Try Everything Once

Club Hopping in Kuching
Friday was the last night with the gang from the Sarawak-part of the trip, and after the farewell dinner, five of us decided to check out Kuching's nightlife. We had a great night out, with plenty of rather expensive beer (50SEK/5EUR per pint), and to my surprise the DJs actually pulled a couple of nice beats now and then. They still seem to have a way to go before they reach European standards, but we had some nice, rhythmical, Techno/DnB to dance to. We even tried to get the locals to dance with us, but they seemed to prefer dancing around their tables. Strange.

Architecture and Soul
Having now visited a few cities in Malaysian Borneo, Kuching feels like the most modern of them all. It has probably benefited greatly from the oil industry, and seems to have a significant influx of tourists too. It's architecture is nothing less than stunning, with skyscrapers interspersed with traditional Chinese shops and temples, Malay kampongs, long houses, colonial buildings and mosques. The city was taken by the Japanese in 1941, and liberated by the Australians in 1945, but in contrast to Kota Kinabalu, it was never burnt or bombed. It is no wonder, then, that you can see architecture spanning over several cultures and a few centuries. As with most cities in Borneo, Kuching seems to be under a boost of modernization. There are cranes and new buildings all over the town, and a few of the older buildings are being torn down. I just hope that its soul does not disappear in the process; that it remains a cultural melting-pot.

Museums
On Saturday, I visited the Sarawak Cultural Village, which sports traditional housing of the different indigenous people of Sarawak. These types of museums always feel a little contrived, but nevertheless it is expertly constructed, it feels very professional. The houses are, where possible, built using traditional construction techniques, and are a treat to visit. They are possibly of a higher standard than the original buildings would've been, but that doesn't lessen the experience. There were many displays of craft making, and the interior of the houses contained traditional crafts, arts and utensils. The village also has a cultural show, and me being generally skeptical about cultural shows was pleasantly surprised at, again, how professional and good it was. The Iban - or if he was supposed to be Penan - hunter, with his blowpipe/spear, shield, loincloth and bird feather decorations, who was dancing around looking grim and shooting balloons with his darts, was definitely the peak of the show!
Today, I visited the Sarawak State Museum, established by the second White Rajah Charles Brooke. It was a very nice introduction to Sarawak's history, culture and nature. While I think it might have been more fitting at the beginning of the trip, I could now quickly browse much of the material, nodding in recognition to things I already knew, and delving deeper into new knowledge. The natural history section, which displays much of Sarawak's wildlife, could do with a bit of restoration, but was still impressive. The most interesting exhibition was that of the excavation of Gua Niah, and other important pre-historic sites. I also wanted to visit the Police Museum, located at Fort Margherita, but it had sadly been shut down. Lovely building, and excellent views over the city, though!

Frogs?
'Try everything once' is one of those great sayings which is good in essence, but which you shouldn't take literally. I had set my mind on some Indian food tonight, but the restaurant was closed and I ended up in a food court instead. Naively asking for a recommended meal, I was offered frog... Very well, it should at least be interesting, I thought to myself. So I was served sweet and sour fried frog, with rice and mixed vegetables. It tasted pretty much like chicken, mixed with fish or seafood, but with a fattier texture, and it was a nicer experience than I had feared. It was fairly complicated to eat, since it consisted mostly of bones, and I'd describe the eating process as a combination of chicken wings and crayfish.

Tomorrow I'm off to Kuala Lumpur for the last leg of my trip, and I find it funny how in one of the most modern cities in south east Asia, neither hotels nor camera shops have homepages.