Lex Petros: Day 6 & 7: Bye bye to Kuching

13.11.2007 & 14.11.2007, Tuesday and Wednesday...

Tuesday: After a tiring trek at Bako, it was a day of rest ...for me, at least. The rest of the group went to Semanggol in the morning to frolic with some orang utans, whilst I took the morning to clear my emails, surf You Tube and catch up on the daily (I thought I'd rather be a couch potato rather than let some simian pull at my hair or worse...)

For lunch, I managed to meet up with Desmond Sahathevan (my counsel attached with Messrs Batternberg & Talma) whom I had been in contact since 2 years back for debt recovery proceedings in East Malaysia. Turns out Desmond was a classmate during my CLP days at Brickfields College. He was one of those noisy indian guys seated behind the class. He sheepishly admitted that he had lost discipline half-way into the course!...*grin*... It was certainly refreshing to put things into perspective for me to put a face to the name...I had dealt with him so many times over the phone, failing to realise who he was...till now...I've now met an old acquaintance incidentally...

By evening, the rest of the group had gone, leaving Mike, Jennifer, Raymond and me. Asther's mum and her well known generosity again indulged us in Kuching food, this time, dinner at the Fook Xing Seafood" restaurant. Once again, Aunty Jenny's hospitality brimmed. Was beginning to feel rather "pai seh". We're simply pampered by her and Asther...Will definitely make it up to them!

Statute of Admiral Zheng He and the Pavillion Memorial...

After dinner, we took a stroll down to Taman Sahabat (Friendship Park).

The Taman Sahabat project situated at Jalan Song Kuching was completed in 2005 and officially opened to public on 18.5.2006 by the YAB Chief Minister of Sarawak. This unique and picturesque park is the product of a close relationship between Kuching City and Kunming City of China. Due to its unique features, it is gaining popularity for the locals as well as tourists. These pavilions were designed, fabricated and constructed and supervised by the Chinese Landscape technicians and artisans.

Amongst the sights, a 20-foot statute of Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433), commonly known also as "Cheng Ho", who started the biggest naval navigation in 1405 (about 300 ships in the fleet), about a century before Christopher Columbus (1451 to 1506) did on the Santa Maria...he had successfully made 23 voyages in his life and was known to be a great seaman, his voyages spanning over 37 countries across the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Africa. (Way to go, mah Chinese forefathers!) If I could only wish these men these gallant men in the old naval tradition:

"May the wind be in your backs" and "May the stars be your guide"

Wednesday: This is it...our final day in Sarawak...early in the morning and already my heart was wrenching...I hate farewells...I was brimming with excitement when we first arrived, in fact, even before I boarded the Airbus which flew us to this vibrant and exciting land...but as they say, "all good things have to come to an end"...

We did lunch at the Kuching Gold Club and the cafe was set against the resplendent scenery of the green ( I think my good friend David Lai wouldn't mind teeing off here)...and as usual, my antics never let up.. this time, Mike Tjoa was at the receiving end...we had a good time making fun of his 'hot-gay-shorts' which he normally wear as casual wear, showing off more than what we would want to see (har har har)...something we had to do something about...too much THIGHS!!! From that day forth, Mike was dubbed the president of the 'HGSC' : Hot-Gay-Shorts Club...*grin

Later, wetook a short drive to town, where I disembarked briefly at the Kuching Courts. For once, I was in Court and NOT in black-and-white. It certainly bears no resemblance to the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex (size wise) but it's nice to be in any Court house...for me, that is...picturing my fellow lawyers dutifully doing their jobs in other states...

Kuching Courts and my less-than-dignified pose!

We rested in Tabuan Stutong, Asther's mum's apartment till we had to leave for dinner at Hui Seng Hawker centre (complete with 'kueh cap', 'white ladies' and 'matterhorns'...find out what they are...he he)

Kueh Cap: Pork 'spare parts' (Yucch!!)

Finally, with a heavy heart, it was off to the Kuching International Airport...it was a sad, but happy goodbye...(ironic)...we had to be back again...this was one memorable trip I will never forget...