sarawak part I: kapit

Since young, I have a dream of writing a book.. I guess it is a "normal" dream for every avid reader out there. But it is always so difficult. I may have a good idea but it is so hard to develop it. At the end of the day, I cannot finish writing it, going on and off. Since I have a long break this time, the longest I will ever have (I presumed), I really want to start writing again. But as of now, I have no inspiration whatsoever. Hopefully, somehow, I can bring myself to write again *fingers crossed*.

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After my farewell trip to Sg Lembing with my pharmacy coursemates, I had a one-week break before I started packing again. This time, destination is Sarawak, a place not really unknown to me as I have been there before in my 2nd year. The only difference this time is I will be heading to Kapit, Clara's hometown. I know, there is nothing much to see there, Kapit being a remote place. But I am curious of this unheard place (at least to me, before I knew her) and also of Clara's family. Lol.

This is going to be a long post, full of photos as I decided to crammed my 2 days in Kapit in one post. So beware >.<

-DAY 1-

Myself, Clara and Jane

We started our Sarawak journey in KLIA. Yay, we booked MAS promotion tickets so at least we were going to have a relatively more comfortable flight to Sibu.

Special service

Our flight was delayed due to unexpected circumstances. From the windows of the boarding room, we could see a HKL ambulance and what appears to be a special delivery truck helping to move a critically-ill patient onto our aeroplane. This is the first we have seen of anything of this kind and we said it is maybe because of Ys, as this is his first time flying.

Little white riding hoods

The journey was short and we just slept. The only person excited was Ys, as he spend the whole time snapping the panorama from the window. I guess it was normal for a first-timer. I had forgotten when I started to lose interest in flying so much.

Right after we land in Sibu, we temporarily bade goodbye to Jane as she lives in Sibu. We then took a taxi to the jetty or passengers terminal. From there, we took an express boat to Kapit, as it can only be reached by boats.

Our boat tickets

The express boat ride was not as bad as I imagined. Lol. It was air-conditioned and was a much smaller version of the hovercraft I used to take to Hong Kong from Macau.

When we reached Kapit, we were greeted by Clara's family, who were very hospitable and even treated us not only for lunch, but a huge dinner as well. Lol. Thank goodness for Ys, who helped to finish the food:) After that, they took us around Kapit. It was a small town, quite isolated from all the major areas in Sarawak but it has its own uniqueness.

-DAY 2-

Day 2 started with me being a nuisance. It is all because of my mom who forced me to wake up at 7am every day, even weekends since my mom is an early riser herself. Now, even without an alarm clock, my body automatically woke up at 7am. Since I was not able to sleep anymore, I disturbed Clara and Ys, forcing them to wake up as well. Lol, sorry peeps >.<

To entertain me, Clara taught me how to make Siu Mai or Xiao Mai for breakfast. Honestly, I am of no use in the kitchen. My mom try to teach me to cook once but I end up forgetting everything afterwards. Unlike most of my friends, I have no interest in cooking at all. The only lunch I fixed myself sometimes is instant noodles or sandwiches.

Step 1: Prepare ingredients of meat (made by Clara's mother), chopped carrot for garnishing and siu mai wrapping skin

Step 2: Place the meat inside the skin and fold it nicely

Step 3: Place the carrot garnishing on top

Step 4: Steam them...

And Step 5: eat them!!!

Not bad for an amateur, lol. I think I wrapped them quite okay, although some of the skin tear haha since I put too much filling in them. And oh ya, they also stuck to the pan after finish steaming. Lol.

After that, we went to Kapit jetty to pick up Jane, who was coming to Kapit for the first time too:)

The Kapit Jetty Passengers Terminal

This is how the express boats look like, they can carry a lot of passengers actually

One of the more interesting places we went to was Fort Sylvia, a museum that was named after Charles Vyner Brooke's wife. He was the 3rd and last Rajah of Sarawak.

At the entrance to the museum

Ys, Clara, Jane and moi

Some of the items on display and this was my favourite - medallions

After that, we had another car ride, touring the whole Kapit town.

Former tortoise garden

Longhouses...you don't see this in KL:)

One thing in Kapit we were never short of, is FOOD. We have so much food everyday, something I am not accustomed to since my house lack groceries. My mom doesn't cook much (except on weekends) and well, myself don't cook at all.

Steamboat for lunch

Soup courtesy of Clara's mother

Now I can see why Clara likes to cook so much - her mother is a great cook! Steamboat was really good and delicious. After that, her mom gave us grilled fish. Wah, talk about over-eating. It is like Kapit own buffet:)

We have snacks some more

Clara's house has no fans, btw. Only air-conditioners. This is a first =.=. And we played a lot of card games, the best is cho dai di. I hope you learn all the rules already, Clara. But Ys keep winning. Huh!

Scrumptious dinner

We had another huge scrumptious dinner outdoors. There were so much food I was so shocked actually. Haha considering there was not really so many of us. Fish, chicken, pork, all kinds of meat. Sorry the photo is so not clear. My iPhone has a lousy flash.

-DAY 3-

Today was the day we will be leaving Kapit to Sibu, Jane's hometown, where we will stay for one day before leaving to Kuching.

Before going to the jetty, we first have breakfast of yet another unexpected Kapit specialty;)

Kapit ROTI CANAI...~!!!!

Roti canai telur

Roti canai biasa

Yes, if you are from West Malaysia, you can understand my surprise. It looks nothing like the roti canai I have back at home. But they are really delicious:) But I still prefer the "original" ones. Lol.

Another interesting thing we had - bai guo

For more photos, they are uploaded to Facebook since ages ago =.=

Next post: I return to Sibu again! =)