Malaysia Archives | Page 10 Of 14

Learn more about felines at Kuching Cat Museum

Published on November 6, 2018

Travel

If quirky is your taste and the cat is your animal spirit, then you must visit Kuching Cat Museum. If there was a group of cat lovers out there combining together their cats memorabilia of cats, the place would look exactly like this museum.

Founded in 1993, Kuching Cat Museum run by Kuching North City Hall (DBKU) was an idea mooted by current Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud and his late wife Laila Taib who thought of having a museum dedicated to nothing but cats.

The museum is located in Petra Jaya on the bottom floor of the DBKU building which is about 20 minutes from Kuching city. Standing tall at 60 meters above sea level, the building also offers great view of Petra Jaya and Kuching city.

The Kuching Cat Museum is divided into four galleries; Gallery A, B, C, and D.

Learn more about felines at Kuching Cat Museum — There are many things to see and read at Kuching Cat Museum.

Gallery A of Kuching Cat Museum

Cats play significant role in many communities around the world including the Malay, Chinese as well as the Iban in Sarawak.

In the olden days, some Malays believed that one of the most effective way to call for rain was to soak a cat in a pan of water… It is certainly not something we would encourage people to do nowadays, but this is one of the many cat-related superstitions one can learn at Kuching Cat Museum.

Here at Gallery A of the museum, visitors can also learn about the famous Japanese lucky cat, maneki-neko.

It is a common figurine depicting a calico Japanese bobtail which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner.

Gallery B of Kuching Cat Museum

In this part of the museum, visitors can know about interesting cat facts in oriental arts, medieval age and ancient Egypt.

Do you know that in China, cats are usually portrayed as a child’s gentle playmate? Meanwhile, the Japanese prefer to associate cats with women.

Additionally, this museum is one of the few places in the world which featured the works of Malaysian artist Jane Yap Jian Yi.

Graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Japanese Painting from Takasaki Art Center College, cats have been the only subject that she has featured in her work since 2000.

Apart from Kuching Cat Museum, her works are also displayed in Club Med Kabira, Japan and many private collections in China, Malaysia, Tahiti and the US.

Gallery C of Kuching Cat Museum

We cannot talk about cats without mentioning them in popular culture. Felines have inspired humankind in many artistic ways from poems to songs, and even Broadway musicals.

Visitors can find the poem “Lost Words to a Dumb Friend” by Thomas Hardy at this museum.

Large portions of the artifacts displayed at the museum were donated by cat lovers from around the world. One of them is Dr Betty Jamie Chung from Hong Kong.

She visited Kuching Cat Museum in the 90s and was left impressed by the collection. Later after her death in October 2013, Dr Chung donated 539 cat artifacts to the museum.

Gallery D of Kuching Cat Museum

Speaking of popular culture, Gallery D of the museum featured more famous felines around the world such as Garfield and Hello Kitty.

Visitors can also browse through comic strips featuring cats for their own amusement at this part of the museum.

There is also an exhibition of local and wild cats of Borneo if you want to learn more about these animals.

For example, some of the interesting observations of Sarawak cats are that 15% of them have short tail, 50% kinked tail, 25% bobbed tail while 10% or less have long tails.

Another fun fact about this museum is that it houses the only complete Bay Cat (Pardofelis badia) skeleton in the world.

Found in Borneo, it is one of the rarest cat species in the world.

On top of wide collection of cats artifacts, Kuching Cat Museum also paid tribute to famous cat lovers around the world including French poet Charles Pierre Baudelaire, Sir Isaac Newton and Anne Frank.

For cat lovers with great appreciation for arts and patience for reading fun facts and cat-related general knowledge, Kuching Cat Museum is definitely worth the trip.

How Catholicism influenced the Kayan in Tubau to honour their dead

Published on November 5, 2018

Culture

Under a temporary hut made of wooden sticks and canvas, some 80 people gathered together at Sungai Pesu cemetery, near Tubau to attend All Souls’ Day mass.

Celebrated annually on Nov 2, it is a day to commemorate the souls of all Christians who have died.

The small congregation came not only from the nearby longhouses but also all around Sarawak who came home purposely to observe All Souls’ Day at the cemetery.

Preceding the mass on muddy ground without any chairs, the priest Rev Fr John Chia reminded the congregation that it was their duty to pray for the dead.

He also pointed out the Catholic Church teaches that the purification of the souls in Purgatory can be hastened by the prayers of the faithful on earth.

