I miss New Zealand!

Well... look at these pictures. Whats not to like? Hubby and I still talked about our holiday to NZ last year, alot. We want to go again, or even live there! lol. Seriously. I love everything about NZ. The most beautiful places I've ever laid my eyes to. Plus the people were simply nice and we had a blast. We took about 4000 pictures! And I am serious, I wish I could post all of them but its quiet impossible aint it??? Its a no go this year because of our daughter's important and impending exam and she doesnt want to miss classes. I mean if you are going to NZ, one week is not enough man. You need at least 3 weeks to explore. We were there for 3 weeks and there were still alot of places we didnt go. So we want to continue our journey again. We are so hoping we will touch down in NZ again next year. Sigh.......

Kuching - What Kuching is famous for?

These are the dishes that make Kuching unique and popular. If you happen to be here its a good idea to try these dishes out. Some you could get very easily, some you need to ask around on where or how to get them.

This is Laksa Sarawak. This dish need to be tried out whenever you are in Kuching. Its a sambal paste with prawns usually and it was quiet tasty.

This is what we called Kek Lapis Sarawak. They are really layered cakes with different flavours such as chocolate, blueberry, vanilla, strawberries and so much more. They were mostly sold at Kuching Waterfront and at the rows of shops along the Waterfront. They were sold about the size 3 by 12 inches and sold for RM8-10 and a more complicated layered ones cost around RM15. We could try each cake there and then before buying so these vendors have them ready and cut in a try. Make sure you clean your hands first.... And try these cakes out, some were really nice. Well, we do have these locally also but we dont find them everyday except during celebrations such as Hari Raya, but in Kuching they were everywhere along the Waterfront.

And this is my dad favourite. One of the reasons why he wanted to go to Kuching in the first place.... We didnt find these fish at first so we asked around and before we went home, I was glad we did find this market.

The market is called "Satok Market" and this fish is called " Terubok". The uniqueness of these fishs were they were all salted and dried. Of course we could eat fresh ones but the fish are more popular this way. Dont ask me why? LOL. The fish egg is another famous delicacies sold at this market. The eggs were also salted but more expensive than the fish themselves. And they were really delicious.

The market was so unique we could even ask them to cook the fish for us so we could bring them over back to the hotel, hahaha.

Apart from Terubok, the market also sell other stuff.

The entrance to the market.

Kuching - Fun day at the beach

We had a fun time at Damai Beach at Santubong area of Kuching. We stayed at Damai Puri Resort and they have this huge beach overlooking the open sea. It was really beautiful, the beach mostly deserted but it picked up during the weekend where some locals come over for the weekend and played or swam.

Kuching - The famous Top Spot Seafood Restaurant

This place is one of the most famous eating joints in Kuching. When we did our research for places to eat before the trip we found so many good reviews about this place. And coincidentally we were staying at the same venue which was really a convenient and pure luck. We stayed at Somerset service apartment and this hotel was sort out joined together with this place.

We just needed to go to 2nd floor, out the glass door to enter the multistories carparks, go up on level and waalllaaa...

The place was really crowded though. Not for the faint-hearted hahaha. Lots going on but once you got a spot to sit on and the food served, you kind of blend with the surrounding and it was really not that bad.

We could see alot of tourists here, amongst the locals. It was really a buzzing place. We could already smell the aromas from our hotel which was really mouth watering.

What amazed us the most was although there were so many people to be served, but the waiting didnt take forever. So I knew these cooks did know what they were doing which was great.

There were arrays of fresh fish, prawns, lobsters, crabs, clams, etc etc and some fresh vegetables as well. All you need to do was go the stalls, any stall for that matter, choose your fancy and tell what you want them to cook for you. The waitresses were quite friendly so thats another plus. Its up to you if you want to eat the seafood only or you could ask for bowls of rice or noodles or vegetables, whatever you want.

Kuching - The seafood

One of the things we always look forward to during the holidays, are the food! Every place we go to, we neve fail to try what is so famous about the place, I mean in the food department lah.

When we were in Kuching we got to do this almost every day and the one that really stood out was their seafood. We knew about this even before we reached Kuching and we thought we must give this a try. And we were really got into it, big time.

The seafood were superb. They were really fresh and tasty. My dad really enjoyed the food so much he still talked about it now! LOL. What was best were we could pick what seafood we fancied and what type of cooking we wanted. We ended up having a very nice dinner. In terms of prices, it was really not that bad. We spent less than RM200 for each serving.

Here are some pictures hubby took of the food that were served. Enjoy!

Kuching - Shopping

My verdict?

Could be a tourist heaven but not so much. If you love handicrafts and locally made items for sovenirs then this is a good place to be. Along the waterfront we found a long row of old shops which sold all kind of sovenirs. They were really good and we bought quite a lot of stuff like T-shirts, canvas bags, items made of bamboo, and Sarawak most famous Kek Lapis Sarawak and Tabaloi, etc.

Some good shopping malls too, being the newest in town called "The Spring". A bit far from the city, must use taxis which cost around RM12. Infact, everywhere we went, the taxi charged us a solid Rm12.00. Oh they dont have meters!

Lastly, something funny about this shot! Hubby took this picture of me waiting for my parents infront of "NO WAITING" notice. Of course, the sign was for waiting cars not human, duhhhh....... LOL. Location : The Spring