The Ministry of Health had recently published a new Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 2010 on April 1st, 2010. The main focus of the guideline is to explain and educate the general public about the importance of maintaining a healthy diet and nutrition in our daily eating activities. The guideline actually is a result of consensus meeting which was held on September 2009 attended by 80 participants related to the dietary and nutrition around the country. It also introduced a new Malaysia Food Pyramid, a revised version superseding the earlier version.

The Malaysian Food Pyramid is a visual tool that is used as a guide in designing a healthy diet. It is developed as a guide to provide a framework for the types and amounts of food that can be eaten in combination to provide a healthy diet. A food pyramid consists of levels that represent various food groups. Indicated beside each food group is the recommended number of servings per day from each group. From the bottom to the top of the food pyramid, the size of each food group becomes smaller indicating that an individual should cat more of the foods at the base of the pyramid and less of the foods at the top of the pyramid.

Another important terminologies related to dietary and nutrition are:

Adequate diet

An adequate diet provides enough energy, nutrients and fibre to maintain an individual’s health. A diet that is adequate for one individual may not be adequate for another

Balanced diet

A balanced diet is a diet that contains the combination of foods that provide the proper balance of nutrients. The body needs many types of foods in varying amounts to maintain health. The right balance of nutrients needed to maintain health can be achieved by eating the proper balance of all healthy foods including fruits, vegetables and meats.

Food group

A food group puts together foods of similar nutrient content and function. There are five food groups. These food groups contain foods that are similar in calories, carbohydrate, protein and fat content.

Healthy diet

A healthy diet is a diet which provides the proper combination of energy and nutrients. Four characteristics explain a healthful diet adequate, balanced, moderate and varied

Moderation

Moderation is key to a healthy diet. Moderation refers to eating the right amounts of foods to maintain a healthy weight and to optimise the body’s metabolic process.

Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI)

Recommended nutrient intake is the daily intake which meets the nutrient requirements of almost all (97%) apparently healthy individuals, in an age and sex-specific population group. The range of intakes encompassed by the RNI and the tipper tolerable nutrient intake should he considered sufficient to prevent deficiency, maintain optimal health while avoiding toxicity.

Serving size

In the dietary guideline, serving size is the recommended amount of foods consumed daily in household measures used for foods and drinks, for example cup, plate, bowl, tablespoon and teaspoon. A serving size defined in the Malaysian Food Pyramid may not equal to a serving size defined in a food label.

Variety

Variety refers to eating many different types of foods each day and to ensure better selection of healthier foods. By selecting a variety of foods, the chances of consuming the multitude of nutrients the body needs are optimised.

So the two key important messages by the guideline are:

Key recommendation 1: Choose your daily food intake from a combination of foods based on the Malaysian Food Pyramid.

Key recommendation 2: Choose your daily food intake according to the serving size recommended.

It is very important that an individual ensures getting appropriate foods and incorporates the principle of good nutrition such as variety, a balanced intake of nutrients and moderation. The best way to meet the daily requirements is to eat a varied diet that combines cereals, fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, legumes and dairy products.

Eating a variety of foods daily as guided by the Malaysian Food Pyramid should provide all the nutrients needed by the body. Therefore, supplements are not necessary for most individuals. Nutrient supplements should only be taken on the advice of nutritionists, dietitians or medical doctors.

More details and visual image of Malaysia’s food pyramid at Malaysia Food Pyramid 2010.

Welcome to Melaka!

Founded by Parameswara in 1396 who named his sultanate after the “Melaka” tree, Melaka has provided the stage on which the Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and English played their roles in shaping history.

Melaka’s appeal lies in its rich and colourful past. Its 600 years of history is reflected in its ancient buildings, streets, cuisine and unique cultural heritage.

In the 16th century, Melaka enjoyed a reputation as the foremost maritime trading center. Merchants came from Arabia, China, India and Europe to conduct trade in silk, spices, gold and porcelain. So coveted was Melaka by the European powers that is was ruled successively by the Portuguese, Dutch and British until the Federation of Malaya was formed on the 31st August 1957.

Where is Melaka?

Malaysia is situated one to seven degrees north of the equator. The State of Melaka, one of the fourteen states within Malaysia, is situated on the South-Western Coast of Peninsular Malaysia facing the Straits of Melaka and between the states of Negeri Sembilan and Johor. Modern Melaka set on a course of industrial development about 2 decades after independence and its vision to be fully industrialized state by the year 2010.

