A Trip to Carpenter Street: One of the Oldest Streets in Kuching

Carpenter Street – one of the earliest streets in Kuching that is rich in history and is well preserved up to this day. I went and explore the street like a tourist and the result are amazing! This street is located in the city center and filled with old and new shop lots.

It started with a plan to look for a high tea place to hang out with my cousin and she suggested Carpenter Street for a treat!

So we went and ate fishball beehoon (rice vermicelli) and pork satay! Lau Ya Keng is the venue of the food eatery. This place is actually an opera stage back in the day and is now the oldest kopi tiam in Kuching. Aside from pork satay and fish ball beehoon, there is also Kolo mee, Laksa Sarawak, Kueh Chap and a drinks stall as well!

After our high tea session, we went out and took a walk along Carpenter Street armed with the LC-Wide and Diana Mini. We truly explored this place like a tourist. We went up to ‘Tian Hou temple’ above the Kuching Hainan Association and the view from above is breathtaking!

In the temple, the structure and history behind it is just overwhelming. We get to understand a little bit about Hainan people that first came to Kuching and how religion was intertwined in their lives until now. The temple was built on the 3rd floor. The highest floor among the shop lots in Carpenter Street.

Antiques, furniture, grocery, bookstores, banks, and even a Bed & Breakfast Inn are available on this street.

Another temple was present at the street opposite Lau Ya Keng was ‘Shang Ti Miao’. This temple has over a hundred years worth of history! I’m so glad that modernization did not destroy but preserved this century-old temple and maintained its structures.

Another street that crosses with Carpenter Street was Bishopgate. Read about the history in the second photo! In the past, “Bishopgate” was not the name of the street but because that street has no name, the people eventually named the street after the gate.

Carpenter street, a destination not to be missed when visiting Kuching. Do come and experience the more than a century’s worth of history and culture here! We had fun that day and so will you!

geschrieben von cutebun am 2012-03-17 in #Orte #history #chinese #temple #malaysia #sarawak #borneo #location #city #local-flavor #kuching #select-type-of-location #art-and-culture #carpenter-street