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5:10 pm Hi All, Randal and I pulled up anchor about 7:30 am this morning and cruised until about 1:30 when we arrived here at Sutera Harbor Marina. We had spent August 2008 here and it’s nice to return to a familiar place. These next few days are the last for Sail Malaysia. A final dinner will be held tomorrow night. As I’m still catching up with email from Brunei, it does make things a bit confusing. Oh well; I would think you’re all used to it by now. So here is part two of the Brunei city tour. There will be a part 3 so you can see what the water villages are like. Then I’ll write about our trip to the Rain Forest and our canopy walk. We really did do a lot during our time in Brunei. Ru ps The puffy roll at the carvery was Yorkshire Pudding! I knew it was a Brittish thing, but kept thinking Wellington which I knew was beef wrapped in some kind of dough, I think. But Yorkshire Pudding does sound a bit like brioche.
Brunei Tour with Allan Riches “Discover Brunei: Approx 4 hour van/bus tour around Bandar Seri Begawan (capital of Brunei) with a guide to learn about how Brunei works and what makes it unique. Visit a mosque, the Royal Regalia, and the water village. Stops at the old and new palaces. Depart RBYC Serasa at 1300. Return approx 1700.” That’s what Allan’s handout said and that’s what we did! Plus we stopped at the end for an ATM and a quick trip to the supermarket. Cruisers never pass up a trip to an ATM or supermarket especially if someone will drive them in a vehicle. Also, as no one had Brunei money at this point, everyone needed an ATM. If you know as little about Brunei as I did, than you pretty much knew nothing. I was surprised to find it in Southeast Asia and not the Middle East. Brunei became a British protectorate in 1888 and an independent country in 1984. That’s all I’ll write; all I know, and that’s only because I just read it in my Lonely Planet guide. (I do know that, had there been any cruisers in the Rally with Israeli passports, they wouldn’t have been allowed to enter the country.) But politics aside, if that’s allowed, Brunei royalty seems to be trying to share its oil wealth with the population. During our tour Allan Riches told us about Brunei; its history, current events, gossip; he seems to know it all. We all had lots of questions about who actually got to spend all of that oil money. (It seems most individual’s loans are paid by the government, house loan, car loan, school loan. And 60 per cent of the workers in Brunei work for the government in some way. Health care is practically free.) A giant plus for this tour; I could almost always understand Allan’s Aussie English. Sometimes Aussie/New Zealand/British English trips me up. The local people gamely try to understand us all. The last Brunei email stopped with the tour of the mosque. Now we’re off to the Royal Regalia Building where there is more gold, or things gold in color than Fort Knox. “The Royal Regalia building was officially opened on 30 September 1992 by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam. “ (I missed the explanation of the name because I was wandering around taking photos. But it’s something about there being no last name so the names of parents are included, I think. Randal didn’t quite catch it either.) “The Royal Regalia Building has been designed to incorporate various characteristics of the philosophy of Malay Islamic Monarchy and has become another striking landmark of Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. The building displays a large number of the Royal Regalia that has been inherited from generation to generation…” Quotes from Royal Regalia Building Brochure
This photo was on the front of the Royal Regalia Building’s brochure.
Royal Coronation Chariot pushed by men walking on either side. There are wheels so at least it doesn’t have to be carried!! Things here colored gold are! While I was taking photos I wasn’t listening to Allan explain things. When I could listen, photos weren’t allowed. This chariot was in the main entry room and only there were photos allowed.
A solid gold chin rest. During long parades when the royal crown starts to get way too heavy, the Sultan can rest his chin in this gold palm. (Photo from the brochure.) It could be really easy to start making fun of the royal trappings, but all the money isn’t spent by the royal family only on itself. Apparently the current sultan’s brother tried and now he is in “exile” in LA or Las Vegas or somewhere with his toys sold off. The Sultan is too smart and his sister is too socially conscious. They know that they have to share the wealth and whether they do it because it’s right or because it’s pragmatic, they appear to be doing it. Randal and I enjoyed our time in Brunei. But I do think some of the oil money should go to the public library. There was no link to an online catalog that I could find when I went to its web site.
Women workers at the royal Regalia Building You could say this is another example of sharing the country’s wealth. These women have jobs paid for by the government. I snuck this photo. When we asked, they said no, though a couple of them acted like they really did want their photo taken.
Here is Anne trying to negotiate a photo.
As close as we could get to the Sultan’s Palace was across the road. Looks a bit like a roller coaster on top.
In contrast, this is the house where the current Sultan grew up.
It’s large, but no palace and no central AC or why would they have those units outside. Now it’s just an historic place.