What can we do in Melaka?

There are many historical sites for us to explore, to list a few, you can visit Porta de Santiago (A’Famosa), The Stadthuys, Christ Church..etc. Also don’t miss out Melaka’s delicious food like nyonya cendol, chicken rice ball, satay celup and shop for antique items and handicraft at the famous Jonker Street.

The Louis Vuitton Malaysia Price List is hard to find. Just like other LV stores around the world, the ones in Malaysia such as KLCC, Starhill or the Garden don’t actually advertise their prices for their products. This article will show you where you can find the prices for all your favorite Louis Vuitton handbags in Malaysia.

Do you find it sometimes frustration when you go to Louis Vuitton outlets in Malaysia and couldn’t find any price tags on any of their display bags? What’s more annoying is that some times you can feel embarrassed to ask “how much?” because of fear that the store person might be too judgmental.

LV handbags are very popular but they also can be very expensive for the average person, so it’s always good to know the price range, so that you can know how much to save up! The worse thing about being in Malaysia is the price. Louis Vuitton in Malaysia will cost more than they do in Europe such as in Paris or the UK.

Here is a list of the prices for some of the average bags that you’d expect to see in KL:

For Monogram Canvas

• Speedy 30 – RM2300
• Galliera GM – RM5100
• Neverfull MM – RM2700
• Alma – RM3600

Now imagine if you can buy your favorite authentic Louis Vuitton bags that you’ve always wanted!! Would you feel really good and confident about yourself every time you go out with your friends, and having every other girl or woman feel jealous and envious of you for being able to afford such a stylish brand name bag? The truth is you would certainly stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Malaysia has many interesting and historical places that are well known in throughout the world. These places have always been visited by many tourists and travelers and are really amazed by their wonderful features.

Here are seven of the many historical places in Malaysia, a country that is truly Asia.

1. The Melaka Sultanate Palace Museum – located in Malacca, Malaysia is a reconstructed palace of the Malacca's sultans. It symbolizes the history of the whole Malaccan region. The museum displays the region's collection of artifacts, prints, photographs, and different art works made by the residents of the community during the Melaka period. The palace museum is a three storey building with three galleries and a total of eight chambers presenting the royal weaponries, bands, halls and the royal gifts. The museum was opened to public in July 1986 and has been a very famous Malaysian destination ever since. An ideal place for students having their educational field trips.

2. The Saint Paul Church in Malacca – built by the Portuguese in 1521, and is one of the five Portuguese made churches in the hill. It is located on the top of the Saint Paul's hill. Its ruins still remained to be a beautiful church and if visited by many tourists regularly.

3. The A Formosa Fortress – meaning "the famous" in Portuguese. This is built by the Portuguese during the 1500's and is the one of the best historical site in Malaysia. the fortress has been a big part of the Malaysian history and culture for it witnessed a lot of changes and came to the hand of many foreign evaders during the early eras. One can enjoy here the view of the magnificent ruins of the ancient structures and have a glimpse of a true Malaysian history.

4. The Stadthuys – built in the year 1650 and was the official residence of the Dutch governors and other officers. The whole structure is of Dutch architecture designs and is a different look among the other Malaysian buildings. The place has mow become an Ethnography Museum and is open for public viewings. The museum displays the traditional bridal outfits, the remains of the ancient Malaccan items and artifacts, and other historical materials. There are also houses around Stadthuys where locals live and stay.

5. The Bukit China – located in the northeast part of Malacca, is the oldest and largest Chinese cemetery outside China. There is a vast number of graves in Bukit, in roughly 12500, some even dates back in the 17th century. Many historian teams have been fascinated by the place and are one of the well known subjects in the history of Malaysia.

6. Kampung Kling Mosque – an old mosque in Malacca, Malaysia built in 18th century by the Indian Muslims. It has a Sumatran design with a wooden roof that is three-tiered. It is one of the well known historical sites in Malaysia and is a famous destination for many tourists.

7. The Cheng Hoon Teng – is a Buddhist temple located in Jalan, Tokong Malacca and is the oldest operating temple in Malaysia. The mosque is pretty spacious with an area of ​​4,600 square meters. It has numerous prayer halls and later added with small prayer quarters. It also has a seven meter long flag pole that is the most remarkable feature of the place. Many tourists and travelers have visited the place and were very mush astound with its remarkable and delightful features.

