52nd trip to Bintulu - 63,000 km (6 Dec'14)

Typical Sarawak trunk road

Inul at Selangau pit stop

 Six days after attending a wedding in Kuching , we
are off again to Bintulu.  We left Kuching at 9.15 am and arrived Bintulu at 8.30 pm.  We did not make many pit stops on this trip because we're in a hurry to reach home.  Overallwhole it was a fine trip and fospa took many shots of us (Me and Mama Daisy) on his handset.  Here's more pics of me and Mama....

Mama Daisy eating some tuna during pit stop

Poor Mama, she is squeezed..

51st trip to Kuching - 62,400 km (26 Nov'14)

At the jump seat

 In many of our recent travels, Inul is becoming more naughty and brave.  Inul likes to squeeze with Mama Daisy for a share of the jump seat (see inset).  Apparently Mama Daisy is getting kinder and more compassionate as she ages.  This is our 51st trip to Kuching.  The purpose is mainly to attend fospa's nephew wedding.  We left Bintulu at around 9.15 am and arrived Kuching at abour 8.30 pm. We had lunch at Selangau.  We did not stop at Sibu town, just by passed it.  Just before arriving Kuching we stopped at Siburan town to buy Kentucky fried chicken for dinner.  Inul loves KFC, too...hmmmm yummy yummy...

Inul looking lout at Selangau pit stop area

View of Selangau shops.  We had lunch here.

Last pit stop was at Siburan.
Inul loves to eat Kentucky fried chicken too..

51st trip to Bintulu - 61,800 km (15 November'14)

Inul - a big girl now!

 On this trip we focus on the roundabout near Serian.  Before entering the town of Serian the town's icon which is the king of the fruit or Durian is clearly seen.  Below the icon are the words "Selamat Datang ke Bandar Serian" which means Welcome to Serian town.  On this trip we arrived Serian at around 10 am after a short 35 minutes travel from Kuching.  On this 51st trip to Bintulu we made a few pit stops viz, Serian, Sri Aman, Jakkar and Selangau.  We arrived Bintulu at about 8.30 pm.  Here are more pics showing the Durian fruit in ferro-cement style....

Road leading towards Sibu town

Town arch at Sri Aman

50th trip to Kuching - 61,200 km (1 November'14)

Ibans starting to plant paddy in their village plots, near Sri Aman

Typical Sarawak trunk road

 We were happy to go to Kuching on this trip.  The reason being we were going to spend a holiday in Kuching with fosis and her husband.  We left Bintulu at 10.15 am and arrived Kuching at 8.30 pm, which was more or less within our normal traveling time.  As time goes by, fospa would habitually like to make many pit stops to cool the engines as well as to have much bodily rest.  On this journey we saw that the Ibans who stay along Sarawak's country roads were busy planting their paddy plots.   Here's more pictures showing the Sarawak trunk road that measures 600 km from Bintulu to Kuching.

Signboard before reaching Betong rest area
Typical view of Sarawak trunk road.

The kind of facilities provided at Temudok rest area, near Sri Aman
Translation : Surau (a small mosque); Kedai Runcit (Provision shop); Tandas (Toilet); Gerai Makanan (Food stalls)

50th trip to Bintulu - 60,600 km (22 August'14)

Our car parked beneath a flowering Tabebuia rosea tree at Serian.

 After an extended stay in Kuching, we were ready to return back to Bintulu.  We left early, around 9.15 am and arrived Bintulu at night around 8.30 pm.  It was raining for the most part of the journey especially from Sibu to Tatau, we encountered heavy rains.  Not many pictures were taken on this trip.   However there were many pictures taken of cakes in Serian.  Serian is the first pit stop after Kuching.  It is here that fospa and fosma would take their morning breakfast at every start of the long journey to Bintulu.  With this trip we achieved a totoal of 60,600 km.

Cakes sold a plenty at Serian hawkers centre

49th trip to Kuching - 31 July'14 (60,000 km)

 We continue our adventure come this Hari Raya.  After spending 3 days of Hari Raya Aidil Fitri in Bintulu, fospa and fosma decided to spend the rest of the Hari Raya holidays in Kuching.  It is somewhat a family tradition now to spend the Hari Raya both at Bintulu and Kuching.  On this 49th trip, we gonna achieve a clean 60,000 km traveling record.  The worst stretch of road on the Sarawak country trunk road from Bintulu to Kuching is the Tatau- Selangau portion.  There are many pot holes, bumpy areas, depressions and patchy works along the stretch.   The journey was on the whole fine and we experienced no rain at all throughout the 11 hours journey.  We started from Bintulu at about 10 am and arrived Kuching by 9 pm.  We didn't have many pit stops.  We had pit stops at Selangau, Sibu and Sri Aman.  At Sri Aman pit stop called "Temudok Rest Area", situated just outside the Sri Aman town there were many varieties of local fruits sold.  What was important on this trip was to arrive in Kuching safely, which we did.

Temudok rest area, outside the town of Sri Aman.

Inul needing some comforting

Inul doesn't really care for Mama Daisy.  Poor Mama is growing old now and wouldn't like to fight for the jump seat with Inul.

A selection of fruits sold at the  Temudok rest area.

Nyekak, Pakan (Iban); Durian Kuning (Malay)
Durio kutejensis

Tampoi Paya (Malay)
Baccaurea bracteata

Arriving in Kuching at around 9 pm.

49th trip to Bintulu - 10 June'14 (57,400 km)

View of front gate and tall palm trees

 

 

 

At the jump seat

 There will be more pictures of Inul in this post.  Mama Daisy is not feeling well, so no need to show my self-portrait.  Inul is the heroine today.  She's an admirable adult now and getting used to traveling long distances.  This trip we started late at around 10 am because there were lots of packaging to be done.  Imagine the other day fospa stripped one whole mango tree of its fruits.  All the fruits were packed in boxes to be brought to Bintulu, though some we have shared among close friends and relatives in Kuching too.
 

Inul gets excited to kick off the journey..

Sharing the alley

 We did a few pit stops.  First was Serian for breakfast and reading the morning papers.  From Serian it was a direct route to Sarikei.  We did not enter Sarikei town proper, but instead opted to stop by at Jakar - a little town just outside Sarikei.  At Jakar fospa bought lots of the Kasai fruits.  Here the price per kilo was so far the cheapest in Sarawak i.e. RM 6 per kilo.

Pit-stop at Jakar, a small town outside Sarikei

Hawking at Jakar

Kasai ( Pometia pinnata) fruits sold quite cheaply in Jakar if compared to other towns ..RM 6/kilo

Rest area at Sri Aman.... while fospa and fosma having lunch

Arrived at Laman Kambatik...in pitch darkness, 10.30 pm
10 June'14

From Jakar, we proceeded straight to Sibu.  We stopped only for refueling at Sibu.  After Sibu we stopped at Selangau for dinner.  We arrived at about 10.30 pm.  On this trip our record reaches its  57,400 km mark.

48th trip to Kuching in Gawai traffic

Inul

 This 48th trip to Kuching has been exceptional in that the journey took us 13 hours.  Two main reasons for the extra long hours spent traveling were, firstly; the Gawai trafic and secondly the problem with tyre balancing.  It was only in Sibu that we managed to get a workshop to balance the front tyres.  Once balanced the driving was much more pleasant.  Throughout the journey there were many cars on the road because many native peoples  of Sarawak were returning home to their longhouses to celebrate the Gawai festival.  Long queues were the order of the day.

Long queue before reaching Sibu

Sibu Central market - where we stopped for lunch

Inul and Mama Daisy having lunch too

Mama Daisy looking frail.  Inul is as good as ever. Very healthy.

An interesting and practical toilet design as seen at a rest area near Saratok

Mama Daisy at the house gate in Kuching.
Time : 11.30 pm
Cumulative distance achieved : 56,800 km, on this 48 trip to Kuching.
29 May'14

48th trip to Bintulu in pictures

Note: Above are pictures of the 48th trip to Bintulu
Cumulative distance achieved : 56,200 km
Date of trip : 24 April'14