Kuching City

It's not hard to fall in love with Kuching city. For most city folks, the main part of Kuching is not much difference with the cities in West Malaysia... except maybe more trees and way less crowded.

Kuching Main Bazaar

This is the best place to get Sarawak souvenirs & handicrafts - including the all famous Sarawak kuih lapis (multi coloured cake). This row of shophouses is actually just opposite the watefront, and wouldn't be missed (and shouldn't too!).

Kuching Tua Pek Kong Temple

Just at the start of the bazaar is this Kuching attraction - the Tua Pek Kong Temple.

One thing interesting about this temple is the big beautiful carvings on its walls.

Kuching Waterfront

And of course, the tour in Kuching is never complete without having a walk by the Kuching waterfront... with its relaxing atmosphere by the Kuching River, shady trees and nice views.

It is nice to see that people still use boats as a means of transportation in the heart of the city.

Walk further down the Waterfront and one will get to see the Sarawak Governor's Official Residence - the Astana. I think this Astana, by the river looks quite majestic, in its own right.

And not far off, one can see the mega structure of the soon to-be-ready Sarawak State Parliament building.

This place (by the river) is a good hangout place for many, especially during evenings, when there is the sunset. But even the afternoon blue skies are nice!

There's more to Kuching city... like it's Chinatown & Little India (which are roads just around this same area). And those are coming up next! :)

Batik!

Batik

Don't believe that these are batik? Well, they are.

Like much of the modern batik around, batik today is very vibrant and colourful. Gone are the old traditional dark colours associated with batik.

Because batik is just a technique (ie. using wax to draw the outlines), the batik artist can simply draw anything he/ she imagines.

And with a big imagination, batik is really beyond what we thought/ think we know.

An elephant painting using batik style.

The lizard batik painting.

Even the so called traditional batik motifs nowadays come in vibrant colours.

Batik painting in all sizes.

And interestingly, for those of us who think batik is usually only in batik painting or batik clothing/ batik dress, we are in for a surprise. Well, I was when I met this batik artist, Gee, who I think is really very talented and creative.

Batik artist, Gee, with one of her popular batik designs - the lizard.

This batik artist comes from a humble background (and is still humble today) - with her showroom and batik workshop located in the heart of KL city.

As mentioned, Gee has gone beyond just batik paintings and into other forms of batik souvenirs.

Her batik even come as batik bookmarks.


Or now, even in batik greeting cards!

What I like about Gee's batiks is that her batik works are very refreshing, vibrant, and in fact goes beyond the batik traditional perception of batik - be it batik Indonesia or batik Malaysia.

And I believe that that is what she is trying to create - if I can say, batik Gee!

Her well known and popular batik designs include the gecko/ lizard, the elephants and also her favourite kucing (cats).

And apart from her unique batik patterns/ batik designs, another thing that captures my attention is her batik technique... where most of the time, rather than outlining her drawing with wax, she uses the white tape instead (this to prevent a colour from one segment to roll to the other).

With such creativity, talent and I must stress - humbleness, this lady really deserves to go far. If you are keen on her batik art, do visit her gallery
Galeri Rafflesia at the Kompleks Kraftangan Negara (Jalan Conlay, KL).

A walkthrough the artists paintings and its batik meanings.

Batik For You!
Like I said, she is really kind and is giving away 3 small batik paintings to anyone who can simply share what they think about her batiks.

If you are interested, simply comment here before 28 Dec 2008.