If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.
— Hippocrates – Greek physician
On my day off recently, I decided to do something I had not done for a long time — explore some of the old streets in Kuching City.
Some people describe walking in the city as “urban walking”. In some Western countries, many people take up urban walking as a pastime.
The streets I chose recently for my urban walking were Carpenter Street, Main Bazaar, Gambier Street and India Street.
I went with my younger sister who was back from Johore for a short holiday and a younger friend. Both were equally adventurous and did not mind walking with me.
Our adventure began at Carpenter Street where we stopped for breakfast at a coffeeshop next to the Hainan Association Temple and building. I had “kway chap”, my sister had beef noodle soup while our friend had mixed rice.
“Kway chap” is a Teochew noodle soup consisting of flat, broad rice sheets (kway) in a soup made with dark soy sauce and served with an assortment of pork cuts including offal, pork belly, intestines, and pig’s ears, beancurd and preserved vegetables.
Meanwhile, beef noodle soup is a noodle soup made of stewed or braised beef, beef broth, vegetables and noodles while mixed rice combines rice with various meats, vegetables and spice
Local history geeks will know that Carpenter Street was once famous for carpentry workshops as well as opium dens, gambling joints and brothels. Today, some carpentry and furniture shops still remain along the street.
Many of the clan houses or associations there were the first touch points for the Chinese migrants when they first arrived in Sarawak. Now, many of these clan houses or associations have moved out of the area. The Kuching Hainan Association is one of the few which remain there.
After breakfast, I walked with my sister and friend to nearby Main Bazaar, a one-stop marketplace with the highest concentration of ethnic handicrafts and antique shops in the city.
Main Bazaar is located opposite the Kuching Waterfront in the heart of old Kuching.
My sister, who was looking for loose beads to make necklaces, ended up buying not a single loose bead but a few necklaces, T-shirts with the words “Sarawak-Borneo” on them and purses with “pua kumbu” (traditional patterned multicoloured ceremonial cotton cloth used by the Ibans) motifs.
We visited almost every shop along the street. When I wanted to take pictures of the items on sale at one of the shops, a female shopowner stopped me.
‘We don’t allow taking of pictures in our shop,” she told me.
We were surprised to find that the prices of goods sold varied from door to door. Some shops were selling the same items for almost twice the prices.
But one thing was certain — Main Bazaar is indeed a haven for those looking for local handicrafts and those made by our neighbour, Indonesia. If you are looking for key chains to remind you of Sarawak, it is the place to shop.
Before continuing our urban walking at Gambier Street, another historic street in Kuching City, we stopped at the Kuching Waterfront for the famous Ice Cream Gula Apong (Palm Sugar Ice Cream).
Although it was raining quite heavily by then, we continued to walk to Gambier Street. There, we stopped at a famous textile shop to look at the types of cloth for sale.
Gambier Street is named after the gambier plant whose leaves are used for chewing with betel and for use with tanning leather. Gambier was one of Sarawak’s chief export products in the late 19th century.
After that, we passed through Indian Mosque Lane, a famous lane connecting Gambier Street to India Street Pedestrian Mall.
The lane originally served as the access to the Indian Mosque, now called Masjid Bandar Kuching, located between Gambier Road and the mall.
India Street was once known as Kling Street. It changed its name in 1928 to reflect the large number of Indian owned shops here. Now India Street Pedestrian Mall has a modern shopping-arcade outlook and a shopping haven for tourists and locals alike.
My sister, friend and I ended our urban walk at the nearby Open Air Food Court. We had “Special”, a special iced dessert, and “Sotong Kangkong” (Cuttlefish Water Spinach), a popular hawker dish in Kuching.
Although tired after walking from one end of the city to the other, the three of us unanimously agreed that it had been a memorable and adventurous day. Many of the people we met, especially the shopkeepers and sales assistants, mistook us for foreign tourists. Was it because of the hat and sports shoes I wore and the sling bag I carried?
Anyway, we are already looking forward to our next urban walk. Like us, you can also go urban walking, my friends.
