It’s nice to finally be back in Kuching after a long hiatus away in New Zealand. Back to the dreaded routine of waking up, going to work, gymming, blogging, sleeping, waking up, then repeat the process everyday until the next holiday.
As soon as I stepped off the plane at our beautiful multi-million ringgit Kuching “International” Airport (“International” is in quotes, because the ONLY international destination it has direct flights with is our neighbour Singapore), I came to realise that Auckland and Kuching are actually quite similar.
See, Auckland was foggy.
Kuching is also foggy.
The only difference is that in Auckland, it was due to coldness.
In Kuching, it was due to pollution.
Friend of mine Mia Tan was in Albania representing Singapore for the Miss Globe International beauty “pigeon”. She was supposed to be back by now, and I was wondering why she didn’t come online. Then I read the news today and fount out…
Her plane was HIJACKED.
i hate haze! argh
Smoke gets in the eyes.
Bring back our troops from Lebanon and get them to help douse the flames!!!
hahah…thanx to sumatera’s forest fire… sorry haven’t been visiting ur site lately… my dad passed away π
anyway, Kuching has direct flight to Perth and some other places in Indonesia and China.
and the smoke also super smelly right?
making a lot of us sick π
haze. say thanks to our friendly neighbour. π
Haze pls go away…
u gymming?. oh my god. say no more.
i’ll be visiting Kuching tomorrow. Other than TOPSPOT, where can i find good seafood? sorry ah, off-topic…actually relatedlah, cause with those damn haze, i can’t find my way around!
Sigh.. i hate this!!! stop burning trees la those people!!! >.
Yeah, Sandakan also have been foggy for the past 2 weeks..
This is my 1st time to comment. Nice blog Kenny. Reading your blog is my everyday routine ^ i enjoy reading it. keep it up!!!
To Chino….
sea good seafood behind Hornbill Steamboat also good.
1st time writing in. enjoy ur blog very much.. keep it up ya kenny…
to Chino.. sea good seafood behind hornbill seanboat is good.
Hornbill Steanboat.. sorry
Singapore also kena. Forest fires are gay.
I hate haze. Why the government is not doing anything about it???? **Sick**
Heard it’s bad back in Kuching. Hope it doesn’t turn out to be another 1998.
Anyway, on another note, go check this out. Dunno if anyone has seen it b4.
http://simontay.wordpress.com/2006/09/03/we-live-in-singapura/
yeah… writing this in KK.
The most stupid thing is, theres haze AFTER the rain too. What happended to sunshine?
Btw, your friend got hijacked???
Haze back to Malaysia huh? Thank God for fresh air here. *Breathes* π
“Back to the dreaded routine of waking up, going to work, gymming, blogging, sleeping, waking up, then repeat the process everyday until the next holiday”
This part really writes my heart out… =~(
The weather today in Kuching is so bad, our aircraft cannot land into the airport. Captain can’t even see the runway.
hahahaha!
I like ur post. =)
hahaha… thanks to our good and considerate neighbour country…
It’s haze. KL too not much different.
Heh. Theres Geography exam tommorow and Air Pollution is one of the topic. =)
Anyway Singapore is also affected.
– Haze is the suspension of dust and smoke particles in the air that affects how far and how clear we can see – =D
KL this morning was still okay, but suddenly turned foggy in the afternoon.. sighs.
im so addicted to ur blogging.
Truer words have never been spoken. Hate the haze ler…
Btw, those are excellent pictures you took, showed the difference perfectly.
My mum thought it was drizzling when the haze “came in”.
In the past the Bidayuh near our house had routinely set off huge fire on a virgin piece of land typically in the months of July and August to clear off a big chunk of land for planting dry rice padi (planting on the hillside vs the more common wet rice padi). As a young and innocent kid I used to watch the huge fire went up with excitement as there werenΓ’β¬β’t anything more exciting happening. The dark cloud would transform the normally sun basked day into a dimly lit day. It usually lasted for a couple of days as the dead trunk smothered on. My parents didnΓ’β¬β’t think much of it too as no one got burnt and no one understood respiratory ailments either.
