Blogs from Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia - page 54

Living in Sarawak is sometimes like having one vacation after another...that's because it being the largest state in Malaysia, not only are there more ethnic groups here (over 27..i believe)...but the fact that all races and ethnic people look forward to celebrating their own festivals especially when the latter are government-gazetted public holidays as well. Well, folks..this year,Malaysian Muslims celebrated Hari Raya ( new year ) even earlier.after the sighting of the new moon on 23rd October after a month of fasting. ( Deepavali fell the previous Saturday and Monday was declared extra public holiday ) As usual, there were many ópen-houses' where friends, visitors and strangers were most welcome to drop in for goodwill wishes, greetings and food (!!!). The first two days passed quietly for me, but on the third day, I visited Hayati ... read more

The month of Ramadan gives everyone a chance to buy and taste the fantastic wide range of yummy Malay and Muslim food in Kuching - cat city, where else, but the Sunday Market at Satok Road. A slight haze still enveloped the city as we hurriedly made our way past hundreds of stalls to the far end of the market. Finally we arrived at the "food zone"! What a relief and assurance to smell and hear the sizzling noodles..nasi lemak...etc.. It was hard to know where to start as hunger pangs were hampering me from making wise judgments about calories and cholesterol. From the oh-so-colourful multi-layered combo tiered 'kuih lapis' cakes ( some bearing names of popular singers like Siti Nurhaliza, for example - she's just been conferred the title of 'Datuk', folks..so it's now ..erm...eg...i'd ... read more

The day after climbing the mountain I took a flight to Kuching, the capitak of Sarawak. I hooked up with a couple of nutty girls and we went to Bako National park the next day which is home to the rare probiscus monkey. Think I've spelt that wrong! We had to travel by bus and a tyre blew out. Not to worry the driver said and we carried on. Then an hours river boat to the park where we saw monitor lizards on route. We did a 6k trek the first day and didn'r see a bloddy thing! After a night trying to fight off the mozzies we did an 8k trail the next day. Absolutely fantastic and although I couldn't get good close up's of these long nosed elepahant monkeys we had a great day. ... read more

HI all! Bamboo rafting's not my usual cup of tea, but when Edward, our American IT guy said it'd be great to take some pics of Benedict Cat going rafting, i jumped at the idea. Organised by the Kuching City Hashers, the meeting point was about "10 miles out of Kuching" ( the capital of Sarawak ). At 8:30 am, after picking up Weiwei, our guide, we were on our way. Benedict, snuggled in Edward's lap purred contentedly as our car cruised into 10th mile Padawan town after 30 min. It was farther than expected as we drove along the winding roads of Semonggok Agriculture and Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre ( orang utans, sunbears etc are here ...) More twists and turns past scenic Giam Village, and finally at 10.30 am, we arrived at Kampung Danu. Over ... read more

Our trip over the border from Singapore to Malaysia was really easy, we literally drive through. In Johor Bahru, we wonder into a small restaurant and had a wonderful Banana Leaf curry for about 50p each.... Bargain and really tasty, especially when eaten the traditional way using only your hands! I immediately had a very good feeling about Malaysia - the people are incredibly friendly and the country seems really beautiful. We fly into Kuching (Sarawak, Borneo). The initial plan was to split our time between Sarawak and Sabah, which is renowned for good diving. Unfortunately we are unable to find flights to Sabah. Not to worry though as Sarawak was fantastic. Spend the first couple of days wondering around Kuching. I was surprised how modern and clean the city was. My impression of Borneo had ... read more