Super long overdue post, my apologies.
TPS Malaysia - Race 2 Kuching took place a month ago on the 3rd of September at Kuching, Sarawak.
I have never been to Kuching, Sarawak - the east of Malaysia before and I saw that TPS was going to organise one there. That was one of the main reasons I signed up for this race series because I thought of going there for a "runcation" along with my friends. We all signed up together beginning of the year and was always looking forward to this trip. I mean besides that, if we signed up all 3 races we were given a complementary medal hanger #winwin
On our first day after arriving, we were greeted by a magnificent sight.
I heard from a friend this phenomenon is only present in east malaysia(correct me if i'm wrong) because I have never seen it back in semenanjung. A full rainbow!
I was posting insta stories about our arrival and my friend kept asking me to look at the skies. I thought :"Yeah the skies are so blue and beautiful", then she said:"No! Look at the rainbow!". I'm like:"What? Rainbow?! OMG guys look outside! It's a rainbow, like a halo!"
Our first destination was Carpenter Street. According to blogs and reviews, there were famous pork satay and kolok mee to be found here. Kid you not, but it was my first time trying Sarawak Kolok Mee and Sarawak Laksa.
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| Authentic sarawak kolok mee |
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| Sarawak Laksa |
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| Pork Satay |
It was good overall. Still prefer Penang Curry Laksa/Asam Laksa. #justsaying
After lunch, we headed to Sarawak Cultural Village. We were supposed to visit the village and catch some traditional performance but somehow we didn't have enough time so we opted for the beach instead.
Damai beach was just a stone throws away from the cultural village, so we changed into our swimming gears and headed for the beach.
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| postcard material |
While playing in the water, I told them about my encounter with a jelly fish the last time I went to the beach. Immediately everybody started experiencing imaginary jelly fish bite symptoms and was so aware of their surroundings.
After hanging around the beach for an hour, we cleaned up and went for dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant. Normal dinner except for the fern like vegetable that they have here in Kuching.
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| If not mistaken, they call it Midin? |
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| The other vege up there is the pan mee vege, new way of cooking that I've never tasted before |
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| Kuching version of Oh Chien (Oyster Omelette) |
Then, we had Kueh Chap for supper. Can't remember the name of the restaurant but here's a picture of it.
We were staying at a rented house through Airbnb. It was very near the TPS race venue and also this famous Sarawak Laksa stall. We had breakfast there before heading to our next destination.
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| "Best" Sarawak Laksa |
Our next destination was to Lundu town. where we will be hiking to Jangkar Waterfalls.
We had to drive all the way to this secluded town, it was really like a hidden gem.
We had to hire a local guide to show us the way to the waterfalls. She was an old lady but very strong and healthy. Her family and grandkids tagged along with us, it was just like an outing on a relaxing Sunday afternoon with the family.
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| That's the old lady guide leading the way like it was the back of her hand |
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| Our friendly guide dog, wee named her Yaara. There was another brown one and we named him Theon |
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| The kids that tagged along |
It was an easy hike and very shady, occasionally having to cross little streams or climb small boulders to get there.
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| "Please please please don't cramp on raceday" |
We were so excited the moment we heard the sound of waterfall. Upon reaching the waterfall, we were greeted with this spectacular view.
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| Jangkar Waterfalls |
The waterfall was almost 7 storeys high, water roaring, cascading down the rocks. Our tour guide kept on reminding us to never climb up the slippery rocks or risk getting into an accident. She also told us of the recent incident whereby a student drowned while playing a fool at this waterfall.
We quickly put our things down, changed into our swimming wear before diving into the cool clear water.
We also had our takeaway lunch of Kolok Mee, it was an amazing experience to be eating by the waterfall.
After splashing around and taking plenty of photos, we packed up and hiked back where we came from. Will definitely miss this place and hope to come here another day.
Bid farewell to our newly made friends, hopped on to the van, and off we went to our next destination.
We stopped by Tasik Biru or Blue Lake. As the name suggests, the water in the lake was very blue. Besides teal or turquiose, I do not know other shades of blue to describe the colour but it was indeed blue due to mining activities if not mistaken, probably due to iron chloride(wild guess)?
Our next destination was Siniawan night market. Every friday, saturday and sunday, this stretch of road turns into a huge food street, with many stalls selling wide varieties of food. There was even a karaoke stage in the middle.
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| Siniawan Night Market |
We ordered so many food and ate like there is no tomorrow. I mean why not, we were gonna burn all of them off anyway this Sunday after the run #eattorun.
I ordered char koay kak and waited almost 25 minutes for it. Everybody thought it was going to be really delicious seeing I waited in line for so long, but it was just so so.
After dinner, we went to have some ice cream. Gula Apong ice cream, something like gula melaka. Sticky dark sugar and nuts with vanilla ice cream.
Went home after that to call it a day.
The next morning, we went to Bako National Park.
