Kuching is lovely. Just lovely.

OK, it's been a bit of a hassly week and a half. Hospitals, banks, lawyers, and inland revenue departments are not the stuff of idylls. Not purple in the slightest.

But Kuching rewards mightily.

Here are some of our little walks of late:

The Jubilee Recreation Ground is such a simple little park, and yet it's kind of magical. Every time you go, it seems to be different.

On Monday, it was raining gently. I sat in a pavilion, listening to the fluting of doves, the cheeping of other twitterers, and the plopping of fish in the pond. Every now and then the lightest of breezes wafted over the scent of some tree or bush. This is the kind of moment that focuses you on now -- right now. For a little while at least.

On Wednesday, it was sunny. We walked through the palm area. Very pretty. At one point there was a scent of roses. But where were the roses? No idea. Spooky...





Reservoir Park always makes for pleasant walking, and at the back lie twelve air raid shelters, built during the Second World War by the third "White Rajah", Vyner Brooke.



There are historic graves in numerous places around the city.




The Islamic Museum is not nearly as magnificent as its KL counterpart, but it's very much worth a visit, with artefacts ranging from the quirky (Colonel Gaddafi's camel saddle, and instructions for cleaning your keris) to the culturally fascinating (ceramics with blended Islamic and Chinese motifs) to the absolutely gorgeous (wooden boxes and room dividers such as would have been used by the Malay aristocracy).






The river is always a delight, all the more so at 8.30 and 10.00 in the evening, when you can witness the performance of the (still relatively new) fountains outside the State Legislative Assembly. Awesome. Eat your heart out, KLCC -- here you get a full 20 minutes of music, light, and water, including dancing fountains, and images projected on to a wall of water. I loved it.




In fact, walking Kuching at night is a whole revelation of picturesqueness.



Kuching's street art continues to burgeon.




And of course a whole subcategory of street art is devoted to... cats.


I hope we get to live here. It's a warm and friendly place, with no end of fascinating corners.