Emila Yusof (Emilatopia)

Flying on an inaugural flight with Malindo Air was great experience. Love all the features inside the aircrafts. And it was more great to be able to revisit Kuching after the first one in 2005.

For your information, Malindo Air flies to Kuching 4 times daily.

7500th Boeing 737 (9M-LNF).

So, what’s interesting in Kuching? Plenty, actually. Malindo with collaboration of Sarawak Tourism Board had arranged tours around Sarawak for media who was on the inaugural flight.

Here are some ideas for you to start with if you plan to visit Kuching. This list is crafted based on places I visited only.

Stay at Riverside Majestic Hotel. Riverside Majestic Hotel is strategically located in the heart of Kuching overlooking the Sarawak River. The hotel commands a panoramic view of the city and the Kuching Waterfront across.

The hotel has 241 comfortable rooms and offers chef’s selection of signature dishes and tonic soups. Their kitchens are all certified Halal. For relaxation, you can go to the Borneo Odyssey Spa located on the Lower Ground floor of their sister property the Grand Margherita Hotel, or cool off in the hotel’s swimming pool. A bowling centre and cineplex is also available in the adjacent Riverside Shopping Complex.

Front view of Riverside Majestic Hotel.

Eat, eat and eat. For dinner, everybody is going to Top Spot Food Court. It is basically a hawker centre that sells mostly seafood. It is located on a roof top of a 5 storey car park right in the smack of the city centre. For exotic lunch, you can go to Absolute Tribal Restaurant located at Sarakraf Pavilion. For local kampung style food, you can go to Mount Serapi Corner.

Interesting entrance of AbsoluteTribal Restaurant.

Go shopping! There are many places you can shop but if you want to look for food, fruits, seafood, go to Medan Niaga Satok. For gift items like pua kumbu, jeweleries and what not go to Main Bazaar. Another place you can go to to buy Kek Lapis is Dayang Salhah Kek Lapis. Another interesting place to buy crafts is Sarakraf Pavilion.

Visit cat statues around Kuching. The most recognizable cat statue is the one near Kuching Waterfront, just opposite the Riverside Majestic Hotel. You can also find another one in front of the Little China Town along Jalan Padungan. There’s another one at Jalan Abell. More if you walk around town.

Clockwise: A cat family near Riverside Majestic Hotel, Lonely cat in front of Little China Town and four cats at Jalan Abell.

See orang-utans at Semenggoh Wildlife Center.  Established in 1975, this center cares for wild animals which have either been found injured in the forest, orphaned, or were previously kept as illegal pets. The center also offers a rare opportunity to view orang-utans in their natural habitat. Although these recently released orang utan spend most of their time in the surrounding forest, they do return to the centre where they are fed twice daily at a “halfway house” feeding station. Over time the orang utan appear less frequently as they start to adjust to life in the forest. During the fruit season they may not appear at all, which is a good sign and shows that they are adapting well to their new surroundings.

Orang-utan right right above me!

Experience Sarawak heritage at Sarawak Cultural Village. Situated at the foothills of legendary Mount Santubong, this village, dubbed as Sarawak Living Museum, showcases fascinating   Sarawak’s ethnic diversity at a glance. You will have the chance to the heritage of the major racial groups in Sarawak namely their traditional houses, crafts, musics and clothings. Sarawak Cultural Village  is also the venue for the World Harvest Festival and the Rainforest World Music Festival, an internationally renowned festival.

One of the traditional houses.

Take the Sarawak River cruise. The best way to see Kuching is from the Sarawak River located in the heart of Kuching. The cruise gives you a view of the city and its surrounding areas. You will see the New Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building, Astana Building, Kuching Waterfront, colourful villages, villagers doing their daily routines, cargo vessels and many more.

Sarawak River Cruise boarding area at the waterfront.

There you go. I will elaborate more on some of the places above when time permits.