Tourism

The Miri Non-International Airport visitor traffic from 2006 until July 2010. Miri Airport is still the third busiest airport after Kota Kinabalu International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Every day, there are an average of 110 flights going in and out at the non-international airport.

Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010 (Jan-July)
Arrivals at Miri Airport	1,596,595	1,481,360	1,541,127	1,610,000	about 1,000,000

Source: Miri Daily

My take:

It seems that there are plans for an 'extension' of the Miri Non-International Airport terminal yet again and a budget for this is being evaluated. With such minor traffic increase (see above table) since 2006, it seems as if the 'extension' is not to ease the traffic, but rather a 'fix' to right all the design flaws brought by the terminal 'rebuild' in 2003.

A blogger reminiscents about Miri City in his post, on how the city today is compared to the past how the city has basically forgotten much of its its history and some of its citizens' less than stellar attitudes towards tourists from neighboring countries, not to mention some of the somewhat mediocre infrastructures.

He puts it best here, and I quote him:

"There is so little around us to remind us of its golden glorious history and the bad past when ambitious egomaniac Japs ruled the Asian region and the many past heroes and founding fathers of the ex-town seem to be conveniently forgotten and unrecognised. Case in point: just take a walk to the oldest Mission school in the city and you will soon realise not a single street is named after its Asian founder or the many pioneers who established the first oldest educational institution."

More at link.

What're your thoughts? Please comment.

Miri not hit by coral bleaching

MIRI: Dive sites in Miri are safe and not affected by the current worldwide coral bleaching which has seen temporary closure of a few popular dives sites in Peninsular Malaysia.

Coral bleaching occurs when the sea temperature rises above 31°C for more than two days, causing corals to revert to its original white colour.

Corals are essentially white. The colour comes from the algae living in them. Any stress on the corals, such as temperature change will cause them to expel the algae.

More at TheStar.com.my

Edwina is Miss Sarawak Model of the World 2010

Edwina Yong Li Yen, 22, from Miri was chosen Miss Sarawak Model of the World 2010 at a grand final held at Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club on Saturday night.

Edwina also walked away with two subsidiary titles namely Miss Model Popularity and Miss Model Beautiful Body.

In second place was Christina Wong, 22, from Sibu who took home RM2,000 cash while Yvonne Supang Lukas who came third received RM1,000. Both contestants also received a return air ticket to Kuala Lumpur, cosmetic products, hampers and complimentary stay vouchers.

Cyndy Liew, 21, was Miss Model Best Personality while Kho Siew Ching, Miss Model Best Catwork subsidiary title. Both contestants were from Kuching.

Source: Borneo Post