Friday, December 25, 2009

A page from the past






This is a very rare plague from the time of Sarawak's first Chief Minister. The plague goes like this:

THIS BUILDING WAS DECLARED OPEN BY
THE HONOURABLE DATO STEPHEN K. NINGKAN
THE CHIEF MINISTER OF SARAWAK
ON THE 24th AUGUST 1965

Guess which building is that?

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Ant plant tubers for sale

I found the following tubers which are actually ant plants (meaning the hollow tubers are inhabited by ants). The plants is an epiphyte. The tubers are dried and cut into pieces. They are packed in plastic and sell at RM5 per pack. It is for medicinal use but that definitely requires scientific confirmation.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Old residential houses of Sibu

Concrete and wooden houses in Sibu. I believe the wooden ones were built before the 2nd World War while the concrete ones were built around 1960's (correct me if I am wrong). Some of the wooden houses soon made way for the concrete houses though some remain as "leftovers" from another era. Such houses were found in Tiong Hua Rd, Tong Sang Rd, Bukit Assek Rd, Huo Ping Rd, Emplam Lane, etc. I wonder who or which architect designs the concrete houses. It was simple and tasteless but somehow practical for that time. Each unit is divided into ground floor and upper floor (two families -one upstair and one downstair but occasionally rooms were rented out and there could be more than one family at any one time).Of course, today houses are with better designs.

Perhaps the authority should redevelop the Tong Sang Rd-Tiong Hua Rd-Emplam Lane-Huo Ping Lane-Bukit Assek-Moi Huong Rd as part of urban renewal project to regenerate and rejuvenate the area from turning into an inner city.



Wooden Houses at Tong Sang Road



Wooden Houses at Tong Sang Road



Residential Houses along Bukit Assek Road



Residential Houses along Bukit Assek Road



Concrete residential houses along Tiong Hua Road



Concrete residential houses along Huo Ping Road



Concrete Residential Houses at Huo Peng Road