Kuching - Meow!

With Tom heading home Alex and I headed to Kuching, literally meaning 'cat', the capital city of Sarawak. Finding accommodation was pretty hard but we settled for the Borneo B+B. In the afternoon we headed to the Waterfront, the focal point of Kuching, and walked into a sea of people as the Sarawak Regatta was in full swing. This annual event is an amazing tradition in Sarawak and we witnessed dragon boat racing, local music and a cultural market. All in all it was just good fun for all the family, even though it was just Alex and me there! Seeing that our first day in Kuching was a Saturday we decided to join in on a game of Ring of Fire at our hostel before heading out on the town. By about 2am we ended up in a karaoke bar (about half of all bars have karaoke, it is crazily popular in this part of the world!) and Alex and I used our natural singing talents to clear the place out. With that accomplished we wandered back to our B+B after 3am.

Our late night led us to sleeping to almost midday the next day and this led to a couple of problems: first, we missed the Kuching Sunday market, which actually takes place on a Saturday, and got booted out of Borneo B+B because apparently we needed to re-check-in! Luckily there was place in a dorm across the road so we moved there before heading out to exlpore Kuching with Kevin, a French guy from Borneo B+B, and his Spanish friend who neither of us can remember the name of. The Sarawak Museum showcased all the wildlife in Sarawak but the stuffed animals looked like they hadn't been replaced since the museum was opened in 1912, but the one eyes porcupine was still very impressive... With Kuching being the city of the cat it has a liberal sprinkling of cat statuesso Alex and I decided to take a few of them in, including the Great Cat of Kuching, which overlooks the entrance to Kuching. I never knew cats could be so impressve or big! We planned to head to Bako national park in the morning so we opted for a quiter night and headed out for a meal with people from Borneo B+B before seeing Public Enemies, which we all enjoyed.

Rob