Though I’ve been here in Kuching over a year now, I’ve barely been outside of the city. Partly because of that, I had the impression that all the “real” nature was to be found far into the uplands. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I visited Semenggoh just a half an hour’s drive from […]
Category Archives: Nusantara
Kubur
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e visited my late father-in-law’s grave on Eid al-Fitr to read Ya Sin and pray on his behalf. This is a common practice on the Eid, maybe because families are gathered together at that time. He was buried only about a kilometer from our village. The cemetery was so humble and unassuming. Graves were marked by […]
Biawak II: Son of Biawak
as maghrib approached, my wife heard a rustling in the back yard. About five feet from our back stoop was an enormous biawak, apparently stalking a young cat sitting atop our recyclables.
Petai
Some pictures of petai, a green bean used in Malay home cooking. It grows in long pods on a very large tree of the Legume family, Parkia speciosa. The beans are very pungent. I’ve most often seen it cooked in sambal tumis ikan bilis, a fried chili paste with dried anchovies. It is also eaten […]
More Kuching Waterfront
Here’s one last picture that should have gone with the last set. It’s the city hall of North Kuching, perched on a hill. Some of the older neighborhoods of Petrajaya, the city’s north bank, can be seen in the middleground. Kuching is split into two separate cities, North and South Kuching. It’s a very arbitrary […]
Kuching Waterfront
Here’s a few shots from the Kuching Waterfront, the biggest tourist attraction in town. It runs for about a kilometer along the Sarawak River, from the historic wharf district with its wet market and shophouses to highrise hotels and shopping malls on the far end. One lovely thing about Kuching is that from almost any […]
Strange Fruit pt. 5: Jackfruit
In Michigan, where I’m from, we have large fruit; watermelons and pumpkins for example can reach great size. Sensibly, these fruits grow on trailing vines, right on the ground. But imagine a fruit that size that grows suspended from a tree! Aiee! Maybe it’s called Jackfruit because it will jack you up if it lands […]
Beyblade!
Maybe I’m out of touch with what’s happenin’ on the playground back in the States. But I can tell you what is on the minds of every 4- to 7-year-old kid I’ve met here