Mount Singai, the longest climb

It took me 4 ½ hours to get to the peak of mount Singai and down. Singai is a sacred and holy mountain because there is a church on the mount which was build since the 1890s. I stated my journey together with my friends at 10 mornings, as I remember the last time I came here was 4 years ago.

I’m back after 4 years, and just before I start to go up the mount. There are many plastic bags with sand in it. The church up there are still renovating after this years, my friends and I carried 2 big bags of sand up to the church. At this stage, we are climbing staircase. A lot of staircases, as some the wood had rotten. So have to be extra careful when going up.

Most of my friends are first time here so they already complaining the steepness of the staircases, and we have to stop occasionally to rest. Is quite hilarious when seeing their tired face, they just keep on mumbling about how hard it is just to go up. Then ask for how long for us to reach to the top, my answer will always be “10 more minutes guys” :P

Along the way, I encounter a lot of spiders, with different sizes. There is one as huge as my palm, and it builds a very huge web to capture insect. One of my friends tries to poke the spider while I’m taking photo; she said this can make the spider move nearer to the angle I want.

After all the resting, joking around, and laughing at each other, we then finally reach the Singai Church. The place had indeed change a lot since my last visit, I saw that there is a new building upon our arrival.

And while I’m taking photos just beside the pond, I saw a frog jumping away. Then my heard friends are screaming at me, while I notice a snake just crew over my foot. Oh, they are screaming about the snake, and I was very lucky that it was chasing after the frog and not after me. Thank you god…

So how was the climb you ask? It was pretty fun, when going up to the church; we stop for rest a lot. Not all of us made it to the top though, as there’s only me and another friend of mine. So I told her that we can team up for the upcoming Amazing Race Asia game. To reach to the top, the paths are very steep. I’m extremely tired that time, but my mind keep on telling me to go. My last few steps until the top, I lookup and saw the sunlight shine through the trees leafs and kiss my face. I took a deep breath, and climb faster. Yeah! And I’m finally here, extremely exhausted, but excited.

I notice the platform build here last time had collapse, I had a very clear view on top of the mount. Compare to the foggy view that I had last time. Took a lot of photos, and love it here. After my photography session, we have to go down immediately to meet up with the rest of the friends. This is a wonderful climb, and I’ll come back here again in the future.

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Read More:
Climbing Mount Singai 2006

Here is another travelogue, destination Mt. Sinai and hope you would enjoy it as much as I did. ~ Thanks to Jungleman :)

The Beliong Temple

I’ve been to this place few years back, and the construction was not yet complete. And today I get to follow my buddy from the Buddhist temple to revisit the place. That day it rain the whole day, if not I would be able to take more outdoor photos.



From Kuching city to Asajaya it took us around an hour of car ride, beliong is a place name. And to get there we need to cross a river, the temple is situated opposite the river. Though the place was build very remotely, but there are still many people came for praying.



While taking photos, I meet a little boy, a little girl and a dog. Running around with the dog, and playing in the rain. Being kids are good, no worries, no burden, just relax and enjoy everyday life.

Here I made a little clips with the photos and video that I’ve shoot that day :D
Is gonna be a busy weekend, so I have to go to bed first. Good night.


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Wilson Chin's Bunleong Visitation at 2008

Mount Climbing @ Sentah Village

I played the google earth few months back to check out is there any mount nearby the the Kuching Serian road, and I notice located about 3KM inside the Siburan Village (17th Mile) of the Kuching Serian road, is a mount called the Sentah Mount. Some local guy took a bunch of photos and upload to the google earth. And I was stunt by those photos; this is definitely a place that I wanted to go.

So last Sunday morning I was equipped with my D90, together with 2 of my aunts. We all drove to mount Sentah, they wanted the morning exercise and I wanted the scenery. It was a cloudy morning, and the fogs are all over the woods, which gives a refreshing feeling. Along the way there are a lot of bamboos, while some part of the mount there are also coco trees. The local villages even used the cliff to plant white pepper.

It took us around 50 minutes to get on the very top of the mount, and surprisingly there are people live there. No wonder I saw some local walk to the mount top, at first I tough they are just like us who came for the walk. Never would have guessed that they actually live here! There is also a church on top of the mount, I recall my memory as I had visited a lot of local villages at Kuching, and notice that there are church in almost every villages. This is a good sign as with the power of religion, it can educate the young one on what is moral, which is better than the kids who had never been to church.

My photography trip ends at the top of this beautiful church, I wanted to take more photos but I can’t, because it started to rain few minutes after I reach the top. So I had to RUN down the hill >_<


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Free Wallpaper from Wilson
The beautiful red leaf plant I shoot when I reach the top of mount Sentah. Click to download :)

Red Leaf (with watermark)


Red Leaf

Random Shots from India Pedestrian Mall Kuching

The Color of Spices

Indian spices widely use in the India Cuisine, the spices is to add in that unique flavor to the food. The spices are usually grown from herb plant.

The Indian population at Sarawak is not as much as in the Peninsular, the Indian spice can only been seen at Kuching, if other division like Sibu, Sarikei, or Miri non of this can be found there.