After the mass ended, the congregation spread out to their respective loved one’s tombs to pray and clean the grave sites.

How Catholicism influenced the Kayan in Tubau to honour their dead — Some 80 Catholic faithfuls attended the All Souls’ Day mass in Sungai Pesu, Tubau.

Kayan’s burial ground of different faiths

Located about an hour and half from Bintulu, the Sungai (river) Pesu cemetery was one of the earliest final resting places for the Kayan settlers near Tubau river who migrated from Balui river.

They were believed to have moved to Tubau basin at the beginning of the 19th century in search of better farmland.

Reportedly, the first two longhouses who buried their loved ones at Sungai Pesu cemetery were from Uma Pako and Uma Awai.

After more than 150 years since the Kayan settled in Tubau, the cemetery now laid rest those who were practicing Adat Bungan (old Kayan religion), Borneo Evangelical Mission and Catholicism.

However, it was hard to know whose tomb was the oldest there because there was no such things tombstones back then.

The earliest Christian graves there date back to the 1970s while most are marked by old rotting crosses.

Before Catholicism came

Before the Kayan communities embraced Christianity, the practice of honouring the dead was almost unheard of.

This was why most old burial grounds were not maintained or taken care of. They were not allowed to cut any trees or clear the grave site.

Even at Sungai Pesu cemetery, some old salong (burial hut) were in various states of dilapidation.

According to one of the nearby residents Hawing Igang, there were so many dos and the don’ts back in those days.

“If somebody died, they were not allowed to carry the body across the longhouse passing other amin (family’s home) as it was considered bringing bad luck to other residents.

“Back then, they purposely designed the longhouse to have loose flooring. So that if someone died, the family would open up the floor and carefully pass the body to people below to carry to the cemetery.”

During the recent All Souls’ day, a group of children were seen playing while their parents and grandparents reciting the Rosary prayers.

This scene was never seen before as children back in the days were to hide away in a room both during the wake and funeral.

Sungai Pesu cemetery back then was only accessible by the river. In the olden days whenever they passed by any cemetery, the parents would cover their children faces, forbidding them to look at the burial grounds.

All of these were done believing it would protect the children from any harm or misfortune.

After Catholicism came

When the Kayan in Tubau started to embrace Catholicism in the 1960s, it brought many changes to local customs, particularly when it came to funeral rites or honouring the dead.

The dead were given Catholic burials and every year on All Souls’ Day, the communities gather together at cemeteries to pray for them.

Despite this, some of the elders still believe some of the old customs. Some of them were quick to scold if they saw the younger ones straying away to the old graves buried in Adat Bungan.

According to Hawing, it is hard to locate any of these old graves anyway. Most of them are covered in bushes and even secondary forests.

The practice of remembering the dead brought by Catholicism allow the communities to clean and maintain their ancestral burial grounds.

Some of them even replaced the old wooden crosses with proper tombstones in honour of their loved ones.

If it were not for Catholicism, most of the old burial grounds such as the one in Sungai Pesu could easily be forgotten, overgrown by bush and forest.

5 facts you need to know about red wine mee sua

Published on November 2, 2018

Lifestyle

Mee sua (also spelled misua, mee suah or miswa) is a type of noodle made from wheat flour. Originally from Fujian, China, this noodle is can now be found in Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.

There are several ways to cook mee sua; you can fry it or cook it with sesame oil.

In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, the most popular (and iconic way) to cook it is with red wine.

Here are 5 interesting facts about red wine mee sua:

5 facts you need to know about red wine mee sua — A bowl of red wine mee sua.

1.Mee sua has long been associated with longevity in Chinese culture.

Regardless of how it is cooked, the noodle itself signifies long life in Chinese culture. It is usually served on birthday, a baby’s full moon celebration, wedding or Chinese New Year.

There are mothers who take it during their confinement period as well.

Nowadays, you can find this traditional dish at some local coffeeshops or food courts though we do not guarantee it will be as tasty as the home-cooked version.

2.The Fuzhou (Foochow) people who came up with red wine mee sua

The Fuzhou (more commonly spelled as Foochow here) in Malaysia are mainly found in Sarawak central region such as Sibu, Bintulu and Sarikei as well as Sitiawan, Perak.

These are the places you can surely find red wine mee sua being sold in common eateries.

However, the West Malaysian version of red wine mee sua is more reddish in colour with a thicker broth compared to the Sarawakian version.