Down the street from the Sultan’s first home. Large concrete apartment houses are directly across the street though neither Randal nor I know if these buildings were there when the Sultan actually lived in the neighborhood. Next stop; the Water Village |
Monthly Archives: July 2009
Brunei
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July 30th Leaving Labuan on our way to Kota Kinabalu Hi All, We’ll be leaving Labuan soon for our 2 day passage to KK. We plan to anchor overnight near Tiga Island. Customs and Immigration officials were all very pleasant and very efficient so it took relatively no time. I say relatively since we had to water taxi ashore and go to 3 offices in two different buildings. Our purchases in Labuan, 2 boxes of Cabernet Shiraz, Vodka, Scotch and 2 tiny bottles of Chardonnay for happy hours on other boats where you BYOB. We skipped the beer. We had Chinese lunch with 2 cruiser friends, a short walk around town, and Indian dinner with 6 other cruiser friends. All in all a short pleasant stay. Ru
Brunei We had a really good time in Brunei. The activities were good, the food was good, and we got to know more of the Sail Malaysia cruisers. It was a little like being at “Club Brunei” with Allan Riches as the activities director. Allan had come to Miri to meet with us, see what activities we would like, deal with some of the paperwork we’d need to fill out, arranged for the fuel folks would need to get and the transport for getting it. He was even tour leader on our Brunei city tour which made it really great because he seems to know everything about everything about Brunei.
We were anchored out but the Royal Brunei Yacht Club had facilities for showers, a pool, washing machine and restaurant. They even had a small library. It was closed while we were there, but they had weeded many of their paperbacks and put them out for cruisers to help themselves.
Australians Anne and Brian Wilson from the Catamaran Hybresail at a table in the RBYC Serasa. We had spoken to Anne and Brian other times during Sail Indonesia and now Sail Malaysia. I knew they had met when both of them were ball room dance instructors. But during the “Carvery” lunch at the RBYC Kota Batu location, we got to know more about them while we ate plates of carved lamb, beef, chicken and that’s why it’s called a carvery. This picture shows them at the RBYC Serasa location. You can see the stack of books Anne picked. Some of the stories they told could have been episodes of “Life on a cattle ranch in Australia.” And Brian built H really neat couple. And Anne has one of those voices that I could listed to all day, gracious, thoughtful and ladylike. Obviously we like them.
Food from the “carvery.” I had double helpings of lamb and skipped the roast beef and chicken. There was also spicy mint jelly and the bread in the corner is a brioche, I think. All of the meat is cut in very, very thin slices, but I did go back for more though with all of the sides of veggies and roasted potatoes and then the offerings of desserts, thin slices were enough. (I had the second helping of lamb for dessert. Not sure why I have become so addicted to lamb since we arrived in Malaysia. It all started with the limburger at the Sebana Cove Marina. Then it was lamb roti at the Singapore Zam Zam restaurant on Arab Street. We skipped the chance to dress up and have dinner at the Sultan’s Polo Club that evening; that would have just been too much food for the day and we have no dress up clothes and Randal wouldn’t wear them if we did. We anchored at the Brunei Yacht Club Serasa early in the morning of July 25th. Our Brunei activities were: July 25th… Check in with the marine officials that Allan Riches had arranged to come to the Yacht Club between noon and 2 pm (eat a quick lunch to be ready for the City tour) Discover Brunei. A 4 hour bus tour around Bander Seri Begawan to learn about Brunei lead by Allan Riches. This was a great tour. We visited the Jame’Asr Hassanal Bolkia Mosque, the largest mosque in the country. We were allowed to take photos outside and in the entry hall, but that’s it.
Lots of winding stairways outside and inside too.
More gilded stairways. One stairway had a stair for each sultan of Brunei so there were 29, I think.
Randal insisted I take a photo of him holding is foot?….? Men who wore shorts had to wear robes. Only one man wore pants, but he wore a robe too, just for the experience maybe.
I love this photo. Of course my first thought was “The Supreme Court.” Our short stay in Brunei gave us a chance to meet more people than we had during most of Sail Malaysia. I even got to know Emma, the 6 year old in the pink top and striped skirt. She was really very brave and polite and very mature for a 6 year old, I think.
