St Theresa primary School has changed.. ther concrete playground used to be all grass. Durign recess, some girl from my class called..uhh..Tan Kah Ying I think..we used to play catch..just running around and around till the recess bell rang.
Lessee....there was a huge roundabout at Padungan road. I heard it's gone.

I remember Istana..there was a shopping center there..across nearby was Holiday Inn.
My dad played guitar at the then called Tropicana. He also sang there. I'm not sure what street that street is..but I believe tehre's a St. Andrew school there somewhere nearby.

I've been to Santubong..almost stepped ona cow dung while running..dad yelled..I hopped over just in time..otherwise my whole dainty foot will be buried deep in that pile.

I remember going down shops nearby Padungan..lotsa indian shops selling curry paste..curry powder everything. At the end of the street there is some huge warehouse, port..there was a satay man there sitting on a stool. it was 15cts per stick.

Somewhere to the west of Padungan there was another warehouse..but they sell vegatables and all that other stuff..I think it was a public market..at the entrance was a chubby chinese guy selling chai tau kueh wrapped in plastic and banana leaf or panda leaf.. it was 50cts.

On Sekama road, at night there was a hawker who sold char kway tiau..it had eggs, fish it in..and tau geh..and he puts clams and chilli and sugar as well..it was $1! He was also the hawker guy who sells sweets and snacks outside my sister's school during the day.

Bus fare was 30cts i think.. I can't remember that one..but I'd yell "Bus STOP!!" and the conductor would press the bell.. THE BELL! it's a little red button. Hehe.

I remember Traffic garden. I also remember the kindergarten close by there. I went to that kindergarten. It was nearby Kenyalang park. A classmate from St Theresa lived nearby there..Victor Yong Chiong Lung..his father was the chinese language teacher at St Theresa..Mr. Yong.. heh.

I wonder who lives at our old house at Pending Heights now. Or if the house will still be there anymore.

Oh yeah.. I recall somethign about the "highway" where I lived at my uncle's..it's something like JiPoon loh..Japan road..something like that.

Anyhow..Pending Heights..heh..every Saturday evening..a van with a Milo decal would come to the neighbourhood..set up a Milo stand..and also a huge screen. Lotsa ppl would come and watch the movie Milo van shows. A small cup of Milo hot or cold would cost 10cts...it was quite a community thing really.

Is the swimming complex still the same or has it changed?Bigger? Moved elsewhere? I see it on the map webmaster gave me (kamsiah hoh..spiderman guan!) but it looks a bit different. Back then it was one pool about 10 by 25 meters long.

I remember Kenyalang Park and the cinema there. There was an ice cream shop and I'd go with a friend to have root beer float and strawberry sundaes..cant' recall the price tho..and casette tapes..shopping for caseette tapes at the cinema complex..my brother was crazy for Funkytown and disco songs.

Hmm..my father worked somewhere in the east side I think..it was called Pernas Sendarby ltd or something to that effect. Sales man he was. Musician by night.

I was at Hawaii in September..and I came across a plant I have nto seen for ages..Frangipanni flowers..wah..smelt so good I wanted to dig the whole tree and take it back to Canada with me.

I think I could prolly recollect more as we go along here...I hope. Heh.. I left when I was 11 or 12 years old I think. I'll do my best to perk interest I suppose. =)

This is so nostalgic. There is a member here name Vince. Lols he will have lots of memory to share with you. Now he will be very happy that he is not the oldest one here. hahahahaha. Vince vince.., say something. wahhaha..

Heck, in late 80's i was still in some pyjamas running around in house and watch some cartoon on tv and some old folk chinese movies and western comedy.

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now that road is known as Jalan Tun Razak if not mistaken. but its still known as Jepun Lo among us oldies.

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The KMC swimming pool. I don't know how it's like last time. But i know it didn't change much. I used to learn swimming there at early 90's. Then few years later, they did some renovation. I am not sure how its like also. Long time didn't go.


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HmMmMM... i got a vague memory about it. Lols the next time i go back then i will need to reconfirm it. The cassete tapes stall is still there selling cassetes. and the cinema.. nah its dead long time ago.

Talking about cinemas. Let you know that most of the old cinemas are demolised. The one name Roxy and Cathay. I am sure you remember those. All no more already. The Roxy building got
re-constructed. The cinema at Sunny Hill there is now selling some random products.

I wonder if you know about Kuching waterfront? One of the city's best landmark build in mid 90's ?

Wow...I'm impressed, you remember a lot of things during your childhood days.

I wonder if I'll have memories such as this in the future. It sure is nice to have them.

Ma ku lar, pull me to water somemore, lolzzzzz...


But that is all the valueable memories we have in Kuching... sigh.... as what Ah Guan said, it is all gone.

What make me remember most in 80`s is.... emmmm... there is kinda of "local made ice-cream" named "Kan-ton", the hawker just pour some artificial colour syrup and gula melacca on top of flake ice, then form into cone shape by using a stick from coconut branch.

My mum`s time is 5 cents each, then my time is 30 cents, now there is only one left stall in Kuching still selling it, and the price is... 80 cents if i am not mistaken.

Me and Guan the same, in the 80's we're still little boys and girls watching cartoons like Mighty Mouse, Care Bears... manage to recall these two only ;p

The old cinema, Capital also no more, now become Tun Jugah Building.