Apart from kampua, kompia, and dian bian hu, red wine mee sua is one of the must-try if you are in Sibu.

3.Mee sua usually contains alkaline soda which prevent the noodles from breaking

To make your own hand-rolled mee sua, first of all is to mix wheat flour, rock salt and alkaline soda.

Later when you pull and roll the noodle, the alkaline soda will prevent the mee sua from breaking.

Then, cooking oil and sago flour are added into the mixture. Make the mixture into a dough before flattened and thinly cutting it into noodles. Lastly, dry the noodles under the hot sun before making a red wine mee sua.

4.Another key ingredient of this dish is the red wine itself

Although Chinese red wine is easily available at supermarkets or grocery shops, you can also make your own red wine at home.

Of course, it is more time-consuming (the fermentation takes about a month).

The main ingredients to make Chinese red wine are glutinous rice, water, red rice bran and yeast.

Your red wine mee sua will certainly taste better with good quality Chinese red wine.

5.A bowl of red wine mee sua is incomplete without egg and chicken

Even if you are cooking one whole chicken for your red wine mee sua, your dish for longevity is still incomplete without hard boiled eggs for each person feasting on your mee sua.

While the other ingredients for your mee sua are pretty basic such as sesame oil, ginger, mushroom, garlic, water and more Chinese red wine, the key to make the taste stronger is to let the dish sit for few minutes before serving.

How about trying these few recipes here, here, here and let us know how it goes?

The legends of how paddy came to Sarawak

Published on October 30, 2018

Culture

As rice is a staple food in Sarawak like any another Asian culture, paddy planting plays an important economical role in the local communities.

Though most people nowadays stock up their rice from supermarkets, there are people who still cultivate rice for self-consumption.

However, have you ever wondered how paddy came to Sarawak?

Here we take a look on the different legends of how paddy came to this Malaysian state of Borneo:

1. Singalang Burong taught the Ibans how to plant paddy

The legends of how paddy came to Sarawak — According to an Iban legend, the God of war taught the Iban how to plant the paddy. Credits: Pixabay.

Singalang Burong is the God of War and one of the deities in Iban mythology. According to legend, he had a daughter named Endu Dara Tincin Temaga (or Endu Sudan Galigan Tincin Mas).

One day, Menggin (or Siu) who was a human found a feathered robe belonging to Tincin Temaga during a hunt.

He took the robe into his possession and Tincin Temaga made Menggin promise that he would never touch another bird.

To make a long story short, Menggin married Tincin Temaga and they had a son named Seragunting.

After the birth of their son, Menggin accidentally broke his promise to his wife.

Upset, Tincin Temaga left her husband, returning to her father’s realm. Together, Menggin and Seragunting went out to look for her. They followed Tincin Temaga’s instructions on the routes and ways to avoid the traps to Singalang Burong’s home in the celestial realm.

Eventually, they arrived at Singalang Burong’s house and remaining there for one whole year.

During this period, Seragunting learned how to read omen, catch fish, dear, and wild pig as well as how to plant paddy.

Singalang also gave Menggin and Seragunting some paddy to bring home to the mortal world.

There are many written accounts of this legend available out there. But one of the most detailed stories was written by Edwin H. Gomes.

Gomes was an English missionary who wrote the book Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo: a record of intimate association with the natives of the Bornean jungles (1911).

Gome wrote Singalang Burong said this when he handed them the paddy.

“You have learned here how to plant paddy. I will give you some paddy to take away with you, and when you get back to your own country, you can teach men how to cultivate it. You will find rice a much more strengthening article of food than the yams and potatoes you used to live upon, and you will become a strong and hardy race.”

2. The plant of Pleiades or Seven Sisters

This legend of how paddy was first brought to Borneo was recorded by the first Ranee of Sarawak, Margaret Brooke in her book My Life in Sarawak (1913). A fortman’s wife in Simanggang (Sri Aman) told the Ranee this version of the legend.

Long time ago, there was a man who lived alone in a small hut by the river. After a series of heavy downpours and thunderstorms, the man watched the driftwood and debris floating down from the upper river past his house.

Then, a huge tree with its roots still intact floated down the river. The tree got caught on a sandbank with its roots emerging above the water.

The man noticed there was a strange-looking plant entangled in its roots. So the man took his sampan and went out into the river to collect it.

