Ruth, John's Place, Kuching

Ruth is a great source of local information, fabulous cook and tireless worker.

Ruth and her husband John, run John's Place guesthouse and restaurant. Ruth also prepares the sambals, does some of the cooking and ensures a tightly run ship at the Kuok Pin Inn Restoran. Ruth is a powerhouse- her day consists of an early morning market run for 2 restaurants, organizing the staff at the guesthouse, training staff at the restaurant and bringing up 2 children. Ruth found time to show us around the market, take us out for breakfast and do a cooking demo for us, all in the one day.
It was so beneficial to have a local with good food knowledge and great english describe the unusual produce and it's uses to us.

Kuching, not a place to get on the wagon.

We found the booze in Kuching to be a lot more accessible and very acceptable. We all felt very at home here, with a great drinking culture found in the many bars around town.

We were shouted at least 2 nights (that we can remember) on beer by some of the extremely friendly locals who love nothing better than a chat and a laugh.

They were full of all kinds of interesting facts and travel trips throughout Sarawak, of which they are very (justifiably) proud.

John's Place, Kuching

John's Place- run by Big John (surprise surprise), was a score.

John's Place had only been open for 4 days when we stumbled across it. The rooms were luxury compared to some of the places we have stayed. It is in a very central area and the staff are great. We somehow managed to score a room for Rm 55 for the 3 of us. We did however stay for a week, and what a week it was. Downstairs is John's cafe which serves a ripper Tom Yum and very cheap beer. Many locals come here for a beer or 20 and we somehow found ourselves indulging night after night.

Anything goes at the Sunday market on Saturday

The Sunday market in Kuching is one of the most lively, vibrant and entertaining markets in Borneo.

The Sunday market which we visited on Saturday afternoon, is a weekly event. This market is run by surrounding village people who come here to sell their wares. They move into their spaces on Friday evening and stay there for the weekend. This was one of the more raw markets we have discovered. On show were whole, freshly slaughtered beasts, black skinned chickens and live seafood specialities. We also found baby shark.
The fruit and vegetable section was very comprehensive, with the locals taking great pride in their produce display. Here we saw a wide variety of jungle fruits and exotic,edible plants.
Kuching also offers a wide variety of wood carvings, ceramics and textiles. It is the best place in Sarawak to find authentic tribal crafts like bead work, basketry and weaving. A lot of these crafts can be found around the waterfront.

Frogs, great noodles and a whole lot more

Having seen frogs on menu's, but yet to try, our time was up. It wasn't just the eating that would surprise, but the whole process that was involved.

"Food Comes First", opposite the Kuok Pin Inn, is a ridicously over staffed Chinese restaurant (we counted 19 staff at one stage). A variety of live produce is displayed in tanks at the front of the restaurant- namely frog, fish and udon gala (freshwater crustation somewhere between a yabbie and a crayfish). Other delicacies to choose from include: deer meat, turtle soup, rabbit and suckling pig. The sweet n' sour pork was Mmmmm.
We selected 3 frogs from the tank (5 Rm per 100gms). A quick snap with the wrist smashed the frogs head on the bench killing it instantly. The frogs were then sliced open up the backbone, skinned and gutted over the bin at the back of the shop. Once chopped up they were coated with soy, black vinegar, garlic and loads of fresh ginger and then steamed for approx 10 minutes. The result being a tender, succulent taste experience. The myth of frog tasting like chicken was shattered. They were more like sea scallop in texture and slightly fishy in flavour, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
A good choice for any time of day is the Wonton Mee; a combination of freshly made pork wontons, egg noodle, bbq pork and chicken mince at the chinese hawker centre for about Rm 3 ( aus$ 1)
Kuok Pin Inn Restoran serve up a fantastic Kuey Tiow (fried noodles). It is the speciality of a girl who has worked there for 8 years- she is from a local tribal family. It is perfect every time, nice dry noodles- not oily, cooked on a flat top grill. The restoran is well known for it's bbq/baked fish which is always fresh and tasty ( at least it was the 3 nights in a row we had it). There is also cheap Beer available here.
An interesting place to check out for unique roti is Kopi O Corner (cnr Jl Satok and Nayor)

Malaysian Borneo

After 7 weeks traveling around peninsula Malaysia, we have arrived in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. There is a big celebration on the way as locals gear up to celebrate Merdeka(Independence) Day on the 31 August.

There will be cultural shows, fireworks, air-shows and parades to celebrate Independence Day (Hari Merdeka) in Malaysia on August 31. Next year is bound to be even bigger as it will be 50 years since independence. There is also the upcoming Borneo Cultural Festival. This is taking place in Sibu during September, and will include a Traditional Food Fair.