There were also mirrors as well as stairways. I just like this photo of me taken by me. Makes me look thin! Next stop The Royal Regalia Building. |
Moving right along
Sail Malaysia continues
Hi All,
We are cruising towards Kota Kinabalu, the final stop of Sail Malaysia. We left Miri, Malaysia on the 24th and arrived in tiny Brunei on the 25th about 5 am. Since it’s not light till about 6:15 and the Immigration Officials weren’t due to arrive at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club until 10 am we actually dropped anchor outside the channel into Brunei and went to sleep. We’d left Miri the afternoon before and cruised through the night so we were tired. As for Brunei, other than about a hundred photos, good memories, a trip down Outward Bound memory lane and the best bus tour around Brunei with Allan Riches, eating back about 3 additional pounds I had just lost, a rock from the Ulu Tamburong National Park, and what is still an itchy bee sting, other than all that, we hardly did a thing in our 3 days in Brunei! Several boats took the opportunity to load up on diesel in Brunei where they had special cheap rates for the locals; our visiting yachts were allowed the lower price. But you had to haul it in large fuel containers from the inland station and at too small amounts to be useful to us. Sailboats obviously need and hold lots less fuel than we do. Yachts were allowed 300 litters which is 79 gallons. We had taken on 300 gallons at the fuel dock in Terengganu at the higher but much more convenient rate. Now we’re here in Labuan mostly to wait until July 31st when a slip will open for us in Kota Kinaba (Randal Close the Hatches!, It’s raining!!) Kinabalu . Of course, now the sun’s out and we really did need the rain to clean the salt off the boat. Since we are anchored out here in Labuan we can’t spare our water to wash the boat. We are in a bay; but need good salty ocean water to make water. We do have half a tank of water and that will last us. Sail Malaysia regroups in Kota Kinabalu August 1st.
Until we leave for KK boats will stay here in “duty free, buy all your booze” Labuan or head the 30 miles to Tiga Island which is half way, 30 miles, to KK. Not sure what we’ll do. I’d like to see Peace Park where the Japanese surrendered to the Allies in WW2 and also the WW2 memorial to the Australian soldiers. But as Randal says, we can stop here on our way back around after the rally. It would be nice to split the 60 mile cruise to KK. We do have to check back into Malaysia here since we left to go to Brunei and because there are “independent” parts of Malaysia who require visiting yachts to check in and out no matter it’s all Malaysia. Miri was in Serawak and Labuan and KK are in Sabah, all Malaysia, but different states.
We plan to stay several weeks in Kota Kinabalu so I should be able to start sending lots of photos. From some comments, I won’t feel the need to discuss bird saliva should Randal and I encounter it on a tour. In August 2008, Randal and I spent a month in KK so we know our way around. There is a pretty good library and hopefully in that time I’ll find some art lessons too. Islamic art is often beautiful calligraphy so I’m not sure about my success finding watercolor lessons; but I’ll try. We still have boat chores and with shore power and water, the boat should get a good cleaning. And we’ll be able to dive and clean our propeller.
Here in Pulau Labuan we are anchored in the working harbor next to the fleet of fishing boats. It’s like being anchored in downtown New Bedford next to the fishing fleet which I think is quite cool! Things are getting morning busy now, but I slept like a log last night. It was calm and quiet. No kereokee. The harbor doesn’t have much room for visiting yachts so some cruisers had to go over to the unfinished marina; unfinished because it was more rolling there than here in the working harbor. But there is only so much room and most of the 30 something Sail Malaysia boats are here. We were lucky it get here in the middle of the pack so found a space.
We’re off later this morning to check into Sabah, see a bit of the city and then to buy our share of beer and some wine and hopefully some form of sugarfree Coke product. Pepsi is dreadful! Cruiser chatter about checking in and out and buying booze is over the VHF radio just now. We all turn to the same not busy channel to keep in touch. Apparently booze isn’t so cheap and the water taxis might take a bit to come, but the sun is shining and all seems good.
Ru
Niah Cave with Jim and Joy Carey – Traders Cave and the Guano Carriers
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Hi All, Today we biked to customs and immigration to check out of Malaysia to prepare for tomorrow’s departure for Brunei. We will spend 3 days in Brunei as part of Sail Malaysia; the 25th -27th. We still haven’t planned our route to Brunei but it will probably be straight through so will be an overnight passage. Our time there is pretty crammed full of events. Last night we had a Rally dinner and tonight we will have one tonight also. It’s funny, although we like Miri and would come again, we have done little touring around other than the Niah Caves and biking through town to do boat chores. I never did make it back to spend more time at the library. Next visit. So, here’s the last of the Niah Cave trip emails. Maybe more than you wanted to know? Ru
Niah Cave with Jim and Joy Carey – Traders Cave and the Guano Carriers On our way to the caves we passed this fellow.
We weren’t quite sure how to connect him to the area until we read about the Trader’s Cave and saw another man actually filling bags in the caves.
Buyers and sellers met at the Traders’ Cave.
Traders’ Cave
Rock formations in Traders’ Cave I don’t know if all of the rock hanging from the ceiling can be called stalactites. In the first email I wrote that the Park brochure calls this an overhang rather than a cave. Not sure the difference although this one had more opening. The bird’s nests and guano are collected in the Great Cave. “Proceeding into the cave, the sound of disembodied voices mingle with the squeaking of millions of bats and swiftlets to create an eerie atmosphere. The voices belong to the guano collectors who toil by the light of paraffin lamps to collect the guano (bat and bird excrement) covering the cave floor. The guano is then carried in sacks to the Sungai Niah (Niah River) where it is graded and sold as fertilizer. “Park brochure Guano makes one reluctant to hold onto the railings! That and scorpions and giant crickets that also pinch. I spent as much time on the way back shining my light on the rail as on the stairs. But mostly you just ignore it all and walk through the caves just looking around amazed at the geologic structures carved into the walls and ceilings.
