Thursday, February 17, 2011

I'm in love!

Yes, I'm enchanted, delighted, and generally head-over-heels about Kuching. It's everything you want a tropical city to be: friendly, laid-back, picturesque... The streets are lined with ancient blooming trees and tropical flowers, the air is filled with the scent of incense from all the temples, and the river is criss-crossed by sampans used to ferry pedestrians from one side to the other. It's unselfconsciously filled with great colonial houses and traditional Chinese shop-houses.
Kuching means "cat" in Malay and the town was given its name in the 1800s by the Englishman Charles Brooke, its self-styled White Rajah. The town is very proud of this association and has erected some kitschy statues in honor of cats.
The river is bordered by a long promenade, where everyone in town seems to be strolling, eating, or generally hanging out. I had dinner there tonight, watching the sun set over the distant mountains, listening to the call to prayer waft across the water, and enjoying a hint of a refreshing breeze. It's hard to think of anything better.
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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 8:54 AM

    A city in honor of cats. Um, that's for me, I love the picture with the statues of Cats. It really is a lovely place you've visiting. The pictures are amazing like something out of a magazine.
    Enjoying this fully.
    Patty

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 10:01 AM

    Your dinner along the river, with the amazing sunset mountains pictured, does sound heavenly indeed.

    Second best would be wfh with the windows open, which is me today. Sorry you're missing the belated January thaw!

    We're still waiting for that picture of the batik sarong, please. :-)

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2011 at 10:03 AM

    Sorry, "cf194208-etc." is Caroline. I haven't quite made peace with the profile/login business here, but that won't surprise you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 18, 2011 at 10:27 AM

    Can't wait to visit you when you retire! (Are you sold?) OMG, these pix are beautiful!

    - Karen

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  5. PriscillaFebruary 20, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    This definitely sounds like the place to retire. The smell of incense, the water, and the view of the mountains are all key elements.

    I wonder what it is like in the summer...

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