Kuching Vlog: Mooncake Festival, Kolo Mee & Waterfront Hotel

Vincent is originally from Kuching, Sarawak. He moved to the US in 2009 and has been talking about the food, specifically Kolo Mee, since we started planning this trip. This was my first time visiting East Malaysia. The travel day started badly and got significantly better from there.

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The Air Asia Check-In: A Warning

The airport check-in process was chaos. The self-service kiosks were broken, the lines had no clear organization, and there were two people working the entire counter. We made the flight but it required a large buffer of time.

If you are flying Air Asia from this terminal: Build in significantly more time than you think you need. Also, they required us to remove our watches going through security, which was a first for both of us.

Lounge access tip: Once you go through security at this terminal, you cannot go back. There are no lounges on the other side of the checkpoint. If you want to use a lounge like the Plaza Premium, you need to do it before you clear security. We did not know this ahead of time and ended up at OldTown White Coffee instead, which was fine: egg toast and a good cup of coffee before boarding.

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The Waterfront Hotel: Suite Surprise

We had booked a King Suite at The Waterfront Hotel in Kuching. At check-in, we found out we had been upgraded to a massive two-story suite with a spiral staircase and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the Kuching Waterfront and the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building.

The staff left a "Welcome Back to Your Hometown" message on the bed for Vincent. A small detail, but the kind of thing that makes you feel like you actually matter to a hotel rather than just being another booking.

For the full breakdown of the room, amenities, and views, see the Waterfront Hotel Kuching Review.

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The Kuching Intercultural Mooncake Festival

We had no idea this was happening. Right outside the hotel along Carpenter Street, the entire road was blocked off and packed with food stalls for the Mooncake Festival. Perfect timing.

Here is what we ate:

Taiwanese popcorn chicken: Different seasoning profile from what we get back home. Better, actually.

Chinese herbal tea: Cold, slightly bitter, and genuinely refreshing in the humidity.

Panggang: My first time trying this. Sticky rice wrapped around fish, then grilled. We also tried a version with anchovies and sambal inside. The sambal version was deeply savory and incredibly addictive.

Taiwanese sausage on a stick: Fresh off the grill, sweet and slightly spicy. It tasted completely different from the packaged Taiwanese sausage we have had elsewhere and noticeably better.

Sweet corn with margarine: Simple and exactly right as a street snack.

We also watched fireworks from the festival before heading out for the main event of the night.

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Trying Kolo Mee for the First Time

This is the dish Vincent has been talking about since before we left Arizona.

We went to a spot near the Electra House, which is a place he used to visit as a kid growing up in Kuching. We ordered the "Red" Kolo Mee, which gets its color and depth of flavor from the BBQ pork sauce.

My honest reaction: I understand why he has been hyping this up. The noodles have a chewy texture with just the right amount of sauce coating each strand. The BBQ pork flavor is slightly sweet and intensely savory at once, and it does not taste like anything I have had before. It is genuinely surprising that this dish is not more widely known outside of Sarawak.

We ordered a large bowl and I was already thinking about the regular version before we finished.