<b>Kuching</b> at your fingertips - The Borneo Post Online |
- <b>Kuching</b> at your fingertips - The Borneo Post Online
- Food Hunting: Delicious Beef Noodles in <b>Kuching</b> - rosewong.com
- Savannah: <b>Kuching</b>, Malaysia
- <b>Kuching</b> rebuilding team, look for new coach - The Borneo Post Online
- Art inspiration from Singapore to <b>Kuching</b> | The Borneo Post SEEDS <b>...</b>
- Kolej Sunway <b>Kuching</b> enriches courses with creative solutions <b>...</b>
| <b>Kuching</b> at your fingertips - The Borneo Post Online Posted: 08 Jul 2014 04:13 PM PDT IMAGINE this scenario: you're in Kuching for the first time and the urge to explore a new city makes you bouncy with energy. What would you do? Of course, you would want to know what the must-see places are and what the must-do things are in a city whose name sounds like cat in Malay. So, fishing for any brochures in the hotel where you are lodging might be your most likely reaction. Imagine another scenario: you have not yet set foot in the Bornean city but nevertheless want to plan your holiday ahead. To find out more about what the city has to offer you would most probably type 'Kuching, Sarawak' and see what pops up on Google Search. While you could get a fair amount of information in bits and pieces in either one of the two scenarios mentioned above, a group of undergraduate students have a better idea: create a mobile tourist site that provides quick access to information at the touch of the fingertips. These youngsters, who are pursuing a degree in computer science and software engineering, have taken up the challenge to develop the site in a project called Halaman Heritage for one of the shopping malls in Kuching. Having recognised the electronic epidemic that is sweeping across the world, the students are looking to exploit its potential to the optimum. After having observed a sharp paradigm shift from desktop users to mobile users, and thus changing the way information is acquired online, they focused on hand-held devices, which have become so prevalent in society today that they are 'invisible'. After all, the technology has been a convenient platform for daily affairs from such things as online banking to shopping. The Halaman Heritage site can be viewed on major platforms such as iOS and Android. The game plan is to preserve the cultural heritage of Kuching so that it documents both the tangible and intangible elements of the city. The tangible aspects could include such things as buildings, architectures, scenery, flora and fauna, food, markets, fashion and people; while the intangible could feature the traditions, languages, characteristics of its people, ambience and so forth. The site provides directorial information of travel-related content in and around Kuching with particular focus on the city proper. It contains a repository of information of more than 100 destinations, which tourists would find helpful. These are neatly tucked under six categories — accommodation, tourist attractions, nightspots, restaurants, financial institutions, and convenience stores. In addition, a map provides visual representation of the locations and directions to the various destinations obtained via GPS technology. Advocating the concept of minimalism as the design guideline, the site was developed with a simple interface to provide quick access to useful information. In order to gauge the usefulness and success of the Halaman Heritage project, the students created a simple five-star rating system. Improvements to the site are in the pipeline, and this includes coming up with more in-depth information about the diverse cultures, history of the city, weather as well as other topics that are of interest to visitors. Another feature is to include a column for tourists to express their opinions and share experiences about their visit. Such feedback could be used to determine the features that appeal to visitors and what could be improved about the city, so that 'Cat City' will purr more adoringly for its guests. Marlene Lu is a lecturer with the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus.   | ||||||||||||||
| Food Hunting: Delicious Beef Noodles in <b>Kuching</b> - rosewong.com Posted: 16 Jul 2014 01:36 AM PDT It has been a while since we last hunt for food in Kuching. Thinking about what to eat at where in Kuching is definitely not an easy task. We often ended up at the same places – for example, Chong Choon Cafe at Abell Road, Chong Hui Cafe (near Grand Continental), Oriental Park Kopitiam at Market Road and sometimes when the mood kicks in, we will go queue up at Noodle Descendants. Anyways, sometimes in April, the fiance and I dropped by a Kopitiam – Mee Sin Cafe at Jalan Padungan, opposite Everrise, next to Kapit Hotel's coffee shop. The fiance looking at the Menu or was he peeking on girls? The coffee shop is packed. People come and go very fast as well. We waited for sometimes before our food was served to us. Very good business. Here comes our beef noodles with the delicious chili sauce and soup with bean sprouts. Hohoho. They have other food such as Kolo Mee as well.. but we were there for the beef noodles that was said to be very delicious. Indeed it is. But their Laksa is not to my liking. I need SPICIER kinda Laksa !!! Hmm.. When can we go back for this again? O.O ahlost | Rose Eats | 07 16th, 2014 | | ||||||||||||||
| Savannah: <b>Kuching</b>, Malaysia Posted: 05 Jul 2014 01:24 AM PDT  It's been a busy couple of weeks for us on Savannah. After leaving Brunei, we took a quick detour back to Labuan and then headed to Miri, our first port in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. We stayed there a few days (long enough to see their fantastic Sunday Market) and then did a 3 day, two night passage to Kuching. 
