PONTIANAK, INDONESIA

This is our bus to Pontianak. My friend & I went to Pontianak on the 28th/Nov/2008 (friday), our bus journey started at 8am from 4th mile bus station in Kuching. The journey took us 9 hours to reach Pontianak.

This is Entikong the checkpoint before we enter Kalimantan. Seems like the way they work is totally different from us. I saw the officers smoking when they stamped our pastports and the guards were smoking too while on duty. The 'best' part was when we had to do the no.1. My goodness, to my surprise I would totally advice you all to do it before entering Entikong. The toilet entrance fee cost us 50sens (macam maok pegi ke jamban di Sogo) (1000 rupiah). Actually the convertion should be around 30sens only....ah well, when you got to go...you go..

Took this shot from the bus. A mother giving bath to the daughter...and the water was black in color (from the longkang). And it's true when you hear people say that they bath and brushing their teeth using air longkang (water from the drainage). We should be thankfull to our water company, providing us cleaned tap water direct to our homes.

This is Kapuas River

This is drive in car wash...I couldn't see any pipe, but then I realised that they pumped the water from the drain to use to wash the cars and motorcycles.

This is Tugu Khatulistiwa (Equator monument) in Pontianak. Pontianak situated on the equator. That is why Pontianak is really hot & humid.

This is the police station in Pontianak.

This is their biggest mall in Pontianak (Ayani Mega Mall).

Our first drink we had at the Mega mall food court. This is Apulkat Jus (Avocada Juice). Avocada is very popular in Pontianak. You can find this juice being serve in almost every restaurant and coffee shops in Pontianak. And also they are famous with their "Bak So" or "Bak Ee" (meatballs). They have bak so in their soup and noodles.

This is the saloon "Johny Andrean" in Mega mall where we had our creme bath and reflexology. I reckoned our salons in Kuching should have this service too. The creme bath is really fantastic. It massages our scalps and neck and right to our shoulders. The price for pampering ourselves was incredible and you won't believe it, the whole package that took about 2hrs, pampering with massages only cost us less then RM15. But I guess if this were to be in Kuching, the price would be in 3 figures.

This is the Hotel Kini where we stayed.

This is our room. Very clean and comfortable. The price for a night is 145,000.00 rp (approx. equivalent to RM43).

This is Pasar Sudirman....situated not far from our hotel (walking distance). It's some sort like pasar malam/arcade. Where you can buy goods and bargain.

This is Santo Yoseph (St.Joseph Cathedral) a Roman Catholic Church in Pontianak. The church is a walking distance from the hotel where we stayed.

This is the souvenir market or what they call it as "toko sopernet".... you can find souvenirs and pets store and they even sell helmets.. The helmets are really nice with knockout designs but in reality the helmets have no 'sirim' labelled to it. Nice to look at but not safe to use.

This is where we had our lunch on the 2nd day of our stay in Pontianak. We had a full course meal (steak, soup, salad & desert). Price very reasonable around RM30 per/person.

This is the famous Pecal Leyley in Pontianak. Pecal is fried chicken and leyley is fried catfish. The sambal is made from cashew nuts, tomatoes, chilies and shallots. We had it take away for dinner.

This is the becha man that took us from our hotel to Mega mall and the ride took around half an hour to reach and it cost us around 20,000.00rp (RM6) for the both of us.

The becha is really small but the guy just won't let us take another becha. So both of us had to squeeze....the ride was fine and fun because we had sight seeing while on our way to our destination but not that comfortable for me though, I wish I had a smaller butt. And just imagined we are so heavy but the becha man did not stop even for a red light, I reckoned if he were to stop, I think he would have to struggle to start paddling, so might as well he didn't at all until we reach mega mall.

And this is another public transport which they call "oplet". It's a small van, they charge 2500rp per/person (75sen).

Rain started to pour when we say goodbye to Pontianak. Our journey started at night on the 30th/Nov. We left our hotel around 11pm Malaysian Time (Pontianak is 1 hr behind). And we reached Kuching Bus Station around 8am on the 1st/Dec.

For more photos please click on picture below:-

SI'ET (Sago Worm)

This is the famous sago worm among the Melanaus in Sarawak. In Melanau we call it si'et. People say that this worm is full of protein.

To prepare the worm is easy, firstly we need to put the whole packet of live worms into a bucket of clean tap water, this process is to let the worm "cleaned themselves" (berak & kemeh). It will take around half an hour tops. Then put a little cooking oil into the pan and fry them, then add soy sause to taste. When they are fried, they smell like pop-corns. The worm is best eaten with sago pearls.

