Kuching, Borneo – The Adventures of Samantha and Paul

<b>Kuching</b>, Borneo – The Adventures of Samantha and Paul

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• <b>Kuching</b>, Borneo – The Adventures of Samantha and Paul
• Nerf-war <b>Kuching</b> | The Borneo Post SEEDS by BPOnline
• Entertainers&#39; Night 2014 lights up <b>Kuching</b> : my Sarawak – News <b>...</b>
• Urban Sketchers <b>Kuching</b>: A Feature on The Sunday Post
• Zacharevic moves on to five more masterpieces on <b>Kuching</b> walls <b>...</b>

<b>Kuching</b>, Borneo – The Adventures of Samantha and Paul Posted: 19 May 2014 01:52 PM PDT Kuch­ing was the first of three stops in Bor­neo, a "sophis­ti­cated and chic city" sur­rounded with lus­cious nat­ural parks, all within easy day-visit reach. We'd be in Kuch­ing for four days, stay­ing at the Lime­Tree hotel, high­est rated on Trip Advi­sor. A white minibus picked us up from the air­port, "Just two?" our dri­ver asked. On the sur­face, and com­pared to Kuala Lumpur, the city is small, and beyond the golden crowned Sarawak State Assem­bly and pointed library, it looked like there wasn't much to do. Equally, switch­ing from five star busi­ness lux­ury to a mod­est but quirky and char­ac­ter­ful hotel was a shock to the sys­tem. Nonethe­less, we loved every­thing about this city and this hotel, and we could have stayed twice as long — there's so many places to see and places to eat. It exudes a relaxed charm, not unlike Hoi An in Viet­nam, or even Paraty in Brazil. Kuch­ing at night The Lime­Tree hotel takes a lime theme and runs with it, skips with it, hops with it, and then drop kicks it into some sort of lime shaped net. Every­thing is green; sofas, doors, pil­lows, toi­letries. Drinks are served on green trays with felt green lin­ing. The free wel­come drink is a lime soda, made from home­grown limes. Cock­tails all have a lime twist. Lime trees dec­o­rate the bar and foyer. Then there are the per­fect lime puns, the down­stairs restau­rant named "Sub­lime", the rooftop bar "Lime­light". The shop sells boiled lime sweets and aprons bear­ing the lyric, "I've had the lime of my life". Juicy. With so much to do we were dili­gent in our plans. Within an hour of arriv­ing we'd booked the Bumbu cook­ing class for Thurs­day, met the cook ("chef" is a pro­tected title) and paid our deposit. Tomor­row we'd visit Bako national park, and Fri­day we'd prob­a­bly go to Kubah national park. The hotel offered tours through com­pa­nies to these places, but they cost upwards of £50 each. Instead we organ­ised a taxi pick-up and drop off, we'd do it our­selves for a frac­tion of the price. Set­tled, unpacked, and over the newly found crack on the camera's screen (fixed with some sticky tape from recep­tion), we ven­tured out into late-afternoon Kuch­ing. From the hotel you can walk along the river­front into town, it's a pleas­ant 10 minute stroll if the sun isn't try­ing to melt you. On the oppo­site river­bank is the pres­ti­gious Sarawak assem­bly, it looks gor­geous, though it's not worth cross­ing the river to see inside. The air was filled with the sounds of bad karaōke com­ing from across the river. From the water­front prom­e­nade we found new chi­na­town and the main bazaar. T-shirts bore the Sarawak emblem of a horn­bill bird, wrapped in a green Starbucks-esque cir­cle. Shops over­flow onto the paths, and there are many cul­tural craft shops and gal­leries, some with clas­sic or antique carv­ings that are both mys­te­ri­ous and fright­en­ing. Lit­tle stalls on the road­side sell Kek Lapis, tasty layer cakes of all flavours, from choco­late to bright green pan­dan leaves — tast­ings are free and we must have bought at least four of these lovely treats. Though the canned "win­ter melon" and "green tea jas­mine" soft drinks were so weird we only took two sips, then bought ice cream and more drinks to washout the flavour. Yucky win­ter water­melon and green tea drinks For din­ner we felt adven­tur­ous, look­ing for some authen­tic and rad­i­cal local cui­sine. Dyak seemed per­fect, it spe­cialises in tra­di­tional Dayak recipes — con­coc­tions of flavours with fresh rain­for­est veg­eta­bles that are unheard of. Dayak is a col­lec­tive term for the indige­nous tribesfolk of Bor­neo. Pho­tos of tribes and tra­di­tional tribal acts adorned the walls, along­side oil paint­ings and pecu­liar spi­ralling murals. We started by knock­ing back a shot of Tuak Indu each, a local for­ti­fied rice wine. We weren't sure how much to order, but dishes were cheap, so we ended up with much more than we could eat but with a bit of every­thing we wanted. The curly jun­gle ferns tasted odd, both fresh and pithy. Wild gin­ger flower is quite delicious. A tower of Dayak cui­sine, Ulam raja Next page →

