Today we got to sleep in a bit longer and had a fantastic breakfast buffet at our hotel. After breakfast we met to discuss the plans for the church service in Kuching, and then we were given some free time until we had to leave for the bus station at 11:30. Meggie and I ran to the mall to get some snacks for the trip, and she also got an adorable pineapple-themed Swatch. Time well spent! :)
We packed our backpacks and met in the lobby to walk to the bus station. It was only a couple of blocks away, and we got even more snacks while waiting for the bus. We had a 45 minute drive through the countryside to reach the airport where we would be flying to Kuching, Sarawak in east Malaysia. This portion of Malaysia is located on the island of Borneo, so a plane is the best way to get there.
We got Laksa (curry noodles) at the airport while waiting for our flight, but I think there are better versions of the Malaysian dish outside of the airport. Our flight only took about an hour, and I was excited to be able to see the Sarawak river, the umbrella-shaped Parliament building, and even our hotel from the window of the airplane.
We met Nicole, the travel guide from last year, at the airport, and she took us to our hotel. We are staying at the Grand Margherita again this year. We have a view of the Sarawak River from our room, and we can watch the little passenger boats zip back and forth across the river each day.
We dropped our stuff at the hotel, then went to an Indian restaurant called Curry King. It was so good, yet so different from the food we had tried the night before. The Indian food in JB had been South Indian, with crispy wafers and banana palm leaves. In contrast, the food we had tonight was North Indian, with various types of Naan and chapati. Tonight's restaurant was also a lot fancier, and we all had Mango Lassi and fresh limeade. We had just about the same amount of food, but the meal here cost about three times as much as the meal in JB. I think it is because the restaurant was substantially fancier. The food was amazing, though. I'm really glad we got a chance to try it.
After dinner, Dr. Perumal showed us around Chinatown here in Kuching. The Chinese festival of the "hungry ghost" is currently taking place, and on the streets of Chinatown people were burning paper offerings (representing money) that they believe will go to their ancestors who are in the afterlife. Also in the Chinatown area, Petronas is sponsoring a mural-painting project on older buildings to try to revitalize the area. Even in the late evening, we were able to see the artists work on these giant murals. We also found an area of Chinatown that seems to be the go-to location for backpackers. It had lots of trendy hostels and hipster restaurants begging to be Instagrammed. We'll have to come back for a meal at one of these places.
Bus ride to the airport
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