I must emphasize that this has always been the way the Bidayuh planted their rice as it was the only way they knew how then. They would move on and burn off a new virgin plot of forest as the current plot has the charred nutrients depleted. In the process it has basically transformed and expanded a once lush green hilltop into an ugly bald land of charred land and fallen trees. The burn-and-slash (the right sequence) is however less common these days among our more progressive Sarawakian Bidayuh.
Today itΓ’β¬β’s an entire different story; the burning is more extensive and is in the scale of hundreds of thousand of hectares of land, and is originated from the Indonesian Kalimantan. To put this into perspective, Singapore is about 68 thousands hectares in size and it would be like burning a number of Singapore at a time. The filthy haze and darkened sky lasted for months instead of days.
ItΓ’β¬β’s not hard to guess that this is a large scale Γ’β¬ΕcultivationΓ’β¬Β and canΓ’β¬β’t possibly be carried out by individual family as it used to be the case. This goes far beyond the long held traditional practice of the land. This is willful ignorant at best if not willful destruction of our shared environment at the hands of big corporations in Indonesia.
This is man-made and couldΓ’β¬β’ve been prevented. It has been at least ten years in the making and obviously Indonesia government has been ineffective if not entirely non-committal. The Sarawak governmentΓ’β¬β’s argument has always been this is a cross-border and sovereign issue and therefore the entitlement to sits on their hands. This Γ’β¬Εnot in my backyard, not my businessΓ’β¬Β attitude will affect our long-term interest. Any form-1 student would tell you take the dimmed sun would affect our local food supply such as pepper, vegetables, palm, oranges and so on not too mention the long-term toll on health.
To Taib, there is no better time than now for you act as an elected official for the interests of Sarawakians when your leadership is needed most.
Education is key for those surviving on agriculture. The Gov has to educate them on alternatives.
Kuching International Airport not only fly to Singapore and Domestic.
There are also direct flights between Kuching and Perth.
To Kuching Airport: the Kuching-perth sector was scrapped some time ago under the MAS restructuring plan. Kenny is right in this aspect; our “INTERNATIONAL” airport has only 1 international flight. Sigh……………………..
Glad to hear you Kenny that you enjoyed your time in NZ. Nice view from One tree hill in the pic you posted I persume? It was still ok when you took that pic; wait till you see winter, you cant even see ahead of you!
Can someone post up pics of the haze in Kuching? This Kuching-lang misses home…
Yeapy yeaps, Kuching airport. No more Kuching-Perth flights since earlier this year. That means I’ll have to transit elsewhere to get back to Kuching.
Sight… Haze everwhere.. even in KK
wAsn’t it 1997 when the haze hit the point where all schools had to close down? almost 10 years ago XD
i Remember making my way to the shops at Tabuan Jaya with a ‘Darth Vader’ mask almost everyday XD
Refer to Chino post
#i’ll be visiting Kuching tomorrow. Other than TOPSPOT, where can i find good seafood? sorry ah, off-topic…actually relatedlah, cause with those damn haze, i can’t find my way around!#
Try Rock Road Seafood. Go for the Crab with Satay sauce. Late if you wanna have some ‘fun’ go to the Grand Continental Spa. Have a nice trip!
ANYMORE NZ PIC? HOW CUM ‘PART TOLL’ NOT IN UR DAILY ACTIVITIES?
how true..
doesn’t that affect your daily routine somehow>?
Kuching International Airport DOES NOT fly to Perth or Sydney or Frankfurt direct anymore. It USED TO, but not anymore since Malaysian Airlines cut down on their international routes.
Please, I know.
So hazy, we probably can’t see the beautiful full moon on mid-autumn’s day (today)… π
Singapore also covered in Haze…
thanks to e burning of forest by Indo farmers…
haiz…
Brunei also hazy.. Sigh.. Rain also no use.
FUCKING SHIT , IM SICK OF THIS ANNUAL BURNING SHIT CAUSED BY THE INDONS, ITS ILLEGAL AND THE PERSON IN-CHARGE CANNOT DO ANYTHING BOUT IT? FCK THIS SHIT MAN, ITS LIKE WE KNOW EVERY YEAR GONNA HAPPEN ONCE N YET WE CANT PREVENT IT, THATS WHY I HATE INDONS EVEN MORE , FCKING RUBBISH , LOW CURRENCY,HORNY MALAYS,GOT BOOKS DONT WANNA STUDY INSTEAD GO STRIKE N MOGOK EVERYDAY,BURN FOREST ILLEGALLY CAUSING HAZE TO NEIGHBOUR. CIBAI I HOPE U.S GO INVADE THEM.
