Sarawak Museum

The Sarawak Museum was built in 1891 and was extended to its present form in 1911. The building was especially built to permanently house and display local native arts and crafts and collections of local animals as mainly encouraged by the famous naturalist, Alfred Wallace, who was then collecting specimens in the state.

During the Japanese Occupation, the museum was put under the direction of a sympathetic Japanese Officer. As a result, the museum suffered very little damage and remarkably little looting.

Today, with carefully planned renovation and proper maintenance, this old building is used as the centre to exhibit collections on the natural history of Sarawak.

Sio Bee and Soy Milk

Although this dim sum like snack can be found almost everywhere, but Kuching's sio bee is more unique (even the name as well) it don't have fancy topping, neither expensive filling , but it is simply delicious when having it with a glass of cold soy milk, if you are a heavy taster, dip it in chilli sauce, after you have your sio bee you can always have a cup of ice cream at the last stall.

Squid and water spinach salad

Despite of it disgusting look and name, it is actually quite nice and refreshing to eat. The taste is slightly spicy and rather sweet. And it usually served together with rojak (mixed fruit salad). Nowadays this dish is quite hard to find but you can still find it in Kuching open air market.

Races in Kuching

Kuching have various races, example is Melayu, Chinese, India, Iban and Bidayuh. Every races have a unique culture, although the culture are different, we are still able to live together peacefully.

Race : Iban

Iban is an unique as well as the main race in Kuching Sarawak.

Race : Chinese

Chinese is one of the main race in Kuching Sarawak.

Hari Gawai (Gawai Festival)

This is very important festival for people in Kuching and even the whole Sarawak. 

"Gawai Dayak is a festival celebrated by Dayaks in Sarawak and West Kalimantan which is officially public holidays on 31 May and 1 June every year in Sarawak, Malaysia. It is both a religious and social occasion.

The word Gawai means a ritual or festival whereas Dayak is a collective name for the native ethnic groups of Sarawak and neighboring IndonesianKalimantan who are the Iban also known previously as Sea Dayak and the Bidayuh people also known as Land Dayak and the Orang Ulu (inclusive of Kayans, Kenyahs, Lun Bawangs, etc.). Thus, Gawai Dayak literally means "Dayak Festival".

The Dayaks are the indigenous people of Borneo. Dayak is a generic term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups which are located principally in the interior of Borneo. They have their own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayak languages are categorized as part of the Austronesian languages in Asia. The Dayaks were animist and paganistic in belief; however most converted to Christianity recently. Estimates for the Dayak population range from 2 to 4 million.

The idea for Gawai Dayak started war back in 1957 in a radio forum held by Tan Kingsley and Owen Liang, a radio programme organiser. This generated a lot of interest among the Dayak community. Up till 1962, the British colonial government refused to recognize the Dayak Day but instead called it the Sarawak Day. Gawai Dayak was formally gazetted on 25 September 1964 as a public holiday in place of Sarawak Day after the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. It was first celebrated on 1 June 1965 and became a symbol of unity, aspiration and hope for the Dayak community. Today, it is an integral part of the Dayak social life. It is a thanksgiving day marking a bountiful harvest and a time to plan for the new farming season or other endeavors ahead.

Dayak would visit their friends and relatives on this day. Such visit is more commonly known as "ngabang" in the Iban language. Those too far away to visit would receive greeting cards or wishing gawai greetings via radio broadcasting in this modern time. If there is a formal invitation to visit, the guest welcoming (ngalu pengabang) procession will be performed by the inviting longhouse." -from Wikipedia.