But after that he thought the plant had no use so he threw it at the corner for his hut. That night, the man had a dream.

A spirit told him that “the plant was necessary to the human race, but that it must be watched and cherished, and planted when seven stars were shining together in the sky just before dawn.”

After he woke up, then man went to his neighbour and told him about the dream. His neighbour said that the Petara (deity) himself who appeared in that dream and the man should listen to him.

Later that night, the man waited for another dream to tell when he was to look for the seven stars.

The Ranee wrote:

“In due time, under Patara’s guidance, the man noticed the ‘necklace of Pleiades’ appearing in the sky. The little plant was then put in the ground, where it grew and multiplied. The people in neighbouring villages also procured roots to plant in their farms, so that the paddy now flourishes all over the country and the people of Sarawak have always enough to eat.”

3. The Chinese legend of paddy

There are plenty of Chinese legends on how paddy came to Earth. In one legend, a Chinese deity named Shennong was the one who introduced paddy planting to human race.

Shennong was credited for teaching the ancient Chinese how to use the plow and medicinal plants. From China, rice cultivation was spread to India, Southeast Asia, Korea and Japan.

Putting aside these folk stories and myths, it had been scientifically proven that all forms of Asian rice come from a single domestication that happened between 8,200 and 12,000 years ago in China.

Researchers from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States did the research using a map of rice genome variations and published their work in Nature journal back in 2012.

The research also indicated the domestication of rice occurred in the Pearl River Valley regions of China.

Even so there are no written records or proven research of how paddy planting introduced to Sarawak, only mythical legends to tell the next generations.

Do you have know any legends of how paddy came to Sarawak in your culture? Share with us in the comment box.

An encounter with a fellow Kayan at Putussibau, Indonesia

Published on October 29, 2018

Travel

An encounter with a fellow Kayan at Putussibau, Indonesia — A view of Putussibau from the plane.

Putussibau, the capital of the Indonesian regency Kapuas Hulu, is the last market town on the Kapuas river.

Located in the northeastern part of West Kalimantan, it is close to the Indonesia-Malaysian Sarawak border. It is the tourists’ gateway to Danau Sentarum and Betung Kerihun national parks.

From the perspective of a Malaysian Kayan, Putussibau is the gateway to Mendalam, Mahakam and other rivers where the Indonesian Kayan people mostly reside.

After I posted a photo of Putussibau Pangsuma Airport on Instagram (as most Gen Y and millennials do) during my short pit stop at Putussibau, I was bombarded with comments and personal messages from my relatives.

Beside asking me to look for Kayan inu (beads) as souvenirs, my relatives also urged me to meet and talk to as many Kayans as I could.

And I did! I had a brief meeting with Fransiska Mening, a Kayan from Mendalam who owned a handicraft shop at Putussibau called Kerawing Gallery and Art.

From one Kayan to another

According to Fransiska, the Kayan of Kalimantan still hold tight to their customs and cultural practices to this day.

She herself was proud of the hand-tapped tattoos on her forearms. Fransiska shared, “There is an ongoing effort by the government to record the different kind of tattoo patterns among the Kayan women here. We are still working on it.”

Fransiska’s tattoo patterns are like nothing I have seen before on any Kayan woman in Sarawak. While most tattoo patterns fully cover their forearms, Fransiska’s tattoos were in spiral patterns like ferns.

In Sarawak, it is a pattern more often found in wood carvings and traditional dress but not as a tattoo.

Kayan and blowpipe shooting

The Kayan, like most tribes on the island of Borneo, chose the blowpipe as their preferred weapon when it came to hunting or wartime.

According to author Peter Metcalf, 19th century ethnologists were curious as to why the Bornean people (who advanced to using iron tools) did not develop the bow and arrow like most other cultures around the world.

The reason lies in Borneo’s topography and landscape. Metcalf wrote “For hunting, they (bows) are ineffective because the dense vegetation seldom allows a clear shot.”

“For pigs or deer, a combination of dogs and spears brings the best results. In regard to small game in the lower branches of trees, such as birds and monkeys, they are easily shot with darts.”

Furthermore, he argued that it was difficult to shoot an arrow at such steep angles, and once you lose your arrows, it was impossible to recover them in the thick Bornean jungle.

Blowpipe shooting as a hobby

While the blowpipe is no longer used to hunt or shoot one’s enemies, Fransiska and her family picked It up as a hobby.

