My(eow) Homeland, Kuching

How did we all end up in our hometown, Kuching for a family holiday? It all started about 12 months ago when the Chew grandparents were coming up to their 65th wedding anniversary in December 2007. So the decision was to come back for the special reunion (of all 12 of their children, 48 grandchildren and about great-grandchildren) but considering the family holiday at the same time to more exotic destinations like Thailand or China. But then Angeline fell pregnant and was only allowed to fly before October so plans changed and it would be a combination of occasions for the Ting Family Holiday - Angeline and Simon's last travel (for quite a while) before December's delivery and a visit to Sibu to see our grandparents.

History dictates that 'Singapore' was named after 'singa' (meaning lion in Malay) when one of the first settlers spotted the fearless creature upon his arrival. For 'Kuching' it was named after a, wait for it - 'kucing', meaning 'cat' in Malay. What are the chances of that? Probably better than being named a rat, snake or some other common animal or rodent. Upholding the name with much pride, there's even a Kucing Museum in Kuching, featuring all the different feline species and famous cats like Garfield and Felix The Cat.

Kuching-ians are better known as the Eastsiders (East Malaysia), as oppose to the Westsiders (West Malaysia). Those of us who are born and bred in Sarawak, East Malaysia are extremely proud of our heritage and culture, ie well-known for its ethnic groups like the Land and Sea Dayaks, oil palm plantations, white pepper, laksa, and beautiful, exotic women (okay, so I thought I might as well throw in the last point. I'm prepared for any opposing comments if need be).

So when I started this blog, my fear was what am I going to write about for the hometown part of the holiday? We usually end up doing nothing exciting except the whole usual routine of an early breakfast (to catch the best laksa in town); errands to run; shop around for cheap toiletries, traditional household and food items; snack time; more shopping; lunch; nap time; a swim or light sporting activity (to burn off the day's food intake); tea time; and ending the night with a huge extended family dinner.

But I came upon the realisation that it's the 'nothingness' that makes it more a family holiday; the 'nothing' to stress about, 'nothing' too expensive, 'nothing' to rush around for. It's a Ting family holiday when you can have 5 or more meals a day (feel totally guilty about it but still continue eating), plan the meals days in advance, afternoon attempts to maintain our weight with swims or walks, napping on the couches in the air-conditioned living rooms away from the humidity and meeting up with relatives and guessing how old our cousins are and how quickly time has passed with the young ones driving (so they must be at least 17 instead of 7 when we last saw them!) or are married, expecting their third child!

Kuching is a place of our past but the coming of the future in fast forward.

What do you get when you put 3 Ting sisters (and a Wong) together?

---A bad case of indigestion, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) detected, an ongoing cough and totally broke from shopping from the last 2 days in Singapore.

If anyone has ever been to Singapore, you'll understand that 3-4 days stopover for shopping and eating is sufficient. And with the Tings and Wong being here, that was just the plan, not forgetting that the meals were planned at least 3 weeks before arrival. The few days started out with an extensive selection of yum cha at Takashimaya's Imperial Treasures (Nan Bei), which included peking duck, soya chicken, white carrot yam dumplings and 'siao long bao'.

An afternoon spent shopping and into the evening, dinner of Singapore's local 'tze cha' (cooked dishes) with 16 friends. Pepper crab...finger-licking good!

Followed bythe next day of breakfast at Tiong Bahru market, more shopping and a huge Penang buffet dinner at Penang Palace Restaurant all the way out in Jurong for ONLY S$20.80 (A$16) !!! It's worth the 'long' (in Singapore terms) 30 minute drive.

All this time we've been staying with Mark and Patsy's place in Balmoral Park. They have been extremely hospitable - Pats who continuously (force) feeds us with local delights, Ben and Jerry's ice cream and leftover champagne in the fridge; Mark(with much difficulty) who ended up hanging up all our washed (tasteful, transparent) undergarments. Anyone who can handle the Tings (not Wong) in the full three-fold capacity deserves much recognition.












Off to Kuching, Malaysia to join Daddy and Mummy Ting and the other extended Tings and Chews.

Day 3 - Heading into town...

I decided to take today as easy, ie in my terms 'easy' can mean a lot of non-stressful, effortless activity. A swim in the morning kicked off the day and into town I go. The main highlight is the Old Market. Okay, so maybe it's not as fascinating for a Kuching-born local like me - an array of every household appliance you can think of (dating back to 1989, ie), local produce of fruit and vegetables and for the strong-hearted (or stomached), the meat section. The tourist attractions of scarfs (not this time since I splurged in Peru and Bolivia on these), bags, fine jewellery, and not forgetting for those keen on the big, international brands like LV (literally written this way and not like it's monogram) and GOACH (COACH).