By the way, in the 80's, i lived in Pending Height too. HEhehe.. we're neighbours ;p

The red button is still now used in bus. AHahah...

I'm sure the house and construction site is all gone now..all that is there are probably rows of residential houses and actual roads.

I think I missed the Waterfront changes.

Oi I rmb my grandma took me watch tamil movie at that indian cinema..could be Roxy. My grandma was quite a multiculturally-friendly person..I guess it might have rubbed off on me. Most of my school friend in SG are kehlengs. heh.

I'm not too worried if I never find Lawrence, but I know I'm making new ones here..never to old to make friends lah..esp from hometown.

There's this place we would go halfway to the airport or possible to the south..about 20-half hour driving from my old home..to this big restaurant well known for jihu eng chai (cuttlefish kangkong) dish.
No idea how to get there today. heh.

Ya Vince, kantong! all kind of syrups and gula melaka...and those bakulong fruit in a jar of yellow juice...10cts each. heh.

Lovebell, you have any older bro. or sis? Wouldn't it be funny if we were really neighbours. My sister and brother and I all played with all the kids from the same block...5 to 6 houses from us was this home where once a while the father or his son would lok-tan...like possess by spirit and gods..chinese lantern was always fun..as was chinese new year.
ice-cream man would pedal on his bicycle hauling a small cart..and he would sell all kinds of ice-cream, and icey ones that are in long thin plastics with tsin-boi (sour plum), and my fav was 2 scoops of corn icecream on yellow bread...haha

kinda funny recalling all this..i'm actually smiling as I type..ppl aroun me cussing me crazy guy. heh. ahh simple solution to that..give one finger salute

Attached is a rough sketch of birds eyeview of how/where it was before...dunno how it look like now.

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Now you just gave me any new objective for this website.

Metamorphosis of Kuching
"Keeping all records and modern history of Kuching city so in future people are able to trace back the memories of how its like before."

As for the waterfront,
The Kuching Waterfront was officially launched by YAB Chief Minister of Sarawak on September 3, 1993. The picture below is shows the construction of the waterfront. I still remember the whole place was very messy, dusty and muddy.

I just uploaded several Waterfront pictures to the photo album
Click Here

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Half way to the airport? It took me less than 30 mins to drive from my home to the airport. Not sure about last time but now roads are built and you can reach anywhere easily without much traffic jams or bad roads. All roads are widen. For jepun lo, if you go straight up, you wil able to reach the Airport easily. Bypass the airport and you will end up in 7th mile.

Before I forget, for the cinema thingy, I asked Vince to reconfirm the facts about the cinemas last time in Kuching.

Miramar last time is a old building but in mid 90's, it was reconstructed into a modern looking cinema covered with tiles. Unfortunately, not long after its open, pirated VCDS swarm the entertainment business and Miramar close down not long after. Now its a abandon building doing nothing. Maybe just carparks.

For REX cinema, the building is also reconstructed mainly for carparks. The cinema no longer known as REX but its now its Star Cineplex. It only occupies the top floor. On the ground floor, its a eating spot.

For New Roxy situated at 3rd mile last time, its a abandon cinema which i mention earlier. Now selling random goods.

For Cathay which situated near to the open air market. Its also abandon and now selling random goods.

There is only 2 existing cinemas in Kuching, Star Cineplex and Riverside Cineplex. Mostly star gets all the business cause the other cineplex stinks. Somesort of bad smell on the cushion seats.

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Do you remember the surname of the family? I might know those people.

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Yeah I wasnt' around for that for sure..Long gone by 1980-1981.

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7th mile..that sounds familiar..could be it. There was a huge intersection there...lotsa tables and chairs outside this restaurant in the open.

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too bad I dont' have any photos of them cinemas..I'd post it for sure. I'll have some of my old childhood pictures scanned and posted in the future..so you guys can have a laugh.

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Nope..sorry..I knew the boy by his name..I knew and have forgotten....

You're mentioned piracy killed the cinema business..does that mean lotsa ppl own VCD/DVD players or computers? And what's the fastest speed available there right now at what price range? Do lotsa household have computers, and internet access? Hmm I guess I shd have posted this as a new topic. I'll let you decide on that, Spiderman G.

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Lols. yes indeed. Its nothing like the old days anymore. Everything is developed. The people are getting advanced and high tech. The roads is swarmed with luxury cars. BMW, Lexus, Merz and so on. I assume most people owns a computer at home. Good computers, not the 486 type. Internet access are widely use here.

No need to post as new topic. Here is good enough. hehe. VCD is sort of outdated now. Most people move on to dvd since the pirated is widely available. But then it doesn't affects the cinema. People still go to cinema to watch movies and most likely will be very crowded during the premiere.

7th Mile is now known as Taman Sentosa but still its known as 7th mile among us oldies. Its another township there. Fairly developed. There are still old coffeeshops and shops there. The roads there are very messy and dusty cause the road is common used by the trucks and other workload vehicles. All moving further ahead to 10th mile + for further development.

Lols I love this topic. ahhahha keep posting and i will try to dig out what i remembered.

btw..just a note, backup what you posted on a notepad or somewhere before submitting. Just incase it crash.

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Hehe...and I thought only people from West Malaysia thought of Kuching as outdated.