“Everyone in my family has his or her own blowpipe. It is more hygienic that way,” she said. And they take their blowpipe shooting seriously, participating in local competitions including the annual Danau Sentarum Festival.

Fransiska was quick to show some of the blowpipes in her shop as well as those from her personal collection.

There were made of different types of wood with intricate carvings. The one made from belian wood was heavier and of course, more expensive.

She also owned a more traditional blowpipe which comes with a spearhead at the end, doing double duty as a spear and a blowpipe.

It’s similar to what my family have at home. Unlike Fransiska, however, our blowpipe once used by our ancestors to hunt is now displayed as a decorative item in the living room. (Perhaps now is the right time to dust the blowpipe and shoot some darts.)

The differences in Kayan dialects

After coming back from Putussibau, my family bombarded us with many questions. One question that stood out was, “Do the Kayan speak closer to Belaga accent or Baram accent?”

In Sarawak, the Kayan language can be primarily divided into three dialects of these three rivers where they mostly settled; Tubau, Belaga and Baram.

From there, the dialects can be vastly different from each other, even though they’re from the same area, depending on which longhouses they are from.

The differences are in the accents, tones and certain words, much as you would imagine English being spoken in a Scottish, Irish and British accent. Most of the time, however, all Kayans can understand each other.

So when it came to the Indonesian Kayan dialect, I found that they had accent on their own; not as fast-spoken as the Tubau accent and not as melodic as the Baram accent.

Apart from the accents, I also noticed some of their vocabulary were distinctively their own, different from any Sarawakian Kayan dialects.

Sharing the same roots from Apo Kayan

Whether you are a Kayan from West Kalimantan or Sarawak, we all have the same understanding that our ancestors come from Apo Kayan.

It is located at the Kayan river, Bulungan Regency at East Kalimantan. Their migration from the ancestral land in Apo Kayan began in the 18th and 19th centuries.

From there, they settled in Sarawak of Baram and Rajang rivers as well as upper Kapuas and Mahakam rivers.

Even though the Kayans now have been divided by political boundaries of Malaysia-Indonesia, it does not stop them from visiting each other.

Many trips have been organised by different Kayan longhouses communities, mostly from Sarawak to Kalimantan.

According to Fransiska, the Kayan from Kalimantan are planning to return the favour next year.

“There will be a group from Putussibau driving through the Badau-Lubok Antu border maybe sometime in April and May next year. We are planning to visit Belaga and see how is it like there.”

Saying goodbye to Putussibau

The Kayan people, particularly the women, have a unique way of air-kissing each other when they greet or say goodbye.

They touch each other cheek-to-cheek twice but instead of being accompanied by the ‘mwah’ sound with their lips, they give a small sniff.

It is commonly practiced among family members and usually those whom you are affectionate with.

Growing up, I distinctly remember hearing those sniffing sounds every time I kissed my grandparents goodbye. To this day, it is still the way my family shows their affection.

When I bid my farewells to Fransiska, the soft sniffing sound from her air-kiss reminds me it is undeniable that the Kayans still share the same strong roots despite our differences in nationality.

Get to know the hopping ghosts of Asia, pocong and jiangshi

Published on October 25, 2018

Culture

There are two varieties of ghosts in Southeast Asia renowned for hopping their way around, one is the pocong and the other is jiangshi.

They have different reasons for only being able to hop around: Pocong hops because its whole body is bound while jiangshi’s limbs are stiff from rigor mortis so it hops around with its arms outstretched.

Here we take a closer look of pocong and jiangshi, the hopping ghosts of Asia:

Pocong

On top of nasi goreng and rendang, Malaysia and Indonesia share many other non-edible similarities and one of them is pocong. It is believed to be the soul of a dead person trapped in its shroud or kain kafan in Malay.

In Muslim burials, the corpse is wrapped in a simple and modest manner which is why white cotton cloth is used. After being enshrouded, the body is tied in three areas; around the head, neck and feet.

According to traditional beliefs, the soul will stay on earth for 40 days after death. In order for the soul to pass on, these ties should be released 40 days after the burial. If they aren’t, the corpse will appear as pocong, hopping around hoping to be free from its ties.

Pocong pranks

With white fabric and some strings, dressing up as a pocong seems to be the easiest Halloween costume.

With fear of pocong still very real, it is also the easiest way to prank people. Earlier this year in Malaysian state of Kedah, a group of youths decided to dress one of their friends as a pocong to scare young children.