A guano collector. Sifting?
Another guano collector. I think we saw three in all. We have no idea how much those bags weigh.
Birds’ Nest Collecting Bamboo poles used to collect the birds’ nests. But we never saw the birds’ nest collectors. They climb these bamboo poles attached to the roof of the cave and collect the nest of the swifts. We’re not sure how high up they are thought the cave entrance is over 60 meters high. It is much higher than our sail mast and I won’t go up there and neither will Randal. (At least not until we get a boson’s chair.) “Strategically positioned bamboo poles and ladders made from ironwood are evidence of the birds’ nest collectors, local people who have practiced this dangerous occupation for generations. The half million swiftlets that live in the cave make their nests purely form their own salivary secretions and when the nests are cleaned and cooked they produce the famous birds’ nest soup which is highly regarded in Chinese cuisine and in the West. Collecting the nests from the cave ceiling is a dangerous job and fatalities are not uncommon. ….Obviously such a valuable commodity is a magnet for poachers and over-harvesting is a constant worry. Therefore Park management constantly monitors the caves to deter illegal collectors.” Park brochure (When we first learned about the swifts and birds’ nest soup I was told that you can take the first 2 nests the bird builds and it will rebuild each time. But if you take it three times it will stop. I don’t know if that means stop permanently or the bird will just move to some other site.) I would think I’d be put off knowing the main ingredient of bird’s nest soup is swiftlet saliva even if the soup were free for the tasting. Yuck. I draw the line at chicken feet, cow tongue and chittlins (sp) which are pig intestines which I actually did eat once in a Southside restaurant in Chicago back in 1970. I think I could easily become a vegetarian. |
Visit to the Niah Caves part 1
Hi Everyone,
Tonight is the first Sail Malaysia Rally Miri Dinner. Today was an oversold optional trip to the Niah Caves. Luckily Jim and Joy and Randal and I went a few days ago.
We still like Miri and everyone is quite friendly and helpful. The marina is crammed full and yesterday late afternoon our dock lost power for an hour which means no AC. Just as we had finished opening all of the portholes and hatches the shore power was restored. Yippee.
Today I am following the Sox lose yet another game. They have forgotten how to hit the ball….but I think this is always their bad time of year; at least that’s what I’m hoping and they get over it before it’s too late.
Ru
Niah Caves with Joy and Jim – To the Caves
We took off on an in land adventure and hiked to and through the Niah Caves, a National Park site in Sarawak not far from Miri. Our cruising friends, Jim and Joy Carey on Kelerin planned the trip, made arrangements for and drove the rental car. Randal and I just had to show up at 7am with our snacks and hiking shoes and split the cost of gas and the car rental. The car rental, 30 ringgits and the gas 40 ringgits was divided so was about $ 16 U.S. for us. It was about 60 miles from our marina to the caves. Jim did an admirable job of driving the small car that just fit 4 American size people. (And the steering wheel is on the wrong side and you drive on the wrong side of the road too.) Only one window would open, and the AC wouldn’t work. But hey, it cost next to nothing to rent and it did the job.
Our first stop was for gas which involved a tour around Miri and its frustrating puzzle of one way streets, always the way you didn’t want to go. But we found the station and then headed back out of Miri toward Bintulu. Our original destination was a different park where you might be able to see some crocodiles and take a boat ride too. But as began to realize how long it would actually take to get there, and that the Niah Caves were much closer, we opted for the caves. The Sail Malaysia Rally had planned to make a trip to the caves; then it became an optional trip at an additional cost. The last optional trip that was offered in Terengganu never happened. And the day the Cave trip might go, Jim couldn’t so switching to the Caves made perfect sense. As it turned out, when the cave trip was actually organized, none of us was around and when we learned of it the bus was full. Good thing we went on our own. http://www.forestry.sarawak.gov.my/forweb/np/np/niah.htm is the Cave’s website.
Our first stop, about 9 am, was for snacks in Niah Junction. It’s just like those places you stop at for gas and snacks in the US except the food is Malaysian and you’re not sure what it is.
Randal and friend at the snack shop. There was also a “display” of some very large turtles that we weren’t sure were alive or not. Sad when the displays for live things aren’t more humane.
Randal ate noodles but the rest of us had just small snacks. As it turned out, we all should have had noodles and more since it would be about 3 pm by the time we were back in the same snack stop having a meal. We just had no clue. I did have some of the dry floury cookies I’d bought at the snack stop and we all had water so it wasn’t dire or anything.
