Kuching: Cat Litter-box by the Sea

Kuching, the capitol of Sarawak in Borneo, is also the Malay word for cats. We are staying in the city center, within proximity of a fountain designed to look like cats at play. Near the waterfront, it is somewhat romantic until post-rain when the sewers overflow into the streets. The local food is great, however, and better than in Sabah, with more magic being done with chili peppers, coconut milk, and curry pastes. Unique to the region is laksa, a curried noodle soup with prawns that is highly addictive.

Kuching has alot more Straits Chinese than K.K., and this changed the dynamic considerably. For instance, I felt comfortable wearing shorts here but not so in conservative Sabah province.

On flying out of here, we observed part of the plane was held together with duct tape. I enjoyed watching the tape bubble up as air pressure strained it, but was slightly nervous at first. Duct tape is amazing, you know. Still, for that maintenance shortcut, we may not book a flight with Malaysia Berhad again.

June 22, 2007

Kota Kinabalu: First Taste of Shariah

Kota Kinabalu (K.K) is billed as the eco-tourist gateway to Sabah, Malaysia, in northeast Borneo. What we discovered, however, is that unless you can pay upwards of 100 bux/US a day to some shyster tour guide, the only wildlife you will see are rats and cockroaches. Unfortunately, we missed our photo op with a cat-sized rat that is reminiscent of the rodents of Market Street, San Francisco. Since we couldn’t pay the price of admission to the eco-tours, we were city bums for a few days, enjoying our wet-market/seafood-restaurant view and cooling off in undersized shopping malls. The local food is good, with true magic being done with chili peppers, coconut milk, and curry pastes. Fruit smoothies are everywhere, served fresh in huge tumblers. Ever try an avocado shake? However, a local scam is to place peanuts and napkins on your table without apprising you that you will be charged for these “extras”. So the trick is to bring your own napkins (which you should do anywhere in Asia, BTW), and to send back the stale peanuts no matter how starved you might be. Also, since K.K. is predominantly sexist, ie. Muslim, we had to get used to me being served food well before my wife, even in our “international” hostel and fast-food restaurants. See our photos of our frequent waiting for our plates to land on tables simultaneously; I almost fell asleep in a Kentucky Fried Chicken one night. On our last night, we cooled down in a karaoke lounge and flew to Kuching early the next morning.

June 18, 2007