Unfortunately for this pocong and his friends, they bumped into a policeman barely 15 minutes after they set out on their mission.

The policeman told them off and the prank ended just like that.

Moving over to Indonesian city of Depok, two teenagers pulled the same prank. But they did not meet with the same ending with their fellow pranksters in Malaysia.

The villagers who caught the pranksters punished them by forcing them to sleep in a graveyard. They ended up calling their parents because the two ‘pocongs’ started crying as they lay in the open graves,

Thankfully in both cases, there were no police reports filed against the pranksters.

So if you think you saw what appeared to be a pocong, look closer. It might be just some kids pulling some tricks.

Or maybe a real pocong waiting to be untied.

Jiangshi

Unlike pocong which is dressed in white cloth, jiangshi have better OOTD. They are usually dressed in official garments from the Qing dynasty with a coat-like robe and tall rimmed hat.

Jiangshi is separated into two categories; a person who died recently but came back to life and a corpse that does not decompose after being buried for a long time.

There are plenty of supernatural reasons why these dead bodies make their comebacks as jiangshi. Somebody may have used supernatural skills (maybe something similar to Harry Potter’s Resurrection Stone) to resurrect a body, or another spirit has taken possession of the dead body.

Other causes are when a dead person is not buried and was struck by lightning, bringing it back as jiangshi or when the soul simply refuses to leave the body.

Either ways, there are methods to put jiangshis back where ever they should be. According to traditional folklore, these include a mirror (they are scared of their own reflections), items made from peach tree wood, a rooster’s call as well as jujube seeds.

The origin story of jiangshi

But what do pocong and jiangshi have in common besides hopping around to get to places?

Just like pocong whose soul wants to be released from this Earth, jiangshi is a soul who wants to go to its final resting place.

The origin story of jiangshi came from the ancient practice of transporting a corpse called xiangxi ganshi. Xianxi is a prefecture in China located in western Hunan province. In the olden days, many people left their homes to work elsewhere.

After they died, their bodies were transported back to their hometown. These were the days when there was no such thing as a hearse. So the body wasput in an upright position with bamboo rods tied to its sides. Two men would carry the rods on their shoulders to transport the corpse.

When the bamboo rods flexed up and down, the body would move up and down too. This is perhaps how the legend of jiangshi originated since the corpse looks like it hops up and down.

The two famous hopping ghosts have Asian origin proving again that Asia have more varieties not only with is rich culture and biodiversity but also its supernatural world.

5 things to do at Buntal Esplanade, Kuching

Published on October 23, 2018

Travel

Located about 30km from Kuching city, Buntal Esplanade is a hidden gem waiting to be explored more by the locals and tourists alike.

5 things to do at Buntal Esplanade, Kuching — The road into Kampung Buntal, a local fishing village located between Kuching city and Santubong.

The esplanade is inside Kampung Buntal, a traditional Malay fishing village situated at the mouth of Sarawak river leading to South China Sea.

The village is named after ikan buntal or the puffer fish which commonly found near the area.

If you are looking for fresh air on a Saturday afternoon, here are five things to do at Buntal Esplanade:

1.Enjoy the beach view

First of all, just enjoy the view of South China Sea at Buntal Esplanade. Do you know that Buntal beach offers a mesmerising scenic view of the sunrise? (Just make sure you’re there before 6 am).

Plus, the best part is that the walkway of Buntal Esplanade is wheelchair-friendly.

2.Buy some seafood

Being a fishing village right next to the ocean, it is no surprise that Buntal provides a variety of fresh marine resources at its market.

Some of their seafood on offer are seasonal catch, so you only get to buy them during certain periods of the year.

These include jelly fish (March-April), swimmer crab (July-August), eng-ngoyang (October-February), sea anemone (December-January) and ambal (December-January).

Additionally, the non-seasonal catches are hard clams, mangrove clams, cockles, mud crabs and obtuse horn shell.

3. Do some bird-watching activities

Did you know that Bako Buntal Bay is the wandering site for 27 migratory bird species in their annual migration between Southeast Asia and Australasia?

Completed on March 2015, Buntal Esplanade was designed as a walkaway with an observation point for bird-watching activities.

According to the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership, the Bako Buntal Bay area welcomes more 25,000 migratory birds between October and April every year.

Most of them are threatened species such as Nordmann’s Greenshank, Asian Dowitcher and Far Eastern Curlew.

