THE CAT CITY, MEOWWW

---

26 ringgits, the taxi coupon price at the airport in kuching to get to town. I got dropped off at my hostel the Bed's GH, very nice living room area. Adrian checked me in, very cheerful fella, the hostel is owned by his sisters. He showed me to my room, a single bed room I wanted a dorm bed actually to save so he put me in another, 4 bed dorm but its got a funky smell to it, I turned the a/c on full blast hoping to take away the smell but did not work even with door open so I requested a new one, my 3rd move prove to be good, 6 bed dorm with safe for your things and smellss nicer and has got a window! The room is called touch me not, all of the rooms are named after flowers, fuschia the smelly room!

I needed to get a visa to Indonesia as I head to Pontianak from here so Adrian called the embassy for me to check where I should go to apply, he says there are 2 Indonesian consulates here one old and the new one is near the airport, he let me speak with the lady on the phone, she told me the old consulate is a safe house for Indonesians before they get sent home(deported?) and the new one handles all visa apps., 1st though she asked me my nationality, she then told me now I can get a visa at the land border, beginning January 12th(i think)of this year rules have changed, there is now a Visa on Arrival(VOA) facility at the Indonesian border on the Kuching-Pontianak route, $25 paid in cash and in US $ only! But no other requirements will be asked. So that is good news, the new embassy is far and It will save me bucks to just get it at the border. next stop is to find the Bus Asia office in town to purchase the ticket, oh I need a RT bus ticket, at the border when I apply for visa they will ask for it apparently.

I went out for lunch of some chinese soup, really good since I am in Chinatown, food will be great! The hostel is just seconds from the entrance arch to Chinatown. I found the Bus Asia office and the guy at the counter is not good with English but very helpful, he gave me a 96 ringgits price for RT bus fare Kuching-Pontianak, he tried to call some of his peers to inquire if I need a visa beforehand but everyone is not in the know yet, so to settle this I had him call the embassy again, I double checked with them that they understood that I will go by land not fly, and the response was still affirmative, VOA is now available at the Indo border and I will not be turned back. Good news. I promised to come back when i am ready to buy my ticket, shook the guys hand and left.

Had a mini siesta at the hostel then around 3pm went for a walk in the waterfront along the river, its about 15 minutes walk, its very pleasant apart from the trickle of rain that showed up, lots of souvenir shops line the other side of the street, there was a Chinese temple, well a few of them, the Astana on the other side of the river, the official residence of Sarawak's head of state, a stopped also at the square tower, it was built to serve as the town's jail, then turned into a fortress. I walked past the end of the main bazaar and found a mosque up on a hill, took a walk there then went back down and entered the gates of India street, a pedestrian street with variety of shops, street foods etc. My feet were hurting by then so went back slowly to the hostel and chill.For dinner I sat down in one of them eateries along the arch, cheap and delicious food if a tad bit oily. I went to bed early quite tired. The hostel is nearly empty, just me in the nice dorm, most stay in downtown, close to everything but I dont mind this peace and quiet.

After breakfast the next morning I decided to see the Sarawak museum, I walked to get there, got lost a bit but the locals pointed me to the right direction, there are lots of kids in the museum, which has a new building, on the other side of the road, its ok to pass the time by, what made me go there is I read in the LP there are remnants of a big croc and they have item from it like a hairball and a watch! but I did not see it dont know where the exhibit was, there is 2 other buildings I did not enter, Ethno museum and the Art museum wings, oh well. I walked back following the waterfront but I wilted too quickly from the heat and long for shelter so I sat in one of the tourism offices in the waterfront and chill there while looking for brochures to take me to the croc and orangutan places. The heat is stiffling I got lost to my annoyance when i tried to take a short cut I got disoriented, but somehow found my way back, i stopped at the local shoe repairman where i had dropped off my boots for repair, lots of holes after the Pinnacles hike, he fixed it like new for 28 ringgits. I stopped for siumai at a local restaurant then back to hostel for a nap.

