Day 164. Kyle and Leanne joint blog.

We wake at 5:45 am as John has a singing lesson this morning via FaceTime with his voice teacher back in California.  The time difference creates few viable windows so we schedule whenever possible.  The challenge with singing lessons in a hotel is that we are not sure if there are going to be a dozen excessive noise complaints lodged against us when we check out.

Today, we have a Big Sauce day, but on the lighter side, to hit some of the sights in Kuching we didn’t fit in our first day.  Our first destination is Fort Margherita which is across the river.  We ask the concierge if it’s walkable and he confirms yes, it’s 15-20 min walk. We walk to the riverfront and over a beautiful contemporary suspension walking bridge that takes us across the river towards the Golden topped State Parliament building (also relatively new).  As we reach the other side of the river, we discover that we can’t simply cut through the Parliament building parking lot to Fort Margherita on the other side due to government security surrounding the Parliament building.  

We realize that we are overheated as the humidity is very high we are already drenched with sweat. This is winter weather in tropical Kuching; the locals know better to only walk after the heat breaks for the day. Our trusty Google maps says that it will be another 35 minute walk to go the long way around the government building. After some discussion, we decide we need to Grab (Asia’s equivalent to Uber) to get to the air conditioned fort or we will melt. Great plan until Uber lets us know that there are no cars available anywhere in the vicinity and to try again later.  This is confirmed by the fact that we have not seen a single car pass by on the road by the government building.

Having struck out on the Uber front, we decide to take refuge in closest building, which is the Orchid Garden, a park devoted to growing various species of orchids.  The visitor center is air conditioned and Kyle begs and pleads with the security guard manning the front desk asking him to call a taxi for us.  He finally understands what Kyle is asking and hops on the phone.  He regretfully says that it will be a 20 – 25 minute wait but Kyle happily says that we will gladly wait.

Kyle takes the kids to get an ice cream and water while Leanne wanders out in the garden to look at the orchids.  Some of the orchid stalks sporting purple orchid blooms are more than six feet tall. She is wandering through the flowers when a young man starts chatting with her about the beauty of flowers, love and peace.  He’s a bit strange so she scampers away taking her daily minimum quota of photos. But he persists and gives her a head covering and subsequently a book on the journey of the Quran.  He even puts the head covering over her hair. He speaks of the scriptures and about Islam.  Clearly he is trying to talk Islam with an American, so Leanne politely chats for a few minutes, head covered. As she walks away, she asked if he wanted the head covering back.  He said, “you keep it as I will be blessed for giving it to you later.”   

Malaysia is our first predominantly Muslim country but it’s not out of the ordinary for a woman not to have her head covered in public; however this was the first mention we’ve had that it may be expected of tourists as well. When Leanne returns to the others holding her simplified version of the Quran, John asserts it may have been another possible tourist trap.  He’s always on alert in this way.  But Leanne insists more likely he has the heart of the faithful that we have witnessed time and time again on this trip.  Believing and espousing one’s faith is far from a crime. 

The two taxis arrive and we go next to the museum that gives Kuching its name.  Kuching means “cat” in Malay and cats are revered here.  Legend has it that the English Raja James Brooke asked the locals what they call their town pointing to the sweeping waterfront but the local mistakenly though he was pointing at a nearby cat and replied, “Kuching.” Hence, the town is called Kuching.  However, the locals take the name seriously with stray cats, cat paintings, cat statues and cat references everywhere.  We enter the Cat Museum where that enthusiasm is taken to the nth degree.  From the domestication of cats in ancient Egypt to Broadway’s Cats production, this museum left no cat artifact, painting or history unturned. After just enough canine learning and catnip, we are ready to head out. 

Our taxi drivers insisted on waiting for us at no additional charge so they could take us to our next destination.  Taxi fares must be hard to come by making it a better outcome for them to wait for an hour to guarantee another fare than to risk driving around for an hour and not getting a fare.  Kuching isn’t exactly bustling with tourists.  We head over to Fort Margherita or the second museum in Sarawak dedicated to the history of 100 years of rule by a private British family (not under the Commonwealth as a colony). The Brooke’s family led the Sarawak state through four generations until their exile after WWII. 

It’s back to the hotel in the two taxis who also waited for us at the Fort.  Well, it turns out that maybe we took a little too long in the Cat Museum and Fort while they were waiting because they try to increase the price from 55 to 75. The driver claims that 55 was the price for just the Cat Museum stop but since we added the Fort, the price is 75.  Kyle clearly stated both stops when he gave the original quote of 55 and Kyle doesn’t budge.  Having learned from Leanne’s taxi dispute near arrest in Tibet, Kyle does scan the landscape for any lurking police.  The taxi driver realizes this isn’t going to be an easier tourist rip-off and gives up grumbling, “ok, 55 it is.”

Justin and Corey head out to the Malaysia Scouting headquarters to meet one of the top Scoutmasters in Malaysia.  He greets them royally sharing with them his stories of scouting over his decades of involvement.  The Scoutmaster has attended Scouting World Jamborees all over the world. He has been involved in scouting for over 50 years and has created a museum in the Scouting Headquarters for his collection of scouting memorabilia. He is thrilled that two American Scouts randomly showed up in Kuching and is so excited, he takes Justin & Corey to his village and shows them his home.   

Upon their return, we head back out.  To fulfill the fun quotient, John has found the only bowling alley in Kuching which is not too far from our hotel.  Let’s just say, bowling is not the family’s forte, but we have fun with it.  Corey wins the first game, barely beating out Kyle in the last frame.  Leanne takes the second game with the high score of the day.

For dinner, we head to The Granary restaurant which is a huge warehouse style restaurant. We are one of only a few occupied tables in the huge space resulting in exceptional service. We have grown to love the off the beaten path towns with minimal tourist presence.