Before Hari Raya while it was still in the Ramadan month, my family and I wanted to eat a local fast food joint from my hometown called Sugarbun. First time going out as just 4 of us, I drove to one of its outlets only to find out that there was literally NO SEATS AT ALL for dining in. That is because our fellow Muslim friends would seize a table and wait for the time to break their fast even 2 hours before the time.
So we had to take away the food and find the nearest spot to eat. I was thinking of an open air place and thought of this place - Waterfront.
This place existed since I was a young child at 7 years old. It was built alongside the Sarawak River which is the main river connecting many parts of Sarawak. Part of our historical fort left behind by the Brooke family from the British colonisation days is also part of the Waterfront. So it is a very long paved walkway for people to walk and chill.
In the past 4 years or so, they built a bridge called Jambatan Darul Hana which connects the opposite of the river with the Waterfront side. Now we can walk over using the bridge and no longer need to take small boats to go over. But it was also fun when I took boats for fun those days for the experience. I tried digging a photo of me sitting in it but what a shame, I can no longer find one.
We ate dinner at a spot overlooking this building which is called ADUN. It is the assembly hall for the Sarawak state legislative representatives. It looks very beautiful at night. I happened to take a photo of it in the day too for comparison.
As we were walking towards the bridge, we saw many stalls selling food, clothes, toys and even fireworks, fire crackers etc.
I have seen my friends and siblings posting photos about it on social media then only I know this was built. Here is some architectural information about it:
According to this
site,
Designed with aesthetics and ergonomic considerations, the bridge is an S-shaped 3.25-metre-wide walkway that meanders 335 metres over the Sarawak River. Its curved plan allows a comfortable walkway gradient that is suitable for access by disabled persons, while still providing sufficient clearance for river vessels to pass beneath it. It also orients the bridge towards particularly attractive surrounding viewpoints.
Nine inclined concrete ‘fingers’ support the sharply curved approach span at the Waterfront end of the bridge—the number of ‘fingers’ correspond to the number of points on the star at the centre of the state flag.
The bridge’s steel spaceframe is suspended from two 50-metre-high steel towers that are angled steeply away from each other. Even though the towers pull in opposite directions, by carefully fine-tuning the walkway curvature and tower inclinations, the designers were able to balance all forces and keep all elements in harmony. This symbolises the state leaders’ efforts to bring balance and harmony in a multiracial and multicultural society.
So we went on a walk on the bridge. It is some sort a suspension bridge so when we were walking on it, we could feel it moving. But it did not bother my boys so it was okay. It is considerably a very very stable bridge.
We reached this space at the first pillar and decided to stop to enjoy some view from here.
As you may have realized, the coloured lights on this bridge is ever changing which is the part my youngest son loved the most as he named the colours one by one.
We did not go over ambitious and walk all the way to the opposite shore. So we decided to walk back to where we came from. Before we did that, we took more photos with the bridge.
After we went down the bridge, we noticed there were some activities at the square in front of the fort. Some people were driving mini cart, playing sling shots and also bubbles.
On our walk back to the car, I noticed this unique piece of wall.
My eldest son enjoyed skipping some walkway patterns, just like what I did when I was young as a child too. It is a relaxing place to walk especially after dinner.
The youngest climbed up by himself to help himself up as we walked towards where the car was parked.
Saw someone selling this by the roadside. It is a type of seaweed that 'pops' in the mouth when we eat it. But we did not buy one as I find it a bit pricey.
As we slowly walked, I even noticed we could see stars in the night sky. It has been a while since I last spotted stars in the urban night sky. Can you spot them in my not so high resolution, zoomed in photo?