There are thousands of people travelling between Malaysia (like Kuala Lumpur, Malacca) and Singapore every day. How are these people buy their express bus ticket? Most of the current practice is they will go to the bus companies counter and purchase their ticket. During peak season, most of the tickets are sold out within hours and for those who miss this period, will likely to end up with no ticket.

Most of the counters in Singapore is located at Golden Mile Complex, while in Malaysia for example in the state of Kuala Lumpur, most of the counters will be located at temporary bus station at Bukit Jalil Sports Complex. However, nowadays, most of the customer prefer to purchase the ticket online rather than going down to the counters and purchase their ticket. Hence, many coach/bus companies has started selling their coach/bus ticket online because of this trend of customer buying their tickets online has already started to increase in recent years. Below are the six benefits to the customer who buy their ticket online.

1. Saving your time of travelling to the counter twice (to avoid the traffic jam especially in the city like Kuala Lumpur)

2. Saving your money (transportation cost) from travelling to the counter twice

3. Real time booking where you can choose the seat that you want on the spot. (where you can avoid being assigned to sit on the last row of the bus)

4. No queue for buying bus ticket

5. Convenient of using credit card

6. Buy your ticket now, pay your ticket money later by using credit card

These six benefits listed above has actually gained a lot of recognition from the customer. So, for all travellers who wish to go to the counter and purchase ticket, you are encouraged to read this article and think twice before you go down to the counter to buy your ticket. With this, I wish all the travellers between Singapore and Malaysia taking express buses to have an enjoyable trip.

Malaysia is one of the South East Asia countries, supplies majority quality timber woods to mostly Asian countries like Taiwan, China, Australia and Japan. For the last 8 years until today, Malaysian timber woods are gaining popularity due to their competitive market price, quality, uniqueness and support from the Malaysian government.

Malaysian Rubberwood is use for making mostly furniture, mouldings and joinery products. This is because it contains a special glue-lamination properties which rendered it as one of the most suitable timber in the making of a wide range of products such as household implements, blockbard cores, staircases, parquet flooring and door & window frames. Manufacturers also use rubberwood for panel products such as plywood and Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL). There is nothing left to waste in production where the rubberwood off-cuts and residues are widely used in Malaysia for the production of particleboard, wood-cement board and medium density fibrewood (MDF).

Beside rubberwoods, there are other quality woods which can still perform quite the same characteristics such as the Burmese TeakwoodS, Merbau, Belian, Burmese Ironwoods, Walnut, Kempas, Rosewoods, Red Balau, US White Oak, Chengai, Tualang and Keranji.

Here are some wood characteristics for your general knowledge.

SOFTWOODS

There are very few true softwoods of commercial significance in Malaysia. None are durable in the tropics. The main difference between the timber of Hardwoods and Softwoods (conifers) is the absence of vessels (pores) in Softwoods.

LIGHT HARDWOODS

These include all the relatively light weight and soft timbers which range in density from about 400 to 720 kg. per cu. m. at 15 per cent moisture content. They are the ‘general utility’ timbers of Malaysia, comparable with the general utility timbers in temperate climates; the latter however, are mainly softwoods (conifers). In addition to general utility purposes many of these Light Hardwoods are excellent for high class joinery work, cabinet making, furniture, decorative paneling, etc. Although not naturally durable in tropical climate, some are quite durable in temperate regions. Provided that proper precautions are taken against attack by wood destroying agents, the Light Hardwoods as a whole make very satisfactory timbers for general construction even when used in tropical climates.

HEAVY HARDWOODS

These are heavy or very heavy constructional timbers ranging in density from about 800 to 1,120 kg. per cu. m. at 15 per cent moisture content. They are naturally durable as they contain within their tissues some toxic materials, e.g. alkaloides or other substances repellent to wood destroying agents and can therefore be safely used without preservative treatment even in positions exposed to fungus or termite activities; the sapwood of these timbers, however, is not durable.

The are four major sub-sectors for wood-based industry in Malaysia:-

1. Sawn timber

2. Veneer and panel products which include plywood and other reconstituted panel products such as particleboard/chipboard/fibreboard.

3. Mouldings and builders joinery and carpentry (BJC) such as doors/windows and its components, panels and flooring board/parquet.

