Borneo Craft

When we came to Sarawak over a month ago we spotted this beautiful woven material but were unsure about it due to its hefty price. After doing some research and seeing all the craft involved in the process of this colourful weaving technique I subsequently understood it was more than worth it. This unique piece, called a Pua Kumbu, has been made by a Kapit lady some years back. The Kapit tribes live within the Batang Rejang River system in Central Sarawak.

Happy crowd

I am impressed by the happy atmosphere the Rainforest World Music Festival is bringing to that part of Sarawak. I do not have the figures but it surely attracts a lot of people. And as any good festival, even though the weather has been beautiful so far, the crowd is knee high in the mud. Tonight's performances included some local bands (Kani'd and Tuku Kame) as well as a Japanese drummer (Hiroshi Motofuji), some African grooves (Yakande), an Oud trio from Palestine (Adel Salameh), a Polish folk fusion band (Beltaine) and a final with Trinidad & Tobago jamoo (Sheldon Blackman & The Love Circle). A very good event with an excellent vibe in an amazing setting (the rainforest in the background just makes things amazing).

Fly me to...

I am not particularly a Low Cost airlines enthusiast as I like to travel comfortably (even when I am generally sleeping the whole flight through) but for short hauls I do not mind paying the bare minimum to get the bare minimum as long as I am taken to my destination timely and safely. Compared to all the no frill airlines I have taken so far, AirAsia has to be my best experience: new Airbus A320, clean interior, friendly staff, organised check-in, departure ahead of schedule, smooth ride, professional crew, etc... I must admit I have been pleasantly surprised. The only downpoint is that there are hardly any flights out of Singapore, therefore I had to take the pain to cross the border at Woodland by public transport and get taxied all the way to Senai (Johor Barhu) airport. But my trip to Borneo remains more than half the cost compared to a departure from Singapore.

RWMF

Today I received my tickets for the Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching that is to take place at the Sarawak Cultural Village from the 11th to the 13th of July. The bill has not yet been fully unveiled but in addition to the local bands there is already quite a generous number of performers coming from places as diverse as Greece, Congo, Japan, India, Colombia, Palestine or Portugal. The picture above was taken during my last trip to Kuching a couple of weeks back. Incidentally, I also snapped a cheap return ticket on AirAsia for less than 70 Eur (except I will have to leave from Johor which is a bit of a hassle).

Sarawak, here we come!

Even though Singapore is a good hub and is quite 'central' in South East Asia, the number of places to travel to for a short week-end is quite limited after all. Once you've gone to the surrounding cities (Bangkok, KL, Jakarta, etc...) you really need more time if you want to visit some interesting sites. I would like to go to Sapa in Vietnam, to some near places in China or further away to Bhutan but two days surely are not enough. Anyway, tonight we decided to leave to Kuching which is in the Malaysian part (Sarawak and Sabah) of Borneo. We could stay for a week or two but unfortunately we have to be back at work on Monday... Let's try to make the most of this short getaway thanks to SilkAir.

Monorail

Here's the view down from our bedroom's window. You can see KL's Raja Chulan station as well as a monorail approaching. The system is quite recent as it opened in 2003 and the carriages remind me a lot of the ones used in Sentosa. This one is a bit more extensive though as it serves 11 stations running nearly 9 kilometers through the city. As we were driving around the city we did not have the opportunity to use the monorail this time. We just enjoyed its sight.

Kuala Lumpur

The Petronas Towers are the symbol of Kuala Lumpur. But I have to admit it is hard not to be impressed especially by night. There was a time where they stood as the tallest construction on earth but they have since been dethroned by the Sears Tower in Chicago and Taipei 101 in Taiwan. Last time I came to KL the neighbouring Indonesian fires where raging and it made it impossible to even see the top of the towers. This time around things are much clearer but I am still unsure it is worth taking the pain queuing for the vista. They are much better looked at than looked from.

Melaka

In preparation of the long week-end we made our way to Melaka where we also spent the night. We had been there a few years back and were impressed this time by the developments that took place in just over four years. It is nice to see that many of those really are to embellish the city that has a great tourist potential. Its location is also very strategic and that surely is what made the Portuguese followed by the Dutch, the British and the Japanese fight to take control of this city over the centuries. What remains of each of these invaders is of historical importance and should be preserved. Some sights give Melaka its own identity like the Dutch Stadhuys Square and surrounding red quarter pictured above.