Its good to be back for the long holidays. This is the time to catch up with the latest among relatives, meeting new members in the family, seeing nephews and nieces getting a year older, meeting old friends from the schooling days, getting to taste local food which brings back good feelings and memories. Kuching seems a little more bigger in scale in this return. From the little travelling done, plying on common routes familiar to me since young, some notable changes were evident. New roads around town even made it seems foreign and would question if a GPS would be needed. Yet, the charm and warm Kuching-ish feeling never fade away.
Ok, a little exageration there especially the GPS part. As if I have left Kuching for many years. But trully, the little changes here and there are quite evident.
The road from Tabuan Jaya to Kota Samarahan has been widened into a 4 lane carriageway. Now, it is an ease to for Samarahan dwellers to commute to Kuching, forgetting about the unforgiving jam they have to endure in the morning for work and in the evening after work.
The Semariang roads too has been widened into a 4 lane carriageway. In a sense of relieve, I know some of my buddies from Semariang will not have to leave home early in the morning at 6 to reach SGH by 8am.
There is a new shorter route from the airport to Samarahan. Thus, one does not need to travel via BDC, bypassing the jam in that area plus saving up on fuel. I have not personally tried that route yet, but I think that road is not open yet as barricades were still in place. If thats the correct road that I saw and think it was.
There is a new main road that connects the airport to 4th Mile. In the past, there used to be a junction which is prone to jam and danger. Motorists from 7th Mile and those coming from the direction of the airport need to negotiate at this junction as both are crossing into each others path. The 2 lane road leading to the 7th mile is still there, passing through the Penrisen Camp, which is less congested now (due to the holidays?).
The waterfront has been slightly extended to the old poultry market, which is near the entrance to the India Street walk. That area is now jam free. Just for note, the people who used to sell in the market has been shifted to the new Stutong Market. In those days, Gambier Street were filled with a hive of business activities, as it was a meeting point in another. Outstation folks and Kuchingites came here to get their spices and do their shopping before the days of Electra House, Wisma Saberkas, The Spring, Kuching Plaza etc. It was the main taxi point and and bus station to get around town and beyond Kuching. I used to go there to get my earthworm as fishing baits.
These are some of my observations on Kuching City. Hopefully I can supplement it with pictures in the future as a record.
