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.