Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre

We drove out to Kota Padawan from Kuching to go to the Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. Our objective was to see semi-wild Orang Utans which feed daily at 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m..

We reached there at 2.00 p.m. To drive into the Centre, we had to purchase entrance tickets at the booth beside the main gate. We asked how much the entrance fee was and were informed that it was RM3.00.

"How about Senior Citizens," Fourth Aunt asked.

"All of you?" asked the man inside the booth.

Pffft. I'm so insulted. Me? Senior Citizen? I still have a looooooooong way to go k. ;p Anyway, these are the rates : Senior Citizens - RM1.50; Students - RM2.00; Adults - RM3.00.

It was a 1 km drive to the parking area inside the Centre. Since we were an hour early, we wandered around.

There was a souvenir shop, but the souvenirs were rather limited. Aunt A****** bought a book entitled "Sweethearts of Sarawak". It features the Orang Utans at the Centre and their distinctive characteristics. Brochures were on sale for RM1.50. Other souvenirs include soft toys, eco bags, and postcards.

There were information boards about the resident Orang Utans at the Centre. They had interesting names such as Saddam, Anaku, Analisa, and so on. "Why Saddam?" I asked one of the wardens. "She was born at the time when the Iraq crisis was rife," the warden said. How convenient, I thought.

According to the warden, there were currently 25 semi-wild Orang Utans at the Centre. However, there was no guarantee that they would appear for feeding as it was the fruit season. They could easily feed on the abundant fruits in the forest. The best time to visit the Centre would be in May or June when fruits were scarce.

At the Centre, we met a Taiwanese tourist who was at the Centre for the second time that day. She was there in the morning but the Orang Utans did not come out for feeding. We kept our fingers crossed.

Feeding Platform No. 1

While waiting, we visited a gallery which displayed information about Orang Utan Rehabilitation. Not only that, the birth certificates of the Orang Utans were displayed. So interesting!

Further down, there were 3 cages. In each cage was a crocodile.

Concrete Cages

Croc in Cage 3

Before 3.00 p.m., the rangers would "call" the Orang Utans. "Bunyi Tarzan," one warden said, "and they would know that it's time to eat". So we hanged around the feeding platform till about 2.50 p.m. when the rangers alerted us that the Orang Utans were coming for feeding. He quickly held a safety briefing. We were told not to get too close, not to make noise, and not to eat and drink.

Before he even finished, an Orang Utan appeared high above on a tree. He swung towards the feeding platform and helped himself to the fruits there. There were fresh coconuts, bananas and sweet potatoes. According to the warden, the Orang Utans here consumed about RM6000 worth of fruits per month!




Soon, he was joined by another Orang Utan. For about 40 minutes, we watched as the two ate and frollicked in the trees.

Selina & Murray

Speaking to a warden, we found out that one of the Orang Utans was Murray and the other was Selina. Murray was 9 years old. Selina was 6 years old. Each of the Orang Utan had nicknames. Murray a.k.a The Rascal was famous for his mischievous behaviour, was hot-tempered and known to throw things when moody. He had even urinated on visitors! Lol. Selina, on the other hand, a.k.a. The Drama Queen was stylish and quite demanding, often getting angry when she did not get what she wanted.

Soon, we were told that another Orang Utan was coming to eat and it was Seduku, the grand dame of the Centre. She was 40 years old and was already a grandmother. Seduku chose to feed further away. She did not go to the feeding platform because she was afraid of Murray, who was known to bully her. Naughty, naughty.

Seduku was the Grand Old Lady, described as the friendliest Orang Utan at Semenggoh. She enjoyed the presence of visitors, often entertaining them with her playful acts.

I got awfully excited when I saw a baby climb out from her back. It was her child, her third-born son, Ganya. Ganya was 3 years old. The warden said that the Orang Utans normally took care of their babies till they were about 6 years old.

We watched the entire process as Seduku peeled the husk of a coconut, cracked it open, drank the juice and consumed the flesh inside. She helped her son as he too wanted his share of the coconut. There was a sweet potato given to her too but she did not eat it. She took it with her when she clambered up the tree.

Seduku & Ganya

Awww. Seduku had put on a great show. For me, it was a very enriching and endearing experience. It gave me a lot of joy. I returned home in high spirits.

I'll be back!!