The Niah National Park Complex offered housing and a cafeteria for people staying overnight. We saw young hostlers and also a couple who probably took the VIP lodging.
Randal, Jim and Joy qualified for the “senior” tickets of 5 ringgits but mine was 10. We rented torches (flashlights) which you truly did need while walking through the cages.
Joy, Jim and Randal. You had to take a motorized boat the two minute ride across the river. I’m guessing they don’t have a bridge so they can control access to the Caves and Park to protect it. The one ringgit fee each way was minimal.
There was a small building that said Archeological Museum but it was closed.
You walk 3.5 Kilometers to the Great Cave. Most of it is along flat boardwalk through the jungle. Unfortunately there was no wildlife to be seen. We could hear lots of different kind of birds, but except for bright orange centipedes and two lizards, we never saw a monkey, flying lizard or anything else. We did see the huge Tapang trees like we’d seen in Kumai and the Singapore Botanical Garden and some fungai, but no orchids.
Not sure if these two were making love or war. They were totally still.
About half way you get to the entrance to a small village. We didn’t walk the half mile there, but in hind-sight wish we had and skipped the trip to the Painted Cave. You’ll see why when we get there. These ladies were selling cold drinks and souvenirs. We had the cold drinks on the way back.
Every now and then you would get to a gated area. Not sure if they were ever locked now.
And stairs! Randal wished we had counted how many we went up and down along the way.
Next email, “into the caves.”
Niah Caves Part 2
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July 22 Niah Caves Part 2 Hi All, This is the 2nd of 3 emails about Niah Caves. If you have missed the first one or any past ones, they are all posted on www.mydoramac.com. Audrey gets them posted almost faster than I can create them. Anyway, this email is about our hike through the caves. Pretty impressive though my camera really couldn’t capture it. The 3rd email will be about the men who collect the birds’s nests and bird and bat guano. Yum. Ru
Niah Caves with Joy and Jim – To the Caves We took off on an in land adventure and hiked to and through the Niah Caves, a National Park site in Sarawak not far from Miri. Our cruising friends, Jim and Joy Carey on Kelerin planned the trip, made arrangements for and drove the rental car. Randal and I just had to show up at 7am with our snacks and hiking shoes and split the cost of gas and the car rental. The car rental, 30 ringgits and the gas 40 ringgits was divided so was about $ 16 U.S. for us. It was about 60 miles from our marina to the caves. Jim did an admirable job of driving the small car that just fit 4 American size people. (And the steering wheel is on the wrong side and you drive on the wrong side of the road too.) Only one window would open, and the AC wouldn’t work. But hey, it cost next to nothing to rent and it did the job. Our first stop was for gas which involved a tour around Miri and its frustrating puzzle of one way streets, always the way you didn’t want to go. But we found the station and then headed back out of Miri toward Bintulu. Our original destination was a different park where you might be able to see some crocodiles and take a boat ride too. But as began to realize how long it would actually take to get there, and that the Niah Caves were much closer, we opted for the caves. The Sail Malaysia Rally had planned to make a trip to the caves; then it became an optional trip at an additional cost. The last optional trip that was offered in Terengganu never happened. And the day the Cave trip might go, Jim couldn’t so switching to the Caves made perfect sense. As it turned out, when the cave trip was actually organized, none of us was around and when we learned of it the bus was full. Good thing we went on our own. http://www.forestry.sarawak.gov.my/forweb/np/np/niah.htm is the Cave’s website. Our first stop, about 9 am, was for snacks in Niah Junction. It’s just like those places you stop at for gas and snacks in the US except the food is Malaysian and you’re not sure what it is.
Randal and friend at the snack shop. There was also a “display” of some very large turtles that we weren’t sure were alive or not. Sad when the displays for live things aren’t more humane. Randal ate noodles but the rest of us had just small snacks. As it turned out, we all should have had noodles and more since it would be about 3 pm by the time we were back in the same snack stop having a meal. We just had no clue. I did have some of the dry floury cookies I’d bought at the snack stop and we all had water so it wasn’t dire or anything.
The Niah National Park Complex offered housing and a cafeteria for people staying overnight. We saw young hostlers and also a couple who probably took the VIP lodging.
Randal, Jim and Joy qualified for the “senior” tickets of 5 ringgits but mine was 10. We rented torches (flashlights) which you truly did need while walking through the cages.
Joy, Jim and Randal. You had to take a motorized boat the two minute ride across the river. I’m guessing they don’t have a bridge so they can control access to the Caves and Park to protect it. The one ringgit fee each way was minimal. There was a small building that said Archeological Museum but it was closed.
You walk 3.5 Kilometers to the Great Cave. Most of it is along flat boardwalk through the jungle. Unfortunately there was no wildlife to be seen. We could hear lots of different kind of birds, but except for bright orange centipedes and two lizards, we never saw a monkey, flying lizard or anything else. We did see the huge Tapang trees like we’d seen in Kumai and the Singapore Botanical Garden and some fungai, but no orchids.
