Our adventure begins

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Greetings from Borneo,

We started our journey 8 days ago with a very long plane ride from Spokane to Singapore including two stopovers........with very little sleep and lots of movies we managed to get through the night.

Three days in Singapore was enough for us. Accommodations in Singapore are equivalent to prices of hotels in large Canadian cities. We stayed in “Little India” with its pungent smells, ethnic food, and disorderly & chaotic streets. What a contrast to the centre of this affluent high tech city with its high rises and glitzy malls. We did a few touristy things like the Night Safari (a 40 hectare forested park where you can view nocturnal animals) and Sentosa Island (a theme park resort). Singapore has a very efficient transport system that made it easy to get around on. One thing that stood out for us is how polite and mannerly people are in general. We learned that the government has a “kindness movement” - a campaign to encourage its citizens to be kind to others! Maybe a letter to Stephen Harper to initiate similar campaigns in Canada is in store.

We flew to Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo 3 days ago. Kuching is a charming historic city on the river. The people are very friendly and it feels safe here. Some of the old architecture still stands, they escaped damage from WWII and many of them have been tastefully renovated. We enjoyed an evening stroll along the promenade by the river last night to feel the evening breeze and have a bite to eat at one of the many food stalls. Jeff found us a great hotel to stay at – it just opened 3 weeks ago and the staff are eager to please. When Gemma's doing her homeschooling in the “lounge” the staff bring her a platter of traditional cakes. They are so amazed that she is doing her school-work on-line and traveling for the school year.

There is a variety of food to choose from here – Chinese, Indian and Malay. �We're adjusting to laksa (noodle soup with bean sprouts, chicken and shrimp) or fried rice for breakfast, but it only costs around $2/person so the price is right. A full seafood dinner is around $8-$10/person. Malaysia Borneo is definitely a multi-cultural experience – you can see people from many cultures and religions living harmoniously together – mosques, temples and christian churches dot the city.

We are still adjusting to the weather and find it very hot and humid. Yesterday it was cloudy, which it helped us enjoy our outing to the Orangutan Wildlife Rehab. Centre. There are a total of 26 orangutans there and we were lucky enough to see 8 of them during their morning feeding. The day before none were sited. The orangutans are being rehabilitated back into the wild. They were so amazing to see in this natural setting. Gemma was only about 1 meter away from one of them at one point.

Tomorrow we will fly to Kota Kinabalu to explore Sabah province of Borneo Malaysia. We'd love to hear from you. We'll try to upload some photos, but the internet is slow, so we don't know if it will work.

Kevi and Jeff

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Comments

[Stephen]

Hi!
Just a quick hi to say we love you and are trying to imagine these places. We are well and looking forward to more pictures. I say \"more\" as I enjoyed Gemma\'s blog and photos. Be safe, Love Stephen