Sarawak River Cruise

Last weekend, my aunts and I played tourist and went for a sunset cruise along Sarawak River. Because we were locals, we only paid RM40.50 each. Otherwise the standard fare was RM60.00 for adults.

Sign beside ticket counter, located at one of the kiosks at the Waterfront, just beside where the cruise anchored. The duration of the cruise was an hour and a half.

The name of the ship was MV Equatorial.

MV Equatorial, with view of the Astana at the distance
The Astana was built in 1870 by Charles Brooke, the second White Rajah of Sarawak, and dedicated it to his wife, Ranee Margaret. Today, it is the official residence of the Governor of Sarawak.

A mock fireplace at the lower deck
It looked rather classy inside, with dark wood panels along the walls

We boarded the cruise and climbed to the upper deck to enjoy the view. Surprisingly, there was a large crowd that day. The ship was packed with locals and tourists alike.

The upper deck
There were tables and chairs for guests to sit around and relax while absorbing the splendid view; Traditional sape music played in the background to set the mood for a cultural experience.

At about 5.35 p.m., the cruise commenced. There was commentary, describing the major attractions along the route. Among the highlights were ...

Dewan Undangan Negeri
Completed in 2009, this States Assembly Building incorporates an umbrella design for its roof, and it is a new landmark for Kuching

Brooke Dockyard, 1908
Established since the reign of Charles Brooke

Kuching State Mosque, 1847

Water Taxi to commute between the North and South river banks

Tun Salahuddin Bridge

The house of former Defense Minister,
Dato Abang Abu Bakar

The Sarawak Chief Minister's Residence

The silhouette of buildings against the night sky

Guests were also served with refreshment, comprising of cold Sunquick orange juice and cakes. There were 2 traditional dances performed by 2 male dancers in full cultural costumes. Guests were welcomed to take photographs with the dancers too!

Traditional performance on board

Well, I did enjoy the cruise as I got to see my hometown from another perspective.

Nasi Briyani @ Fairuz

Al-Asna or formerly known as Fairuz is located at Morsjaya here in Miri.

The briyani rice here is rather popular because it is really delicious.

Nasi Briyani, RM6.50.

The rice itself is packed of flavour of spices. I'd eat it even if there's no side dishes to go with it. The curry is aromatic and has got good consistency. The acar is slightly sweet but totally refreshing, a perfect complement to the rice and curry. It was a very satisfying meal. Highly recommended.

Sarawak Laksa @ Ming Xin Cafe

I don't really fancy working during school holidays but I'm on duty at school this week. Do what? Well, nothing much. I check to ensure that all SPM and STPM candidates are present, and ensure that they bring their exam slips and IC. Then I am free to do my own work.

For the past 2 days I'd been cleaning up my office. I sorted out 3 bagfuls of papers to be recycled. I filed up documents in the correct files, reorganised my shelves, and wiped the windows. Heck, I even took down the curtains and washed them. I am ashamed to admit it but I think they had been unwashed for 8 years! Horrid, isn't it?

Near my workplace is Ming Xin Cafe, and today a few colleagues and I dropped by for lunch there. I ordered a Sarawak Laksa.

Sarawak Laksa
RM6.50

Well, this will probably be the first and last Laksa I'll have here. A good laksa lies in the gravy, and the laksa gravy here did not meet my standard - not aromatic and lemak enough. Condiments wise, there were a few thin slices of fish cake, shredded chicken, shredded egg omelette, beansprouts, 2 large prawns and a sprinkle of spring onions. The prawns were not succulent, a sign that there were not fresh. So to conclude, no more laksa here for me. Try if you dare!

Country Chicken Rice

Chicken rice is a perennial favourite of many, from the very young to the very old. There is a place in town which specialises in chicken rice. The name of the shop is Country Chicken Rice (duh!) and it has been in business for a very long time. They sell steamed white chicken, braised soy chicken and roasted chicken.

I was there at about 12.00 p.m., and the shop was buzzing with customers. I was happy to be able to get a table.

Many people tell me that their braised soy chicken is yum, but somehow, I prefer to eat my chicken rice with steamed white chicken.

My chicken rice set,

Normal RM3.30

The rice is a rather large ball, savoury, soft and slightly moist, yet not oily. You can taste the flavour of the chicken stock in the rice.

