Birthday adventure in Kuching Old Town

This is my third year celebrating my birthday with Nick around. Last year, we explored London for my golden birthday. This time, we found ourselves in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak—my home state.

Kuching old town has all the things I love-nostalgic and historical buildings that look pretty in photos, yummy local food and coffee/tea, nice trees and cats!

The day started with laksa with aunty and Josephine. Then, Nick and I ventured off to India Street in search of the wall arts that are dispersed around different lanes in the old town. We were fascinated by the old signs of the shops, traditional shops, and by the colourful buildings.

 Peering through the corner to see what we may find there

Try reading the words on this yellow building. Nick tried reading it in Cantonese and it sounded funny, and we were not sure of which side to start reading it from.

 Signs that are barely hanging in there

After taking some photos, we walked towards the old courthouse and found a nicely curated space that is filled with beautiful furniture, artworks, a café, a reading room, and my favourite—friendly cats.

After having fun with the cats, we found a monument, the square tower, and headed to the riverside.

As the weather got hotter, we quickly went into the souvenir shops for shade. Nick tried the kek lapis for the first time.

 

It was time for a break from sight-seeing so we stopped by Black Bean Coffee to have iced coffee and to talk about life, God, and goals. The Sarawak coffee here is surprisingly yummy and Nick fell in love with iced kopi-o.

Carpenter Street

 Old-school stationery shop that has a tiger cat guarding its welcome.

 Wandering into side lanes...

Dropped by the textile museum but Nick was not so fond of the human figures so we moved on to the Merdeka Mall to enjoy the air-con.

Then, we went in search for more street arts and Kai Joo Café, which I had found on the internet previously. Kai Joo Lane is a quaint, tiny lane branching off from India Street and at the end of it is the café. 

The café was the perfect spot for us to relax and talk after a full morning of walking around, and we were the only two customers there during that time. I had the rooibos tea in their illustrated mug and Nick enjoyed his refreshing pandan and lemongrass quencher.

A friend whom I shared the amazing Europe trip 6 years ago asked me on facebook if I had a good day on my birthday, and if it is anything like the days we spent in Germany. I was not hesitant to answer yes, indeed, it was as good as exploring the towns in Germany. :)

Gatherings in July

 With loved ones.

 Joyce and Yee Dun's wedding at the Penampang Church.

Another relocation

This is the 13th city in my almost 26 years of living. I keep saying that I am 26 already but in fact, I am still 25. Hehe..Ok, so I've moved to Kuching (yay for going back to Sarawak!) quite suddenly because a music academy job found me. I was not looking for a job in Kuching but I guess God has His idea so here I am. I have a lot to be thankful, even though I had some emotional breakdown moments at the cusp of this transition wondering if I had made the right decision or if it was too hasty because I had to make a lot of changes with plans and friends who have already planned to visit me in KK in the coming days. I am thankful for the host home who is willing to take me in and treat me like one of their daughters, for parents who are so helpful in my official start of paid employment, and a supportive boyfriend who encourages me to go ahead with a new experience. My first impression of Kuching after I landed and was picked up by aunty Zhi Yan and Josephine was that Kuching has become more spacious in terms of its landscape and the plants + sky are much prettier. I have been really delighted with all the beautiful evening skies expanding across the skyline as I ride in the car on the highways here. I am thankful for a boss and wife who are willing to trust me, a newbie despite never hearing me play the piano once. They are good business people, so I won't have to worry about the administration or business aspects of this job.

I am thankful for the many good food in Kuching, which I had always thought that KK had the upper hand of. I am thankful for a host mom who is organised and clean so I can find a sense of peace and rhythm in her house (a cup of hot tea/coffee at the marble dining table with my Bible in the morning). I am thankful for Josephine who is willing to be my driving coach and who is always cheering me on and being concerned about me. So yes, I will keep learning to be content with whatever God gives me and wherever He places me.

Pockets of light and winter trees

I miss the gloomy days of European winter. Perhaps it is the over-abundance of sunlight in Malaysia that has given me a reverse culture shock or the fact that the cheery sunny days here do not match the emotional climate in my head. Whatever it is, I find myself missing scenes like these from our family trip to Paris this past February.

Mood

A little bit of spring and those artsy days filled with beautiful handmade crafts and clear summer breeze.