Sunday, January 27, 2008

Vacation @ Kuching Part 4 - Sarawak Cultural Village, The living Museum

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Short Talk:

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. I have not bought any of my CNY shirts yet. I need to send my car in for servicing which will cost me a bomb! Sighs... maybe I will just wear back my old clothes...no need for any new clothes this CNY. Haha...
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I have made some changes in this post. According to the initial plan, I would be covering Sarawak Cultural Village and also the Lian Hua San temple. But after going throught the photos, I decided to leave out the Lian Hua San temple for there isn't much photos to show all of you guys. So this post will be on the Sarawak Cultural village only.

First the introduction of Sarawak Cultural Village.

The Sarawak Cultural Village is a must visit place when you are in Kuching.

Nestled underneath the legendary Mount Santubong and 35km away from Kuching City is the Sarawak Cultural Village.


Built on 14 acres of acres of equatorial vegetation, this living museum depicts the heritage of the major racial groups in Sarawak and potrays the respective lifestyle of the respective groups.


Here, it is possible to see all the ethnic group in Sarawak at a glance. Admire the handicrafts of each of the indegineous groups and be tempted to carry some of them back as souviners. Another not to miss event is the 45 minutes cultural show and music which depicts the various cultural dances of Sarawak,This is something you don't want to miss!

If you are staying at the Holiday Inn Damai Beach Resort and the Damai Puri Resort & Spa it is only 5 minutes walk away from the Sarawak Cultural Village!

In my opinion, the Sarawak Cultural Village is an eye opener for me. It clearly shows me all the different races of Sarawak. I surely have learnt a lot about the lifestyle and architecture of the different races that lives in Sarawak. The cultural show for me was a bit too long but quite entertaining in a way.

I am going to leave you guys with some photos of the Sarawak Cultural Village now.

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These amazing wood cravings greets you at the main entrance

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The Chinese Farm House

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The basic look of the interior of the Chinese Farm house

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Brendan making Soya Bean Milk the traditional way...
Grind man! Grind! GO! GO! slow poke! =P

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Handsome farmer Hans, getting ready to harvest his farm products
seriously... somehow this whole outfit is just so him...

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Traditional Malay house

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The lifestyle of the Malay in the olden days.

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The hottest band in SCV. Presenting.... The Grandmas rock group.

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Sway with me sonny! Let me show how its done!

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For making biscuits...


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The Sea Dayak house. Wow..so tall!

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I love this swing... la la la~

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The cultural show.

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I wanted to do that... bit fraid that once I am up there the bamboo will break =.="

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Go Hans ... GO Hans... you can do it...show the lady how its done!


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Walk along SCV you will find a few of these tall wood cravings...magnificent.

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I can't remember what bridge is this... I think its the Iban bridge.
Yes...I know you girls out there are feasting your eyes on
that good looking guy on the bridge...

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Brendan separating the rice form its husk. Grind...grind...

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She is my grandma...don't we look sweet together? Joking...she is not my grandma
lol.

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I have a Grandma of course I will have a Grandpa too. Haha
Joking again.

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Do you wanna buy this? cheap cheap only
buy one...puh...leezeee....purdy please... =P

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Melanau house...round, round baby round, round.

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She is good at this O-O

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This is where you can test your blow pipe skills. But for a price.

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Another long house. The Iban long house... yes...handsome guy is there again.
Feast your eyes on him...muahahaha

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I love rock and roll...put another dime in the jukebox baby! err... where is the jukebox?
Dunno... you can put the money on my pocket then =P

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=____________="


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Shrieks!! Don't see me ... I am neeked... don't see... shy....shy...

Here are some useful information about the Sarawak Cultural Village:

Getting There:

If you are renting a car or driving your own car (for those living within Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei or Kalimantan). The SCV is roughly around 40-45 minutes drive from Kuching City Centre.

If you are spending your holiday at Holiday Inn Resort Damai Beach or the Damai Puri Resort & Spa.It is a mere 5 minutes walk to SCV and 6 minutes from the Damai Golf Course.

For those who are staying in the city centre, there are various mode of transport to the SCV too. You can take the City-Damai shuttle service, Taxi or make and arrangement with the local tour agencies which can be easily found around the city.

Ticketing Information / Entrance Fee:

For International Visitors and Visitors outside Sarawak:
Adult: MYR 60.00
Children (ages 6-12): MYR 30.00
Children below age of 6 admittance is free
Students: MYR15.00 (Must present your student identification Card)

For those within Sarawak:
Adult: MYR 35.00*
Children (ages 6-12): MYR 15.00*
Children below age of 6 admittance is free
Students: MYR15.00 (Must present your student identification Card)

* I am unsure of the price for I used my student identification card to enter.

There are 2 cultural shows in one day, Schedules are as follow:

First Session >> 1130 ~ 1245
Second Session >> 1600 ~ 1715

For more information you can contact SCV via this email address: sales@scv.com.my

That is all from me now for my report of my Vacation trip in Kuching.
Thank you for reading my blog and entries.

Cheers!!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Vacation @ Kuching Part 3 - Damai Beach Resort

Hmmm... yeah I know my part 3 came in really late. Well... I have a good excuse... well actually no... LOL

Anyway my apologies for the long wait. So here comes the 3rd part. Holiday Inn Damai Beach Resort @ Kuching.


Before I move on. Let me describe a bit about Holiday Inn Damai Beach Resort.

