After all the introspection of yesterday evening, it was time to get out and CELEBRATE!

Not that the weather was exactly encouraging at 9 pm when we set off. The rain had gone into steady downpour mode, and we very nearly bottled out.

But New Year's Eve at home with just the two of you is nothing but plain miserable, so we called a Grab, and headed for our perennial favourite, the Old Bazaar Cafe.

Here we spent an hour or so sinking a couple of beers, eating some fishballs, chatting with the friendly owner, and watching the world go by in the wet.


At about 10.30 we sauntered off down to the river. By now the rain had eased to a reasonably relaxed plop. We joined the crowds to listen to the stage performances, and headed off out of the crowds again to take advantage of the unwontedly pedestrian-only riverside road.



By midnight, the rain had stopped completely, so we could all enjoy the really impressive fireworks display to the max.





As we headed off, moving at the slow pace of the huge dispersing crowd, we reflected that we'd never seen so many people walking the streets of Kuching... We were pretty glad we weren't driving, as the traffic had backed up badly by now.

New Year's Day...

Page 1 of 366, as I saw it expressed somewhere on Facebook yesterday.

And by the time we'd finished sleeping, it had finished raining (for the time being).

Down on Jalan Padungan, we were very happy to see that we've already moved on to the next festival, and the Big Cat's banner is already welcoming Chinese New Year.

He's not yet donned his CNY outfit (maybe he feels he needs to get the air to his fur for a while after all this damp weather). But when he does, you'll be the first to know.


What better breakfast for the first day of the year than a traditional Sarawak laksa from a vendor you've not tried yet? There are a number of different styles, each with its charm. This one -- from the stall in the Hong Kong Pau Cafe -- is quite coconut-rich, reminiscent of the Choon Hui one that Anthony Bourdain liked so much. Shlup, shlup, delicious...


We had 57 mm of rain In Kuching yesterday. Upriver, in Bau, they had 75 mm. So, not surprisingly, the river -- despite the fact that it's all dammed and controlled -- was the fullest we've ever seen it this morning.

We spent a while watching the rafts of vegetation being borne relentlessly along on the current, and the boatmen -- who surely know every mood of the river -- going about their business.




Then it started to rain again, and we ducked into a cafe...

And talking of duck, we lunched off the next portion of the gigantic Christmas Bird. Only one left now...

So... it's a whole year since the last post in Travel and Food and the first post in Purple Tern.

The PT posts will keep coming, for the simple reason that I just can't not write them...

My goal for 2020 is to be a better reflector of the life around me, wherever I might be.

Blein Vie Noa, everyone!

POSTSCRIPT 2 January

And here he is!