Customers could request for specific cuts of the meat, i.e. thigh or drumstick. Mine was just the normal order, where there were a combination of thigh and breast meat served atop a few slices of cucumber. The meat was dressed in soy and sesame sauce. I was glad that the breast meat was tender.

The soup that day was a clear winter melon soup, which I liked as it was served really hot.

The ground chilli is a must, and there was a jar on the table for customers to help themselves with. The chilli was not spicy at all, and I found it to be too diluted.

Overall, the chicken rice here, good as it is, does not leave me craving for more. Do drop by and try it for yourself. The shop is located around the Mega Hotel area.

Muka Bantal

Puan Hajah Serina Sauni is one of the best principals I've known. She is currently the principal of SM Sains Miri. I've listened to her 3 times on the same topic but she never bores me. She's a good speaker, always delivering her messages with lots of humour. She had us entertained even though her session was as long as 3 hours!

One particular concept that struck me was what she termed as "Muka Bantal". Translated to English, it means "a pillow face". What she means is that some of us never take the trouble to dress up for work - going from our bed straight to work. Hence, we bore our students who have to look at our faces from 6.40 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. Imagine such torture they have to go through, looking at our drab appearances for such long periods of time. Well, it makes perfect sense. According to her, the students have to be interested in YOU first before they are interested in YOUR subject. Puan Hajah Serina says that we should all bowl our students over with colourful outfits and perhaps a hot hairdo.

Well, arrest me and put me in jail for not dressing up for my students all this while. Plus, I go to work sans make-up. Why? I can't be bothered. It takes too much time to colour those eyelids and paint those cheeks rosy. And I'm always pressed for time early in the morning. I don't even dab on my lipstick as I don't really have that habit. I do ensure that I tone, moisturise, use a sunblock, and powder my face though.

So, will I do it in the future? Hmn. I can't see myself wearing make up for work, but perhaps I'll work on that lipstick.

According to Puan Hajah Serina too, we should pamper ourselves as we just work too hard in school. She urges us lavish ourselves with bags, shoes and clothes. And may I add spas and body massages and facials and manicures and pedicures to that?And so, there are plenty that I want to do in the next month, some of which include doing my hair, going for a facial and my nails, and splurging on new clothes and shoes. ;)) Can't wait.

In fact, I spent this afternoon having a pedicure at a newly-opened nail outlet - Sam's Nail. It's only 3 weeks old, operated by a young lady named Sammi who has had vast experience working on nails in Kuching.

I know Halloween's out but I still like to be
dark and vampy in O.P.I W44 Mrs O'Leary's BBQ

The promotional price now is RM28 for a pedicure. I think she did a great job compared to my regular joint. And so if anyone is thinking of pampering their feet, try Sam's at Pujut 4A (near First Choice Curry Fish Head & Lou Wai Lou). Do give her a call to book a session 016-878 6768.

Skechers

My close friends started talking about it some weekends ago. They'd even showed me a few photographs on the shoes. So I started paying attention to it too.

Guess what? I bought my pair today! Never thought I'd buy it so soon. I thought I'd be going to browse at the shops in KL in December. Even then, I may not purchase a pair cause it's costly. Part of Skechers popularity is its fitness properties that is said to be able to help promote weight loss, tone muscles and improve posture. I'm not sure if it really works but I'm willing to give it a go.

Then suddenly, my friend happened to buy a pair of sandals online, and she found it to be too tight, and asked if I was interested to buy it from her. It happened that we're the same size. She sent me a pic of it, and I was interested in it. The straps were dainty, but because of its brown colour, it looked rugged at the same time. It was something I'd been looking for since my pair of Nike sandals wore out.

Skechers Shape-ups Point Five Jamaican Fab Abs

And based on the retail price in Malaysia, I saved about RM113. How cool is that!! Happy!! Best of all, the sandal fitted me perfectly. My friend said it was meant for me, perhaps. Lol. Thanks, D****!

Annual Staff Dinner @ Imperial Palace Hotel

We had our annual staff dinner at the Imperial Palace Hotel here in Miri. This hotel is considered quite new, it being about a year since it opened. Our function was held at the Melinau Room on the first floor. If you park at the basement, you'd have to take the lift to the lobby and then walk up the stairs to the first floor. It's cause you need to insert your room card into the elevator before it brings you to the first floor and upwards. Funny that the hotel does not bother to have a sign near the elevator to inform guests of this fact. If there is, then I sure did not see it.

