a slum to the biggest city for the state itself. The Spring has all the shops you would normally see in a shopping center in Peninsular Malaysia.

The stuffs are the same and the only difference is the price. You will need to pay an additional RM5 for the stuff that you buy in Kuching because of its import charge. You get Charles & Keith, Vincci, Padini, Big Apple Donuts, Adidas, Nike… most of the common brands you already know if you are from the Peninsular. The place is properly ventilated and cold, and there’s a local cinema as well.

We just strolled around and took a few pictures while at it. Mom bumped into my little cousin, Chrisin and mom informed her that we will be visiting her mom (Aunt Judy) after we are done shopping here. After that, we went into the supermarket to grab a few grocery items before making our way out of the place. The traffic is beginning to build and the place is getting more and more crowded.

We went home, dropped our shopping items, and went to the 4th mile to have our lunch at this little stall called the “Hong Kong Cuisine”. Mom and Aunt Tsai says that this place has really yummy Tomato Koay Teow being fried here so it’s worth a try. I have been craving for Tomato Koay Teow for a long time. It’s just like Sar Hor Fun but just that the sauce is made of Tomato Sauce. Again, I apologize for not taking a picture of this local cuisine.

Mom also ordered the famous dish, “Ma Li Chai” fried with egg. Yummy lunch!

We headed directly to Aunt Judy’s home after lunch for a visit. Seemingly that wherever we go for this trip, we were being served by drinks and food. Aunt Judy made us some liquored drink (I think its Tequila mixed with Blue Curacao and Sprite. Not really nice to have it in the middle of the day but what the heck... my aunt made it so just drink it. She also served us with mooncake that has Mochi in the middle, tastes nice and craving for more after that. Uncle Terry later showed us around the extension that they have made to their current home and also he also showed us the grapes that he had been growing outside the yard.

Later after, we headed for Uncle Thomas's home. My grandparents used to live there and it was the most memorable place of all. When I was a child, going back to Kuching is always a thrilling event. From midnight stops in Subang Airport (early morning flight from KL to Kuching) to crashing into the dirtiest/darnest drain there is (covered with mud and shit... yes... shit! Because there's a toilet nearby). Plenty of my childhood memories are made there.

With my grandparents no longer around, Uncle Thomas, who remained single, is the only one maintaining the Kampung home in good shape. This place, when my grandparents were around, it normally fills up during the weekends with birthday events, barbeque or just normal family gathering. I will always sit nearby the porch awaiting for my aunts and uncles to come over to visit... but today, this place is cold and abandoned. Relatives don't visit anymore, grandma's friends who lives nearby who usually visits at least once a week began to join her in heaven. A place filled with family gossips to laughter, now turned cold and silent, with Boey's (Uncle Thomas's dog) bark heard only once in a while.

I used to remember this place is filled with ducks, chicken and goose too. Grass were kept to the minimal and cars filled the only pathway leading up to the home. Today, the pathway is filled with long grass and the gate remained closed. Chicken aged and die, so does the ducks and goose. As I walked down the main hall, the wooden planks beneath my feet squeaks, informing me that the house has not had visitors for quite a while now. I was sad. Good things never lasts. Only memories that comes with it. I shall make another trip return to Kuching again end of October. Hopefully then, I'll be able to take some pictures of the Kampung house up close.

The sky looked gloomy and dark as it poised to rain. We quickly rushed to get fresh flowers from Chinatown for tomorrow's visit to my grandparents grave. These streets around Chinatown usually filled with cars, looked extremely quiet as most of the people around Kuching must be back to their respected hometown or mostly hid at home. It's just very very quiet... too quiet to be true, but I liked the environment. I can even sleep on the street if I want to, without having to fear being run over by car!!

We ended our day with a feet massage as my dear had never have so much fun and pain at the same time, bearing all the pain on her feet as well as relaxed on a comfy chair watching tv while those chinamen massages our sore feet. It was refreshing indeed! We had dinner nearby Aunt Tsai's home. Nothing fancy... mostly fried stuff and noodles again. As I ended the night watching premier league matches at home, my dear slept rather early on that night after all the intense day of going through Kuching in such short period of time.

I'll end my first part for now. Stay tune for Part 2 (the last day in Kuching) before I headed off back to Penang again. More pictures shall be revealed on the next post, so do stay tuned...