I’ve passed this way before…

I was here…

…that morning after the scrumptious kolo mee breakfast in Kuching but they are working on it at the moment. I understand they are going to put up a roof, probably something like what they have now at Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur. Yes, it was business as usual but one could only walk along the very congested five-foot way outside the shops, not something one would enjoy so I went into this narrow passageway…

…that I used to walk through a long long time ago, probably in the 70’s to Jalan Gambir at the other end or from that road to get to India Street.

I seem to recall that it was very much narrower, none of those shops along the way…

…and at the time, I would walk very fast as I had that feeling, a kind of phobia, that the walls would close in on me. I guess that was the result of watching too many of those Hercules or Maciste or Goliath sword and sandal movies when I was younger.

There is a mosque midway, the oldest in the state capital…

…probably for the many Muslim Indians in all the shops in the vicinity and hence, the old name, Masjid India. I understand that it has since been changed to Masjid Bandar Kuching. Well, it certainly looks very well-maintained which is a good thing – personally, I am strongly for restoring and preserving these heritage places, instead of demolishing them and replacing them with those ghastly modern monstrosities.

As I neared the end of the passageway, I saw this man…

…sifting what appeared to me like curry powder, a foreshadowing in a way of what lay ahead.

In no time at all, I was out on the other side, the Jalan Gambir side…

…with a glimpse of the roof of the Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly) building…

…in the distance on the other side of the Sarawak River.

As the name implies, one would see lots of shops selling spices and all the stuff…

…used in the cooking of curries and those kinds of dishes…

…commonly found in Indian or Malay cuisines in general…

I am pretty sure my friend, Opal, in the US would be enthralled by the sight of all these and would love this place so much.

I spotted this old-school barber shop…

…close by that seemed to be surviving despite the competition from all those classy salons all over the city.

After walking around a bit, I headed back to the passageway and walked back to India Street.