Fort Emma (2022)

My last visit to this fort was back in 2009. By looking back at my previous photos and the current one, the fort definitely been given a huge facelift over the year.

The fort itself been refurbished with its windows and doors been replaced to reminiscent its original design. It is now serves as the town museum.

Another iconic icon nearby the fort is the mermaid statue. The colour on the statue had faded but the mermaid is still as elegant as before.

I notice some coins were placed at the based of the statue probably for good luck.

Kanowit Warriors Memorial Park

A warriors memorial park was constructed somewhere in 2018 in Kanowit to commemorate the sacrifice of the local police and army personnel who perished while defending the country during communist insurgency.

My last visit to Kanowit was in 2009 and this site used to be a basketball court just next to Fort Emma from my archive.

The name of the brave warriors are immortalized here. The monument is adorned by a hornbill statue which is synonymous to Sarawak.

SMK Sedaya Lama

SMK Sedaya Lama in Kanowit was one of the oldest government school in Sarawak. It was officiated on 26th April 1958 by Mr. D.C. White, the Sarawak Resident of the third Division.

This school has been relocated not far away from the current site and is now known as SMK Datuk Haji Abdul Rahman Yakub. With the relocation, the old school was left in disrepair.

It is sad to see how the school looks like now. Wish it could be restored to its former glory and preserved as part of the State's heritage.

This place is still a bustling place as a ferry point where people from this side of Kanowit communte across Kanowit River to the Kanowit town on the opposite bank.

Chefway Cafe

Chefway Cafe is a relatively new restaurant in Sibu. It is located at Lorong Dr. Wong Soon Kai 4D, behind Kim Hock Supermarket. The restaurant served mainly western food and Wagyu beef is available here.

The interior decoration is simple, neat and comfortable. It is a quiet place to dine in or simply unwind with a few glass of beers or wine.

There are a few choices of draught beer here and a number of selection of wines. 

There are only 4 choices of coffee and I opted for hot Macchiato Caramel (RM 12). It comes in a huge mug with rich caramel taste.

Grilled chicken chop with black pepper sauce (RM 20) is quite standard with mashed potato underneath the chicken. 

Pan seared assam salmon (RM23 per 100g) is quite unique in the preparation. The salmon is served with a curry assam sauce which coated the salmon chunk. I never ate salmon in such manner and it is interesting the curry assam sauce goes really well with salmon.

Should I have another opportunity to dine here again, I will probably will like to try their Wagyu beef.

Kapit Town Square

Kapit is a small town about 165km away from Sibu which translated to about 2 hours drive. 

The only noticeable landmark in this compact town is the Kapit Town Square which is strategically built in the middle of the town.

With its large square with a proper shed over the stage area, I reckon this is where major events are held in this town.

The design of the square is inspired by the Iban's heritage and culture. From it's physical appearance, I reckon the square was complete about 2 years ago.

Star Hill Inn, Kapit

While in Kapit, most of the hotels here are mainly located on the first floor of the shop houses. The hotel scenes here haven't change much since decades ago. There are not much to choose between them so I ended up with Star Hill Inn.

To reach the hotel lobby in most of the hotels here, one will have to walk up the stairs to the first floor.

Star Hill Inn lobby area is a bit well decorated compare to the others in their class. There is a water dispenser near the check in counter.

The room here is quite spacious but a bit run down. Most of the room rate at this town is at RM 100. Staying in any hotels in Kapit is like staying in a budget hotel. 

There isn't much view from here and one is likely to see another person home who happen to stay above the shop house.

As the town is now accessible by road from Sibu, it is time to have a better quality hotel for incoming visitors.

Tom's Restaurant, Kuching

As I frequent Jalan Pandungan for last couple of months, I just can't miss this Tom's restaurant as I strolled along the row of shop houses here. The restaurant serves mainly western food.

The interior of the restaurant simply blew me away with its rustic colonial ambience. I already like the place.

There are a wide selection of cakes which are worth exploring but unfortunately I didn't give it a try as I came here with dinner in mind.

I notice they have a wide selection of whiskey but the same can't be said for beer. They served beer in a chilled mug.

Baked Lamb Shank (RM 55). The meat is juicy and tender. The side dishes also met my expectation.

Fish and Chips (RM 49). They use local fish instead of the normal type for the same dish. Most of the food here are on the high side but it is totally worth it for the food quality, service and ambience.

Grand Margherita Hotel Post Pandemic

Grand Margherita Hotel is one of my favourite hotel while staying in Kuching. I haven't stay in this hotel for many years now. It was also serve as one of the quarantine hotels for travellers coming to Sarawak during the pandemic.

Little has change to their superior king room. I checked in at 7pm and the towel was unavailable. This had been notified to me by the reception. However, the towels were delivered by housekeeping in less than 15 minutes.

The working chair also shows sign of wear and tear as it was sinking gradually when seated. The window here is still very much sound proof and I was not perturbed by the outside noise.

There is no more bottled water in the room. Instead guest can get filtered water from the water dispenser at the corridor.

The breakfast variety has been reduced compare to my last stay here many years ago. I should skip the breakfast option in my future stay here.

The hotel still offer a breathtaking view of city. This hotel also serves Sarawak Sling which I still haven't give it a try yet.