Bali 1

Bali, an island in the middle of the Country of Thousand Islands, Indonesia, has its own identity with its thousand temples, magnifesting its prominent dominacy of Hinduism within the largest Islamic country in the world. Family temples, village temples, agricultural temples, sea temples, and so on, separately paying tribute to Brahma (god of creation), Vishnu (god of preservation), and Siva (god of annihilation). How many temples are there in Bali? That might be a question that only a few have the answer.

From left is Ling Shing's sister Ling Ai (Kelly) @ Legian Beach, Ling Shing and Betty @ Pura Agung, LS's brother Ling Yong (Bryant) and his girl friend Livien @ Matahari Square, and LS's parents Yuk Yieng and Mee Ping @ hotel's cafe.

December 2009, we visited Bali with our family and stayed for five days and four nights. A nearly three hours flight from KLLCCT to Ngurah Rai Airport ended up with a suprise a- small, crowdy, "budget" air condition, and it didn't look like the third busiest airport in Indonesia. Anyway, the smell of tourism industry was strong with colourful brochures, maps, leftlets, and tourist's guide, full-coloured, black and white etc. in different languages distributed free of charge around the arrival hall, before we reached the immigration counters. That's good. At least, we could read while stucked in the long queue for custom checking. Btw, you really need not buy any map of Bali as you can get a very good map there, in the airport.

Left (upper and lower): Balinese architecture in Ngurah Rai Airport, Denpasar. The airport was named after the national hero who fought and died in the Battle of Margarana, Bali. Photo taken with Ling Shing's parents in the departure hall (upper right). A lot of information was reachable in colourful brochures and leaflets (lower middle), and the place where we bought the tickets for taxi to our hotel.

We reached Vilarisi Hotel (at Legian) at around 3 pm. First impression, not so good, due to the dim lighting and "extreme" Balinese design (or should said we hadn't get used to it). We didn't even dare to take the welcoming drink (strange syrup with "salty" taste). However, after a few hours, we get used it and start thinking that it's a great place to stay. The hotel is strategicly located beside Melasti Road, Legian Road, and by foot, it is just 15 minutes away from Legian beach and 30 minutes away from Kuta Square. The hotel has a nice pool, roof top garden, and English speaking staff (although some of them were not fluent). The buffet breakfast, a little bit too simple, but still able to meet our "minimum threshold".

Upper row (left to right): Vilarisi Hotel on the outside; roof top garden; swimming pool. Lower row (left to right): Resting area at the lobby; Balinese style room; Free supply of filtered drinking water (we like it very much).

We took our late lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Melasti (which later we found out the food there were overpriced). The good thing was, we found a tour company, MBA, with attractive price service just in front of that restaurant, after the lunch. Then, we took a walk to the Legian beach. Legian Beach shares a same coastline with Kuta Beach. The beach, wow, simply breathtaking- endless stretch of fine sand, blue crystalline water, white strong waves, lushy coconut trees, and light blue sky. That was a really romantic place for beautiful sunset. Both Kuta and Legian Beach always filled with a lot of people- surfers, sun lovers, photographers, and visitors, like us.

Top: Our photo at Legian Beach, with a lot of people enjoying sunshine and sea breeze with us, the strong wind set LS's hair "free". Small photos (lower left to right): Scene at Kuta Beach ; Swaying palms in front of Legian Beach Resort; One of the many surfers showed his skills at Legian Beach.

One will never feel alone at Kuta beach.

Small boats (too big for canoes) laying peacefully at a side of Kuta beach.

Photos taken at Sanur beach. Unlike Kuta and Legian, most visitors at Sanur are locals.

We made a stop at Sanur Beach on our second day in Bali. Bali was first known worldwide through Sanur. The sea was calm and not suitable for surfing. However, the calm sea makes Sanur a perfect place for swimming and canoeing. The beach was not as "hot" as Kuta or Legian, and most of the visitors were the locals. Sanur is a good place to get a good view on sunrise.

Our trip continued...

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Labuan

Labuan is a part of Malaysia Federal territory and quite well known as an offshore financial centre. Offshore? Because it's an island. We took a two hours and 30 minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu to Menumbok. From Menumbok, we took another 30 minutes of speed boat to Labuan. The speed boat service is available almost once an hour, while ferry service (which will take one hour 30 minutes), twice a day. Of course, you can go to Labuan by air as well.

Photo shows the ferry (upper left), speed boat (lower left), our photo on the top deck of the ferry (upper right), and our photo inside the speed boat, with Betty's dad (lower right).