Nerf-war <b>Kuching</b> | The Borneo Post SEEDS by BPOnline Posted: 13 May 2014 11:14 AM PDT Wednesday, 14 May 2014 Entertainment, Lifestyle 314 By Danielle Ringgit @danitbpseeds     THE CIVIC CENTRE looked like a battlefield, with two warring teams running towards each other from opposite sides, shooting and ducking foam bullets while yelling at each other to move forward or take cover. TAKE COVER: Two players from the red team take cover from the yellow team. As one player moved to the opposite end to take shelter behind one of the fences, his teammates shot as best as they could to cover him but he got shot by the enemy players. THE BRAVE ONE: A player moved forward as his teammates covered for him. As one of the marshalls called his name, he sadly walked away to the side and hoped for the best as his teammates continued their noble quest to avenge his 'death'. In the end, players from both teams were completely wiped-out, leaving no survivors. As Nerf quartermaster, Jerome Wei and the marshalls declared the round over, everyone quickly rushed to gather the scattered bullets on the ground before starting round two. NERF QUARTERMASTER: Jerome Wei with his Nerf Blaster, Rampage. "Okay, ready, shoot!" shouted one of the marshalls, starting the next round as everyone started to shoot foam bullets at each other. On a hot Sunday afternoon, May 11th, as much as over 20 teenagers and also some children as young as five years old gathered at Civic Center for the Maximum Cheong organised by Nerf Kuching from 2 to 4 pm. Before starting, Jerome and the other senior players designated as marshalls set up three defense fences and called everyone up to reload their Nerf Blasters with foam bullets. Equipped with Nerf Blasters, some with goggles and even a Nerf vest, these Nerf players looked like ready to do serious battle. THE NERFS: The players before the game starts. Nerf, an acronym for Non-Expanding Recreational Foam is actually a toy brand created by Parker Brothers and is now currently owned by Hasbro. While most of the toys made by Nerf are foam-based toy weaponry, the most popular ones are the dart guns or 'Nerf Blasters'. According to Jerome, the foam bullets can be filled in a magazine or the ammunition storage of the toy firearm, which can accommodate either 12 or 18 bullets per magazine. GEARING UP: The players filling up their Nerf Blasters with bullets in the ammunition storage of their Nerf Blasters. Steve Edmund, 16, from St Joseph first got into Nerf blasters after he was introduced to it by his friend and fellow schoolmate Elcino William, 16, who has been involved with Nerf Kuching since earlier this year. (From left) Steve Edmund, Alano William, Yazied, Arznoor and Alexis Hung. The idea of playing and shooting at people without getting hurt is also what attracts their other schoolmates to join the group, Yazied and Arznood. "When you get hit by the bullet, it does not hurt at all, and besides we do it just for fun." said Yazied, a recent member of the Nerf Kuching. Since it's not as obvious as paintball when it comes to proving or disproving that one has gotten hit, the players of Nerf Kuching go by an honour system where those who do get shot, should come clean and step forward. Alexis Hung, 12, of SJK Chung Hua No. 1, has been playing for a year now and said she loves being a part of Nerf Kuching because it is a fun way to meet new friends and spend time doing a fun activity together. "Nerf Kuching has only one mission, and that is to have fun. And by having fun mean, everyone enjoys themselves in this game, no one gets hurt, nobody argues and in the end, we'll all have a good laugh, that's it," Jerome said, adding that keeping score was not important when playing Nerf. READY: Members of the yellow team in position. While the games generally attract children and teenagers, do not be surprised to see adults enthusiastically popping in and joining every weekend. According to Jerome, those who would like to play in the advanced or adult levels have to be at least 16 and above as the game tends to get rougher, tougher and faster. Feel like joining in the game? Then feel free to check out their facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/nerf.kuching for more information about the games and group. You might also like: Philippines to exhibit artwork at 2013 Art Expo Malaysia Will this Apple I set a new world record? Facebook rolls out 'nearby friends' feature