4. Furniture and furniture components.

The industry is predominantly owned by Malaysian and it is estimated that 80% of timber-based companies are small and medium size companies. Most of the larger sawmills, veneer and plywood mills are located in Sabah and Sarawak. Mills in Sabah and Sarawak utilize tropical wood species for the production of sawn timber, veneer, plywood and other veneered panel products. More than 45 per cent of the plywood mills and 60 per cent of the mouldings mills are located in Sabah and Sarawak. The downstream processing mills for the production of fibreboard, BJC as well as furniture and furniture components are mainly located in Peninsular Malaysia. These mills mainly utilize rubberwood which are sourced from sustainable plantations.

Have you ever wonder what is that symbol emblazoned on the tail of all Malaysian airplanes flown by Malaysia Airlines System (MAS)? Although for most people, it is nothing more than just an emblem, it has a huge significance for each and every Malaysian that makes them proud. Known as ‘wau’, it is one of the oldest traditional games in the Malay culture. Dancing in the azure sky, a wau or kite is accompanied by a hummer, which produces various buzzing and purring sounds when soaring upon the wind. There are something mystical about the way this kite defies gravity by swaying and climbing slowly up the sky.

Kites are flown after the rice harvesting season is over. People are happy and free to pursue pastimes. A Malay kite combines the best of skilled workmanship, dazzling colours and decoration. It exhibits the creativity of the Malays and their talented craftsmanship in fashioning a unique art form that has the highest possible level of aesthetics. A Malay kite is not a schoolboy’s toy as it normally measures 1.5 metres by 1.7 metres. It is called wau because the shape of its wing is similar to an Arabic letter that is pronounced as “wow”. It has also been postulated that the word “wau” originated from the Dutch word “wauw” that refers to a large predator bird found in South-east Asia. When Melaka fell to the Dutch in 1641, the word was introduced to the local populace.

Wau can appear in all kind of shapes but the three main one are the famous Wau Bulan or moon kite, named for its crescent like tail shape, the Wau Jala Budi or women kite, which takes on the curves of a women, and the Wau Burung Puyuh, the barred busted quail kite. Despite their different names, these kites all share the same basic, bird-like shape, with slight variations in their wings and tail.

The history and legends associated with the Malay kite are as colourful as its designs. In ancient times, coastal inhabitants of the Malay peninsula used kites fitted with lines and hooks to fish. Kites were also flown to act as flying scarecrows while the farmers were busy in the paddy fields. In an episode of the Makyong dance, a love story culminates in a happy ending when two lovers are re-united by an unusual mean of transport. By clinging to a giant kite rendered sky-borne by monsoon winds, a Malay prince flew to his lover and landed on her enchanted castle amidst the clouds. The wau has had an even more dramatic role in battle against a foreign army. Legend has it that a Malay army was surrounded and about to surrender due to lack of food and water. One blustery night, the head warrior ordered his troops to fly a large number of kites fitted with bows. The loud droning that was created frightened the enemy forces away, which did not want to fight against what they perceived as demonic forces from the sky!

It takes about 2 days to 2 weeks of skill and patience to make a wau. The frame is made from bamboo stems, which are split into thin strips. The best species of bamboo for making kites is the thorn bamboo, which is strong yet flexible. Each frame of a kite must have a ‘head’, a ‘spine’, a ‘waist’, a ‘wing’ and a ‘tail’. After the frame is constructed, designs are traced on a tinted and shiny glazed paper and then carefully cut out and pasted on paper which is glued to the bamboo frame. The humming bow is attached to the head of the kite, which is finally decorated with tassels at the tail to produce the ‘song’ of the kite.

Each wau is designed according to its own set of elaborate motifs, adhering to the traditional style of artwork expected of each design. All designs must have a central flower called the ibu from which vines, leaves and flowers sprout. The vine symbolises the path of a man’s life and the flowers, the women. The more meandering the vines, the more twists and turns in a man’s life mean the more interesting is the person’s life. In older kites, flowers were depicted from the side and back, analogous to the shy and reserved nature of women in those days, who never looked at you directly in the face. Nowadays, flowers are depicted from the front. The middle sections on the left and right sides of the wings are left devoid of patterns to provide balance with the decorated areas. This empty area is called “golden deer”, and prevents the kite from being overwhelmed by a surfeit of patterns.

