Blogs from Malaysia, Asia - page 3

The next morning we departed early and collected our main bags from Sandakan and headed to nearby Sepilok to stay at a jungle resort and see Orangutans! We left our bags and the resort and the Orangutan rehabilitation centre was nearby. These Orangutans had been rescued (many were illegal pets) and are brought to the rehabilitation centre for exactly that – rehabilitation and nurturing until they can be let back into the wild. The expansive centre is a giant rainforest and there was a nursery for the baby orangutans and we sat behind glass watching them play and swing around on the jungle gyms and trees. Then it was feeding time in the main area (which was all outdoors) and we saw so many orangutans they really put on a show for us! Later me and ... read more

The next morning we set out for our next adventure, climbing Mt Kinabalu! Felix had registered all our details (including evidence of a negative Covid test) and we congregated at the park headquarters together our 3 mountain guides Sai, Edwin and Bonny. As we had to take our overnight gear with us, most of us sent a small amount of gear with porters. And with that we set of to the Timpohon gate the start the climb. The gate is already approx 1900m above sea level, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that will make the climb easier! The track to the guest house is 6 km long, at a very steep incline. The track is a combination of steep stairs (in my case, knee-height) large boulders and some flat paths. Each km there ... read more

We had wanted to catch a 3 hour ferry from Langkawi to Penang but unfortunately due to the pandemic and less business the ferry company closed so we took our shortest flight ever (30 mins) to Penang. Our Langkawi taxi driver was very chatty and before we knew it we were at the airport, boarded and landed on time in Penang. We knew Penang was a much bigger, built up island and on the way to our hotel we could really see it. We were staying in the heart of UNESCO world heritage listed Georgetown and opposite Chew Jetty. After check in we took a stroll around Georgetown and took photos of the old Chinese shop houses and small alleyways, and of course the street art! We ended up back at the coastline near Fort Cornwallis, ... read more

After 3 long years the day finally arrived – we're finally off overseas again!! We arrived in Kuala Lumpur via Singapore late in the evening. After we worked out how to catch the airport express train, we made it to our hotel centrally located in the shopping district of Bukit Bintang. The next day we ventured on foot to the Petronas Towers to take photos and to pay for tickets that I had booked online. Kuala Lumpur reminds me of any Asian capital city – but I couldn’t help but compare it to Bangkok. A slightly condensed Bangkok with less traffic but equally as cosmopolitan. We explored the grounds of the Petronas and took photos, and later walked around the Pavilion shopping mall that is near our hotel and treated ourselves to pints of European beer. ... read more

Day 2 (23/07/2023) We had breakfast at a nearby coffeeshop (can't remember what is the name already). Food was not too bad. After that, we went back to prepare for beach! Desaru beach was crowded but we still managed to find some empty spaces for us to put our mat. The sand and ocean were generally clean. A was abit hesitant in playing with sand at first, but was ok after awhile. Fearing that A might be cold from the water, we went to change around noon time. The toilet was really dirty and dark, so we changed A on the beach instead. Me, my husband and A left first, while the rest continue to stay at the beach and play watersport. Back to our Airbnb, we showered A, fed him lunch before putting him to ... read more