View of Kuching 18 Storeys Up

Earlier on this week, for two days, I was at Crowne Plaza Riverside for work, since the company I work at was organising a training programme there. I thought it would be just at the 3^rd Floor, as usual, but since the 3^rd Floor rooms were taken up for another function, we got the suite at the 18^th Floor instead.

3 years ago, when I was secretary of Interact Club at Kuching High, I accompanied my president for a Rotary Club meeting at that same place. Fast forward 3 years, and here I am again. Déjà vu. It’s the same place, but a different me and a different situation. And the place has got a whole new look too. It used to be called the Clearwater Suites, but now they call it the Windows on Kuching Meeting Suites. Wonder if it’s because the river water isn’t as clear…

Okay, photos coming up. The views from up there were spectacular! It was so incredibly nice that I had to bring my camera on the second day of training to capture the scenic views. Believe me, nothing that my camera captured can compare to being up there, 18 storeys up from street level, with the views spread out before you. Good thing they had full length windows, the view is really.. Ah, see for yourself.

Kuching’s “Golden Triangle”? Haha. I love how the taxi tops are all yellow and lined up in a row, and there’s patches of greenery around.. And the river is right behind Sarawak Plaza there.

The Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Council) well under construction, it looks massive. And with the Fort Magherita near it, a relic of the British colonial times. New and old, side by side. And I love the touch of old the sampans, or “tambang”, add in the photo. Though mind you, Kuching is not that behind in times okay, we have quite a good road network and the sampans are there so that the people living across the river can access the city more easily.

The bar style tables, overlooking the views towards Petra Jaya across the river, and beyond. You can see Mount Santubong in the distance. And the DBKU (Kuching North City Council) building, the old Dewan Undangan Negeri, the State Mosque and many other buildings can all be seen from there. I was preening my eyes, trying to see if I could see the sea around the Mount Santubong area, but nope.

Then on the other side of the lounge they have up there, which is where I took all these photos, the full length windows reveal a different scene, this time of the South of Kuching. To the far right is Gateway, supposedly the tallest building in the city. As you can see, there aren’t that many tall buildings, so the views are pretty unobstructed. If you look closely in this photo, you can see an awkwardly shaped, blue and white building which is the MBKS building, the Kuching South City Council. In the far distance, are what I think are the mountain ranges that border Sarawak and Indonesia, correct me if I’m wrong.

Obviously, I’m still not jaded about this kind of life, but the training venue they had this time is really different from what I experienced just last week. They even have a special lounge sectioned off where the participants had their tea breaks, there’s morning tea and afternoon tea, plus buffet lunch. I really had to control myself from overeating. Thank goodness there was a quite a bit of walking and work to do, so I hope that helped burned off the calories. Though the walking was done in heels, thus resulting in two red blisters on each of my little toe now.

I’ll show you two of the photos I took there in the lounge area…

There’s the “café” area at the back where the tea breaks are served with bar style seatings looking out towards the river. And the rest of the area has lounge style sofas, the curtains were drawn in this area. And to the left is this…

Wow, they have a buffet area up here for tea breaks?! And plasma TV! Though this time round the training package didn’t include those buffet style tea breaks. My colleague told me there was once they went all out and had it really executive style, the whole lounge was filled with food and drinks. The buffet table was full with fried dishes, the café area was loaded with cakes, pastries, yoghurt, fruits, juices, coffee and tea. Wow, unimaginable. Imagine attending a seminar and the whole adjoining room is filled with food for your taking, the whole day.

Aiyo, too bad I was a bit wary of myself putting on weight, I was controlled during the buffets, so really bo hua lor (not worth it). Haha. My plate was only like this.. Quite light right, since I was saving up room for dessert. Which I ended up not eating much of either, what was wrong with me? Haha.

Look, practically vegetarian…

Very light cheese cake, cakes, and some fruits.

I was a bit conscious of taking photos then, so only took two. If not for the fact that there were clients around, I might have took my photo taking up a notch. Oh wow, I ended up writing more here than I expected, this is how it’s like, when I really start to write, sometimes it just keeps flowing. Haha. If only I were this motivated to write more often.