Meanwhile in 2009, two rare birds – the Pied Avocet and Eurasian Oystercatcher were caught on sight near the bay.

The habitat in the coastal area is mud and mangrove forest, making it attractive for migratory birds in search of food.

If you notice unique wooden structure near the beach while bird-watching, it could be an engian. It is a traditional trapping method used by the local fishermen to catch anchovies and small shrimps.

4.Taste the local food

Visitors should not miss the chance to buy local delicacies. These include kuih keria (fried dough similar to doughnuts but covered in palm sugar or gula apong), pais ikan (grilled smashed fish) and bahulu.

Other local favourite are belacan (shrimp paste), madu kelulut (stingless bee honey), jeruk buah (pickled fruits) and cencaluk (preserved shrimp).

5.Eat some seafood

Kampung Buntal is one of the favourite local places for Kuchingites to go to enjoy some seafood.

While visiting Buntal Esplanade, why not drop by one of the seafood restaurants like Teo Seafood?

Besides Kampung Buntal, other famous local seafood cuisine spots are at Telaga Air and Muara Tebas.

World Press Photo Exhibition shows in Kuching, Sarawak for the first time

Published on October 18, 2018

News & Features

World Press Photo Exhibition shows in Kuching, Sarawak for the first time — The exhibition showcased the winners of the annual World Press Photo Contest.

In 1955, a group of Dutch photographers organised an international contest to showcase their works to the world. They called it ‘World Press Photo’ and now it has become one of the most esteemed photography competitions in the world.

Fast forward to today, the exhibition has toured more than 100 cities in 45 countries, including Kuching.

For the first time ever, the exhibition is being held in Kuching in conjunction with What About Kuching (WAK) 2018, showcasing the winners of the annual World Press Photo Contest of which 4,548 photographers from 125 countries sent in a total 73,044 entries.

True to its name, the winning photos gave fair and compelling insights about what happening in and around the world.

Apart from the winning photos, the exhibition also showed stories from six Southeast Asia and Oceania Talents of the World Press Photo Foundation.

Installed on the ground of Padang Merdeka, the exhibition is open for the public from Sept 29 to Oct 27.

World Press Photo Exhibition: Giving glimpses to the outside world

The series of photos displayed were featured various themes such as environment, nature, people, sports and world issues.

Some of the photos were explicit and powerful, showcasing serious human rights issues such as sex workers in Russia.

For those who are avid fans of National Geographic, some of the photographers might be familiar such as Ami Vitale who is widely known for her work capturing photos of wild pandas and rhinos.

This exhibition also allowed visitors who follow prominent photographers like Vitale on social media the opportunity to appreciate their images in sizes larger than cellphones’ screens.

In addition to that, there were also well-known photos which have been circulated on international news.

The most famous one displayed was the image of 28-year-old student Victor Salazar whose clothes caught on fire after a motorcycle exploded during a street protest in Venezuela against its president Nicolas Maduro.

The exhibition also managed to open up any visitors’ eyes to world issues such as the stateless case of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and the deforestation in Brazilian Amazon.

About WAK World Press Photo exhibition

What About Kuching (WAK) city festival together with Sarawak Museum Department co-organised the exhibition sponsored by the Netherlands Embassy and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak. The Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology Kuching supported the event through its design and installation.

10 ways to use your sarong when travelling

Published on October 3, 2018

Travel

A sarong in Asia typically refers to a fabric sewn together at both ends to to form a fabric tube, and is often used to wrap around the waist. For women, this common casual wear in Southeast Asia is a travel hack must-have.

Here are ten ways to fully utilise your sarong when travelling:

10 ways to use your sarong when travelling — Sarongs are also known as kain batik in Malaysia. Credits: Pixabay.

1. As beachwear

Tie it around your waist on top of your bikini and you have an instant skirt. Wrap it around your chest and you have an instant tube dress.

2. To change clothes

Do you know that you can change your clothes in public using a sarong without exposing your body? Firstly, it requires a little bit of skill and practice. If you want to change your shirt, wear the sarong and pull the fabric out from underneath your shirt. Give the sarong a small bite to make sure you don’t drop it and pull off your shirt.

You can do the same thing when you want to change your bottoms. Wear it, pull it up and hold it with your teeth. While doing that, make sure your hands are underneath the sarong and you can zip up or down and change your bottoms in a jiffy!