 The overnight passages in this part of the world can get a bit hairy. There are plenty of ships around, but then you add to it the oil rigs and the high probability of logs floating in the water and it can make a captain's butt pucker pretty good. Luckily, we managed to traverse the waters with no incidents to speak of and fairly calm seas. They got a bit rolly, but considering we were supposed to be going upwind, we felt pretty lucky with the calm state of the water.  Our voyage to Kuching was to meet up with a bunch of kid boats. Jake hasn't been with kids in months and for the first time in our cruising history, we felt we needed to take some drastic measures to give him some play time. Unfortunately, the stars were only half way aligned for us…it was a good opportunity to teach my kid that when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. I say half way, because half of the boats were able to make it. All the kids are great, but Jake has latched on to one in particular and fortunately, he has latched onto Jake as well.As for Kuching itself, what a fabulous place. It seems like every town we go to gets better and better. We anchored in the Santubong River for a few days and while it was really pretty, it was very far from town and hard to catch a bus. As a matter of fact, we never saw the elusive bus…we either caught a ride with someone or took a fairly expensive taxi. So we decided to move to the Kuching Marina.
 
   On the way, we stopped at a little island that's part of the Bako National Forest. We attempted a hike one morning but it was just a comedy of errors. We didn't check the tides so when we arrived at the beach, we had to drag our dinghy literally about 100 yards up the beach (there are really big tides here). We were basing our starting point on a sign that said "Enter Here" and a few blurps from some other cruisers. I guess we should have checked it out before dragging the dinghy all that way. The trail went about another 100 yards and then disappeared. There were signs of an old trail, but it was long grown over. The last thing we wanted to do was get lost in a rainforest.
Since it was low tide, there were tons of rocks exposed so we decided to rock hop and see what we could find. Eventually, we thought we found another trail, but it ended at a small Chinese Shrine in a rock, much like the Catholic fisherman shrines we found all over Mexico. It ended up being a fun walk and quite the work out (we had to drag the dinghy all the way back down to the water as the tide hadn't come up by the time we left).
    Our next adventure was entering the Kuching Marina. We've had a gimpy starboard engine for a while. The plan is to get her fixed in Thailand. She chose just the moment Andy was trying to spin her around in the tight, tight space in the marina to give out on us. Thank God for our fellow cruisers, the dock guys and our ever calm captain. We were able to get her tied up without spending any money, but we put on one hell of a show for the crowd. Our most humorous adventure was when we went out to town to find a restaurant that serves sago grubs. Jake has been dying to try them and we finally found somewhere here that is supposed to serve them up nice and tasty. Apparently, they're a local cuisine and a must try. We showed up about 5:00, after watching a movie and were told that they weren't open yet (turns out, the chef keeps his own schedule. We tried to eat there the next night as well and not only was there not any grubs, there wasn't a chef either). We wandered over to another restaurant that I had read about and decided to wait out an upcoming storm there. After partaking in Happy Hour a bit too long and deciding the storm wasn't going to end, we called a cab. Well, he never showed. So we asked the bar tender to call us another cab. After a total of probably an hour or so, a cab finally showed up. He didn't speak good English but assured us he knew the Kuching Marina. I've rambled quite a bit so to make short of it….the only thing I can think of that he thought we said "cuchee marina." Ha! He took us to a row of strip clubs and parked in front of the one that said Marina Lounge. Honest mistake. I mean afterall, a man, his wife and their 8 year old son, where else would they want to go? After talking to his dispatcher on the phone (who spoke much better English), we finally made it back to the KUCHING Marina. It made a good story anyway.