This is how we eat it, with sago pearls....the sago worms taste like chicken pop-corn (a soggy chicken pop-corn) ;-)

This is the inside of the sago worm after I have chewed half of it. It's oily & soggy...but taste really delicious. Sometimes you can also eat the head....but at times the head can be a little too hard to chew.

DURIAN TEMBAGA (DURIAN ANTU) aka Wild Durians

Durian, King of the Fruits....one of my favourite local fruits. This durian is unlike the normal durians that are always seen. The torns are longer & very sharp. The flesh inside is orangy in color and the seed is dark brown. The shape of this durian is always round. In malay it is called durian tembaga (tembaga is copper in english). In Melanau it is called "Regieng". That's my mom in the picture "slaughtering" the durian.

As you can see why it is called "tembaga" cause the flesh color looks somewhat like a copper.

The caused after eating durian tembaga, it will stick to your teeth & fingers. Actually this durian is not as gassy as the original durians and the smell is not that strong either. Personally, I prefer durian tembaga. The test is phenomenal, not that sweet and the fruit is always perfectly good.

(photo taken via HP SE-W660i)

THE BEST KOLO MEE @ KOTA PADAWAN

Last Saturday, my sis brought my mom and I to this kopi tiam (chinese cafe) located in Kota Padawan (1oth Mile). The meat, prawn & fish balls are all home made. I can totally recommend you to taste the ultimate and the best kolo mee in Sarawak. But make sure that you bring enough cash to pay for your meal at the end of it.

Some of the ingredients used, this towkei used tiger prawns as well but the ingredients also depends on his customers, on what they would prefer to add in their kolo mee or kway tiaw.

I ordered kolo kway tiaw with big prawns and fish and prawn balls soup. The kolo kway tiaw cost RM10 per/bowl and the soup cost RM6 per/bowl. But it was all worth it. In the end of our breakfast meal that morning, the bill came and it cost us almost RM60.00. Another thing about this kopi tiam, you have to come early to enjoy the best ingredients. If you come late around 9-10am, you'll have to wait for at least 30mins for your food to arrive....cause this will be the fullhouse/high peak time....and during this time if you're unlucky, you have to hunt for tables that are almost at the end of their meal and you have to put on thick faces, standing beside their table to wait for them to finish their food.

(photos taken via SE-W660i)

SCR XPRESS (Singapore Chicken Rice) Kuching Style

Ever been to Singapore Chicken Rice (SCR)??.....one of the easiest menu cause you don't have to think so much on what to eat, chicken rice with either fried or steamed chicken with some other side orders such as, Baby Kailan with oyster sauce, Beansprouts with salted fish and steamed tofu with minced meat. Oh ya by the way, it's halal too. Recently SCR has had a face lift, they add in a new look and new menu, more varieties from fries to burgers to sandwiches, tomato noodles/kway tiaw to chicken or beef rice....the name is called SCR XPress situated at Rubber Road Kuching.

These are the insides of the SCR Xpress...not bad looking though, the ambience is comfortable with a designers style.

Picture shown above is the hot plate ginger chicken rice. Per/plate cost RM5.90.

And this is what I ordered, bar-b-q chicken rice, it cost me RM8.90, with an additional side order of beansprout with salted fish (cost RM3.00+).... Not bad though, the cost if reasonable with a hefty portion. They have all sorts of beverages as well, cost around (RM2.00+ to RM4.00+).

So if you're ever in Kuching and trying to look for a comfortable ambience with reasonable price tags and halal too, this is a place for you.

(all photos was taken via my handphone SE-W660i)

A ROYAL IBAN WEDDING

On Saturday (25/Oct/2008), I was invited to witness the holy matrimony between Mangi & Cyrill which was held at the St.Thomas Cathedral, Kuching. On the same day also marks the occasion of TYT Sarawak's birthday which was held out side the church at the Padang Merdeka.

At the Padang Merdeka....outside the church.

The traditional wedding from Sarawak & Switzerland took place at Tan Sri Alfred Jabu's residence on the 26/Oct/2008. Mangi was wearing iban costume and Cyrill was wearing his Swiss traditional costume. It was a grand wedding occasion....and that day also celebrates the birthday of Tan Sri himself. There were cultural performance, singing and dancing.

Nevertheless we also did our part we presented our song to Mangi & Cyrill. We sang "Kampung Love" for the both of them....and the song goes with the T'shirt as well. We were a hit that nite.

That's me & Lia waiting for the food to be served.

This is my sis Stephanie, she's the head & incharged of Gifts & Guest Book during that night.

And I met up with Peters Vincen from Batam, we were in the same group during our climb to Mt.Kinabalu in April this year. He's also a renowned photographer that has won various awards.

Me, Mangi (bride) and Steph.