The journey on water with speed boat was really rocky. The boat, always drove by the wave off the surface and slammed back, splashed a certain amount of salt water few feet into the air with a hard knocking sound. The process continued for half an hour, with the speed around 60 km/hour. Can you imagine the feeling of staying in a moving DNA mixer in theme park for 30 minutes? We came out alive, with a little bit of advice: don't use the speed boat after 12 noon, when the sea gradually turns rocky, unless you're really adventurous. By the way, if you really wish to try once, please do it with your stomach empty (our photo inside the speed boat was taken a few seconds before the crazy journey begun). So, we decided to take ferry to return to Menumbok. The ferry was more steady, but move slower. Don't worry, the ferry was completed with air-conditioner, LCD flatscreens, foodstalls with nice drinks, and decks that offerred nice views. So, we had a really good time on the ferry (comparatively).

Labuan's streets.

Labuan is a small town, with around 80,000 population, which around 20% of them are not locals (students, immigrants, contract workers, etc.). It's the grown up place of Betty's parents. So, we have many (almost uncountable :-p) relatives here, and of course, we would never lack of good tour guides on this small island. We visited some of the places of interest on this small island- The Chimney, long stretch of beautiful beaches (Pancur Hitam, Layang-layang and Pohon Batu), International Campus of University Malaysia Sabah, State Mosque, the Surrender Point, Patau-patau and Bebuloh water villages, and International Sea Sport Complex.

 The Chimney, which its usage is still a mistery until today, stand 106 feet high at Tanjung Kubong (besides Labuan Bird Park). Believed to be built during the coal mining era (1847-1912), the structure contains 23,000 England imported bricks with 12 layers of foundations beneath the surface. The bird park was closed for maintainance during our visit.

Photo taken at Layang-layang Beach, backgrounded with a shrubed rock.

There is a must-visit historical place in our list- The exact surrender point of the Japanese army to the Australian army, marked the end of the 2nd World War in Borneo. The Peace Park is just a few steps away from the surrender point. Funded and maintained mainly by the Japanese Shipbuilding Industry Foundation, the park were really well maintained and served as a memorial of the war.

We took photo with Betty's father and youngest sister, Katty. The memorial stone states "Here, on the 9 Nov, 1945, the commander of the 9th division, Australian Imperial Forces, received the unconditional surrender of the 32nd Japanese Sourthern Army in North Borneo and Sarawak".

Sunset at the beach side just at another side of Surrender Point.

We went for seafood dinner with our relatives. Then, shopping for tax-free chocolate and alcoholic drinks. Can you imagine Hershey's Kisses (311g) is just around RM 15 per pack, imported Cadbury chocolate (with and without alcohol) at the price of RM 9.50 and Jolly Shandy at around RM 1.30-RM1.50? We managed to grab some imported chocs and shandy. The only shopping complex that we got in Labuan was situated in Financial Park. If you wish to get more choices, then you have to go the town area to dig from the spreaded shoplots. The prices for the tax free items were quite unified there, compared to Langkawi (we couldn't notice much different throughout the island).

Photo of Commercial Park from the ferry.

 Methanol Refinery at the outskirt of Labuan. We had the chance to take a look outside the big refinery on our way to ferry point, thanks to our cousin.

To make yourself convenient to move around, you can stay somewhere around Labuan town area (as the whole town area is accessible by foot). To move around outside the town area, such as the beaches and the Chimney,  the easiest way is by taking taxi (you can get many of them in front of the jetty) or rent a car. We seldom came across buses in this island. So, travel around with bus might not be a good idea.

For more information, you can visit Labuan Tourism Page and Government Labuan Tourism Board.

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Kuching 2

Second day, from Waterfront, we accessed the old Court House, Textile Museum, Kuching State Museum, Post Office, Little India, China Town, and a lot of shoplots selling indigenous souvenirs by foot. We took around 20 minutes walk from our hotel to the state museum, passing by the post office and Textile Museum,then taking the rest of the tourist's spot on our way back to the hotel.

Left: Main Bazzar, located just opposite to the Waterfront. Right: Shoplots at Little India.

Served as the museum premiering most exhibit items in South East Asia, Kuching State Museum is really a place that we should not miss. The museum was established since 1891, divided into several sections, held thousands of artifacts and specimens collected across Sarawak, and the factor of surprise, the admission is free! We visited the old museum building and the T.A.R. hall, which located just beside old building (linked by overhead bridge). Started as the first building for the museum, the old building holds vast amount of specimens (including two whales' skeletons), petroleum exhibition, and ethnographics. T.A.R. hall was convereted to gallery for museum in 1973 (previously served as State Legislative Assembly), the hold temporary exhibited items, such as pre-historical potteries, Chinese furnitures, archaeological materials excavated and so on. We spent around three hours, just walking around without close observation to all the exhibited items.

Left: "Batu Gambar", which means rock with picture on it is a replica of the artifacts found dated more than 600 years ago. Right: Sand crocodiles was built by locals as icons of protection for crops, before the modern agriculture means were introduced.