    We're off tomorrow with our new kid friends to explore the Rajang River. Not sure we'll make it the 60 miles up we have planned, but we'll see. Looking forward to some Longhouses, monkeys, crocodiles and maybe finding those grubs. | ||||||||||||||
| <b>Kuching</b> rebuilding team, look for new coach - The Borneo Post Online Posted: 05 Jul 2014 09:58 AM PDT KUCHING: Defending Sarawak Cup champions Kuching is building a new team this year's competition because most of last year's players are no longer playing for the team, Kuching Division Football Association (KDFA) vice president Razali Dolhan said the players would be mostly drawn from the Kuching league. However, Razali too did not rule out recruiting players from outside Kuching Division. "Our new team should be ready to compete in the coming Sarawak Cup competition which is scheduled to be held this September. We are doing everything we can to retain the title this year," he said. This year's Sarawak Cup tournament will be hosted by Kuching. Razali added that the association was also looking for new head coach as Burhaniza Abu Bakar who coached the team last year had left. Razali said Buhaniza's replacement must possess a Class B coaching license. "We want to make sure that only the most suitable person be selected for this job. Applicants will go through a thorough screening process," said Razali. We encourage commenting on our stories to give readers a chance to express their opinions; please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. While the comments here reflect the views of the readers, they are not necessarily that of Borneo Post Online. Borneo Post Online reserves the right not to publish or to remove comments that are offensive or volatile. Please read the Commenting Rules. | ||||||||||||||
| Art inspiration from Singapore to <b>Kuching</b> | The Borneo Post SEEDS <b>...</b> Posted: 08 Jul 2014 01:44 AM PDT Tuesday, 08 Jul 2014 Focus 603 By Patricia Hului@pattbpseeds IT WAS A HUMID and sunny afternoon at the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) Airbags workshop when I noticed the man sitting next to me was busy sketching each musician who stepped up to explain and demonstrate how their bagpipes worked. After the workshop, my curiosity led me to say 'Hi' and ask what he was doing. The man introduced himself as Marvin Chew, an artist hailing from Kuching but who had been residing in Singapore since 1998.  RECOGNISE ANYBODY: Chew showing the sketches of the musicians during the Airbags Workshop, RWMF 2014. Chew informed me that he was back in his hometown to lead a painting trip organised by Singapore Watercolour Society (SWS) from June 25 to 29. A painting trip? That's not something you usually come across, especially now with digital cameras and imaging. According to Chew, 13 of them had joined this trip and although it was organized by SWS, some of the Urban Sketchers Singapore members were also tagging along since some of the members were part of both groups. Before they bid Kuching goodbye, I grabbed the opportunity to check out what these artists were doing on their last day here in Kuching. And so on June 28, I caught them armed with painting utensils in front of the Old Courthouse deeply immersed in their art.  CONCENTRATE: Members of Singapore Watercolour Society (SWS) and Urban Sketchers Singapore (USk Sg) in deep concentration as they paint the Old Courthouse, Kuching. Thank goodness Chew had the ability to multi-task. As his right hand was busy stroking the paper with his brush, we talked about his artistic background. "Since I was in school, I liked painting and anything to do with arts. Thirty years ago, our parents always thought that painting or art could not earn one a living. So I ended up doing something totally not related to arts," he said. The 39-year-old artist put his passion in art on hold for a while to pursue his studies, eventually becoming a certified accountant. "In 2002, I got my ACCA certification. It was also the year I went to find a teacher to learn how to paint using watercolour for two years," said Chew. He may have never taken any formal education in art but studied under a senior professional artist in Singapore. In 2004, he joined the Singapore Watercolour Society as a member while still maintaining his professional work as an accountant. The fruit of all his passion revealed itself by the end of 2011 when he was asked to conduct a watercolour class for beginners at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Museum, which is how he started teaching the art of painting. Unexpectedly, the subscription for NUS class was overbooked and there were people on the waiting list. So he did a second round of the class. It had gotten him to thinking about fully pursuing a career as an artist, but he didn't have the courage to do so yet. He finally took his painting seriously in 2012 when he quit his job as an accountant to focus on painting and teaching art. "I sell my paintings through galleries, private collectors. Some collectors collect my artworks in Singapore. I guess in Kuching we don't have this kind of market. If you asked me to come back to Kuching, I think I cannot survive," said Chew who is also the Vice-president of SWS. What kind of advice would this professional artist have for all the aspiring ones out there, I asked. Chew said, "Practice, and there is no shortcut. Everything you want to learn in life, there is no shortcut, whether it is music, arts, or sports." People always assume that you need to have the talent to draw or paint. Chew doesn't completely believe that, saying: "There is a quote; genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration. It is actually hard work." Joining him on this painting trip was Mabel Yap, a doctor from Singapore. Dr Yap is also one of Chew's art students and has already taken four to five classes with Chew.  THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT: Chew teaching Dr Yap (left) a watercolour painting technique. After trying other art mediums like pencil, charcoal, and acrylic, Dr Yap said her current favourite is watercolour. "I'm always a control-freak, so watercolour allows me to let go, just let the watercolour flow."  I'M DONE: Dr Yap showing off her watercolour painting of the Old Courthouse. Dr Yap shared her thoughts on painting, "Initially it was hard because you'll have this preconceived idea on how things look like until you learn to say 'OK, just draw what you see'. You really need to follow your eyes but not how you imagine it."  Dr Yap who started as a member of USk Sg showed some of the sketches she did throughout Kuching. This is one of her sketches, a boat near Kampung Buntal. This outdoor painting session drew a lot of attention from passers-by, tourists and even fellow artists. Local artist and CEO of Fame College, David Chew also swung by at the Old Courts House that day to sketch, even bringing along his five art students.  ART IMITATING LIFE?: David sketching Chew in action (left) and his final sketch of Chew (right). Throughout the five-day trip the members of SWS and USk Sg visited picturesque places around Kuching such as Chinese Museum in Kuching Waterfront, Siew San Teng Tua Pek Kong Temple, Main Bazaar, Sarawak River, Semenggoh Wildlife Reserve, Annah Rais Bidayuh Longhose in Padawan, Santubong Village, Sarawak Cultural Village, Carpenter Street including shophouses and Old Court House, and Sarawak Museum.  BEAUTIFUL: A watercolour painting by Chew of Annah Rais Longhouse, Padawan.  MY FAVOURITE: Siew San Teng Tua Pek Kong Temple, Kuching in watercolour by Chew.  NINETY-NINE PER CENT PERSPIRATION: Chew believes in hard work rather than talent when comes to painting. Here is his artwork of Santubong Village.  TA-DA!: Chew and his finished painting of the Old Courthouse. You might also like: | ||||||||||||||
| Kolej Sunway <b>Kuching</b> enriches courses with creative solutions <b>...</b> Posted: 10 Jul 2014 03:58 AM PDT Thursday, 10 Jul 2014 Camp'US'life 51 By Jude Toyat KUCHING: In line with Kolej Sunway Kuching's mission to be a leading centre for professional and vocational accountancy courses in East Malaysia, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between software development company Million Software Sdn Bhd and the institution was held on July 10 at the college. Under the terms of the MoU, Kolej Sunway Kuching will incorporate the use of Million Software's accounting software to teach their Diploma in Accounting students, besides offering Million Software training workshops for the general public and for firms.  Signing of the MoU between Million Software Sdn Bhd represented by its sales manager Howard Ng (left) and Kolej Sunway Kuching CEO Joseph Lim. The software developed by the company is very suitable for micro- to medium-sized companies, with a wide range of products ranging from Accounting, Stock Control, Invoicing, Payroll and Client's Account which are all GST-approved. "We know that understanding the need of the industry is the key to success for our products and that is why, we would love to work with industry leaders like Kolej Sunway Kuching. This memorandum marks our company's first registered training centre in East Malaysia, and for us, this is a very good beginning for Million Software Sdn Bhd here," said Million Software sales manager Howard Ng.  Ng explaining the products of their company. Kolej Sunway Kuching is the largest provider of accounting courses in East Malaysia, with a student population of 1,500. Over the years, the college has achieved wide acclaim for offering the following courses, namely ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), CAT (Certified Accounting Technician), LCCI (London Chamber of Commerce and Industry), International Qualifications Diploma in Accounting, and Open University Malaysia (OUM) Institute of Professional Development (IPD) Career Certificate in Book-keeping. Kolej Sunway Kuching is also the first and only tuition provider in East Malaysia, and one of only 7 tuition providers in the whole of Malaysia, to be awarded the 'Platinum' Approved Learning Partner Status by the ACCA, the highest level of approval granted by ACCA to learning providers, bestowed only to those tuition providers that ACCA is confident to recommend to students.  Handing over the special certificate of collaboration between Million Software Sdn Bhd Sales and Kolej Sunway Kuching. In 2013, it was then appointed as the "Centre for Accountancy Excellence for East Malaysia" under EPP 17: 'Transforming Malaysia into a Leading Regional Accountancy Hub in the Asia Pacific Region' by the Performance Management & Delivery Unit (PEMANDU). "We, at Million Software Sdn Bhd are driven to create business solutions for SME businesses to simplify their business process and let them enjoy the benefits of using a computerised system to manage business deals, and with this collaboration with Kolej Sunway Kuching, we can continue to strive in achieving the accounting obligations; the fundamental element in every business," Howard said. Million Software Sdn Bhd was established in Malaysia in the year 2010. The company specialises in developing affordable business solutions for SME business owners, helping them organise their daily business transactions in order to make better business decisions. Its products support multi-users, multi-company and multi-currency transactions, and are being used in industries such as trading companies, service companies, manufacturing companies and non-profit organisations in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and Thailand. You might also like: |
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