Stood before the court house was the Charles Brooke Memorial, built in 1924 in the memory of the second White Rajah. He was one of the three Englishmen who founded the Kingdom of Sarawak, which was previous part of Brunei. He ruled the land from 1868 to 1917, during which he expanded the territory of Sarawak tremendously. He has turned Kuching to a modern town from a small village and many landmarks of modern Kuching, including the court house, Astana palace and the Sarawak Museum, were established by him.
There were panels on the four side of the obelisk and his dates of birth and death and his reign in Sarawak were written in English, Chinese, Iban and Jawi. Placed at each corner was a figure depicting the four major local races, Malay, Chinese, Iban and Kayan. I think it was really representative of the racial diversity of the state.
We then walked along Jalan Main Bazaar, which was one of Kuching's oldest streets. It was lined with beautiful two storey shophouses. It was packed with people looking for herbs and spices, noodles and pastas, snacks, household goods, beautiful textiles and all sort of goodies.
Then we turned into Indian Street, which was designed as a pedestrian mall. There were tents in the middle as well as shophouses on the side, selling daily essentials, fruits, cakes, snacks and traditional Malay clothing. The whole place was just buzzing with activities. Although we did not shop I had my first try of mangosteens here. They were so juicy and was the perfect snack on such a hot day :)
We then headed to the famous 吳方記 for bak kut teh. We had both usual one with soup and the dry one, which I have not tried before! With this delicious lunch, I concluded my 5-day trip in Kuching and flew back to Singapore.
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