Across the road in front of Waterfront (don't cross the river), Main bazaar, with rows of really historical shoplots (built more than hundred years ago) offers all types of local handicrafts: sculptures, potteries, musical instruments, purses, etc. We really enjoyed the hunting over the souvenirs. There are a wide variety of choices, and there are high probability of multiple shops offering the same products. So, our advice, don't make up your mind too early before comparing the prices (of course, time is a factor here). The prices offered might be reasonable, but still, don't you ever give up without a tight bargain.

We took a chance to visit Chinese Museum at Waterfront.  The museum however, in our opinion, was not like a museum, but more to the Chinese Ethnics information center. There was a lot of information there, but not properly organized. There were some displayed items such as dragon and lion for the tranditional Chinese dances, unique ivory sculptures, tea drinking table, and so on. There are still a lot of room for improvement for that museum.

Performance in Sarawak Cultural Village (left). Want to play a song with traditional music instrument? I did have the chance to do so (right).

Sarawak Cultural Village was a stop for us on our third day in Kuching, which might be a must for all of you. Sarawak Cultural Village can be accessed by taxi or chartered bus. Join a group tour might be a better idea as we might get a tour guide with extra local knowledges (ours package was offered by Matahari Tours located inside Hotel Margherita). 40 minutes of car trip brought us right to the front gate of the village. The village is a really well maintained "living museum". We could see real live performance from the workers with traditional customs- cooking, dancing, singing, playing music, and working in the houses that represent the main ethnics in Sarawak, namely Chinese, Malay, Bidayuh, Iban, Penan, Orang Ulu, and Melanau. Most of the workers in respective houses came from that respective ethnics (except for Chinese). The traditional industries for living also being displayed, such as pepper production, 'parang' (big knife)  making, sago processing, and the making of pottery.We could even join the dance and sing, and play (top and blowpipe) with them too! We spent almost half a day in the village.

One of the houses displayed- house of Orang Ulu (Inland people). We tried old fashioned way of processing paddy.

Then, we visited Pasar Tamu Satok (Weekend Market) on our way back from the cultural village. The market offered a lot of local food and fruits, such as mountain durian, midin and dabai. The prices for the souvenirs were a little bit cheaper, but with less variety compared to the Main Bazaar area (opposite the Waterfront). It took us 25 minutes to walk from the market back to our hotel.

Dabai (left) is a kind of fruit and midin (right) is a kind of fern. Both of them are widely available throughout Sarawak and serve as food for locals. However, we never see these two kinds of food outside Sarawak. Dabai is seasonal. Midin is available whole year long (although it might be lesser during raining season).

About the food, Kuching hosted many local delicacies, which the name, well-known nationwide. Kolok mee (smooth noodle in local dialect),  Laksa Sarawak, Red-wined chicken rice, and layered cakes (sorry about the translation) are just a few of them. A great way to get information about the good food here- ask the tour guides, especially the Chinese tour guides. They are really good in finding good food. Most of the great food in Kuching can be reached within walking distance from Waterfront. However, long queues and early close down (some of the shops closed around 2 pm) are common for these stalls. Talking about must try, well, midin and laksa Sarawak might be the two for us. We tried the seafood near Batu Lintang food stall (beside Saberkas). The seafood there was good, but the place can only be reached by car. The seafood stalls on the top floor of the multi storey carpark (behind Riverside Majestic and beside Pullman Hotel) might be a better choice if you stay somewhere around the Waterfront.

Local food recommended by tourist's guide, clockwise from upper left: Different types of chicken rices; noodle with tomato sauces; layered cakes; kolok noodle (sorry, we finished up the laksa and the seafood before we pressed the shutter on our camera :-0).

The historical buildings and monument in Kuching: Kuching State Museum (upper left); Astana, the palace for Charles Brooke (lower left); Residence Office of Kuching beside town square (Upper right); Textile Museum (middle right); and Charles Brooke Monument, backgrounded with the Square Tower and new State Legislative Assembly Building (lower right). Build in 1879, the Square Tower (white in colour) firstly served as City Jail, later converted into defensive fortress, then a dance hall, and it had being used as information center for tourists recently. All of these historical buildings are located within walking distance from Waterfront (20 minutes from Hotel Margherita to the state museum; we can only see Astana from the other side of the river, in front of the old Court House).

The new contemporary buildings in Kuching: State Legislative Assembly (left); Civic Centre in futuristic design (upper right); and Town Hall (lower right).

Kuching is really a good place for a peaceful vacation. Most of the people here can speak or understand simple English, the taxi fares for most of the places are fixed (especially if you take taxi from airport or hotel), and, the complete tourist's map can be obtained free of charge at the airport. Can you imagine how peaceful our mind will be if we visit such a place like that? If you need more information about the city, you can visit Sarawak Tourism Board and Tripadvisor more information.

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Take a look on our sharing about other places in Sarawak

[Kuching 1] [A Day Tour around Sibu] [Sibu- Attractions] [Sibu- Accommodation and Food]
[Tanjung Manis] [Matu Daro to Dalat] [Mukah] [All Our Destinations]