Entertainers&#39; Night 2014 lights up <b>Kuching</b> : my Sarawak – News <b>...</b> Posted: 18 May 2014 06:24 PM PDT  Email This Post    Print This Post    Loading ... The revellers enjoying themselves at Kuching Entertainers' Night at Lido Star in Jalan Sekama, Kuching, on Friday. KUCHING: The 2014 Kuching Entertainers' Night on Friday attracted a big number of revellers to Lido Star for a night of fun, music and dance. Twenty-one top local indie acts from diverse backgrounds set the stage alight all night long. The party began with DJ Ryan spinning hot tracks to get the mood going before Ryan Chung took the stage and dazzled the crowd with his yo-yo skills. Feasible Bboy members show off their dancing skill. Other home-grown talents who wowed included Havence, Sam Drumming, DJ Cheryse, Feasible Bboy, Nading Rhapsody, Drumcall, Dream Machine, SlaP!, 13Arttitude, 1st August, Dj Chaca, DJ Zam, 2.AL and Rain Lee. This year's edition was also participated by the Supercar Club and big bikers. It also featured a Supermodels' fashion show and magic shows. Organiser Leslie Tnay hoped the state government could support this event as it had the potential to become a major annual spectacle. "This event can become another major festival to boost the local entertainment and music industry, much like the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF)," Tnay told thesundaypost. SlaP! in action. Tnay, who plays drum for SlaP!, opined that the state had plenty of local talent in the music and entertainment industry, and as such there should be a platform for them to unleash their creativities. "That is why we are doing this for the fifth year because we love Sarawak. It is sort of a responsibility for this industry. "SlaP! members have always been committed in our efforts to take the industry forward." Models pose for a photo after doing their catwalk. Tnay said locals should have more confidence for home-grown talents and motivate them to develop further. He praised the Malay and Dayak communities for their great passion and love towards their rich cultural heritage, especially in terms of music, dance and art. "The Chinese should emulate them." Category: Sarawak

Urban Sketchers <b>Kuching</b>: A Feature on The Sunday Post Posted: 17 May 2014 11:08 PM PDT Joanna Yap, from the Borneo Post joined our May's Monthly Sketchcrawl and did a feature for our local chapter of Urban Sketchers which was published today. http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/05/18/going-old-school-life-on-sketchpads/ We hope that this would garner more interested in on-location sketching and sharing.  We have an active Facebook Group for Kuching Urban Sketchers to show their works. If you are on Facebook, don't forget to look us up and hit that Join button!

Zacharevic moves on to five more masterpieces on <b>Kuching</b> walls <b>...</b> Posted: 28 Apr 2014 12:23 PM PDT KUCHING: Lithuanian street artist Ernest Zacharevic will be targeting the outskirts of Kuching for his next interactive mural, divulged the sponsor Spago Property Sdn Bhd yesterday. Zacharevic definitely made his mark here as viral images of a runaway wheelbarrow full of eight baby orang utan and another young orang utan hanging onto a gutter pipe in Jalan Power here exploded on social media. The interactive mural is part of a project entitled 'Brothers from the Jungle', which is part of Spago Property Sdn Bhd's initiative to the community by energising the arts and culture scene in Kuching, according to the press statement. "By inviting Zacharevic to Kuching, we hope that this will inspire local talents to think outside the box on ways to bring arts to the masses. Sarawak is full of unique wonders, although they are hidden and unexposed, and it has great potential to be a major art hub with the support of art-loving members of the public," Spago said. They also divulged that numerous property owners had offered their walls, after they launched the 'We Are Looking For The Wall' campaign on their Facebook page. "It was very important to us that the wall must be in a very easily accessible public location, as we want the whole community to be involved," the property developer firm said. Zacharevic is famously responsible for murals such as 'Little Children on a Bicycle' in Penang's Georgetown, as well as the controversial Lego snatch theft setup in Johor which was erased. So to recap on tourism history in the making on a bustling Sunday morning in Jalan Power near Lebuh India, an air of excitement mounted with the presence of the world renowned street artist. With the sun blazing, the young Lithuanian under a huge umbrella facing a shop wall along Jalan Power which formed the canvas for his three dimensional interactive mural. Choosing the easily recognisable and lovable orang utan, which can only be found in the ancient rainforests of Sarawak and Sabah as his subject, Zacharevic, 27, started painting at 11am. The first piece dubbed 'Ape-scape' uses an actual wheelbarrow sliced in half as a prop which people can hold and pose for pictures. He then swung on to a corner of the wall and painted an orang utan swinging from a real gutter fixed to the wall. On of his audience, Zarina Abidin in her 20s, told Bernama that Zacharevic's murals would promote Sarawak to potential tourists. "People will surely take pictures of these murals as remembrance and I feel this will be a new attraction in Sarawak," she waxed. Alfred Lee was excited about Zacharevic latest pieces in Kuching. "I've seen his work in Penang and taken photos of them. I can't wait to add the murals in Kuching to my collection," he said. According to a 'tip' from a Spago Property spokesman, he will create another five masterpieces in various locations in the city. "Apart from the Sarawak River waterfront area, we have scouted five other locations for Zacharevic's murals," he said. Hit the wall, Zacharevic!

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