3.To take a shower in public

In some parts of Sarawak, it used to be common to see women taking baths by the river in their sarongs. This life skill is important if you need to take shower in the public toilet or just a dip in the river and you forget your bikini or change of clothes.

Just make sure to wrap it tightly around your chest before your bath.

4. As a blanket

A sleeping bag works way better than a sarong to keep yourself warm at night when you are outdoor camping. But if the sleeping bag is too warm for places like a tropical country, use your sarong as a blanket instead.

5. As a lightweight towel

One of the ways to travel light is to leave your big, thick towel at home and bring a small towel and a sarong instead. Use the small towel to pat yourself dry and wrap your body with the sarong if you need to walk out from the bathroom.

6. As a beach mat

Your ultimate island essentials should include a drybag, a beach hat, a mat, sunscreen and more. Just in case you forget to bring your mat or you do not travel with one, spread the sarong like a mat.

7. As an emergency bed sheet

If you are on a budget travelling trip, you might not end up on the cleanest accommodation. When the bed feels icky or you just want to be safe, spread the sarong on your bed sheet like a mattress cover.

8. As an emergency pillow

The same thing goes when you feel uncomfortable with the pillow provided when travelling. Make use of the tube structure of the fabric to turn it into an emergency pillow. First of all, you need some cotton clothes preferably T-shirts and your sarong. Put all your T-shirts inside the tube and tie knots at both ends of the fabric. Voila! You have your pillow! This is a good travel hack especially when you are going camping.

9.To cover yourself at sacred places

When visiting sacred places like a temple, sarongs are provided to cover yourself before entering. However, it is still best to wear your own sarong.

10.To cover yourself to go to the loo

When you need to go, you really need to go, even when you are in the jungle.

For ladies, it might be tricky but with a sarong there is no need for you to worry. There are some local jungle superstitions that might to be observe when going to the loo. And when you already picked the right spot in the bush and asked for permission, used the sarong to cover yourself. Using the same trick to change your clothes; bite the fabric nicely and expand it with your hands to keep it clean while doing your business.

3 botanical gardens you should visit in Kuching if you love plants

Published on September 25, 2018

Travel

Calling out all botanists and horticulturalists who are visiting Kuching city for the first time!

Do not leave the city without visiting these botanical gardens:

1. DBKU Orchid Park

3 botanical gardens you should visit in Kuching if you love plants — One of the orchids found in DBKU Orchid Park.

While the hibiscus is Malaysia’s official flower, Sarawak’s state flower is actually the Normah Orchid (Phalaenopsis bellina).

So, having a whole garden dedicated solely to orchids in Kuching comes as no surprise.

Located near the State Legislative Assembly, the garden houses of more than 75,000 plants.

Some of these plants include Lady’s Slipper (Paphiopedilum sanderianum) and Bulbophyllum beccarii .

In July 2019, 600 participants from 13 countries are expected to come for 13th Asia Pacific Orchid Conference in Kuching.

2. Pitcher Plant and Wild Orchid Center

In the 19th century, Marianne North, a botanical artist came to Sarawak to paint scenery and plants. One of the plants she painted was a pitcher plant endemic only to Borneo.The species was eventually named after North, Nepenthes northiana as she was the first person to illustrate it.

Fast forward to 21st century, there are now plenty books and illustrations of pitcher plants. Plus, there is a botanical garden hosting up 35 species or subspecies of pitcher plants in Kota Padawan.

Apart from pitcher plants, there are other species including wild orchids found in the garden.Pay it a visit if you want to know more about this carnivorous plant. The centre opens Tuesday to Sunday.

3. Sarawak Botanical Garden

The third botanical garden is still undergoing expansion.

After receiving RM10 mil fund from the federal government in 2016, the garden is going to be spread over 83ha. It will link Darul Hana Bridge, Sarawak Legislative Assembly Complex and Orchid Garden.

The garden is targetted to be one of the sustainable networks of green spaces in Kuching city. It will also be a recreational activity area as well as a tourist landmark.

Special mention: Kuching Seed Swap

A public Facebook group, if you live in Kuching and are an avid gardener or even just starting out, Kuching Seed Swap is a free seed/plant/produce exchange group for all Kuching based gardeners.

The group aims to bring together a community of gardeners to share not just plants and seeds, but also knowledge and experience.

Happy Gardening!

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Malaysia - Page 10

Gallery A of Kuching Cat Museum

Gallery B of Kuching Cat Museum

Gallery C of Kuching Cat Museum

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