I took this photo in a small lane at the India Street opposite the Kuching Waterfront. The owner of the shop are friendly, as before I took this photo, I show him my camera and the sign of taking photos. He smile at me and twist his head left and right (which means go ahead). What a nice guy :)

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双龙出海

Dragon, Chinese legendary creature. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck.

This photo is taken from the Hiang Thian Siang Ti (Deity of the North) Temple opposite the food court where I had my lunch.

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The Mask of the Death

This is the last photo I took for my India Street photography journey that day. It was draw on the columns in front on one of the shop that sells clothes at India Street. Very creative.

The Battery Street, India Street Pedestrian Mall

Continue from Bishopgate..

After we had enough photos at The Bishipgate, then my cousin and I went to the India street. My cousin told me that he wanted to revisit the Battery Street. Commonsense told me that it is name after a battery, so no double that the street sells a lot of batteries. You guess so too?

Well we’re all wrong! As my cousin told me that this is the street where the all the first lamppost are, and this street is the first street to have electricity. (scratch my head) this is not connected right, the street name and the background history. After that I did a search on the net, try to add in more details, but found zero result on the Battery Street at Kuching. And plus my cousin he was a tourist guide, so I believe what he says.

What attract me the most are the building structures, as some of it still maintaining that British building concept, all the lampposts are still in use until today. This is a very windy lane as the end of the street is an open road, so geographically when the wind blows in this little lane, it will flow through the entire lane.

Battery Street is just behind the current police station, this little lane has not more that 20 shoplots. The business operates here are like tailor shop, café, trading company, fashion house, goldsmith shop, mobile phone, and an advocates firm. There are new building coming soon behind this little lane, and I double the government will preserve the building structure here, and is only a matter of time for them to tear this place down and build another new building here.

I might as well take as much photos as I can for memories, after a few year its fate will be just like that old Gambir Street :(

Short Story from Bishopgate Street

This is a street which stored many historical stories of the Kuching city, to catch up with the new generation a lot shop houses had renovate to keep up with time, but though most of the shop lots has been modernize there are few still keeps its original design and structure.

I had my lunch at the food court opposite the Hiang Thian Siang Ti (Deity of the North) Temple, and my cousin are very satisfy with the price of the food, and not to mention the portion of the kolo noodles. He said compare to Singapore this is food from heaven, is cheap, and is delicious.

The food courts offer drinks, noodles, and tofu with meat. I’m not sure whether they are a family but I do know that they had been working together for more than 10 years. There is one female who gave me a deep impression since the first day I ate here few years ago, she’s in her mid 40 as she had sore all over her head. She’s very hardworking and works at the drinking stall.

There is a Chinese opera theater just inside this food court, and it looks new. A restoration work had been carried out for this theater to make sure that it can grow together with the cities for years to come.

After our lunch, we move on to cruise around this historical street. I’ve been drive pass this street for many times, but to walk and enjoy the view maybe the first time. So it’s really surprise me on what you can gain when you stop the rushing life for a while and start to enjoy the view.

My cousin brings me to an old lane which has a very famous shoe maker, there is no brand on his shoes, and one pair maybe will cost around RM200 + or more. According to my brother what is so special about him is that every pair of shoes is purely 100% handmade. You can stay there to watch the process on how he made shoes from the beginning to end. Tailor made to fir your foot, so guaranty comfortable. He uses 100% pure leather so I guess each shoe he sold, the customer will probably only come back for another 3 or 5 years.

Beside the shoe maker’s shop is an old shop, it didn’t use any grill but is wooden gate door. Some of the wood had been attack by termites. We are attracted by a bicycle in front of the shop. It reminds me of my grandpa as he also had one and he will always ride his iron horse to the coffee shop to drink coffee every morning.

We start to take photo of the old bicycle, and an old lady came along. She smile at us, and told us that this is more than 100 years old. The bicycle had a trademark, I can’t see clearly what it is, but the lady said is 3 guns, and this is imported from UK last time. The bicycle belongs to her late husband, and after her husband passed away, it had left there ever since. There are people who intend to buy it from her, but she refuse to sell it.

Old shop, 100 years old bicycle, and an old lady, there must be hundreds of stories happen between her and her husband. I wish she will stay healthy and happy always. And also hope that the heritage along this street can be keep untouched in another hundred years to come. If destroy, this will be a huge lost to the history of the old Kuching Town.

Visitation to Kampung Dunuk @ Padawan, Kuching Sarawak

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During Christmas Day I was with my friends form the LifeCareSociety, and pay a visit to Mr Pat. My last visit was at last year 30th October 2008.


( The mountain road to Kampung Dunuk, where Mr Pat stay. Is a long way from Kuching Town )

I calculated the road of Jalan Borneo Height is about 24.7KM from the Padawan township. Padawan is a sub-district of Kuching, Malaysia. We called it 10th Mile, and it also used to refer for local council in Sarawak Padawan Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Padawan) and one of Bidayuh village also known as Kampung Padawan. The Jalan Padawan also available which is the road near Mile 23th Kuching-Serian Highway. In my previous post where I visited the Kampung Mundai that’s the road which can link from Tapah Village, by pass Borneo Highland, to Padawan towship.

