Category Archives: Travels

Journey to Sarikei

Do you know the way to Sarikei? I’ve been away so long, I may go wrong and lose my way…

Driving Map from Kuching to Sarikei

Map from Kuching to Sarikei

Sarikei is a small town on the central coast of Sarawak, about 348 km or 215 miles drive from Kuching. In our last post, I talked about a few of the things we brought back from our trip to Sarikei. I suppose I should start from the beginning and talk about our journey there.

Continue reading Journey to Sarikei

I Went to Sarikei and All I Got Was…

One of the great things about Sarawak is the large number of public holidays and festivals that all the different ethnic groups enjoy.  The Chinese have their Chinese New Year, the Malays have Ramadan and Hari Raya, and the Dayaks or native tribes have their Gawai Dayak. Schools close during these festival seasons to allow the folks to “balik kampung” or return to their home village.

For us, we would normally take the occasion to travel elsewhere, like when we went to Singapore in 2010 and to KL in 2011 (which I have yet to blog about – I’m so behind!). This year, we stayed local and spent the long Gawai holiday weekend with a group of friends in their hometown of Sarikei, about a five-hour drive from Kuching. Besides some great experiences and memories, here are a few of the things we brought back with us.

Welcome to Sarikei

Welcome to Sarikei

Continue reading I Went to Sarikei and All I Got Was…

Velocity Go Karting in Bintawa, Kuching

I feel the need, the need for SPEED!

Velocity Indoor Go Karting, Bintawa, Kuching

When we were back in San Jose, we had friends whose kids were all the same age as ours. In the Bay Area, there are lots of choices for birthday party venues for young kids, like My Gym in Campbell, Pump It Up in Sunnyvale or even Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay. Those were some really fun experiences.

However, we’ve not really found a lot of birthday venue options for our kids here in Kuching, especially as they approach late childhood-tween years.

Last year, we threw a birthday party for Esther at our place, but catered and organized by McDonald’s. This year, we actually held the party at McDonald’s. (Please don’t hate us!) Our kids are growing a bit older now, and parties at McD’s or KFC are just too boring for them.

Where can 10 year-old kids go for a fun birthday party in Kuching?

Well, we’ve found something that is up to their speed.

Continue reading Velocity Go Karting in Bintawa, Kuching