*sigh*… It’s a yearly occurence… And I thot I’ve develop immune system already… *double sigh*…
looking at it at a brighter way (i.e. LASIK treated eyes) why not make it a tourist attraction, huh? Maybe the caption could read something like” haze – yearly event thingie – similar to fog – only warmer”
super lame …. -_-
TO ANTI INDONS – shut up man, thats so racist, make me sick and give chinese a bad name. you can complain, of course, but there are better ways to express things.
Yeah,.. was in Frankfurt last week, hazy as well(polluted). Dunno why, then in Taipei this morning, again same hazy, and now in Hong Kong, sama sama,..
The whole planet polluted lah! Poor us! No wonder not much nyamuk these days.
Kuching International Airport does fly ‘international’ ok ppl……Guangzhou , Hong Kong and Madinah….some more coming up.
trust me….i know even better….
Welcome home!!! Miss home or not?
not kuching only got haze.. kl also got now.. stupid haze..
Its equally bad here in Singapore.
Not only Kuching lar. Mum said Sibu also got haze. Now in Kedah (UUM) also got haze. Even an ulu place like UUM which is beyond reachable civilization and surrounded by jungle also haze wanna sapu what more to say other place wor…
Can’t wait to go back during the Raya break!!! Miss Sibu a lot – its food – kampua, crab, philippines tu ka (babi leg), etc…
What the heck ! The bloody haze just keep coming back year in year out ! Our neighbor is imcompetent to tack the issue, after 10 freaking yrs ! What do we msian do to them to have to suffer like this every damn year ! Can we sue their arse in the International Court ? Feel so helpless trapped in our home you know what the worse fellow msian ? Cant MAMAK !!! π
It’s hazy in KL too. X_X
And not to mention Ipoh(my bf told me so)
I think the wole Malaysia is hazy now. X_X
Ouch. Haze and fogs. they are the same just a clean one and unclean one.
the flights
———–
kch-kk-perth (daily once / midnight)
kch-china (twice a week)
kch-sg via MAS(daily once)
kch-jb (twice a day)
kch-penang (once a day)-dunno stll got or not
kch-kl via MAS & Airasia (ard 20 times perday vice versa for MAS and ard 5 times vice versa)
kch-domestic (everyday and ard 10 times)
kch-balikpapan,indon via BATAVIA (twice or triple a week)
more to come in the future (after MAS profit gains, it’s good to have ANGMO to organize the company u know? Now? Malay!)
————————–
kch-UK (negotiate)
kch-Korea? (propose)
kch-Sydney/Australia (delay/propose)
kch-NZ (delay)
kch-CHINA (MORE on-route)
kch-HongKong (propose)
kch-thai (propose)
————————–
End of flight forecast.
(flying is fun but terror threads are drills!)
its the indonesian bastards at work. >:\
Re: The Flights
Hey you retard – since when was there a KCH-BKI-PER flight?!
I highly doubt even one of your forcasted flight would materialise! WTF will fly direct to KUCHING, of ALL places? FFS, Kuching is more like a side trip destination for travellers to SIN or KUL.
Indonesia is a real shitty neighbor to have.
The smoke sucks.. We have it in Singapore too.. really v nasty.
And the before picture is very nice! Nice colors and vibrant! Makes one cheery and happy! As for the after picture, ohwell..
Ipoh was as well foggy, can’t help it. The air is killing me slowly
If you check with The Star online, Sarawak is getting air pollutant index (API) reading of 221 at 11am Friday. Thanks to Indonesia, i have my mid-autumn festival without the moon …and my mum have to pray to the haze instead of the moon…
I doubt retard is really a retard?
there is a BKI flight in kch! lol.
Kenny… since a lot of people are reading your blog, i think you need to initiate something on haze condition in Kuching. It is totally out of control and our pek mo is like “Hey what happen?”
Thanks. D
singapore also hazy when i landed at Changi but i’m glad that the smoke is not coming from the bomb that could have blown up my plane!
