I have a maternal cousin living in Miri and his missus met us at the airport upon arrival in the city and later she took us around sightseeing before sending my girl to the venue of the course she had to attend. Another maternal cousin and her hubby from Bintulu were in town too so they came along with us as well.
This is the view of another section of the city…
…from the hotel where I was staying and that’s the first shopping complex in Miri but I suppose it has long been overshadowed by all the new ones, all a whole lot bigger and very much more impressive.
First stop, Canada Hill…
I vaguely remember going all the way up to see the Grand Old Lady, the first oil rig in Miri, once but that was so many years ago, probably somewhere in the 80’s. From the top, you can see the bird’s eye view of the city centre…
Yes, it was a hot afternoon. I thought Kuching was hotter than Sibu but I found Miri to be even hotter than Kuching. They say that has got something to do with it being right by the sea.
We drove to Luak Bay and stopped by the beach there…
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…and as it was so hot, we quickly snapped a few photographs and dashed right back into the car. Along the way, we saw some incredibly gigantic mansions – ummm…no, I don’t think they should be called mansions and for want of a better word, let’s just call them palaces. You’ll just have to see the grossly ostentatious display of opulence to believe.
Then, it was time to send my girl to the “golf and country club resort”…
…which was to be the venue of her course for the next few days…
It certainly looks very nice, doesn’t it?
My cousin’s wife had to go and pick the son so she dropped us there to settle everything and she would come back later. We tried to register and check in but the hotel staff told us we had to go to the Mahogany Hall to do that, adding that it was very far from the resort’s lobby and she gave us a map to tell us the way. My Bintulu cousin quickly phoned my cousin’s wife and she had to make a u-turn to come to the rescue.
We got to the hall (which was mis-spelt as “Mahongany Hall” on the sign there) but there was not a living soul around. The participants were told to report between 2.30-4.30 p,m, and it was well past 4 by then. The hall was ready, tea was ready…just that there wasn’t anybody around. In the past when I had to go for things like this, there would be the urusetia (secretariat) on standby to see to everything. Well, since there was tea and there wasn’t anybody, we helped ourselves and waited. Eventually, some ladies appeared and they told us that they had checked in at the lobby where we were earlier and they were given their rooms…and no, there was no sign of anybody from the ministry, the organisers.
Luckily, my cousin’s wife had come back by then and we took her car back to where we started. My girl was given her room this time around and while she was going through the process, I saw the ministry people dressed up to the nines, overcoats and all…and also the facilitators. They had just arrived! Once my girl had got the key, we went to look for her place of stay in that sprawling resort…
Good grief! It certainly looked shabby inside and badly needed a lot of sprucing up and it was so very dim – I wonder how anyone could do any work in the chalet if they wished to do so. The air conditioner was not cold at all and while I was outside, I saw some of the outdoor units behind some of the other chalets. They were rusty and one was covered with some green moss-like coating. Good grief!!! I wonder when the last time was when they cleaned and serviced their air-conditioners. Actually, I saw their room promotion – only RM90++ for a standard double and I was thinking of staying there…but they were full. Thank God for small mercies!!!
While I was outside, I spotted the ministry people and the rest coming in the hotel coaster to look at the hall/function room. I asked one of them about the reporting and registration but she said there wouldn’t be any – the participants would just have to show up that night at 8.30 p.m. for the first session. Now, that was not what they said in the calling letter. I was involved in a lot of such official things prior to my retirement and though at times, things might not have been all that satisfactory, it was never as terribly messy as this. With the likes of these up there, no wonder everything is in such shambles these days.
I also heard that the food they were served was not good and one of the facilitators was overheard passing a remark that they would never want to come to Sarawak again…and I must say that I am not in the least surprised! Tsk! Tsk!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Great view, can’t believe that this place is hot
It was hot. Probably not the right time of the year to visit.
yeah la. i encounter the same problem too when attending some courses. the room dirty and aircon not working. the registration take ages. no system at all. one time hor, when want to check in at counter, they said no go to level 5, go to level 5 they ask u to go bck to counter. back and forth, back and forth until wan explode!
I wonder why they are so disorganised. If they had not stated the time for registering and reporting in the letter, we would have taken a bus and saved over RM1K between the three of us. Bus arrives at 4pm and reporting ends at 4.30. I was afraid that we might not be in time.
And the night session at 8.30 – less than an hour, dismissed already. Might as well start the next day if they did not intend to do it properly and we could have taken my girl out for dinner with us.
How the negara can maju like that with people like these at the top? Gaya memang ada, nombor satu! 😦
Who said Kuching is hotter than Sibu? Lol. Miri is hotter because of the oil under the sea etc. I never been to Miri, maybe one of these days since Sibu is nearer. Nice pictures.
You’re going? I tumpang, can? 😉 I know Kuching is hotter than Sibu – or was it because it was cold in the air-conditioned hotel room…so everytime I stepped outside for some fresh air – just a few minutes and I would be dripping in my sweat. That was why I never felt like going anywhere there. Ok here…not so bad.
Thanks for some of the pics of Miri. I’ve wondered what it’s like.
Nice, spacious…well spread out so the city centre is not as congested and busy as elsewhere (or maybe we did not go out during their peak hours, I wouldn’t know), laid back quite unlike the rest, nice place.