Upon arriving at the Jetty, we had to buy entrance ticket and hire a boat to ferry us to the park which was located at the other side of the island.
We have been eating curry wild boar our whole lives without seeing a real wild boar. We got that chance upon arriving the park entrance.
It looked really old and hideous but was quite tame.
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| Pumba! Is that you? Where Timon! |
We produced our tickets at the information counter before embarking on our hiking trip.
There were various viewpoints along the way. The air was clean and fresh, perfect getaway from city life and the hike was relatively easy.
Our ultimate destination was the beach at the other end of the trail where our boat will be waiting for us. We reached this amazing viewpoint after approximately 2 hours. It was quite sunny and after my previous experience with sunburns, I quickly applied some sunblock despite hating the smell and feel of it on my skin.
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| Thug life(read the sign) |
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| This could be a postcard |
We hanged around the beach, had our usual takeaway Kolok Mee lunch and played some frisbee.
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spotted a cute little hermit crab, it was quite big |
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| postcard material |
After that, we went to M Hotels to collect our race pack for the race.
We all tried our luck at the lucky draw and both Han Qi and Chong won! They were given a free Aftershockz wireless bluetooth earphone each! Running gods, why you no give me luck :(
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| Proud smile on his face |
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| Sooo happy |
Race collection was pretty fast and efficient.
After collecting our race packs, we went to look for more food.
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| One of the "must try" |
Wanted to try the Noodle Descendants as it is one of the popular restaurants here in Kuching. Unfortunately, queue was long and we didn't want to wait 1 hour for it.
Went to the Song Kheng Hai foodcourt. Jefferson introduced to us this coconut and sugarcane drink. Weird combination and first time trying it, it was good though.
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| Weird combination of Sugarcane + Coconut |
Also tried food like Kompia; Kuching Lobak(something like lobak); belacan fried meehoon.
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| Kompia, Its like char siew bao filling in a crispy bun. |
Then, we went to have some ice kacang at Swee Kang.
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That's Milo right there
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At night, we had dinner at Top Spot Seafood Food Court. Food was quite similar to our local seafood restaurant, nothing special so no pictures.
Race Day:
Woke up at around 3am. Flag off was at 5am. So we had to leave the house around 4.15am.
Had breakfast consisting of banana, coffee and some bread. Still no number 2, tummy was good.
Wanted to run with my earphones but forgotten to switch them off the night before, well done Eugene.
Decided to leave my phone in the car, hence no pre-race pictures.
There were many people at the race venue by the time we arrived. Some were doing their warmups; some were donning their superhero running outfit, I think they were some superhero running group from Singapore.
We looked for an empty spot and started our own warmups.
Legs weren't feeling so good due to all the hiking we did the past 3 days.
Flagoff for 21km was at 5am sharp.
Started with a 7 min pace, knew that I won't be able to achieve my PB and hence decided to pace my friend Lynette together with Jo Lyn.
It was great to have company, we chatted and kept on encouraging her, stopping only at certain water stations when needed.
The run was well organised. Water stations were adequate and traffic control was good.
Best thing about these runs is that we get to explore the town or surrounding places while getting healthy by working out together with companionship. It's a great feeling really.
Finished the race in 2:24. Lynette got herself a new PB, really proud for her.
We collected out goodies and chilled around the dewan while waiting for the rest.
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| All proud finishers |
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Warm down routine - dance!
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Went back to bath and rest and then we went to my friend - Azmi's gramma house.
She prepared lunch for us and it was the best Sarawak Laksa we ever had.
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Godlike Sarawak Laksa
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She also shared some of her stories while growing up as a respectable political figure(still is!) in Malaysia. She was warm, friendly and when she spoke, she spoke with vigor and clarity. She kept reminding us to always fight for what is right.
After parting ways with Azmi's gramma, we went to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre to see some OrangUtans.
We got up and close with the OrangUtan. Constantly being reminded not to use flash photograph and to keep quiet or else we will scare them away while feeding.
It was a rare sight to be seeing these OrangUtans as the guide says they will not always come at the designated feeding time. Guess luck was on our side.
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| The bigger that flab of skin, the higher their status. Alpha Male |
After visiting the orangutans, we went for dinner at a place Jefferson recommended. Forgotten to mention that he used to study at Sarawak during his university days so he was our guide and driver.
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| I ordered this pork ribs noodle. So good |
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| This was the main dish - Sichuan Ma La Noodles. Very tasty too |
We had to catch our flight back to KL at 8pm but it was delayed until almost 12am. By the time we reached home, it was already 3am. It was a tiring journey but all worth it.
I am really grateful to TPS for organising this race at Kuching. We had loads of fun, food and laughter.
It was a much needed getaway from work and so glad this trip took place.
Until our next running adventure, keep running, keep eating, keep hustling! #runtoeat #eattorun #roadto???
*photo credits to Jo Lyn, Suli, Lynette, ThePerformanceSeries-Malaysia.
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