Holiday Inn Damai Beach Resort, is a four-star beach side resort located in Kuching. The resort is some 35 kilometres or 24.15 miles from Kuching City Centre, and it is 40 Kilometres away from Kuching International Airport.A taxi ride from the airport to the resort will cost 50.00 MYR.Tourists who spending the night in the city area first can take the shuttle bus to the Resort, all these can be arranged with your travel agent or the Hotel. It would be easier if you are staying at the Holiday Inn Kuching or Crown Plaza Hotel.

A year or so ago this resort went through some renovations and now it looks friendlier and a bit classier too. There are various amenities and services provided by the hotel. The rooms are well kept and clean. The pool is realtively big and clean. The food at the restaurant is not bad, but service is very slow. The beach is ok, but of course can't be compared to Sematan or the ones in Sabah.

Receptionist are warm, friendly and helpful, service staff in the restaurant are less friendly for I felt that they left their smiles at home. For even when the customer smile at them, they just look at you, monotonous.

So, I spend a night over at Holiday Inn Damai Beach Resort with Hans and Brendan. I have not been to the resort for ages so there are a lot of changes there since the last time I was there, which is like 10 years ago.

Overnight at the hotel gave me a chance to assess the resort's services and atmosphere. Before I do report on the resort. Let us enjoy some photos first, Shall we?

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the beach

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Pool side

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Whose smelly...hairy leg is that??!! Puiz!!

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Brendan fell in love with his shadow...so must take photos

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Walking down the beach listening to music

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Some flower...very beautiful

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My new model, Le beetle, see the lil bugger sure know how to poss

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Its a clam!! Nah...its just a seed that looks like a clam

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Love the Merlot!

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You are my Superstar!!

Let you girls out there see Handsome guys
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All the ladies out there? Handsome or not? want him? LOL

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He looks so cute too right? right?

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WOW!!! Kawaii des

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This photo .... the guy to the left is the handsome one...
the guy to the right is the ugly one....sorry for the ugly guy....


Well, that is all for the photos. Now let me do some short report.

Overall, I felt that Holiday Damai Beach Resort is not a bad place at all. Generally, the service staffs are warm, friendly and helpful eventhough some of the restaurant service staffs are expressionless. The newly refurbished resort gives a warm and welcoming ambience to it. The resort is very relaxing, during the evenings or during sunset, do sit at the beach side, order a glass of your favourite wine or cocktail,take a sip of the drink and close your eyes, feel the gentle sea breeze caressing your skin and let the sea waves serenade you, open your eyes again and see the golden sun rays sinking down into the horizon turning the sky into golden red and you realise all your worries are gone. You feel calm and relaxed.

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Ahh.. Sunset....peacefulness


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A glass of Merlot...by the beach side...its heaven~

Here are my ratings:

Ambience: 8/10
Service staffs (front desk): 8/10
Service staffs (Restaurant): 5/10
Service staffs (Pool side): 5/10
Facilities & Services: 8/10
Cleaniness: 8/10
Beach: 6/10

Overall: 6.9/10

Next post Part 4 Sarawak Cultural Village and Green Hill Temple (last post for my Vacation @ Kuching)

Monday, January 21, 2008

Vacation @ Kuching Part 2 - Museums Frenzy!

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Short Talk:
Woo Hoo... I am feeling a lot better now. My cough seems to be getting better...yeah!
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As promised, here is Part 2 of my vacation in Kuching. Part 2 basically covers the Sarawak Museum and also the cat museum. I may not write much on this post. I will post mainly photos only.

First thing in the morning before visiting the museum we need to fill up our tummy first. I can't imagine visiting the museum with an empty stomach.We decided to bring Hans to get a taste of the famous Sarawak Laksa, so we went to a small coffee shop (which...I have forgotten the name) popular for their toast and also their laksa. Kuching is famous for serving kick-ass Sarawak laksa.

It won't be wrong to call Kuching a food heaven. As the years passed by, more food outlets open their doors in Kuching. To this date, you can have food ranging from Local delicacies to Lebanese dishes.


So after a satisfying breakfast. It was off to our first stop, the world-reknown Sarawak Museum. While at the Museum we visited a few places. So I will let the photos do the talking now.

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This building existed since 1891

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Part of the building

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some building

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Roof

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The main building

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Some tall structure with cravings and a vase in it

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The monument situated behind the museum

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faces below the monument

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Cool art


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The art gallery has some pretty nice arts/oil paintings

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wicked looking doll

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The doll was lonely so they added another one next to it. This one cuter.

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Time for some vainness

After the Sarawak Museum, it was off to the Cat Museum. I think this is the only cat museum in the world...correct me if I am wrong. I guess the Mayor of Kuching got the idea of opening a cat museum, since Kuching has been dupped the cat city.

Since we were on our way to Damai and the Cat Museum was along the way to Damai we added it into our itenary.

The Cat Museum is located inside DBKU or Kuching City North Hall. The building is situated on top of a hill and provides a breathtaking view of Kuching City. I do recommend you all to go there.

Again, I will let the photos do the talking here.

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DBKU building

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The signboard of the cat museum

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The entrance

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Prosperity kitties

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Cat tombstone...I didn't know there is actually cat cemetery not in Kuching though.

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I know the guy is very handsome... but i want to show you guys the paintings of the cats.

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Nice sparkly cats

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Japanese cats?

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adorable cat... but I am more adorable =P

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This is a very nice...glassy cat

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For people to take stupid looking vain photos... so people like me lor...tsk such a camwhore

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Brendan almost carried this cat home... but security stopped him...brendan I know you like the cat...but knot take home lar

That is all for this post.


Next Post Vacation @ Kuching Part 3- Overnight at Damai Beach Resort!!

Cheers!!