Back in the past…

After my breakfast that morning, I embarked on a very long walk and headed to The Kuching Waterfront where I strolled along leisurely, enjoying the early morning peace and quiet and the lovely scenery of the river and beyond, watching the tambangs (wooden boats) on the Sarawak River and sitting on the benches here and there to relax. After all, I had all the time in the world and was not in any hurry to go anywhere.

It was already 9.00 a.m. when I got to this building, the Chinese History Museum…

…opposite the Tua Pek Kong Temple at the junction of Main Bazaar, Temple Street and Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (that heads towards Padungan where the hotel I was staying in is located). The building was originally the Chinese Court set up by Rajah Charles Brooke, the 2nd White Rajah of Sarawak, and declared open on July 1st, 1912.

My timing was perfect as it had just opened for the day…

…so I went in through the entrance…

…located at the back, not facing the main road. There was a sign by the door that stated that photography was not allowed except with permission but it was too dark to take any decently-nice photographs, anyway and I did not see anybody around at the time to ask if I could snap a shot of a thing or two.

I only took one of this rickshaw…

…and this old school coffee shop marble top table and rattan chairs…

There were not many exhibits but I was tickled by the recording of the Foochow dialect in the section on the various Chinese communities. You press the button and you will hear a couple talking about the high prices of things and one of them said it did not matter, they would just have to work hard and scrimp and save for their children’s education. I thought that was so Foochow, true and true.

After I had come out of the museum, I went down Main Bazaar – I had a lot of friends staying above their families’ shops there in the 70’s. I spotted my friends’ family’s Guan Ho Leong optical shop that used to be at No. 56, now at the corner at the junction of Main Bazaar and this street…

…where some friends of mine also lived before.

Going up the other stretch past the Carpenter Street and Ewe Hai Street junction, one would be able to see the gate…

This plaque by the side…

 …explains why the road was thus named.

All this while, I thought the whole stretch of road was Carpenter Street right up to the temple at the very end where the road meets Wayang Street. I did not know that from this junction with Bishopgate onwards, the stretch where Kim Joo is, it is actually Ewe Hai Street. I guess we get to learn new things every day.