My main mission today is to get to the croc farm about 29 kms from Kuching. I walked towards the waterfront from my hostel in Chinatown and found the bus station near a mosque, it's called Jalan Masjid Kuching. Lots of dilapidated buses line up the street and a few new ones, as luck would have it the bus I need to get on is an old one, bus 3A. I asked the driver if he stops at the croc farm, he nodded. he made me sit in front near him, he will tell me where to get off. It filled up quickly, you need to pay 3 ringgits to the driver. When we left we keep stopping for fare and people getting off, it took us more than an hour to reach my destination, he dropped me off at a sign that says the croc farm is 1 km away, shit I have to walk! it's 10:40am now and if I walk fast I could get there before feeding time at 11am. I need to pass this housing community, nice houses then to my left is a driving school place, just kept walking straight into the gravel road and I can see from a distance a poster of a giant croc jumping for lunch!

I paid 16 rinngits to enter and checked out the exhibit, this is also a mini zoo and saw some unusual animals aside from loads and loads of crocs. There is a sun bear, some cute otters, a cassowary, wild boar, a bear cat, some weird fishes in the pond. Then feeding time came and I was smack in the middle of it all, they have this line that goes across the pond where hordes of crocs abound, they fed them with morsels of meat then strung a piece of meat on a line and tempt the crocs to jump for it if they want it. There are 2 lines and lots of action on the other line as crocs jump up and down to grab a meal, the ones in front of me, the crocs are lazy it took awhile before they got enticed, it was a good show but we got bored in time. I then checked out some more crocs in the area, some are scary big, one is gigantic, it was from Pontianak in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Then I went to the museum of sort and they have fotos depicting some caught killer crocs and the remains of humans inside the stomach, GROSS! no wonder there is a sign no photography please sign. My stomach churned and I hurriedly left the facility, what a way to end my journey here.

Anyway I walked back to the main road, it's terribly hot and humid and this dog followed me barking at me as if he owned me, I ignored him and it quickly got tired of showing off. At the main road where I got dropped off initially, I need to cross to the other side to get back to Kuching, I saw a waiting shed nearby, when I got there I asked the lady waiting if buses stops here, she nodded. 5 minutes later a van came to stop, I asked if it's Kuching bound, a big yes so I got on. fare is the same, 3 ringgits and dropped me off right at the bus station in town. From there I struggled to walk back to Chinatown, the heat here is unbearable. I took a nap after lunch as I always do here, I heard new people checking in the next room from me, I was all alone in this nice hostel for couple days now, the reason it's not popular is it's 15 minutes away from the center, but I don't mind the walk plus it's right in Chinatown, good food!

Saturday at 11am supposedly starts the Weekend market but it's pouring down rain the whole day, I wanted to visit it but don't want to get wet so I stayed in the hostel the whole day sleeping and internet, going out occasionally to eat. unproductive day indeed, i chatted with Leonard and Ken reception staff, who themselves are bored. but the next day was nice and sunny I got up early at 8am and started my day, armed with a map of the city I sought to find the market without taking a taxi, I got to the area where the Sarawak museum is then I got lost, i did not realized the street I was looking for I already had been only the name changes when you walk to the right! Jalan Satok I was looking for, I stood near an intersection when a woman stopped to help me, she took the other end of the map, I told her I was looking for the "Sunday market" she nodded, where is it? I asked, she nod back again, I realized she hasn't a clue about English and I don't know how to say market in Malay! I thanked her and left quickly. I came across another intersection and noticed the other side looks busy, I saw women with baskets as if going to the market, i followed them and voila! they led me to the Sunday market, I started at the veggies and seafood section, lots of varieties i even saw sago worms being sold! ick!!!