Apart from the patterns, choice of colours is also important in determining quality. Colours that clash or show strong contrast are frowned upon. Complementing or harmonious colours reflect on the emotional state of the kite-maker. Soft colours such as shades of blues and purples indicate that the kite-maker has a serene nature.

For other related articles, please visit ([http://www.mycraftoutlet.com/articles.htm])

Do you want a complete list of all your favorite Louis Vuitton handbags in Malaysia? In this following article I have compiled a complete list of the best Louis Vuitton handbags available in Malaysia KLCC, Starhill or The Garden.

So Why do people search for Louis Vuitton handbag price lists? It’s because everyone would know that almost all Louis Vuitton outlets around the world don’t ever advertise their prices in store. The problem that most people have is that they don’t know how much each item would normally cost before hand.

This wouldn’t be a problem if these designer handbags aren’t that expensive, but we are talking about handbags that may cost up to RM3,000 in Malaysian Ringgits. That’s quite expensive and if you’re an average person who are very interested in this brand of luxury goods then it surely would help you to know the prices before you enter the store.

of course if money isn’t an issue than you could easily walk into the store and pic the one you like the most, however it can be very embarrassing for the average person to enter the store, asking for how much, then soon after realizing that they don’t have enough and is forced to put the item back.

The store people are not too keen on helping you either, as Malaysia has a culture where everyone is so judgmental and snobbish to middle classed people or simply people who are not rich.

This is how you solve your problem:

So You can do this by going online for the Louis Vuitton UK store and find out how much it’ll cost for my Speedy 25 monogram canvas so I’d know how much money I need to have.

List of UK Prices:

Monogram Canvas

• Speedy 25 – £400.00 >> RM2,560
• Speedy 30 – £410.00 >> RM2,700
• Speedy 35 – £430.00 >> RM2,900
• Neverfull PM – £400.00 >> RM2,550
• Neverfull MM – £425.00 >> RM2,700
• Neverfull GM – £450.00 >> RM2,950
• Alma – £655.00 >> RM4,300
• Alma MM – £840.00 >> RM5,400
• Galliera PM – £800.00 >> RM5,100
• Galliera GM – £920.00 >> RM5,700

The Louis Vuitton Malaysia Price list shown above is just a rough estimate for how much they’ll cost in store by converting the UK prices in pounds into Ringgits at a rate of 6.4.

The prices may not be an accurate reflection of the price you may expect in the stores. However, this should serve as a rough guide for you to know now how much your favourite LV handbags would cost.

When night falls, it is normal that tourists stroll slowly along the seafront in search of the many different types of food and cooking, east and west. If you like, you can participate in the many cafes and pubs where karaoke sipping that glass of cold beer in the front the singer pianotage guitar are the norm. There are also many exits that offer good massage and you should try massage therapy foot that can reconstitute the vitality after a full day of walking around! The main languages spoken here are English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil, with a few others. For residents here have experienced five years of exposure to foreigners, their attitudes towards tourists can only be amicable. If your mastery of local languages is not as good, do not despair because of they way or another you can understand and show you how. You can ensure a very memorable time in this historic city. There is no tear offs here as residents here believe they are part of a global community and wish to welcome you sincerely.

Places of interest

Formosa was built by the Portuguese in 1511 after Admiral Alfonso D Albuquerque managed to capture the Malay sultanate of Malacca. It was built as a fort and is supposed to prevent the Portuguese garrison to be attacked by the men of the sultan. Some parts of the fort was deemed to be fifteen feet thick and as many feet below the earth as well! In 1641, Dutch, with the support of the Sultan of Johor forces, has managed to wow the command of Portuguese fort. Due to heavy shelling, much of the fort was destroyed.

The Dutch ordered the place for 150 years, until they have ceded to the English in 1824.The British forces then destroyed one that remains of the fort, except the door, which had the coats of arms Dutch. The door remains to this day. It is one of the most photographed buildings in Malacca today. Visitors should not miss the opportunity to break a picture of this because it remains a historic building that is 500 years. It speculates that the format of the document is very much larger and 2007, a prolonged basis was found for some excavation work done on a commercial building nearby proposed. There is however no further excavation of the site due to existing buildings that can not be removed. How to get there The formosa of `A well is located in the middle of the city. It is also walking distance of most hotels. It is Located near the tourist center of state and also near the Studhuys.

