Sematan is a fishing village located about 100 kilometres away from Kuching city. So if you cruise along the "highway" (its so NOT, its just a normal road with one lane going towards Sematan and the other lane going towards Kuching) at an average speed of 90km/h, you can get there in about one hour, maybe less.
In the good old days when we had to take the ferry across to Lundu ( a small town which you would need to go past when you go to Sematan), we had to wait at the pier for the ferry to come and then drive cautiously onto the ferry. Well I have good news for all of you. The ferry has been disposed of and now, you can just drive across the newly constructed bridge. Woohoo!
Back to Sematan Palm Beach Resort. It is a relatively new beach resort which has different types of chalets, some of which I will feature in the photographs below. Being a quaint fishing village, not many tourists find their way here, opting for the more commercialised beach resorts such as Holiday Inn Damai Beach Resort, Damai Lagoon Resort and Santubong Beach Resort, to name a few. Throngs of foreign tourists visit these large scale beach resorts, hoarding the beaches, stuffing themselves silly in the hotel restaurants etc...  not my idea of relaxation. The beach is a place where ideally, one can sit down under a palm tree/coconut tree for that matter, sipping coconut juice and just enjoying the serene environment. The waves washing the shores becomes your music and the gentle breeze becomes your natural air-conditioning. Ah bliss. Anyway, a picture tells a thousand words... so here are the pics. Enjoy them!



An overview of the beach: sun, sand, clear blue skies, etc...



Yes... the management of SPBR wishes to remind all visitors that coconuts do fall on you,
regardless of age, gender and race.. hahaha



This is me at the beach... low tide, in case you were wondering. And I was deliberating then whether or not to actually walk towards the sea...



Trying to look cool amidst the gentle breeze...



Welcome, welcome to my secret hideaway... no, we did not stay overnight, it was just a day trip. But we were allowed to visit the empty chalets, just to get a feel of how it would be like to stay there... This is a bungalow type chalet which is fully air-conditioned with four beds and an attached bathroom.



Presenting to you the ... the "I can run faster than Liu Xiang the Olympic Champion" hermit crab! I almost ran out of breath running after this crab just to get a good picture of him/her/it.



Be careful whenever you wade through the waters... a jellyfish awaits you. And it is not nice to be stung by a jellyfish. Honestly.



The "Quadraplex" type chalet, semi detached style. There is also a terrace style chalet which I forgot to take a picture of.



The one and only purchase I made at Sematan fishing village-a huge sea shell. Which stinks unfortunately, so it is sitting quietly outside my house immersed in Dettol. Oh well...

A few tips:
To maximise your experience, an overnight trip is recommended. If you arrive at the resort at about 4pm in the afternoon, you will be just in time to see the sunset, and indulge in the buffet dinner (which is included in your accommodation). The next morning, wake up to the beautiful sunrise, fill up at the resort restaurant and have fun at the beach! You have a choice of cycling, kayaking or even bbq-uing at the bbq pits provided.

In short, if you are looking for a semi-isolated beach resort with a personal touch... Sematan Palm Beach Resort is not a bad choice. Definitely going there with a few good friends the next time I decide to spend the night there. Absolutely beautiful.

Today I clicked on Twinsmom's blog and read about how her husband, affectionately known as Twinsdad gave a sigh and wished that his girls would not grow up so fast. I am not a mother, but this post really touched me at the bottom of my heart. I thought of my mother and how she must have felt, when me and my siblings slowly grew up. From the totally dependent toddler who idolises what was the most important woman in his/her life, to the irritating, rebellious teenager who thinks just about anything that has to do with his/her mom is classified as highly embarrassing, and into the young adult who suddenly felt that mom is going to be the best friend you are ever going to get... as she trusts you to be mature enough to listen to her grouses, her hopes, her dreams... etc. It must be difficult being a mother, I think.

I share the same sentiments as Twinsdad to a certain extent as my sister and I were nine years apart. I played with her like a little girl who had a live baby doll, and every reaction she had, made me squeal with laughter. I used to show my sister books containing pictures of cute girls and she would laugh (I think she was about 4 or 5 months old then). She could walk when she was 9 months old. Many of you would not believe me because I was technically only a primary schoolgirl who was just as much a child as she was, so how could I have possibly noticed all that?

It was my mother. She always told me, what progression my sister was making, what she did today etc..
And now she is all grown up and I really really miss those days when she was between 9 months to 4 years old. Generally she is a very well behaved baby and liked to smile a lot. She was also relatively light so I could carry her around and kissed her all over (which she absolutely hated).

And you know what? I am the one in the family who always dig out the family albums and gaze at the pictures of yesterday. Yeah, thats me...

Perhaps, it is my maternal instincts which is getting stronger by the day, or perhaps not. :P

I believe, it must be a wonderful thing to be a mother. It must be. Look at Twinsmom, 5xmom, and all the other moms in blogsphere. You actually feel the warmth as you read their posts on their children. It is so sweet.

I personally do like children and generally, I can get along well with most kids. But I do not know if I can be a good mother. I really do not know.
For one, I still feel that I have to take my job to further heights. I yearn for the competitive working environment, the thrill of completing assignments within "lembu suci" deadlines and the privillege of working together with the talented few.
At the same time, I see young families with children who look like gifts from heaven and wish I could have one too.
Ah, the irony of life.
Guess I can only say what others have said already: Carpe Diem!
I will appreciate what I have at the moment and work towards what I do not have. Yet.
:) TGIF tomorrow.

Yesterday the Consular-General of the People's Republic of China in Kuching held a reception in conjunction with China's 56th year of independence. The year 2005 also commemorates the 60th anniversary of China's victory in WWII. It is a joyous occassion as well as a solemn reminder to the people of China and the rest of the world, how many people perished during the war, and how many more emerged as heroes, who remain etched in history.

The Consular General, His Excellency Zhang Tie Gen (who succeeded former CG of Kuching His Excellency Dr. Liu Shi Ping) extended a warm welcome to all who were present at the reception and hoped for stronger ties to be forged between Malaysia and China. The guest of honour of the reception, Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh delivered a throughly researched speech on the advantages of China emerging as the next economic superpower of the world and why we must not feel threatened, but instead, proud of their achievements. I did not record the full text of his speech, but rest assured the major chinese and english dailies would have a full text of his speech if not today, tomorrow.

Absolutely amazing...

You are my sister who always digs my spare change in my purse and smiles like a Cheshire cat whenever I come home with some plastic bags in my hand.
You are my sister who made all of us proud with your debut performance of "Romance" on the guitar on 15.8.2005.
You are my sister who has an angelic voice so close to our mommy's that it makes me jealous sometimes.
You are my sister who actually looks good in short hair.
You are my sister who loves S.H.E. more than you love me. :P
You are my sister who turns SWEET SIXTEEN today.