Kuching

Like most of you reading this, I had no prior knowledge of Kuching. I knew that I was booking a flight to Borneo, but nothing really beyond that. Well… I guess I heard ahead of time that its name means “Cat City,” but that has to be a bad sign for a dog person traveling there, right? I went to Kuching with no expectations and had yet another incredible trip to yet another Southeast Asian country. The only downside was the excessive number of cat statues. Those I could have done without. I mean… look at them:

Kuching was different than most other places I’ve traveled this semester, as it’s not a major city. The city is walkable, not too crowded, and full of kind people and delicious food–a pretty great combination. I especially loved the area along the waterfront near our hostel. It was so peaceful, and lots of the buildings had an artistic touch added to them.

Aiming for a relaxed weekend, we spent the majority of our first day hiking in Bako National Park… and acquiring sunburns. Somehow it’s easy to forget how close we are to the Equator here, and I’m sure my skin absolutely hates me for it.

Besides seeking out the best food Kuching had to offer, we spent the rest of our time roaming the city, going to museums, and visiting an orangutan sanctuary. The orangutans were hilarious–they clearly knew their photos were being taken, so they posed accordingly.

Now for the most important part of any of my trips: the food! This was debatably the best trip I’ve been on this semester in terms of the food, though it has some tough competition. It’s embarrassing to admit how many different types of food we managed to try over the course of the weekend (it was a long weekend, okay?), so I’ll just cover some local favorites and weird dishes: Sarawak laksa, 3-layer tea, beef prata roll, ice cream with gula apong syrup and cornflakes, white lady (a drink), and umai jellyfish.

That’s about it for my trip to Kuching. As I mentioned, it was a pretty relaxed weekend without too much excitement. I’ve been back in Singapore for almost a week and will be here for two more before I take off again–this time, to the Philippines. Between now and then, though, I’ll be hard at work finishing final projects, papers, and presentations as classes come to an end.