I saw huge freshwater prawns with very long claws, it's 40 ringgits a kilo, about 4 pieces, I was tempted to buy but it's so big, I don't know what to do with it, so i opted for the smaller version 13 ringgits half a kilo. I will cook them in the hostel later. I also bought guava fruits, they look luscious. There was also a shark! No one seems to buy it, maybe just a mascot. I stopped by to have breakfast of laksa, the famous noodle dish from Kuching. It was just ordinary for me but maybe I did not go to the best one yet, hmm..
After over an hour I started to tire and decided to walk back, It's getting hot now and I walked slowly, I stopped by the Bus Asia office to buy my ticket to Pontianak, i have to buy return tickets as the Indonesian consulate told me they will look for it before issuing me a visa at the border, better safe than sorry. I can apparently refund the open return ticket for half the original price, it's ok for me, only 51 ringgits, almost $25. back at the hostel I cooked my prawns, the house cat Carmino is playing with me while I cook and sat atop the table hoping for some morsels as I eat, Leonard the reception guy joined me for a bit, then the sister owners Imo and Beck came along, very nice people, i paid my bills and went out to change some ringgits to Indonesian dibdobs.

WIKI INFO:

The origins of the city's name have never been clear. "Kuching" does translate into "cat" in Malay and "kuching" is an old Malay spelling. However, the new official Malay spelling today would be "kucing," but both of them are pronounced the same. There is a separate explanation whereby it may actually be a variation of the Indian name for "port" - "Cochin". Kuching was first settled by Indian traders who set up base at Santubong. Artifacts of Hindu origin can today be seen at the State Museum.

One highly unlikely explanation is a story based on miscommunication. According to the story, when Rajah James Brooke arrived in Kuching on his yacht, the Royalist, he asked his local guide what the settlement's name was. The guide, thinking that the English adventurer was pointing towards a cat, said "Kuching." However, Sarawakian Malay for cat is "pusak" and this explanation does not hold much credibility.

Another explanation is that the city was named after the "mata kucing" or "cat's eye" fruit. Trees bearing this fruit used to grow in abundance by the river banks - where the city's commercial heart, is located. There is a hill in the heart of the modern city called Bukit Mata Kuching, and was named after the fruit. Also, at the foot of the hill, there was once a stream called the Kuching River. The stream, located in front of the Tua Pek Kong temple, had large amount of silt deposit and during the 1950s, was filled in to make way for roads and the city's expansion eastwards.

Another possibility is that in those days, asking a person which river he/she came from, was quite common. As the river that flows along the Brooke's residence is known as Sg. Kuching (Kuching river), it would have been a possible that Brooke's reply was Kuching. Hence, the area which the Brookes reside which eventually became the administrative centre would be known as Kuching.

There is another more credible explanation and that Kuching actually means "Ku" - Old and "Ching" - Well or "old well" in Chinese. During the Brooke's rule, there was no proper water supply and water-borne diseases were common. In 1888, there was a Great Cholera epidemic. However, water from a well at the present day China Street in Main Bazaar area saved Kuchingites from the disease. Clean supply of water from the well helped water-borne diseases became a thing of the past. Evidence of the well is still found at China Street. As Kuching expanded and the population and demand for clean water supply increased, the well was not adequate to supply the clean water and it was replaced by clean water supply from Matang area later.

Despite those various explanations, the city was named Sarawak under Rajah Sir James Brooke's rule. Under Rajah Charles Brooke's rule, the city was renamed Sarawak Proper in order to avoid confusion with the ever expanding Kingdom of Sarawak. Only in the latter part of his reign was Sarawak Proper renamed Kuching.

The city has never been noted for having a significantly large population of cats. In fact, the many cat statues, the Kuching Cat Museum and other association with cats have been largely a recent phenomenon, part of a modern effort of tourism. Many travel brochures refer to Kuching as "Cat City" or the "City of Cats".

---

Photos

Sunday market
sago worms

Jong's croc farm
piles of crocs

Kuching
Bed's GH in Chinatown