Kenny, you should compile your interesting blogs and publish a book. I will sure buy.
Singapore’s haze lvl just reached 143. Its really bad. How I wish Indonesian counterparts would actually do something about it other than saying they cant do anything bout it.
ASEAN has a part to play and I personally think Singapore being a rich nation should be generous and send some of our untested SCDF members into Indonesia to help put out the fire. Funds should be put in too…
Hai, hazy days, have to shelve off outdoor plans..
mata can sakit too many haze π π
so hazy o….but lucky today it rained maybe due to cloud seeding operations. So its better now API has dropped and no more burnt smell.
On flights in/out of Kuching… well its true KCH-PER, SYD-KCH, KCH-KUL-FRA has all been scrapped after MAS turn around plan…. which is kind of shitty. But there are still a few international flights from KCH namely:
Scheduled flights:
KCH-SIN (operated by MAS and Silk Air)** there might be a possibility that Tiger Airways will be operating on this route too, pending on the Transport Minister to clear the landing rights.
KCH-PNK-JKT (Operated by Batavia Air of Indonesia, Daily flights)
KCH-BKI-CAN (operated by MAS)
KCH-BKI-HKG (operated by MAS)
Seasonal/Charter flights from China are flown by Xiamne Airines. Soon China Southern Airlines might be chartering flights into Kuching soon.
The Future Proposed schedule flights:
AIR ASIA is proposing on flying direct from Kuching to Bangkok and probably Jakarta maybe around next year. This is a move in boosting the Kuching hub.
Sighs…hopefully there will be more foreig Airlines servicing Kuching in the near future.
just came back to KL from Kuching….luckily the haze was bearable over the weekend. Nahbeh, when i touched down at LCCT this morning, the haze over here was much worse than in Kuching. Anyways, thanks to Anonymous and Knn for your food guide…..wow, the Crab in Satay Sauce was particularly good! and Kennysia, where the heck is Mambo King@Travilion? wanted to try the Milo Dinosaur but couldn’t find the damn shop!
Chino, glad you enjoy the stay and the food of course. Need to know anythhing about KCH just give us a message :>
y don we make a huge protest or riot regarding the haze??
“pollution” SHOULD BE POLUTION.thank you π
just kidding π
true, haze is a BIG problem. Those bastards love to burn the forest >.>
Γ’β¬ΕIf you can guarantee the wind will not blow (in this direction), then I can guarantee it (haze) will not happen again.Γ’β¬Β […]
Γ’β¬ΕWhen we export oxygen, you donΓ’β¬β’t say anything; when we export haze, you complain.Γ’β¬Β
Mudzakir, Indonesia’s First Secretary (political affairs)
Kanina……..
Actually, it’s not true that the ONLY international fligtht from Kuching is to Singapore. There are also flights to Indonesia, Brunei, China and Australia(not sure if Australia still got)
Have you guys ever realized that flights to other states like KCH-KL, KCH-JB, KCH-KK, are considered as international flight in here?
While the domestic flight is the flight within a state, like, KCH-Bintulu, KCH-Sibu and KCH-Miri.
The only direct flight to Indonesia is to Pontianak by using Batavia Air. I’m not sure if there are still MAS flight to Pontianak.
Btw, AirAsia is now considering to have flight from Kuching to Jakarta, Bangkok, Macau and Perth.
Hi there, if you see haze then, it was just temporary and “free” polution from our friendly neighbouring country…
Just too damn unlucky that you dropped in at the wrong moment…
Kuching and Sarawak is simply as beautiful as many other country including NZ,,,
The picture of the Kuching Airport should be taken out and keep in the album for histrical collection, because we have a brand new Airport, with its matching NEW look! sexy and juicy like some one describe it…
Good Day…
Below is the schedule direct international flights from kuching.
KCH-SIN (TWICE DAILY EACH BY MAS & SILK AIR)
KCH-BRUNEI (3 TIMES WEEKLY)
KCH-HK (3 TIMES WEEKLY)
KCH-GHUANZHOU (3 TIME WEEKLY)
KCH-PNTNK-JKT – (4 TIMES WEEKLY)
Both does look the same and nice to stay.