Sibu, the Venice of Malaysia

"Don't get me wrong, the only thing that is similar to Venice, is that, there is water everywhere."

...So i was sent to Sibu to cover the (interior design aspect) in a design workshop organized by my college. My slides are ready, my mind is ready, and i'm all set to move and rawk Sibu.

I reached an hour early at the airport, and it gave me a lot of time to think. I felt a little bitter, as i need to part with her for 4 days. I told myself, hey, it's going to be the same, like when we don't have time to meet up usually.

But knowing that i am going to fly across the ocean, and land on another continent, it's just different. I felt that, even if i want to make a spontaneous move to appear in front of her, it would not be easy at all.

Doze off in the cabin, and here i am, landed in Sibu, the land of Swans.(Don't ask me why, they put swans as their mascot). Simon picked me up from the airport, with a warm welcoming smile. He owns an event company specialized on wedding and education, and surprisingly, he is also a Saitorian a decade ago! The first topic that came up is about dinner. Which was really practical during that moment :p

<< Random: Super narrow toilet, with a width that compliments only the urinal.Talk about claustrophobic.

There is a fairly hygienic practice in every restaurants in Sibu. Cutleries are all dipped in a cup of hot water and placed on the table. A practise which all restaurants in Malaysia should cultivate.

On the first day, i was sleeping in this big room with an empty bed beside me, space was too big for a person, which leaves a big space for wild and horror imaginations.

Lucky for me, i have friends at Sibu :)

John called me out for supper at night, and we had some chatting session with one of his colleagues. He said " in Sibu, there is no nightlife, only this"
It ends at around 12, and everyone goes back to sleep.

The fact that, there ARE clubs at this places, but they are not meant for us. Just colliding shoulders with someone else, might get you involved in a gangster fight.

Fruit and Ice = FruitIce

In mandarin, we called it "shui guo bing", basically fruits with lotsa ice and milk and some Jello on top. John said that Raymond will go screaming like crazy if he saw this. So if anyone who knows Raymond here, please kindly forward this picture to him.

Random: The pic at the side, is a suicidal attempt, architecturally.

What fascinates me on the first day, is the grocery shop on water, in fact, it's a ship, cruising to remote areas and open up for sales.Pretty cute stuff.

I think, by now, you all should be wondering, "HEY, what's with the Venice of Malaysia? i see nothing yet! Well, you are about to see a series of pictures that will blow your mind. Sibu has technology for building almost anything on water!

#01 Typical Water House : A typical row of houses surrounded by water.

#02 WaterGirls : Sibu's version of WonderGirls

#03 Sea Rover: A rover which travels on sea. Technology of tires enables maximum grip on water for optimum speed and maneuver

.#04 River fence: To block an separate what belongs to the river, and what belongs to the land.

#05 Bench Island : An benched shaped island, surrounded by water, for romantic purposes.

#06 Stairway to heaven: If you have enough of the water, just open the box and touch any of the components inside with a wet hand.

#07 River Petrol Station: A petrol station which offers you an effective fusion of petrol and dirty river water.

#08 Great Entrance : The entrance and border to the Venice of Msia.

#09 The Real River: No no you're mistaken! The boats are on an artificial river, me, the cameraman is on the real river.

#10 Riverbikes : Basically an advanced system of having  2 wheels on water.

#11 Fisher : Unlike the ordinary fisherman, fishers stays on their floating chair and wait for fishes to come.

#12 Ice Tea : No! Really!, despite the similarity of to the water in Sibu, they are just a cup of nice tea.

Alright, it was actually pretty depressing to see these water all around, bad drainage system, water level increase due to tycoons cutting down timbers, and soil poured into the river. If you are wondering why are all these happening, think who are those who is supposed to wake up and make the right decisions.Voting for unreliable sources has a big impact to the nation.

Now to the best part of Sibu, food. For a price of RM2, you can get a decent meal with quality taste!Warning, the pictures below are not for puasa people.

#01 Kampua Mee : The local cuisine of Sibu. This should be the logo instead of a swan.

#02 Black Olives:These black olives are more nutritious than the ordinary ones we see.Ways to cook it, includes, putting them in warm water not more than80degrees celsius till soft and mix with salt,chilli, cili padi in a cup.

#04 Sea Cucumber Soup : A texture that you will never get bored of even if you have it for three days in a row.

#05 Beer : The beer price is almost compatible with carbonated drinks. Which one will you choose? By the way, the beer on the top picture tasted like cold plain water.

#06 Foochow fried noodle : One big difference of the noodles here is on the texture. They are somehow elastic in texture when bitten and the burnt aroma of the noodle stands out in the taste bud.

#07 Siu Mai & Gong Pia: Too bad, i was so full that i did not have the chance to taste this.

#08 Bakar stuffs by the Bumis: They marinate their food with coatings of honey and burnt to perfection. Among their things they sell, the most bizarre dish was the 'buntut ayam". A skewer of barbecued chicken butt. They taste really good, say one of the locals.

#09 Daredevil Stall : I was pretty surprised to see a shop selling parts of pork right in the same bazaar. Ranging from the lean meat to bizarre parts like the nose and tongue.

#10 Philippine Pork Leg : This mouth watering tender pork leg with crispy skin texture is complemented with a special sour-ish sauce that will end up, erupting a big explosion in your mouth.

Now, to the serious business, what i was actually there for.

 The workshop covers basics of Multimedia, Graphic and Interior Design. The aim of this workshop is to open the secondary student's minds about design and it's exploration. To activate their minds on creative thinking and exploration, i chose to share with them, what i've learn in KBU, the concept model :)

For my part, i gave them a talk about the distinction between design compared to arts and decorations, raising their awareness of how potential design can affect lifestyle and the environment. I revealed to them, the potential of exploring  space, lighting, color and function through concept models made out of papers. 

"Mcdonalds need a new design for a lot in Sibu! and your team is chosen to make a concept model for their new building.You will be given some glue,paper and scissors to express your idea.Good Luck."

Inspired, the students made concept models out of the scenario that was given to them. To my surprise, they came out with beautiful work like these within 30 minutes time.

I chose a few of the models which catches my eyes, and asked the group to come out and talk about the objective behind their workpiece.Like most secondary school students, they were not trained to give lengthy speech about the things they do. So, it ended up as a question and joke session. 

Most importantly, the students had fun, and get to involve themselves in a one of the basic process of design. If there was more time given, the students will be given a chance to further develop their work. Im grateful that, everything was executed within the time frame given, and it was considered a fairly good experience for all of them. 

I'm grateful that i was given a chance to travel and educate. It was a meaningful experience to me, and it definitely inspire and motivate me to do more. (: