52 nd trip to Kuching - 63,600 km (13 March'15)

Daisy and Inul resting on my lap
On this trip Daisy looks sick because she suffering from a swelling of the flesh on her right cheek.

 This is our first trip for 2015.  Mama Daisy is not at all looking well but she has to come on board because she needed to be taken care of.  She is getting old and weak.  She has been with us now for more than 12 years.  Her conditions seemed bad this time around because of a swelling on her right cheek.  Fospa promised to take care of Mama Daisy in Kuching.  Get her well quickly.  On this 52nd trip to Kuching we made the following pit stops: Selangau -for lunch, Jakar - for afternoon tea, Sebangkoi - to rest the engines, Temudok - for a 30 minutes rest before doing the last non-stop lap of the journey to Kuching.  On this trip there was hardly any rain and it took us 11 hours to complete the 600 km journey inclusive of pit-stops and rest.  We left Bintulu at 9.30 am and arrived Kuching at 8.30 pm.  With this trip our record stands at 63,600 km.

Newly built shophouses at Jakar.  Jakar is near Sarikei, a small rural post just outside the town of Sarikei.

The garden environment around the Sebangkoi rest area

A bird's nest fern attached to a big liana or junglw climber at Sebangkoi rest area.

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..

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.

Inul at Bintulu after 46th trip

Date taken : 24 Dec'13
Kambatik Park.

44th trip to Kuching - 12 August'13 (52,000 km)

Inul and Mama Daisy

Inul on fosma's lap

 On this 44th trip to Kuching we were accompanied by fosis and her hubby but they drove in a separate car.  Inul is getting better now, less of a fuss.  Inul loves also to rest on fosma's lap (see inset).  We left Bintulu at 11.00 am and is rather late than usual.  Thus we expected to reach Kuching around 10 pm.  The journey was a bit slowed down because of some traffic snarl and jam on certain stretches due to the narrowness of the two-lane single carriageway Sarawak trunk road and the extra vehicles on the road due to the Hari Raya festive season.  

Typical Sarawak trunk road - narrow and two-lane single carriageway  of about 600 km length from Kuching in the south to Miri in the north.

Sebangkoi water lily pond

 We stopped for a short while at Selangau and Sibu to cool down the engines and a little rest.  Most of the resting was reserved for our mid-stop at Selangau.  At Selangau there is a convenient rest area that is just besides the highway.  The car parking area is well shaded and provided with basic amenities like toilet and washroom ans a small park with a lovely water lily pond. (see inset at right)

Durio grandiflorus (Durian munyit)

 At Sebangkoi rest area, fospa was extremely excited to have noticed a species of the Durian or 'King of the Fruits' (Durio grandiflorus or locally called 'Durian munyit') bearing white flowers in abundance on its branches and some fallen on the water lilies and water below

White flowers of the Durio grandiflorus (Durian munyit)

Durian flowers on water lilies at Sebangkoi

Driving into the sunset , between Sri Aman and Serian stretch...

The rest of the journey from Sebangkoi was at  nice cruising speed of around 90 -100 kph drive.  Our final pit stop was at Temudok rest area, just outside the town of Sri Aman.  After we left Sri Aman it was a beautiful drive into the sunset.  We arrived Kuching at 10 pm and experienced no rain the whole journey. With this trip our cumulative traveling record stands at 52,000 km.  Looking forward to spending the rest of the Hari Raya celebrations in Kuching with friends and relatives in the city.....