Travel Back In Time In Siniawan

My brother Kiong brought me to Siniawan after picking me from the airport at about 4.00pm yesterday. I have always been enchanted by photos of Siniawan showing its old wooden shophouses, its colourful lanterns and night market. A visit to this small quaint town is something that I have cherished for quite a while.

Siniawan looked like a ghost town when we arrived at about 4.30pm. The street was deserted and I thought maybe the famous night market is closed on Sunday.

The police station looked so quiet. A big bungalow with a huge compound stands at the edge the town. This house should be preserved as a heritage building and I bet it probably belongs to Siniawan’s richest family. In sharp contrast to the bungalow, an abandoned derelict house still stands, looking like a house from a ghost movie.

My brother parked his car in the big open space in front of the Swee Guk King Temple. Alighting from the car, I wasted no time in taking photos. Though the town is a really small one, I find it quite scenic and reminiscent of the 1960s.

Siniawan, about 25.6km out of Kuching along the old road to Bau, has only a one-way-street through the heart of the bazaar with 48 wooden two-storey shophouses where the inhabitants laze about along the corridors. Rich in culture, history and heritage values, it has become a popular spot with programmes like Siniawan Night Market and the annual celebrations of Chinese New Year celebration, Siniawan Swee Guk King Temple Mercy Goddess birthday celebration, Ghost Festival, Mooncake Festival and Chap Goh Meh procession.

In between two rows of the shophouses is a pathway leading to the river where small boats operate a water taxi service from the town to the opposite bank. As I approached the river, I was very pleasantly surprised to see a flock of about a dozen geese swimming in the river. The lovely geese are a delight to photograph.

The river bank area is quite scenic and I spent quite a bit of time strolling and taking photos.

By the time I got back to the main street of the bazaar, it was after 5pm. And the street was no longer deserted; it had seemingly awakened from its slumber and people were starting to appear as if from nowhere.

The night market, launched in Oct 15, 2010, has turned out to be a significant tourist attraction and local crowd puller for foodies and folks to hang out. It is known for its delicacies like grilled fish, seafood, oyster pancakes, chicken chop, crispy pork, BBQ chicken wings, rojak, ice cream, ice kacang, satay, kuih, siew mai, buns, meatballs, Taiwan sausages, kompia stuffed with minced pork, all sorts of mee and lots more.

Tourists can also experience the cultural heritage site by spending a night at Tian Xia Homestay which has 20 rooms.

We did not eat at the eating places in Siniawan as my mum and my sister and her family were waiting for us in my brother’shouse in Kuching. We “tapao” lots of food including rojak, oyster pancake, a few types of kuih, banana fritters with cheese, pork chop, kompia with minced pork and my brother’s favourite siam mee.

As we were getting into my brother’s car, I saw a pot of beautiful orchid just next to the car so I could not resist taking some photos of them.

If you happen to be in Kuching, do make a visit to Siniawan during the weekend. I enjoyed my short visit and felt like I had travelled back in time.