[Throwback] Wanderlust: Sarawak (Part 1)

(Yeap people, you've seen it all - I've procrastinated once again lol. It's pretty hard to keep on track for something that I don't really attached to hm hm)

For the past few days, I've been seeing most of my friends went holiday to every parts of the world (because everyone seem obliged to post everything on SNS - but I am most likely to hit on Instagram lol). I feel quite jealous (and emotionally drenched hard sobs) because it has been a while since the last time we had family vacation sigh.

So I thought a #throwback would do some justice here lol (It's definitely something worth sharing I promise) Rewinding to May 2013 when I went to Sarawak with my best friend, Azura for the Gawai Celebration. Here's the fact : Azura's dad originated there of Bidayuh descendant so yeap, I was actually following her family to their hometown in the outskirt of Bau, Sarawak.

(Disclaimer: The entry series would contain less pictures because most of the photos were taken with a 5MP smartphone camera because I didn't own a DSLR back then and that it was not until few months later that I upgraded to a smartphone with a waaaay better camera. Worst case scenario? Those photos were completely gone when my mom accidentally formatting the SD Card. SCREWED.)

Granting my parents' permission for the trip ain't one easy task, man. I begged them for literally years! Glad that those hard works are paid off. Hihi. (Did I tell you that I saved up to pay the entire expenses by my own? Lol)

To be honest, the budget for the trip was quite el cheapo I must say. I think I literally paid for the return flight tickets and some shopping, whereas the entrance tickets to certain attractions, meals and transportation were all paid by the family. Accommodations of the 10-days stay were completely free of charge, of course. Meals were courteously prepared by their relative, whose house we stayed at while we were in Kuching town.

To cut the costs, we chose to board in Air Asia (even though the tickets were still somehow costly at that time). Few hours before departing I received non-stop calling from my mom because she was super worried about letting me go on my own (obviously it wasn't really on my own because I was still under the family's strict supervision LOL.)


Don't judge how much I weighed back then. LOL.

The flight duration wasn't that long, reached Kuching Airport by mid day. We were warmly greeted by their relative (I cannot help myself but to feeling extremely awkward), whom were taking us right away to their place at Satok, Kuching.

The family runs a small F&B business, Yong Hua Cafe (If you happened to visit Satok, please drop by their place because they make the SERIOUSLY UNBEATABLE SCRUMPTIOUS LAKSA SARAWAK AND MI KOLOK EVER I SWEAR I'M NOT LYING haha. They also made the Halal version of Bak Kut Teh, which is really famous among the Malay community in Kuching town. Don't worry, all the ingredients used are Halal though, I've been in their kitchen too). So we stayed there for two days before leaving to Bau and made frequent trip there days after. To be honest, we went to places around Kuching to savor the Mi Kolok, Laksa Sarawak and the famous Teh C Peng/C Layer Tea (note: Peng means cold/chilled in Sarawak Malay dialect) at almost every stop we made and none of them can beat the ones at their place.


Mi Kolok :) [http://www.instagram.com/syafirasaufi]

Went to the Kuching Waterfront later in the evening only to find out almost all the shops were closed for business. It was only later I learnt that most businesses are not to operate after 5PM, and that Maghrib is at 6.30PM, and that the sun begins to brightly shine at 6AM. I was literally experiencing the 'culture shock' of the different time zone. LOL.

Water taxi at the Waterfront if you wish to touring along the Kuching Waterfront. You can opt for a cruise for longer and more comfortable ride but it would absurdly burn a hole in your pocket. Or if you are the thrill-seeker kind of person you can always opt for 'bot penambang' instead which were way cheaper than both opt.

Went window shopping at few premises alongside the Waterfront that were still running, and bought nothing, because most of the items were highly marked up, thus, the price became seriously unreasonable.


The picturesque sunset.

(I'm gonna tell more on the best place to do the bargain shopping in my next post)

Till then :)

P/S: Ramadhan Kareem to Muslim readers! May we all benefit from the holy month, insya Allah :)

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