25. Day / 4th winter trip

I've always wanted to see Borneo, Orangutans in the wild - otherwise I had no idea of ​​Borneo, except that it should be hot & humid, with a lot of rain.

Actually the plan for the day had bee to go to Semenggoh Nature Reserve, but I had to give up because of the rental. When the car was handed over at the airport, I should have had to pay the rent plus deposit, in cash - but we had no Ringgit, the change office at the airport had been closed already. So we agreed on a security deposit in US $, that I should pay MYR 550 plus 100 safety deposit at 1200 the following day.

We appeared in the club lounge on 22nd floor at 09:30,


with a nice view over Kuching and the surrounding mountains.


The breakfast buffet was okay,




al lot of Malaysian fare, but also baguette, some cheese, sausage which became touch-dry, yoghurt, industrial jam as well as eggs and coffee on (free) order.

We found a table, ordered espresso and eggs sunny side up (because the omelette of our friends did not look very good).

Down to the city center,


exchanged money. While there was at the hotel the offered 3.65 ringgit for the US $, at the exchange office they gave 4.40, however only for bank notes from 1997 and in good condition. That was a problem, because I mostly had US $ from the 1996 series, which I could take back with me to the hotel.

We would onwards, past a cat's fountain,


into a shopping mall,


where I was able to get a Malaysian SIM card with data plan for US $ 9.

Around 1100 it was already quite warm, and very, very humid. So we walked past the Hilton (would have been a better choice, perhaps) back to the hotel, where we first drank some cold soft drinks in the club lounge.

At 12, I was in the lobby, met the rental guy and spontaneously decided to change from our too-small-car to a bigger Toyota Wish. He said this would be delivered in the evening.

What do you do with a half-day in Kuching? We decided to check out the city itself. The concierge pointed the interesting sights on a map and off we went, first down to the river,


where we had to translate with a ferry (US $ 0.20/person).


This 'ferry', a wooden nut shell, most probably older than our accumulated age, got quite full, we sat at the rear near the chattering engine,


on the frightening 60-second crossing. Good my Swedish friend wasn't with us, we would have had preferred to have a swim.

Once again on land we walked a narrow path towards 'Fort Margherita',


the area didn't look trustworthy at all. Then we had to climb up a little hill over some splintered glass and decayed beams, until we reached the fort.


Looking at the British colonel building from the outside and continuing towards 'Orchid Garden', took a look at the new state-Parliament-building.


Unfortunately everything was badly signed,


and the paths were in dissolution. We would also have been interested in the meaning of all the concrete surfaces, which are slowly recaptured by nature.

We passed a decayed concrete high-rise building, where many windows were already missing and a huge Malaysia-flag was flying on the roof. This had been the main administration building of the Sarawak region.

Next to it another shut-down government building,


also in dissolution. We were just passing and went on down the hill. We felt as if we were in a remote region of the Soviet Union, 50 years after dissolution, quite strange.

Also as we descend the mountain in the direction of the river, on the right a huge area, at which 10 years ago they must have started construction work. But except a very modern glass cubical (without a path to it, without designation) there was not further developed.

Surprisingly we found the Orchid Garden,


our ladies were quite angry because of the senseless foot march in the scorching heat. So into the Orchid Garden, at least the entrance was free of charge. The ladies sat down on a bench for a cool water, the men walked through the exhibition.


Rating? Free of charge is too expensive for this garden, orchids were hardly to be seen, the gardeners stood smoking (there is a smoking ban at 10'000 Ringgti fine) and twiddling one' thumbs. Okay, at least we could enjoy some lower temperatures, we thought - and so we went to the 'Cool House', in which the air-conditioning system was switched off, and nearly no orchids could be seen.


Out of the park, had to find the right road down to the river, again taken a 'ferry'.




On the riverside promenade, of course, were countless souvenir shops. Here was a variety of the typical Kuching cakes on offer, a dessert consisting of many layers of biscuits, which are soaked with different fruit juices.


We tasted, but could hardly notice a difference in taste.

Back to the hotel. We wanted to buy a few more fruits, but there were none to buy. No matter.

After a Coke Zero at the lounge V. went for the pool,


I headed to the gym.

Like everything at Pullman Kunching this is huge, but also a bit empty, would have to be cleaned urgently.




Equipment is available, but not exactly the best, some already broken. At least the Wi-Fi signal was strong enough to listen to music.

After 1.5 hours of workout straight to the club lounge, where they arranged cold, fat-free milk for my protein shake.

At 6 pm we met our friends at the club lounge, with a wonderful view again.


The evening buffet looked much better than breakfast,




I limited myself to some pieces of papaya and Coke Zero while the others took some food and white wine - not just one glass.

At 19:30 we left for the real thing, dinner, at "Top Spot Seafood Market", which one could already see from the club lounge.


Via the hotel's shopping mall and across the street, into a multi-level parking lot. Up the stairs to the roof of which the Seafood Market is located. On our arrival, it was already crowded to the max.


We checked the display of the various vendors,


decided to select the 'restaurant' with the biggest crowd.


We had to wait for a free table, but finally got a seat. I ordered - of course, too much.

Unfortunately, our restaurant did not offer stingray, so I had to order at a neighboring restaurant, telling the restaurant where we were sitting and the table number. I took the smallest available piece, which still weighed just over a kilogram.


First arrived the fabulous oyster omelette.


This tasted even better than it looked! The egg was mixed with rice flour, the oysters embedded and then fried as a whole in the wok. The egg and rice flour mass was incredibly crispy, the oysters were covered and still wonderfully juicy. With the delicious Dip this dish was incredibly delicious.

The next dish arrived, bamboo clams, which were dressed in a sauce of dried chili.


I tasted very good - but one has to be a real lover of mussel flavor and spiciness - our ladies spit fire!

Next, a grilled wolf's bass, tasteless, not to my liking. Also the grilled tiger-prawns were not for me, just barbecued, dry, tasteless.


But the lady who took our order had warned me, she had suggested a different kind of preparation - more to that later.

The Stingray was okay, I have eaten much better once in Singapore.


The best dish came on the end, the dish the lady strongly recommended: shrimps 'Mongolian style'.


This preparation was a blast, the meat juicy, prepared in a sweet-spicy sauce with onions, leeks and crunchy carrots. To die for!!! Although we were already fully fed, we had still emptied the plate.

Happy and satisfied we went to the cash desk where we paid close to US $ 80, including drinks, so not even US $ 20 per person.

With full stomachs went back to the hotel, had to recover from the efforts of dinner urgently.