August 30 continues....
Our next stop
was the Sarawak Orchid Garden, just on the other side of the river.
Sitting on
3.54 acres, this beautiful garden was a little different than other orchid
gardens we’ve seen. As we wandered
through the grounds, we passed through rows and rows of stunning orchids that
were growing upright in the soil, as individual, large vertical plants.
After
doing a little research, I discovered that the orchids we were used to seeing in other botanical gardens, were usually in greenhouses and, for the most part, were
epiphytic…a plant that grows above the ground supported nonparasitically by
another plant or object, and deriving its nutrients and water from rain, the
air, dust, etc. There was, however, one particular
area in the Kuching garden that they called the ‘coolhouse.’ Some of the more delicate
species and hybrids which needed to be kept in a controlled environment, mostly
involving temperature and humidity control, are grown here.
I’m always amazed at how many varieties of exquisite orchids exist in
the world and, in this sweet garden there are 75,000 orchids, representing 65
species and hybrids.
It was still
early when we left the Orchid Garden so we decided that we would visit the much
talked about Kuching Cat Museum, founded in 1993. After seeing some of the bizarre cat sculptures
around Kuching, we couldn’t imagine that this museum would be anything other
than kitschy, particularly when we walked through the open mouth of a huge cat
head
that was the entrance to the four galleries containing over 4,000
artefacts.
So…it was a pleasant surprise to find that
this unusual little museum was actually pretty interesting and
entertaining. The beautifully displayed
exhibits included, among many others, a mummified cat from ancient Egypt, a gallery
of feline-related advertising, a wall of hysterical photos of cats dressed up
in human clothing, a display of 'hello kitty' artefacts,
and five species of wild cats found in Borneo.
There was also some really interesting
information about the role cats have played throughout history,
a lot of cat trivia as well as how some of the characteristics of cats function. Right before the exit of the museum, in keeping with the kitsch notion, we couldn’t resist taking a few
photo of me in one of those, put your head in the hole, cat scenes
and one of
Bill cozying up to one of the bizarre cat statues.
It had been a long and enjoyable day when we headed back to Damai to pack our bags in preparation for the morning flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We would be staying in the Cameron Highlands with Will Pomp, the son a our dear friends from Chapala, Laney and Jack, and Will had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the airport and drive us to his home.
So, we had one last fabulous buffet in the Resort dining room as the sun was setting and, in the morning, bade farewell to Borneo, having not seen one single cannibal!!
Don
2018-09-19
And to think Peg is allergic to cats—Bill should have worn his Cat costume—again great pics—
Patricia Nowakowski
2018-09-20
Loved the picture of the cat sweeping...what a face.
Susan H
2018-09-20
Now I understand why "Hello Kitty" and all the merchandising involved is so popular in Japan and China -- i.e. the Orient.