So as I was trying to press the "1" button (yeah, I'm that dumb that it did not occur to me that I could not go to the first floor without a card), came a hotel employee in her uniform. "Pergi mana?" she asked. I told her, and she said she was going to the same floor. She used her employee's pass, inserted it into the elevator and off we went up. She even showed me the way to the function room. How nice of her. If only all employees were like her, because I felt that the waiters and waitresses needed a refresher about serving food.

When it was time to eat, the waiter lifted the lid to the round food carousel at the centre of the table. We looked at each other. Were we expected to only eat those? Where was the rice?

Minutes ticked and we were still left wondering. Most of us helped ourselves to the dishes there, spooning bits of everything on the plate. We weren't sure if we should start eating lest there's rice. Finally, we flagged down someone and asked if there was any rice served with the dishes.

Then only came someone with Tartare Sauce. "This is for the Fish & Chips," she said.

Tartare sauce

More waiting and finally someone came with the salad, rice and stirfried vermicelli.

Salad

Stirfried vermicelli

Well, if you want a good meal, I don't think you would want to eat here. Most of the food is plain bland.

My platter
From the top, clockwise :
Stir-fried baby kailan - not too bad, at least it was salty enough to bring out the taste of the garlic used in stir-frying the vegetable.
Fish & chips - Most of my colleagues thought the fish and fries were tough; I kinda liked it when eaten with lots of Tartare sauce. So you could say that I liked the Tartare sauce and not the bits of fish and fries. The sauce was just tangy enough for my liking and I liked biting into bits of pickles and onions in the sauce.
Deep-fried chicken with some sort of a Thai dressing - both the chicken and the dressing were quite tasteless really
Tofu & Chicken - tasteless
Squid Rings - looked yum but tasteless
Beef rendang - tasteless

The mains aside, I did enjoy the salads and also the vermicelli which was stir-fried with ginger flower. Very fragrant. My only complaint would be the teeny weeny portion that I had. Barely two spoonfuls. ;( There was soup but they did not bother to serve us too.

At the end of the meal, I spooned some fish and fries into the bowl of Tartare Sauce and nibbled on them on and off. Then came a waitress and she asked, "Can I clear this?" I had no problem with her except that I detected a mild annoyance in her tone. How rude.

Then, dessert time!

A slice of choc & walnut cake which I found to be very dry; the pretty kiwi roll looked better than it tasted. I'd like it to be more tangy; the coffee mousse cake was alright but too bad I'm not really a fan

The watermelon was deliciously crispy and sweet; the oranges and dragon fruit were alright.

Well, the annual dinner done with, and tomorrow school closes for another year. It's the end of year 12 of my teaching career. I feel so ancient. ;p

A Rare Working Trip to Sibu

I was called to attend a course in Sibu. Well, well, well. That's something I had not done in many years, especially since the massive budget cut from the Education Ministry. The last time I attended such a course was probably back in 2004. Anyway, I was holed up at Kingwood Hotel for 3 days and 2 nights, and at one time, my brain felt like it was exploding with the amount of information that I had to absorb.

Kingwood Hotel. It's located by the Rejang River. It's the biggest hotel in Sibu, as it recently added a massive new wing to the original hotel building. However, apart from the fact that it's really huge, I don't think I have much good things to say about it. There is nothing luxurious-looking about this hotel. The interior is bare, not even a place to sit at the lobby.

Firstly, my room was located on the old wing. It was big enough to accommodate 2 queen beds, but the furniture looks shabby. Everything feels old and worn, so even though it's clean, it doesn't really give the impression that it is.

My room

There was a 21-inch box television. No remote control, but one could navigate using buttons at the bedside table. But I did not bother to watch television as the channels were very limited. There was only BBC, NHK, Lotus Macau, and the local channels. Picture quality was quite bad, in that they were grainy. Not much of entertainment there. My only consolation was the free wifi. At least I could go online!

Coffee and Tea Making Facilities Without the Coffee or the Tea
I found it quite amusing as we were provided with a jug kettle, cups and saucers and even plastic stirrers. It is just that I could not find the tea bags of coffee sachets anywhere. Lol.