Bukit Cina

The hill China is the largest cemetery outside of China. It was originally a settlement Chinese prepared by Sultan Mansor Shah when he took the blow POLi as his wife estuary. When the Portuguese came, they succeeded because the hill was a strategic position when they had to defend the impact forces of Sultan who tried to return to Malacca. Portuguese chapel was built on the same hill. After many years of struggle, the hill was abandoned as a sector regulation on human and the importance given to China for burial. Today, it is a place abandoned because there were more spaces left for even the dead. Some graves were held in the Ming period, and nowadays, people use to practice their skills making mountain biking. At the bottom of the hill is the shaft of Li PO coup and its adjacent temple tong Sam PO. They are located on the outskirts of the main tourist sites and only fifteen minutes walk of a door of Formosa.

House legacy of Baba Nyonya

The house’s legacy and baba Nyonya is where you can watch part of Chinese culture that was common when they came first to settle in Malacca in the fifteenth century ago. Their culture is unique as they are able to acquire and absorb some of the models of Malaysian life when they intermarried with the locals. Although they speak mostly Malays language, but they n’embrassent not Islam. Accordingly, they wear clothing that is different from Chinese who came later as bogus minors during the British rule. They also legacies flowers for their wedding ceremonies and you are here, they also try cooking Nyonya, a unique blend of price and local Chinese Malaysian who is not found in your local China cities. The Chinese in other regions of the world come here to savor the food special. There are 65 non-air conditioned rooms for the location of Malaysia Ringgit 65 (about U.S. $ 18) per night. The set is available parking behind the building.

Zheng it museum

Trappings of a modern museum housing the Chinese admiral Zheng He. You can see some of the artifacts used during periods when Zheng He made his many exploratory trips to this part of the world on behalf of the emperor of Ming. How to get there. It is located in town, right next to the Jonker Street.

Vibrant city breaks, trekking deep the jungles of Borneo looking for Orang Utans, releasing Turtle Hatchlings back into the natural habitat, playing a round or two of golf, exploring the wonders of the Ocean or simply soaking up the sun on a sandy beach overlooking Crystal azure waters. Holidays in Malaysia really do offer fantastic scope for variety and has something to offer for everyone.

I have been to Malaysia many times now and I never grow tired of this place.

During my last trip to Malaysia I visited Kuala Lumpur (of course), Penang, Langkawi and Borneo

In Kuala Lumpur I stayed at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel and can highly recommend it. It’s classed as a 5 Star property however I would probably rate it as a very good 4 star. Suite was very spacious and very well priced and it offered an excellent location, within 3 minutes walk to Bukit Bintan area. I can recommend a visit to the Petronas Towers, Dinner at KL Tower and a visit to Chinatown. There is a lot more to do in and around Kuala Lumpur such as a trip to Batu Caves, and to see the Fireflies but generally 2-3 days is enough to get a good feel for the place and there is only so much you can do without stretching your time too much.

Penang is a great place but many people treat it as a Beach Holiday however I would personally recommend you stay in the Capital of Georgetown and treat it as a City Break before moving onto somewhere like Langkawi. Langkawi is just a short flight or Ferry transfer from Penang and in my opinion offers a far superior beach experience. Sights in Georgetown, Penang would be Cheong Fatze Mansion, a trishaw ride around Little India and a trip to the Fruit, Spice and Butterfly farms.

Langkawi is one of my favourite places in Malaysia. It had a very relaxed atmosphere and is an ideal place to getaway from it all for a while. It also benefits from being duty free so is a little cheaper than the other destinations. Good excursions here are the Cable Car Ride, a Mangrove forest boat trip and an Island hopping trip to the ‘Island of the Pregnant Lady’ so named because it looks like a pregnant lady laying down from a distance. There are numerous Hotels to choose from in Langkawi ranging from 3 Star Mutiara Burau Bay Resort to the luxurious Datai Hotel.

Borneo is in my top 2 favourite places in the World. I started my trip with a stay at the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort close to Kota Kinabalu Centre. Standards here are top notch although the beach is man made. This was not much of an issue as I was only here 1 night before I headed off on my Wildlife Tour.

