Now in Kuching (cat city), Sarawak, Borneo. I am excited to try a new cuisine, as Sarawak has its very own specialities. Had a horrible flight over with lightening literally lighting up the skies beneath the plane. After an hour of circling, horrific turbulence and pan pipe music to distract us, we were finally permitted to land. When we left the flight, waiting for luggage, I saw quite a funny scene - a cat box on the conveyer belt, with meows bellowing all the way round, waiting for its owner to retrieve him/her. Poor thing. I have never seen anything like it before. Still feeling weary from my mountain trip I was pleased to arrive at the Riverside Majestic, where I will be based for the next 11 nights. Apart from a small trip out to ... read more

Sitting with a mai tai watching the sunset following a very relaxing day at my new hotel. What a life! I had booked into a hotel called the Klagan, but the whole place smelt of petrol fumes. Probably something to do with being hemmed in by two car parks. Staff were completely oblivious to it and despite bringing an iodiser to my room I felt quite high on fumes, with a banging headache and sickness to accompany. Not to mention they had no pool and no BAR! What am I supposed to do with no bar? Time for some action. I'm sure those of you that know me well wouldn't be surprised but I could not stay here. Following a delicious breakfast of Roti Kahwin (bread with butter and kaya) and coffee in china town, I ... read more

Just arrived in Kota Kinabalu, which on the surface looks far more developed than Sandakan. Had a really good trip yesterday evening. Faezal, the concierge supervisor doubles up as a freelance tour guide. For a fraction of the organised trips price we ventured over to Tanjung Aru island with our very own boatman. Down the river, laced with mangroves on either side we saw proboscis monkeys, monitor lizards and several varieties of kingfisher. Following this the very heavy rain set in and we stopped at the boatman's house, built himself from mangrove trees. He shares the very big house on the river with four generations of family and his wife had prepared high tea, which consisted of sweet black tea and salted shrimp balls. Their hospitality was amazing.The lightening struck and the rain poured down. Intermittently ... read more

I have smiled so much in the last three days that my cheeks are aching. Tonight I sampled some more of the local cuisine - mainly seafood! On recommendation I visited Sim Sim floating seafood restaurant, surrounded by houses on stilts - the left restaurant. At the restaurant entrance I was met with so many boxes, each with fresh seafood, it seemed as though it might be impossible to choose. It was very simple - just look and pick what you fancy. I opted for white clams with ginger and spring onion and Kloap Sotong ( roughly translated as squid in soya sauce and chilli) - turned out to be the speciality of the house. It was some of the freshest seafood I have tasted in a very long time. Following my meal I met the ... read more

Thanks for all your messages. Really lovely to hear from you all. No I've not been eaten by any crocodiles - although they came a little too close for comfort in my opinion! For the last two days I have been on adventure down the Kinabatangan river, seeing an array of wildlife, far beyond my expectations. I will add some photos later just as a taster of some of my favourites February 4 th, we started out on a one hour bus trip to Sepilok Orangutan (man of the forest) centre. It is a " rehabilitation centre" which teaches the orphaned orangutans to survive and those lucky enough to pass with flying colors will then get transported by helicopter to a forest twice the size of Singapore to learn to survive again in the wild. We ... read more