We had our seminar at 3 different locations at the hotel. On the first day, it was held at a very small room. There were about 80 of us there and it was cramped. Thankfully, I found the sharing interesting and was able to forget about my discomfort for a moment. On the second day, we were at a ballroom at an annex building. I was glad that there was plenty of space this time. My only gripe was that the entire ballroom smelled stale. On the final day, all of us lost our way as there was a venue change and we were not informed. Hmn. It seemed as if the hotel took us for granted, shuffling us around as they pleased.

We had all our meals at the Riverfront Cafe at the Ground Floor. There isn't much that is impressive about the food. The breakfast buffet was ordinary, and for every lunch or dinner, we get white rice, a soup, 2 meats and a fish and 2 vegetables.

Because my flight was a 6 p.m., I asked for an extension of the check-out time to 2 p.m.. At first, I was told that I couldn't. Then when I asked again, I was told that I could check out at 1.30 p.m, or earlier. Grrrr. So inhospitable.

Anyway, the course was jammed packed. I learned a great deal from practitioners. Teachers who had done and were sharing how they went about doing stuff in school. However, there was a particular guy flown in from Johore, and all he did was bullshit for 3 hours. All of us grew restless during his session but no one dared to show disrecpect. He was after all the Chief Trainer.

"Some people just love to listen to their own voices," my colleague joked.

On the second night, the organisers were kind enough to let us off so we would get a chance to go around Sibu. My roomie was a Sibu local, so she brought me walkabout. Our destination was to Wisma Sanyan. She wanted to buy clothes there and I was happy to buy some too. Lol. We walked from the hotel along the esplanade, and passed the wet market, turned into a row of shops before reaching Wisma Sanyan. It took less than 15 minutes, but it was a hot evening and we were drenched in sweat by the time we reached there.

We spent a long time at the boutique of my roomie's choice. She tried pieces and pieces of tops and skirts and shorts and dresses. I tried my fair share too ;p. The lady who served us was elderly and she was very helpful and friendly, and I enjoyed chatting with her while waiting for my roomie.In the end, I bought a decent black skirt for work. Happy.

We then walked back to the hotel via the Pasar Malam.

The sign

Pasar Malam

The Sibu Pasar Malam is an attraction. There are plenty of wares to browse - clothes, bags, accesories, and of course, food. I could not resist buying some snacks.

Kompia
Often known as the Sibu or Foochow bagel, this bread is deep-fried, resulting in a fluffy texture akin to that of a doughnut.

Then the kompia is slit open and stuffed with spiced minced pork.

5 pieces sold for RM2.00 at the Pasar Malam. My roomie actually discouraged me from buying as she said it was not yum. However, how could I go home without eating kompia?? I would not be able to forgive myself!

Actually, I did find the kompia to be perfectly edible. The filling tasted savoury, with a hint of 5-spice powder and it complemented the bread quite well.

Steamed baby buns, RM2.00 for 5 pieces

Char siew filling

I liked the skin of the bun as it was fragrant, light and fluffy. The filling was pork in char siew sauce and bits of crunchy veg but it was not very impressive.

Just round the corner of the hotel were a number of coffee shops. My roomie actually wanted to bring me for a Kampua Mee dinner at her favourite stall, but unfortunately, it was not selling that night.

Hence, we walked down further and passed a shop called Sing Hin Corner and my roomie commented that it was operated by her school mate. And impulsively, I dragged her to the shop where we had "White" Kampua Noodles. White because it was not tossed in soy sauce or chilli sauce.

Kampua Mee, RM2.20

Well, the noodles were a bit soggy and not as fragrant as it could have been. It was a tad dry and I did not really like the pork slices. I prefer Char Siew. ;p

After dinner, we walked the short distance back to our hotel and retired for the night. Such a rare occasion for me to be in Sibu when I'm supposed to be slogging at school. ;p

Notes, notes, notes

Came back today and found a note stuck on the door of the microwave oven. It said, "Kindly cover food when heating in the microwave".

Well, well, well .... If I had wanted, I would have stuck some notes all over the house! Ones that go along these lines ....

"Don't leave dishes unwashed in the sink."

"Clear the fridge of all stale food and condiments."

or better still

"Who occupies the fridge with ONLY her stuff?"

and most of all

"Don't BANG the stupid doors!!!!!!"

God, help me!!!!!!!!