We've been back a week now, which is my cue to document some of the changes we've noticed since we've been back in Kuching.

It's hot... It's not just that we've de-acclimatized. All the locals are complaining it's hot. And it's dry. There used to be a dry season here. But people we'd spoken to in previous years said it didn't really happen any more. Maybe the old pattern has reasserted itself this year... Certainly, some rural areas are struggling with water supplies.

And food prices, as they are everywhere else, are rising. We've definitely noticed this as we've been out and about shopping.

The built environment has also been modifying itself in various ways.

When we moved in here, we had a building site to our right. Indeed, during the many and various lockdowns, part of our entertainment was to document the different stages of the construction process (during the strictest lockdown, work halted, which gave us some welcome respite from the racket). Well, it's a building site no longer:


And of course we have another building going up to our left:


St Peter's (just down the road) is also making progress:



On a more artistic note, the final bit of the mousedeer and crocodile story has been painted:


And the Roxy Cat, not to be outdone by his Big Padungan friend, obviously used Hari Raya as an opportunity to display his sartorial qualities:


But -- and I'm really sad about this -- the metallic cats down by the market have gone. (You can find our pictures of them here, here, and here.)

I really liked them. Liked the way they weren't cuddly, just to make a change. Liked the way their illuminations enlivened our early-morning walks. I'm hoping they've just gone off for a wash and brush-up, and will return. Can't find any information, though.

The other thing it's a little upsetting to lose is the mural on the riverside by the Grand Margherita. (See here, here, and here.)

No longer in its place either is The Dyak, a Kenyah restaurant that we enjoyed eating at a couple of times before the plague struck. Apparently they still do deliveries... Must check that out...

Something that has really gone from strength to strength, on the other hand, is the no-longer-so-little shrine behind Jalan Padungan.

I love this atmospheric little place, with its humble premises sheltered by big trees, and its incense stretching out to greet you from afar, and I have often mentioned it (most recently in November, just before we went away).

We don't even know its name, so I can't find out much about it, but as we regularly walked past it on one of our standard pandemic circuits, we kept noticing that it was becoming more and more popular, with more people worshipping there, and more shrines and burners being added to the locality.

And here it is as we saw it today:


Part of me is delighted by the love and care that are obviously going into this place, and part of me hopes they don't completely overwhelm the simplicity of the site... But these things are not for me to judge.