Not sure if these two were making love or war. They were totally still.
About half way you get to the entrance to a small village. We didn’t walk the half mile there, but in hind-sight wish we had and skipped the trip to the Painted Cave. You’ll see why when we get there. These ladies were selling cold drinks and souvenirs. We had the cold drinks on the way back.
Every now and then you would get to a gated area. Not sure if they were ever locked now.
And stairs! Randal wished we had counted how many we went up and down along the way. Next email, “into the caves.” |
Woman Smoking a Water Pipe
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Hi All, Just trying to catch up on the emails I wrote but couldn’t send. There are about 4 of them. Here is the first, about a woman and a water pipe at the Little Lebanon Restaurnat in Kuching. Ru ps Spent today doing boat chores: defrosting frig, cleaning up exploded Pepsi Max from the freezer, washing sheets and blankets. Randal did his boat chores and our friend Jim came to return a book and retrieve his hat that he left on our boat back in Tioman. Just a quiet day
Woman Smoking a Water Pipe in the Little Lebanon Restaurant, Kuching That about sums it up! Randal and I were in our “favorite by default” restaurant in Kuching. I say favorite by default because we really didn’t explore the city all that much. We ate 3 times in Little Lebanon, once in James Brooke and twice in small Chinese open air restaurants. I say open air because the street side has no wall and it’s all just open. Most small restaurants are like that. But some seem more like bistro sidewalk seating than like the wall is missing. And though I’d prefer eating somewhere new each day, Randal prefers to “go with what you know and serves beer.” One time we were sitting at our same table that we always sit at waiting for our food. We do order different dishes each time and I do have to say that they were all quite good. That visit Randal’s meal came first and mine about 10 minutes later. While I waited a “baggish lady” sitting at a restaurant table but eating her own food, offered me some of her rice. I tried to explain that my food was coming, but she offered again. Maybe she thought Randal wouldn’t buy me any! I had ordered two small inexpensive appetizers that sounded interesting, and were, but larger than I had expected. The first dish was 6 small vegetarian fried pies. When it came I offered some to the lady. She came over to look and was a bit surprised. At first she wasn’t sure what to do, then took one. Then the restaurant owner came out to shoo her away. I explained what had happened; but I guess they weren’t too pleased with her sitting there but couldn’t yell at a tourist. The other dish was Dayak Chicken soup and was wonderful and spicy hot! But that was a different story and this is about the water pipe smoker…. I asked if I could take photos of the process.
They were trying to figure out why it didn’t work. The water apparently acts as a filter. I guess the smoke goes through and makes the water bubble or something that apparently wasn’t happening. The woman was drinking beer and about to smoke this intense pipe. Her male friend was reading a magazine and sipping a Pepsi. Opposites attract.
This woman was beautiful enough to have this odd hairdo. The hair above her ears is shaved almost. The best of both worlds, short and long hair. She actually is quite typical of many of the young travelers we see. The Rainforest World Music Festival attracted many more tourists than we have seen in other places.
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes…..and several piercings too.
Francesca Ang to the rescue. Somehow she knew how it was all supposed to work and took charge ordering the restaurant worker to bring a different pipe and a new mouth piece. She also took charge of lighting the small piece of coal that heats it all up. A bit later Francesca walked by our table and we stopped her to talk. She is Malaysian but lived in Lebanon (the real place, not this restaurant) and works in the area of Malaysian economic development. Her lunch companions were two men from Egypt. Francesca told us to look for her at the Music Festival and we actually found her and enjoyed a cold drink together. So that’s the story! |
Woman Smoking a Water Pipe
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Hi All, Just trying to catch up on the emails I wrote but couldn’t send. There are about 4 of them. Here is the first, about a woman and a water pipe at the Little Lebanon Restaurnat in Kuching. Ru ps Spent today doing boat chores: defrosting frig, cleaning up exploded Pepsi Max from the freezer, washing sheets and blankets. Randal did his boat chores and our friend Jim came to return a book and retrieve his hat that he left on our boat back in Tioman. Just a quiet day
Woman Smoking a Water Pipe in the Little Lebanon Restaurant, Kuching That about sums it up! Randal and I were in our “favorite by default” restaurant in Kuching. I say favorite by default because we really didn’t explore the city all that much. We ate 3 times in Little Lebanon, once in James Brooke and twice in small Chinese open air restaurants. I say open air because the street side has no wall and it’s all just open. Most small restaurants are like that. But some seem more like bistro sidewalk seating than like the wall is missing. And though I’d prefer eating somewhere new each day, Randal prefers to “go with what you know and serves beer.” One time we were sitting at our same table that we always sit at waiting for our food. We do order different dishes each time and I do have to say that they were all quite good. That visit Randal’s meal came first and mine about 10 minutes later. While I waited a “baggish lady” sitting at a restaurant table but eating her own food, offered me some of her rice. I tried to explain that my food was coming, but she offered again. Maybe she thought Randal wouldn’t buy me any! I had ordered two small inexpensive appetizers that sounded interesting, and were, but larger than I had expected. The first dish was 6 small vegetarian fried pies. When it came I offered some to the lady. She came over to look and was a bit surprised. At first she wasn’t sure what to do, then took one. Then the restaurant owner came out to shoo her away. I explained what had happened; but I guess they weren’t too pleased with her sitting there but couldn’t yell at a tourist. The other dish was Dayak Chicken soup and was wonderful and spicy hot! But that was a different story and this is about the water pipe smoker…. I asked if I could take photos of the process.
