This morning after breakfast we met Nicole and began a walking day tour of Kuching. She walked us along the river, pointing out various landmarks and monuments related to the Brooke family and told us all about the white rajas and their 100 year rule over Kuching. Not only that, but we saw a monument of James Brooke, the first White Raja of Sarawak. It was interesting to hear about how these British men ruled over a Kuching and all the changes that they made during their time as raja.
Across the water we could see the beautiful Astana, the palace built by the second white raja, Charles Brooke, for his wife Margaret. It's currently the official residence of the governor of Sarawak. Charles Brooke is known for developing the city, constructing several buildings, and bringing in the Hokkien Chinese and missionaries.
I found it crazy that in just 100 years the White Rajas were able to have such a significant influence on Sarawak. They expanded the land and made it great.
We then continued on and visited the Sarawak Museum, which is full of several different artifacts displaying the history of Kuching and Sarawak. For example there was a section on the wildlife, which was very interesting to see all the different kinds of endemic species.
After the museum, and not being able to enter a mosque due to renovations, we went and had lunch at a local food court. Dr. Perumal ordered us all a bowl of laksa. I had the chicken laksa, and I loved it. The mix of flavors in the bowl were perfect and very appetizing. Not only that, but the cool lime juice complemented the heat of the noodles perfectly.
After lunch we walked around for a bit and a few of us guys got to meet the artists of a beautiful mural being painted for a Petronas sponsored project. It was cool getting to meet the artists and talking to them about the spray painting(tagging) culture in malaysia. They also wrote down a few recommendations of food and stores for us to visit on our trip.
We then boarded the bus and drove to the Semenggoh Wildlife Center, where we would hopefully be seeing some Orangutans. After a brief safety talk from one of the park rangers, we were led to the feeding area. Unfortunately, no orangutans were coming out, but just when all our hope was almost lost, Nicole quietly guided us out of the feeding zone and around the corner to a spot where she knew there would be an orangutan. I'm not sure how she knew, but there was indeed an orangutan in the spot that she brought us to! We got the first view of the orangutan before the others heard about it and ran over. It was magnificent watching the orangutan swing along branches and finally get its bananas and swing across a rope with bananas in hand.
I found it interesting how open this wildlife center is. The little safety talk given at the beginning actually scared some of us because they discussed how visitors have been attacked in the past; not something that would even be a possibility in a zoo back home.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped and had the famous Sunny Hill Ice Cream, which to be honest just tasted like normal soft serve ice cream. Having said that, after sweating so much all day, the ice cream was wonderful.
For dinner we ate at another open air food market, but this time Dr. Perumal ordered and paid for our whole meal. I felt bad because they brought out all the meat dishes before the vegetarians, but in the end we were all able to enjoy a great meal.
A few of us guys left a little early from dinner so we could go do some laundry.
That night we went outside looking to see fireworks for independence day, but apparently it's definitely not celebrated like we do in the states.
Overall it was another great day in Kuching!
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