My driver decided to take me to see the floating village and that's exactly what it was - a whole village floating on a river. According to my young 'fren' on the boat, the residents are mainly from Vietnam and crossed the border to fish as a living. It seems like a small town with a school (and a basketball court), mini supermarkets and even a Catholic church! As we travelled down (and up) the river, you can see the community working, sleeping, having their meals and kids playing.

After another afternoon of a swim and massage, I had dinner at Cafe Indocine and then a night drive around the town, along the river and night markets before collapsing truly contented. Heading back to Singapore tomorrow to commence the 'Ting Family Holiday'.

Day 2: Templed out!

"...and they use semen build tis lover..." "Sorry, use semen?" "Yes, semen. Keep structure strong". Oh you mean you use cement to build these levels (not lover)!" "Yes, semen to built lovers..."

Okay, so I spent the whole day at the various 'wats' (temples) with my dedicated English-speaking tour guide which I spent half the time trying to figure out if it's just the pronounciation or that he had a vivid imagination with words. But once we got over the whole 'semen' (cement), lover (level), tits (teeth) situation, we were on the roll.

Siem Reap is filled with hundreds of templates with 27 of those worth visiting. Since I planned only a day to visit these temples, Sophean my guide took it upon himself to create an itinerary of 'wats' worthy of the short visit - Angkor Thom (Bayon), Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed) and Angkor Wat, one of the wonders of the world.

Instead of boring you with the details, I thought I'll only include some interesting facts about these 'wats' and Cambodia in general:

1) Most of the statues' heads are removed/stolen for sale. Not only is it for luck but also worth quite a lot of money.

2) There's a large stone monument in Bayon which is believed that if a female sits on it, they will fall pregnant (don't worry, I didn't sit on it)

3) In Angkor Wat, there are 1,850 carved images of dancing women, all different, which are seen to represent the number of concubines belonging to the king Only 2 of them have their teeth showing to represent 'cheekiness'.

4) With the Buddists, they believe that good luck comes in even numbers whilst the Hindus believe it comes in odd numbers.

5) In Angkor Wat, the 'steps' to heaven are narrow and very steep, representing how hard it is to get to heaven (except for the king's entrance - it's not as narrow or as steep! )

6) Railings were built onto these steps to the 'centre of the universe' due to a couple of Korean tour guides running down the steps (when showing off to their tour group) and falling (probably killing themselves). Definitely not a way of impressing the gods!

7) Faces of some of the carvings have been removed mainly due to the war against the Buddists and the Hindus. Hindus will removed the faces of the Buddha and put up their own 'god' and vice versa.

8) Lucky last - There are no more landmines in Siem Reap!

After a swim, followed by a traditional Khmer massage, the next indulgence was a buffet and traditional dance show at the Koulen Restaurant. The spread was bountiful with enough to feed about 1000 guests. This included freshly cooked Cambodian soup noodles, pancakes and chive dumplings cooked to prefection (of oil use and crunchiness). Let's not forget the traditional fish amok cooked in coconut milk and spices. All for the low, affordable price of US$12! It only gets this good in Melbourne at a Parma+pot night at your local pub!

Best way to end the night is riding back in the 'tuk tuk', cool Cambodian breeze cutting through the stifling humidity, watching the lightning and thunder cut through in the thick, dark bundle of clouds and thinking about a special someone and his love for this nature's beauty.

Day 1: Siem Reap - here I come!

The quick holiday away for a taste of Asia commences with me taking a short holiday away from my 'peoples' (friends) and family into the Cambodian People Party in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

As Melbourne faces a drought in it's water storages, Siem Reap was in a midst of a storm upon arrival. This led to an additional 30 minutes in the plane circulating the City of the Past. Cambodia is better known for its tale of 2 cities - one being the tale of Phonh Penh and it's drive for modernism (as per any other growing city in Asia) while the other, Siem Reap, the Old Capital conserving its past. So I decided on Siem Reap on a couple of important reasons - Lara Croft in Tomb Raider I and the fact that it's far from the city life I'm accustom (and love dearly) to! But sitting in the plane filled with tourists from all over the world makes me think I'm not the only one with these expectations.

My first impression - truly Asia! There are no road rules to which lane or direction you should be on or follw, a family of three on a motorbike without any safety measures of helmets or clothing, a signage on a 'tuk tuk' (motorbike taxi) promoting the latest club with "Special drink all night long" and "Powerful sound system" as a teaser trap for tourists.

So I finally arrive in a Balinese lookalike resort with the splendors of convenience including a pool, internet and restaurant. I sit across from a Chris Penn lookalike with his female Cambodian 'flen', listening to the choir of insects and munching on fresh squid. Ah, life in Asia...