Tourism Malaysia Vancouver Media Fam
August 21 - September 2nd, 2009
 

August 25th
Our first stop on our Kuching City Tour was to the Cat Museum…wow, never before had it been in a place with so many cats and people devoted to them. It was amazing.

Then off to the Sarawak Museum…

The Sarawak Museum, straddling both sides of Jln Tun Haji Openg, has one of the best collections in Southeast Asia. The old wing, opened in 1891, is designed in the style of a Normandy town-house. It houses an exceptional ethnographic collection, some good natural history displays and a section on the oil industry in Sarawak. The exhibition of traditional wood-carvings is magnificent. In the Museum grounds there is an Aquarium, the Botanical Gardens and the Heroes’ Memorial, built to commemorate the dead of WW 2, the Communist Insurgency and Confrontation with Indonesia.

Open 9am to 6pm (closed on first day of public holidays). We could not take photographs inside….

Then a visit to an orchid and tropical plant shop…

Among the famous Borneo Orchids found in the shop were the Lady’s Slipper (Paphiopedilum Sanderianum), Caelogyne Pandurata (a unique green and black-flowered orchid), Bulbophyllum Beccari (a species which releases an unfavourable smell), Vanda dearej (fragrant flower) and the Phalaenopsis Violacea commonly known as ‘Orchid Normah,’ which was declared the state flower of Sarawak on Aug 28, 1983. A light green in colour and flushed with bright purple towards the base is commonly used to produce many colourful star-shaped “novelty” hybrids. I have taken two pictures of this one so you can see how tiny the flower is compared to the huge leaves.

August 26th

Today we visited

Tucked away on the foothills of legendary Mount Santubong, 35 km away from Kuching is Sarawak's fascinating cultural showcase, the award winning "Sarawak Cultural Village".

This living museum depicts the heritage of the major racial groups in Sarawak and conveniently portrays the respective lifestyle amidst 14 acres of equatorial vegetation.

Here, it is possible to see Sarawak's ethnic diversity at a glance. The handicraft is both bewildering and tempting, including the Kain Songket (Malay cloth with gold inlay), Pua Kumbu (Iban housewives textiles), Melanau Terendak (sunhat), Bidayuh tambok (basket), Iban parang (swords), Orang Ulu wood carving and Chinese ceramic.

The 45-minute cultural performance of songs, dances and entertainment is something you will not want to miss out during your visit to Sarawak. The ladies were so pretty.

After returning to the hotel I went out to do a bit of walking and see what else I could take some photos of..