They were trying to figure out why it didn’t work. The water apparently acts as a filter. I guess the smoke goes through and makes the water bubble or something that apparently wasn’t happening. The woman was drinking beer and about to smoke this intense pipe. Her male friend was reading a magazine and sipping a Pepsi. Opposites attract.
This woman was beautiful enough to have this odd hairdo. The hair above her ears is shaved almost. The best of both worlds, short and long hair. She actually is quite typical of many of the young travelers we see. The Rainforest World Music Festival attracted many more tourists than we have seen in other places.
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes…..and several piercings too.
Francesca Ang to the rescue. Somehow she knew how it was all supposed to work and took charge ordering the restaurant worker to bring a different pipe and a new mouth piece. She also took charge of lighting the small piece of coal that heats it all up. A bit later Francesca walked by our table and we stopped her to talk. She is Malaysian but lived in Lebanon (the real place, not this restaurant) and works in the area of Malaysian economic development. Her lunch companions were two men from Egypt. Francesca told us to look for her at the Music Festival and we actually found her and enjoyed a cold drink together. So that’s the story! |
Rainforest World crafts
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Hi All, We arrived here in Miri yesterday morning after a safe but somewhat problematic 2 night passage. Things broke, the sea was rolly, and we we were tired most of the time. But we did arrive safely and that’s the important part. We will be here until about the 23rd of July. There are some Sail Malaysia events on the 21st and 22nd. I have written 2 emails about the Rainforest World Craft Bazaar. This is the first. The second shows Elizabeth learning to batik. I also tried my hand at it. Ruth Johnson DoraMac
Crafts Fair with Ruth and Elizabeth My crafts companions Ruth, Elizabeth and I regrouped for another crafts adventure. The three of us had spent a wonderful time exploring batik together in Terengganu. The Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar, just in its second year, was held in Santubong in conjunction with the Rainforest World Music Festival now in its 10th year. www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com The festival opened officially on the 10th but there was “cheap” entry day on the 9th so we thought we’d take advantage and go. Ruth, Elizabeth and I can enjoy much more time looking at crafts than Cliff, Patrick or Randal, so we leave them to boat chores and off we go. Perhaps most importantly, the three of us always seem to need teh tarik, lunch and the tandas all about the same time. Quite a compatible trio. (Tea, lunch and the “Ladies Room.) The Crafts Bazaar is held at the Cultural Village about 2 ½ miles from our Santubong anchorage. Randal kindly played dinghy driver and we collected Elizabeth and Ruth for the quick trip to shore. We began walking at 8:10 and arrived at the Village at 9:10. It was a nice leisurely walk not unlike walking up Mill Mountain along the road though not so steep. We passed an upscale condo complex, a resort, one spectacular home and a restaurant along the way. Definitely not a hike through the jungle. On brochures for the Craft Bazaar both Elizabeth and I had noticed the reduced entry fee charged on the 9th. One brochure mentioned that the reduced fee was for “locals,” but each of us at different times had asked in the Kuching tourist office if we could also pay the reduced fee on the 9th. We were both told that we could. The reduced fee was 15 ringits and the regular fee to enter the Cultural Village is 60 ringits which is about $18 US. None of us wanted to pay $18. Our Music Festival Tickets that would allow us to also see the Crafts Bazaar, the Cultural Village and the Music Festival were 180 ringits for our one day. Cliff and Ruth were going for 3 days so had already paid plenty. 15 ringits was about all we were willing to pay for the early visit to the Crafts Bazaar. There was a bit of confusion at the ticket booth as to whether we were included in the 15 ringit option; but because we had walked the 2 ½ miles and had been told by the Tourist Office we could pay the reduced fee, we were finally only charged the 15 ringits. Whew!
Ruth and Elizabeth sitting. Annette standing. Our first cup of tea after our 2 ½ mile walk Annette, originally from Britain has been traveling and teaching most of her adult life. She is retired now in Kuching and among other things was a volunteer at the Crafts Bazaar. Elizabeth, a Brit who has also traveled the world teaching, swapped stories. It’s hard to see, but Annette’s shirt was one of the designs created in a contest among student artists.
