On Thursday we woke up and ate breakfast at our hotel. It was a huge buffet, with many different options. Made-to-order stir fried noodles and omelets, Dahl and fresh Indian bread, cold cereal, pastries, fresh fruit, fried rice, more noodles, roasted potatoes, pancakes, tea, coffee, and fruit juice were all on the menu.
After breakfast, we walked to the nearby mall to see if we could do some banking and buy a few necessities. The mall didn't open until 10:30, so we walked down the street and through Little India to an old government building. We wanted to walk inside the gates that were open, but a sign on the fence said "Beware of Snipers" so we quickly backed off. We admired its beauty from a distance as we ran away.
The night before we had stopped into a sari shop and been admiring all the beautiful fabrics and designs. We went back to the same store determined to find a sari that we could afford. They were having a big sale, and soon Tori, Jenna, and I had each found beautiful saris. A woman working in the store helped us try them on.
My sari started out at $213 Ringgit. On sale they were supposed to be $79 Ringgit, but we bought all three together. The cashier offered us a bundled price of $188, to which I offered $150. When he countered with $185, we agreed. I'm still getting used to the bargaining system, like where and how it is appropriate to bargain. We felt that we got a good deal because each silk sari came out to about $20 USD.
After that we went to the mall, giddy about our new purchase, trying to find crop tops to wear under them. It was a big mall, but we couldn't find any.
We were running out of time before we had to leave, so we had to run back to the hotel. Luckily, our bags were already packed, so we put our giant backpacks on our backs and our baby backpacks on our fronts (which is painful for one's arms, but good for one's balance) and ran back downstairs to meet up with the group.
We checked out of the hotel and walked to the bus station. While waiting for our bus, we got fresh squeezed fruit juice at an outdoor cafe. The open-air bus terminal sits right next to a freeway. We could see the freeway, clogged with giant semi trucks who were all honking at the same time. Dr. Perumal told us that they were on strike because the bridge toll between Singapore and Johor had been increased after much fierce opposition. We had crossed the bridge just in time, because today was the first day of the strike. Buses would not cross the bridge, and made passengers get out in the middle and walk to the other side. I was glad that we didn't have to do that with our giant backpacks.
From the bus station it was an hour drive to the airport. I must confess, as soon as I got on the air-conditioned bus, I set my backpack down on the seat next to me and fell asleep. I woke up when we stopped at the airport, and was basically sleepwalking until my feet hit the pavement. The heat and mugginess had just zapped my energy.
We tried to check in at the Air Asia counter, but we were too early, so we went in search of something to eat. SUBWAY sandwiches made for a delicious lunch, and after that we took our bags back to check them in and headed to the terminal. At the metal detector, there were two lines: one for men and one for women. The security checks were seperated in an effort to prevent awkward contact between men and women. This is a predominantly Muslim society where there is much separation between men and women who are not married to each other.
On the other side of the security, we found our gate. I got hot The Tarik (much like Thai Iced Tea) while we waited. Dr. Perumal talked to us about the saris that we bought, and told us that he had a friend in Kuching who could make us shirts to go under the saris. That sounded so amazing--we would get to have custome tailored saris!?!?! If it is possible, we were even more excited than before about our purchase.
We walked out onto the tarmac to load the plane. It was a good flight, and they played American pop music over the loudspeakers the whole way there. The weather was so rough that when we started our descent into Kuching that the pilot had to bring the plane back up and wait for the weather conditions to improve. When we did finally land, the weather had not made much improvement. The sky was dumping buckets of rain. When I picked up my backpack from the checked baggage area, it was soaking wet. Luckily we didn't have to walk very far, and the wet backpack cooled me down.
Our tourguide, Nikki, led us to our bus. We took a short drive to our hotel, the Grand Marguerita, which is on the Kuching riverfront. Tori, Jenna, and I got a fantastic river view. It is such a beautiful city. That night we could hear (although not see) fireworks from our hotel room.
We went to dinner at an Indian restaurant called Tandoori Palace, where we got to try Mango Lassi. Where has this been my whole life?
We will stay in Kuching until Tuesday morning, which gives us lots more time to explore!
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