After my overnight stay at the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort I headed off for my flight to Sandakan before transferring to Kinabatangan River. En-route I stopped at Gomontong Caves to witness where they harvest the Birds Nests for Birds Nest Soup. This place is filled with bugs and it is pretty difficult to avoid stepping on them so this is not for the faint hearted. To get to Gomontong you must walk through a forested area for around 15 minutes and I had my eyes peeled the whole time, hoping and praying I would see an Orang Utan. Alas it was not to be and I decided I was being way too optimistic expecting to seethe ‘Wildman of Borneo’ during my first encounter with the rainforest. Slightly disappointed but not too down I proceed to Kinabatangan River. It took around 1 hour by boat to reach my lodge from the Jetty and again my eyes were peeled. I checked in and we had a little time to relax before our first scheduled boat trip in search of Wildlife.

I’m not great at spending time on my own so I headed to the bar and got talking to an American couple who were finishing their round the world trip. They, along with a couple consisting of a German man and a French woman were to be my company for the 2 nights I was there and we all seemed to get on very well. After a drink or two we headed off down Kinabatangan and were fortunate enough to see the peculiar Proboscus Monkey and a Crocodile along with many birds but still no Orang Utan. In the afternoon we pretty much repeated this process albeit in a different direction and we were told there had been sightings of Pygmy Elephants but we could not find them.

The next morning we headed to an area called Ox Bow Lake and we set off on a trek through the Jungle. I felt like I was on cloud nine. I have always dreamed of going to Borneo as I am really into Wildlife and I felt like I was on a Wildlife Documentary expedition as we trekked through the Jungle. My guide was giving out calls to try and attract the Orang Utans, although he did tell me this was considered confrontational to the Orang Utans so I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about this. I decided that if my only chance of seeing the Wildman of Borneo in its natural environment was to end up in a fight with one then so be it!! We found an Orang Utan Nest but still no Orang Utan. On the way back to the boat my guide had a conversation with a brightly coloured bird. He whistled a tune and the Bird was replying, it was quite amusing to witness.

After Dinner I had planned to do a night walk with my Guide and we set off and I noticed we were headed in a different direction to everyone else. I asked where we were going and the guides response was ‘that way is to the pre-planned walk, that is for wimps, I like to make my own trek’. Excellent!!! We headed off, machetes in hand as Terence hacked a route for us through the thick vegetation. We had seen nothing other than insects and a Deer when we reached a river blocking our path. ‘Hmm’ Terence said, it seems our path is being blocked, we may have to go back’. He checked his watch and stated ‘too early to go back’ and ploughed on through the river. I was Knee deep into the river, pitch black except for the small amount of light coming from my torch. Some may not have been too impressed but I could not be happier. A real experience, what I had been dreaming of for years and to top things off I was being paid to do this.

The following morning I woke still thinking of my previous nights experience and although I had been totally blown away by my tour so far, there was still something missing. I had still not seen the elusive Orang Utan in its natural habitat. We had one more Boat ride before we had to set off and I convinced myself we would see one. We had reached the end point of our journey and it was now time to head back to the Resort to collect our bags and leave for the airport. I kept my head down, bitterly disappointed that I had not seen the one thing I had hoped to see when all of a sudden I heard a shout from my Guide, he had not failed me. He spotted an Orang Utan in a nearby tree. The captain pulled the boat up to the river bank and my guide jumped out of the boat to get closer. I concluded at this point that he was in fact a little bit crazy but in my eyes he was now my hero. The Orang Utan threw excrement at him, a defence mechanism to deter unwanted visitors but in all fairness he put on quite a display for us. I could now go home a very happy man.

On my way home I stopped at Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre to view the Orphaned Orang Utans and I witnessed the morning feeding. It is an extremely enjoyable experience watching them play with each other and it is certainly worth the stop if you are in the area.

I spent my final night at the Shangri La Rasa Ria Resort, which is located around 45 minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu Centre. This Hotel benefits from a spectacular 3km stretch of white sandy beach and has its own nature reserve within its grounds where you can visit the orphaned Orang Utans and observe their rehabilitation ready to be returned back to the wild. This Reserve is working along side Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre and together they are doing a great job in preserving this fantastic creature.

This holiday in Malaysia was by far my best and I can thoroughly recommend Borneo to anyone who has a passion for Wildlife. I cannot thank my guide Terence enough for all he did to make my stay everything and more I had hoped for. Terence was actually born in the Jungle and to him it was a way of life, not a job to him and this shone through every minute I spent with him.