18-May-2025
PT rarely gives life advice, but here's a little tip for you:
Don't rent an apartment in an old building...
YOU, dear tenant, may be happy to deal with elderly tiles and awkward cupboard doors, and sticky window-catches, but buyers won't be. They will want to rip everything out, and start again. You can't blame them. It's human nature.
The original renovations that made us cafe-nomads for a while are coming to a close (and -- fair's fair -- the people in charge of those have done their absolute utmost to keep us informed, and to make sure working-time rules are followed). But now another reno is under way. After a day of hammering on Wednesday, I again felt the need to shoulder my computer, and drift from cafe to cafe on Thursday and Friday.
To reiterate, I'm not blaming anyone. People have the right to renovate. But -- having been told, when we viewed the place, that the upstairs renovations would be finished by the end of April, and then having been told, when we signed the agreement, that the renovations on our floor would be finished by the end of May -- to read this week that yet another renovation is under way, and will last until the end of June, I can't help but feel that we're trapped in renovation hell. And, like hell, it will never be over.
So, there we are. Don't be beguiled by space and light and airiness. Don't be seduced by birdsong and views and location. If it's old, it will be noisy, so look somewhere else...
You're welcome.
Anyway, on the subject of "old"...
A couple of pictures of Electra House, Kuching's very first modern shopping centre, opened in 1965
Kuching's lovely Gurdwara, which opened in 1912, has also been getting the reno treatment
The Kenyalang Park development, which includes a busy wet market, gazillions of food outlets, lots of other shops, and a couple of shrines, dates back only to the early 1990s, but has an endearing old-school feel about it
It's easy for us to walk there now, so it has become our go-to place for fruit, veges, and dry goods, as well as breakfast treats like fried banana, and Nonya dumplings
No shortage of funding opportunities...
File under "no idea"
Yesterday, meanwhile, we went to a fascinating talk put on by the Sarawak Heritage Society. It featured Malaysian landscape architect Lim In Chong (generally known as Inch Lim), who showed us some of his amazing garden designs, and also the way he has adapted different kinds of buildings in culturally and climatically appropriate ways. And yes, I'm sure a lot of this required plenty of noisy renovation...
Inch Lim in action
I'd love to visit some of the installations he showed us
On the way from the venue to The Spring, clutching the Hokkaido baked cheese tarts we were given at the end
Never old, meanwhile, Kuching's food and drink continues to wrap us in a great big comfort blanket:
Love the osmanthus sencha from Sit & Sip
The view from Lao Jie Fang at breakfast time
A friend introduced us to this wonderful eatery on Saturday. Super-fresh sea-food...
Meanwhile, in other news:
Plants of the week
And Gawai is drawing ever nearer. In two weeks' time, we'll get a noise-free (please God) long weekend...