It was a long journey, we start out journey at around 12:00 noon from the Padawan Township. We drop in to an Omni shop to buy some food for Mr Pat and his family as Christmas Gift. It took us about 45 minutes to finish the Borneo Height Highway, we drive pass a place called Lorong Bunuk, and there’s a church here (St.Paul Church), then drive pass the Ana Rais Hot Spring, and Borneo Highland Resort.

At the end of Borneo Height Highway, we are at the T-Junction and here I saw a road sign displaying Left to Kuching Serian, and right to Tebedu, then we have to take a right turn at Route 1338 (12:45pm), it was a bumpy ride it was a mud and rock road.

The Sarawak/Indonesia border are near so there are mountains along the road. Some of the plantations that can be found here include bamboo, pepper trees, coconut, banana, dragon fruits. As we drive deeper into the countryside, there are not much houses. The Clouds cover the mountain top, is like a dash of snow cover the mount top.

We drive pass a place called Lorong Bukit Nanas, where I saw another church at top of a small mount the time then was around 1:10pm. There are electric pole, which mean that all the villages can have electric supply.

The time was 2.25pm, my butt feels numb, I saw we’re driving pass a palm plantation estate. Then I was told that we have reached our destination. There is a sign board at the village entrance “Pelaman Sinuduk”, and this is the Dunuk Village where Mr Pat lives. The facilities details can be found in my previous post here.


( The river in the village, they have water supply, and for water they use stream water. The river plays an important role, the people here use the water for drinking, bath, washes clothes, and they also threw a lot of durians into the river. This is a very danger act, as it will slowly pollute the water here, not a good move. )

When I step in Mr Pat’s house, there are a few improvement compare to my last visit. He now has a proper toilet, and bathroom, and also a new washing machine. While the rest still maintain the same. Mr Pat and his eldest daughter had this Renal Disease, and now his son also has this problem. So the 3 of them have go for Peritoneal Dialysis, and believe me guys this is not fun at all. (watch how this is done below)


( This is Arnold (right) and his brother. Arnold had been undergo a brain surgery years back cause of brain tumor, after the surgery he lost his view. He now live in the dark. There is a toy phone hanging on his neck, and is his favorite toy, cause he can listen to the music from that toy. )

We stay at his place from 1.23pm to 2.20pm, and is time to go home. Mr Pat had given my fiends some durian to take home. This family is truly unfortunate, his children one with brain cancer, himself and 3 kids with kidney problem. Wishes he and his family can be happy, and all his kids will be able to live a normal life. God bless them all.


( A pretty little village girl playing at a self-made swing with her friends. In this village, children are able to go to school, and there are also a small library setup by the Padawan Municipal Council. In a competitive world, knowledge will be their ticket for a better tomorrow. )
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Previous post on visiting this family
Visitation To Kampung Dunuk / Padawan

Photo shooting @ Mundai Village (Kampung Mundai)

Kampung Mundai is situated at 22nd Mile, a Malay and Native village which is very near to the Tapah Village. I wake up early that morning, and I always wanted to take some village scenery shoots, I think this would be that perfect time. I start my car and drive into junction just 500 meter away from Tapah Village.


View Larger Map

I’m driving in a snake like road, as the road has many sharp turn, and driving up and down of hills roads. Along the road site I can see that there are lots of paddy fields, there are also other plantation like papaya, pineapple, bamboo, corn and rambutan.

The Mundai village has a small library, an Omni shop, and a catholic church. There is a water treatment center, this center provide clean water to Tapah Village, Beratok Village, Mundai Village, and the rest of the village in this area (from 21st to 23rd Mile of Kuching Serian Road).

Most of the people who live here have cars, but their main transportation is bike. They can ride heir bike to the paddy field, and carry the crops out easily. Some of the native people which live in a more remote area will usually walk, when the time I drive along the outskirt road I saw a guy carrying a big basket of stuff on his bag while walking to the main road direction.

I keep on driving, and frequently stop by the road site when I see good scene. When I reach the paddy field, the paddy green was greener than the grass. I stop at the junction where I saw a signboard saying Forward Padawan/Borneo Highland, Right Janbu/Karu road. I was a bit shock when notice that this road actually linked to Borneo Highland, and Padawan Town (10th Mile of Kuching Serian Road).

This is where my photography journey ends for that morning, so I took a U-Turn and drive back home. Just when I reach at the green paddy field it started to rain, but it was just drizzling and just before I was second away from the main Kuching Seraian road the rain had stop.


I wonder why is there a big rock in the middle of the field? At Tapah village, there’s also a place where it is full of similar rocks.


The amount paddies at this field are greater than others like the one at the opposite site, from geological point of view the river must have play an important role in helping the paddies to grow.


I like coconut drinks, but here the village boy they just let it drop and no one pick it.


Here is a 135° angle view of the green paddy that I mention. (click the image for full view)