165183
21-May-2025
 
I've always liked Sibu. It's not a particularly pedestrian-friendly place, but there's always plenty to photograph.

We started the day at the truly enormous market:

market1

market2

market3

market4

Here you can get a nice little breakfast for two (sticky rice roasted in banana leaves; karipap; roti jala pandan; plus tea) for just over GBP 1 all in. And, of course, you can also take the measure of all manner of (to us) unidentifiable produce.

After that, we moved on to the Tua Pek Kong temple. It's over 100 years old, and survived the big fire of 1928 and the Japanese occupation. Allied bombardment in 1945 caused considerable damage, but the deity was unharmed, and eventually the repairs and renovations were completed:

ding

tpk1

light

candle

gate1

gate2

bicycle

mural

On previous visits, we'd never climbed the impressive pagoda (built in the late 1980s), but it's definitely a worthwhile thing to do. (Just ask for the key at the counter in the temple.) Not only do you get great views from the top, but you also see some interesting objects on the way up:

complex

pagoda

buddha

cross&lanterns

river1

river2

balustrade

fatbuddha

guanyin

Aside from these big draw cards, there's plenty more to see as you trot around:

star
Remnants of Sibu's old cinema scene

rex

antiht1
All in a good cause

antiht2

shophouses
Plenty of colour

heartsibu

nets

monument

kampunghouse

bird

night

All in all, I'd call that a good day.
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