Nabilah Abdullah a potter from Sarawak. I bought the small cup on the left. It looks like brass but it is clay as you can see. I was as intrigued with her as with the pots. The piece was 8 ringits, less than $3 US and I love it. I thought about buying a larger one, but it was 100 ringits and not the best investment for cruising on bumpy seas. The small one is perfect for toothpicks.
Nabilah Abdullah Inkubator Caw. Sarawak 016-8009 680 When Randal and I returned for the Music Festival I brought Nabilah an American Flag bandana and she immediately demonstrated that she knew how to wear it hippy style on her head. I would have loved to have taken potting classes from her; she was so regal and calm…. Needless to say, I was impressed.
Batik Painting
This woman made ceramic beads. She too was quite lovely.
Weaving with rattan. There were lots of lovely baskets and these wonderful mats. I limited myself to just my mug and bracelet.
Coconut monkeys. There were many lovely crafts. But there was also lots of just “tourist” quality stuff. It was a mix. But we had a wonderful day, stopping for lunch about noon. Then after some more looking we all decided we’d had enough and would catch a shuttle bus back to the jetty. The bus was not due for another 40 minutes so we decided to try to catch a taxi or flag down a ride. My hesitant “flagging” probably looked ridiculous, but soon a car with a Kuching woman and her mom stopped to give us a ride. They were quite happy to do it and we were happy to accept. I phoned Randal when we arrived at the jetty and he dinghyed us all back to our respective boats. Both Elizabeth and I tried our hand at waxing a batik project and I’ll do a separate email about that. |
Batik training at the Craft Bazaar
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5:41 pm Miri Marina www.mirimarina.com Hi All, Today Joy and Jim Carey on the boat Kelaerin from Bellingham, WA USA and Randal and I biked into Miri. We stopped first at the Harbor Master and then had a wonderful lunch of Banana Rice. Banana Rice is wonderful rice dish served on a placemat size banana leaf. Around the mound of rice they place small servings of different vegetables and then offer you the choice of 3 sauces, dahl, chicken or fish. It was very good. I had asked about lamb Redang and so also received a dish of that which was also very good. Joy ordered a lemon flip to drink and then Jim had one since it was so good. What made it so thick? Raw egg yoke much to Joy’s horror. We only found that out after the meal. I had a lemon/honey drink that was more lemon than honey so very good. Everything was very good. Randal also had the banana rice, some curry chicken and a 100 Plus which is a carbonated version of Gatorade. Our bill was about 40 ringits, around $12 US. After that we biked the mile into town to the small wet market for cucumber, tomatoes, potatoes, and mangoes. Then we checked out the fish market and then we just went biking around. The city is full of one way, no u-turn streets. But the drivers mostly were very curtious. I think we will quite like it here! So that’s it. I still owe emails about Santubong and the waterpipe smoking woman of Kuching. Hopefully I’ll catch up while we are here. Ru
Batik at the Crafts Bazaar One of the stalls at the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar was run by a lovely and patient Indonesian woman from Jakarta. Visitors could attempt to use a canting tool to apply wax to a simple picture drawn on a white cloth. The image looked like something one could embroider and we actually used an embroidery hoop to hold the cloth though she did say that mostly children used them and adults often just held the cloth in their hand. Here are photos of Elizabeth doing batik. Hers came out quite good. Mine had lots of wax blobs.
Elizabeth and our teacher. She didn’t mind showing and re-showing and then saying, “Turn the blobs into art!” (Though it was only mine that had lots of blobs. I had gone first and maybe the wax wasn’t so runny or maybe I just had less steady hands.)
Elizabeth being shown how to hold the canting tool.
A steady hand!
The instructor was wearing a lovely skirt and at her feet are the tools and melted wax for making batik.
Tools of batiking and some samples and a map showing Indonesia.
Elizabeth’s project. I found that when I held the cloth up the wax wouldn’t come out of the canting tool and when I held it level the wax came out in blobs. I was encouraged to turn the blobs into “art” but they just really looked like blobs. It was lots of fun to try. I really also liked our batik teacher so brought an American flag bandana for her too when Randal and I returned for the Music Festival. She was very proud of Indonesian batik and encouraged everyone to come to Jakarta. The crafts bazaar and the music were held simultaneously so you could do both during the day and evenings.
And since I wrote so much about it, one photo of Banana Rice. They haven’t put the rice down on our leaf yet; but you can see the pile of it in front of Jim. He had white rice.
There was spicy ginger pickle too and some whispy bread. Randal is holding the orange chopsticks. The rest of us used forks though eating with just your fingers is also acceptable. The lamb Redang is in front of my plate. |
