Cat Museum, Sarawak

Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak, is located on the banks of the Sarawak river. Its name in the Malay language actually means “cat”. While the origins of the name of the city are unclear; the city has now embraced its name, and has come to be known as the “Cat City”.

If you drive around Kuching, you will notice various cat statues symbolising the name of the city. And of course, if you claim to be a cat city, well you need a Cat Museum!

Entrance to the Cat Museum

The origins of the museum actually stemmed from a cat exhibition that was held in the National Museum of Kuala Lumpur in 1987 featuring the private collection of Dato’ Shahrum Yub, the Curator of the Museum and which was formally opened by the Chief Minister of Sarawak Pehin Sri Haji Taib bin Mahmud.

Pehin Sri’s wish was for Kuching to have its own Cat Museum; this dream was realised when the Sarawak Government bought over Dato’ Shahrum’s personal collection of 2,500 cat artifacts made up of various materials such as glass, marble, crystal, copper, porcelain and ceramics; as well as other memorabilia such as sketches, art and paintings.

The collection was handed over to the care of the Sarawak Museum department in time for the commemoration of Kuching as a city in 1988. The collection was first exhibited in Dewan Tun Abdul Razak on 1 August 1988.

Upon the completion of the new Kuching North City Hall building on Bukit Siol, the collection was handed over to City Hall and the Cat Museum was relocated to the ground floor of the City Hall building.

Kuching North City Hall Building.

Bukit Siol is located in Petra Jaya, across the Sarawak river from the original settlement of Kuching. A 60m high hill, the location of city hall on top of the peak gives a commanding view of the surrounding city. It is worth to spend some time to admire the views here in addition to visiting the Cat Museum.

Views from Bukit Siol.

Upon entering the ground floor lobby of the building, you will notice a huge cat sculpture, the mouth of which acts as the gateway into the Cat Museum. The Cat Museum consists of four galleries of a total of 1,035 square metres and there are now more than 4,000 artifacts in the collection. You will have to pay a fee of RM3 for each camera you bring in, and RM5 for a video recorder.

Entrance Door.

Cat Paintings.

Cats.

Maneki-neko, or Japanese Good Luck Cat Figurines.

More cat figurines.

Cats, cats, cats.

Antique cats.

The Cat Museum may come of as a bit kitschy, but it was a surprisingly fun visit for half-an-hour or so if you just so happen to be in the area.

Cat Museum

Address: Bangunan Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara, Bukit Siol, Jalan Semariang, 93050 Petra Jaya, Kuching.

Tel: +6082-446688 / +6082-448762

Opening Hours: Monday – Sunday; 9am to 5pm (except public holidays).

Farm In The City, Selangor

Zoos are out of fashion, and not really politically correct these days. Irregardless of your views with regards to keeping animals for entertainment; kids still need opportunities to interact with animals to gain a love for them. Petting zoos, where kids can actually feed and play with the animals are definitely still an attraction for families to spend weekend quality time together.

One such petting zoo in Malaysia is the Farm In The City, located in Seri Kembangan, Selangor. The location is out in suburbia, so ideally you would need a car to get there, as public transportation would be complicated.

You will see this signboard when you get there.

Directions on how to get there.

There is an open air carpark in front of the entrance; otherwise park along the road or in the opposite commercial centre. Entrance fees (as of 2017) as follows:

Adults RM48  Senior Citizens / Children RM38  Free entry for kids under 90cm.

For Malaysian citizens, discounts are given:

Adults RM32 Senior Citizens / Children RM27.

Tortoises.

One of the main attractions are the free roaming tortoises that you can feed. Located in front of a mock chinese village house, the tortoises are huge.

Mock chinese village house.

There is also a walk-in aviary in which you can feed birdseed to the resident birds.

Ducks and other birds.

Another favourites are the alpacas. Originally from South America, these friendly long necked animals can be fed by buying hay from a coin-operated machine.

Alpacas.

Feeding the alpaca.

 Another interesting section for the kids is the Pet Village, where guinea pigs and rabbits roam freely.

Guinea pigs.

Encircling the Pet Village is a mock "drain", where little fish swim. This "longkang" (drain in malay) is where kids can indulge in longkang fishing. The kids are given little nets to scoop up the fish to put into pails, to simulate the experiences of the childhood of their parents living in the kampung (village). Not to worry, the fish are released back into the drain.

Longkang fishing.

Mood's Lake.

In the centre of the Farm, is Mood's Lake. Which is essentially teeming with fish. You can feed the fish with the fish pellets that are available. 

Plenty of fish!

There are a few other enclosures. In the Twilight Enclosure, you will find nocturnal animals such as the Tarsier and Owls.

This Owl will try and out stare you.

Behind the Exhibition Hall, you will find the Raccoon enclosure, where the raccoons will walk out to you on an elevated log. You can feed them with food bought from a coin operated dispenser.

Raccoon enclosure.

There is also a pony ride section and several other enclosures. You can basically traverse the zoo in a clockwise direction around the lake.

The Map.

Basically the Farm In The City would be of interest especially for families with young kids. The petting and feeding element differentiates it from normal zoos where you can't interact with the animals.

Farm In The City

Address:             Lot 40187-40188, Jalan Prima Tropika Barat, Bandar Putra Permai, Seri                                            Kembangan, Selangor.
Tel. No:              +603-8941 2099
Opening Hours: Monday : 10am till 6pm
                           Wednesday - Friday : 10am till 6pm
                           Saturday, Sunday : 9:30am till 6pm
                           School/Public Holidays : 9:30am till 6pm

Kudu bin Abdul, Kuala Lumpur

Nasi Kandar is a meal synonymous with the northern state of Penang. "Nasi" means "rice" and "kandar" means "to carry" and it comes from the time when vendors sold rice and curry meals in containers balanced on each of a long pole that they carried on their shoulders as they moved around and hawked their fare.

As the name implies, nasi kandar is basically rice and curry and has its origins from indian muslims who migrated to Penang back in the day. Typically white rice on which a mix of various curries is poured onto (called "banjir" or "flooding" by locals), and served with various side orders such as fried chicken, beef spleen, cubed beef, lamb, fish roe, fried prawn or fried squid. Vegetables such as lady's finger/okra, green chillies, fried bittergourd, aubergine or fried cabbage or beansprouts complete the meal.

Of course Penangites will insist that you can only find good Nasi Kandar in Penang itself. But what happens if you are not in Penang and have a craving for the dish?

If you are in Kuala Lumpur, then its not a problem. Forget all the modern nasi kandar chain restaurants that are all over the place, head over to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (formerly Batu Road).

There are three establishments which are famed for their nasi kandar here, Yaseen Nasi Kandar, Restoran Nasi Kandar Ibramsha and Restoran Kudu bin Abdul. Each restaurant has its fans, but to most the best nasi kandar is at Kudu's.

Restoran Kudu bin Abdul

Parking is difficult to get at Kudu's, especially on a week day, as there is limited road side parking. However, the restaurant is nearby the Medan Tuanku monorail station. Just walk out the Quill City mall side of the monorail station, go down the stairs (not into the mall) and walk along Jalan Sultan Ismail until you come to traffic light intersection with Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (the Tune Hotel is opposite the road). Turn right and walk along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, and Kudu is on the corner lot of the block of shophouses.

The Corner Lot.

Kudu has been around since 1969 and was apparently a favourite of P. Ramlee, who was one of the famed actors of the time. The restaurant is a humble open-air restaurant with plastic chairs, tables and plastic plates, so not for those who are looking for fine dining!

Be prepared to queue.

At lunch time, there is always a queue, so you know that the food is good. Be prepared to queue for 20 to 30 minutes at least, and tables are also limited.

For those not in the know is, you don't sit down and wait for a menu! You need to queue to get to the food display counter to select the dishes that you want. Now maybe one of you may want to sit down at an empty table first to "reserve the table" but then someone else would need to queue for the poor guy. Best to do the honourable thing and all queue and hope that an empty table will magically appear later.

Sit at the communal long table and share the table with others.

The food display.

Once you get to the head of the queue, you tell the server what dishes that you want. The server will dish out a plate of white rice and "banjir" your rice with a mix of curries, then proceed to place your selected side dishes on the plate.

Fried fish.

Most food bloggers recommend going for the "ayam madu" (honeyed chicken) and fish eggs; as for me I went for the fried fish.

Okra, fried bean sprouts, curried eggs.

If you ask for okra or the green chillies (and you must, to keep it authentic), the server will take it by hand; so maybe not for the squeamish or hygiene conscious. Don't go into the kitchen then!

Green chillies, half boiled eggs, omelettes and of course the curries.

The server will hand you your plate and a slip of paper stating the cost of the meal. Go and find a place to sit down, attract a waiter's attention and order your drink.

Fried fish, bean sprouts, green chillies and okra.

Wash your hands at the sink, and proceed to eat with your hands. That is the authentic way to eat Nasi Kandar. Cutlery? Keep that for your five star restaurants! Just kidding, there is of course fork and spoons, but really the best way to eat is with your right hand. 

The bill? RM8.

Sirap bandung, a mix of rose syrup, evaporated milk and soda water.

After you have finished eating, go to the cashier counter and pay your bill.

Kudu

So if you are looking for authentic nasi kandar and you cannot go to Penang; head over to Kudu bin Abdul and get your curry fix.


Nasi Kandar Kudu bin Abdul 
Address: 335 Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, 50300 Kuala Lumpur.