LOL: Kuching, Malaysia

LIFE AS A MALAYSIAN LADY OF LEISURE

For the past year of my life, I've been thinking about, talking about, and dreaming about what I would do when we finally moved to Kuching. I cannot even begin to count how many times people have asked me, "So, what are YOU going to do over there??" After a while, my answer became simply, "Be a Malaysian housewife!" I found that this 4 word response was easy and typically satisfied the curiosity of the questioner. :)

Now that Johnnie has changed jobs and our travel plans have changed, I will not be getting the full expat housewife experience. But I decided to make this post to show you all what some of my days as a lady of leisure would have looked like!

While the guys were off at work, Heather and I would have nice, relaxing mornings to ourselves in our respective condos (we were SO glad when we discovered that we both preferred to enjoy our coffee and breakfasts slowly and without pressure to rush!).

Here's me (see the toes??) enjoying my coffee and the view from the couch.

For those who know me well, you know that I watch A LOT of T.V. Pretty much, when I'm home, the T.V. is on. Even when I'm not watching, I like the noise in the background. But here, in our condo, I almost disliked having the T.V. on. Very strange feeling for me...

But the sounds of Kuching and of the jungle were all I needed. I could just sit and listen all day to the birds chirping, the wind (and other small animals) running through the trees, the frogs talking, and even the faint sound of chanting five times a day for the Muslim call to prayer.

I was perfectly happy on days when Heather either didn't have the car or wasn't feeling up to going out. Like I said, I could sit and do nothing in our condo all day and never tire of it!

Most days, however, we did venture out! Because Johnnie and I were only going to be in Kuching for a few weeks, I decided not to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road. Instead, I let Johnnie and Heather chauffeur me around! :)

Here are some pictures from a day Heather and I spent down by the river...

The riverwalk...

Heather in front of the Parliament building...

View from the riverfront of the mountains and a "river taxi."

This is how you get from one side of the river to the other! The "cabby" saw that I was taking a picture and decided to pose for me. :)

Gazebo along the river...

Chinese temple in the center of town, right across the street from the river.

Cool art statue...

James Brooke Cafe...the restaurant I frequented the most while in Kuching! Englishman James Brooke was the first "White Rajah of Sarawak." When he arrived on the island in 1838, he helped to settle an uprising between two of the major tribes in Kuching. After peace was brought to the city, he was given his title of Rajah or "ruler."

Kitty statues outside of James Brooke Cafe...

Lunch at James Brooke Cafe another day (notice the costume change). :)

I ordered laksa every time I ate here!

View of the river from our table...

Heather and I also did quite a bit of shopping! It felt like a lot of that was for groceries, since you often have to go to multiple stores to get everything on your list!

Outside one of the grocery stores...

At least they have the fish on ice here!! Not always the case. Yikes!

Oh my goodness, the fresh baked bread was so delicious in Kuching!

Whoa!

Here are some pictures from our non-grocery store excursions. :)

Shop fronts...

Wooden handicrafts made by local Iban tribe members!

They sold these cat statues EVERYWHERE!!

One afternoon, while shopping on the Main Bazaar, we heard loud beating drums. The sound of drums was becoming pretty normal to us (because we were in the middle of the 15 day Chinese New Year celebrations), but these drums were really close! We walked out of the store and saw the source...

And the dragons!! They were dancing in and out of all the shops on the Bazaar!

I love this one! I wish I had gotten more pictures of the dragons, but we were in a hurry to pick up Heather's son, Richie, from school.

Because it's still monsoon season in Kuching, I was expecting a lot more rain than what we got while we were there. Sure, most days were overcast and there was usually a sprinkle once or twice. But only one day, did I see anything that could truly be considered a monsoon. Here are some pics...

What better way for ladies of leisure to cap off a successful day of shopping (or sitting on their bums) than with happy hour and more amazing condo views! Ok, maybe we only did this once, but I'm sure there would have been more HH evenings had we stayed! :)

These pictures were taken from one of Heather and Eddie's balconies (they live in the same condo building, but four floors above us).