Canada Hill? Sounds canggih.. Picture also very nice.. Oh yes, about the weather, being next to the sea, very sticky and hot one.. Wah, guess it must be a very big resort coz you guys have to register “somewhere else”, in another hall, and not the lobby..
Wrong info given by the hotel people – the ladies we met got the key to their chalet from the SAME people who redirected us to the function room that did not have a single living soul around – said everything would be done there, dunno why they did that instead of asking us to check in first and giving us the key too…before telling us where to go. 😦
That is why I also dread going for courses.. normally the places or chalets mostly are not properly maintained, either this or not will not be functioning… but most important, the bed must be clean… toilet too.. One time my colleague and I ended up washing the toilet for them because we were staying there for a couple of nights and due to that, we don’t want a dirty toilet to greet us each time we enter! LOL…
Well, the course venue for your girl looks presentable enough though.. 🙂
It looked real good on the outside. Inside the chalet, I think I’ve seen better in some cheap hotels. 😦
It has been a long time since I last step foot there. If my memory serves me right, I have been there twice only. So near and yet so far. Heard that over there, they sell durians by kilos.The resorts looks ok from the outside.
Yes. Even the locals do not think much of it though – they say it’s some kind of a love nest…like Rajah Court in Kuching last time, all the way in Pending. Miri isn’t all that expensive anymore these days – not like in the old days when there were lots of ang mohs with a lot of money and people coming over all the way from Brunei to shop.
6th & 7th pictures, nice view…
Nice to look at, not necessarily good… 😦
wow, great view at that “golf and country club resort”!! and how nice she is having her course there for a few days, i guess if the course is to be boring at least she got nice view to make her happy!! hahahaha~~ 😀
Yes, the place is nice, scenic…quiet, soothing but they could have maintained the chalets nicely…and provided much nicer food. Most meals that she had there were far from good. 😦
I guess Miri has been living off oil workers and Brunei sin seekers for too long, maybe it’s time to start attract regular tourism
It’s thriving, obviously doing very very well…probably because at one time, they had “the right connections”. ‘Nuff said. What is the tourism ringgit – kacang to them, if you ask me…though many would stop by here on the way to the Mulu Caves. You would have to see with your own eyes to believe how gigantic those mansions are – even the Malaysian king’s official residence would have to take a back seat!
Great view of miri ! Well, I guess there’s not many guests to the hotel this they also don’t hsve the extra funding to maintain.
It was fully booked when I tried to get a room there – many government departments and other bodies having their courses or whatever there. I would put it down to poor management – right down from the front office, looking at what happened when we wanted to check in. They obviously did not know head or tail as to what was going on around them…or they just pretended they did not know.
Good heavens! What a merry go round they sent you to! I would have been so annoyed 😦 And the chalets in bad condition too. Not good at all, eh?
Nope, and it is in the middle of nowhere – no free shuttle service to the city centre. When I called them, they said they could call a cab and they could not even give a rough idea of the fare – you can imagine how incompetent they are! I hear it is very very expensive to take a cab in Miri…just like Penang/Georgetown.
Sorry to hear how the whole thing ended though it looked like such a good start with all the views in the earlier part of the post. I hate bad coordination/organization, and to make things worse, even the chalets were in bad condition! Ughs…that is really unpleasant, I am not sure how well I could take it…sighs 😛 Poor you…:-(
I did not stay there…thankfully for them or else I would surely make a scene. My girl’s a lot more patient than I am.
Miri, shame to say i never been to!! Or maybe i have, but it is when i am very very young before start school. Stay at those timber camp where my father and my grandpa worked. That is the only memory i have.
Canada Hill? Oh…interesting. About the big mansion, hahahhahahah…i fully understand and agree!
Come, come. Want to go. I tag along too… 😉 Ya…one on the top of the hill looks like the White House by day…but at night, they have all the colourful spotlights – looks like a casino resort in Las Vegas. Such bad taste!
nice pics 🙂 y’know, i’m not sure i’ve ever seen an oil rig in real life wor 🙂
But you’ve seen Eiffel Tower? 😀 I guess on the east coast, they’ve offshore oil rigs.
first day is always like that la. i know some of the teachers skip first day, inform first though citing transport prob etc. last time hor, the letter said register 2.15-2.30. wait wait wait until four also ler. never on time one
Yes, only one flight in the morning, one in the evening (too late for registration) and there were some from Sibu who showed up that night and left early the final morning, skipping the session for that day. Couldn’t get seats, they said…had to use the bus.
Can see the sky is so blue, must be very hot!!!
You took my words out of my mouth…
What a shame the inside of the chalet was shabby.. looked decent from the outside though.
Yikes, the photo you took at the seaside looked scorching hot! 😬
It was – that hot!!! We did not feel like getting out of the car!
Ya, sad that people in the management line can be so incompetent – pretty soon, the place can be written off already. Many have been maintained really well like the one where I stayed but many nice hotels have had that kind of fate – run-down and falling apart after some time.. 😦
can’t believe i’m born bred malaysian and never stepped foot in sarawak! D: should make a trip to the east soon lah.
Yes, it’s very different here – feels like another country and may vary from town to town probably because of the racial compositions.