Day 23: Exploring Ubud by Millen
August 5 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Our long and packed day exploring Ubud started with an early wake-up and a light breakfast consisting of a fruit plate and eggs on toast. We hopped into our car, which was far more modest than the rented car in Kundasang, with questionable indicators and no AC — a luxury we quickly realised we had not been grateful for enough. Despite the early start, we were slowed down heavily by traffic, delaying our arrival to the first waterfall by over an hour compared to what we had expected.
Finally, we arrived at our first destination: Tukad Cepung Waterfall. The internet’s descriptions of its cave-like setting, mist and sunlight streaming through the opening above created expectations of a magical, almost unreal atmosphere, and it did not disappoint. While it was recommended to arrive early in the morning to avoid crowds and properly capture the rays of sunlight, we were all more than satisfied with our later arrival. The smooth flow of people and plenty to marvel at minimised waiting times, and everyone was in no rush, more than happy to take photos for each other. We all submerged ourselves under the falls and were pretty shocked at how sore it was on my back . After a somewhat short but equally sweet visit, we made our way back up the steep path, climbed into the car and got back on the road.
Next, we arrived at Pura Tirta Empul, translating roughly to “holy water”, a Hindu water temple that is popular with both locals and tourists due to its historical and spiritual significance. Upon arriving, we paid for our entry ticket, which included a dry sarong. Having absolutely no clue what we were doing, we simply followed the crowd, which led us into the main courtyard.
The courtyard, and much of the temple itself, is built around a natural spring considered holy by the Balinese. People come here to cleanse themselves in the water, purifying the mind, body and soul. Still puzzled about what to do, we noticed a mixture of tourists and locals heading out of the locker area towards the spring in special green robes, while others were returning in the opposite direction wearing the same robes, but completely soaked.
Wanting to participate in the ritual ourselves, we approached the lockers, where a man was sitting behind a counter asking for a small fee to rent the wet sarong. We paid and got changed in the locker room, still completely unsure of what we were supposed to do. Thankfully, as we headed towards the spring, we spotted a guide who allowed us to properly understand and take part in the purification ritual, known as Melukat.
The guide began explaining the flow of energy, which, although some parts were hard to make out due to his thick accent, was described as the dynamic dance of the universe’s cosmic parents, Shiva (the Father) and Shakti (the Mother), moving through the body. When these opposing forces are balanced through practices such as yoga or meditation, they are believed to merge along the central spine, awakening spiritual potential within.
Following his explanation, we made an offering and prayed to the gods, ancestors and lower spirits to maintain cosmic harmony. We were then briefed on the cleansing pool before entering the water.
Along the pools were multiple spouts. Except for the 11th and 12th, which are reserved for funeral rituals, we would put our hands together and repeat “Om” ten times, rinse our faces three times, then place our heads under the stream of water and make a prayer relating to a particular part of the body, such as for better eyesight or the health of our stomach or heart.
After making a prayer at each spout, we moved on to the adjacent pool and repeated the process, this time asking for a good future and forgiveness for negativity. We finished by giving thanks to the gods before returning our sarongs, drying off and changing back into our dry ones. We then did a quick loop around the temple before making our way back to the car through the maze of the surrounding market.
Following our spiritual reconnection, we needed to reconnect with some food, so we headed to a restaurant. Wanting to see as much as possible, we chose a lovely little restaurant with gorgeous views overlooking a valley of paddy fields. The Tegalalang Rice Terraces are famous cascading green rice paddies carved into the valley which m and d visited on their visit 29 years ago. Unfortunately, because we were trying to fit so much into the day, we only had time for a quick walk and were hugely amused by all the selfie sticks and IG opportunities including swings , huge red rentable dresses for the swing, hammocks, zip wires , even weird bike things too going over the fields. We enjoyed some “photo opps” just from our restaurant as my pictures show. The actual paddy fields are totally mesmerising - there is a stillness and a calmness which brought us all joy. The actual rice looked pretty poor quality compared to what we have seen in the past so maybe this is a pretty big tourist trap. .. whatever it is, it is stunning !
After finishing our delicious meal, we continued on to Tibumana Waterfall.
We marched down the steps leading to the waterfall, following a small stream of water accompanied by a charming network of intricate pipes. At the bottom, we were greeted by the classic Bali waterfall scene: a curtain of water falling elegantly into a small pool below.
Beneath the falls, the water was relatively shallow, and the pool had a pale green hue. The shallow water meant that swimming was more like paddling, but it was still a refreshing stop for Dad who was the only one to have a dip . The rest of us had a paddle and then we headed back up the steps and returned to the car.
We then drove back to Ubud for the evening as Mum has booked us a show. Each night there are different shows at different venues. We had opted for the Ramayana ballet at the Ubud Water Palace, or Pura Taman Saraswati. It does not have a structural history tied to the Ramayana, as it is actually dedicated to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of wisdom. However, it served as a spectacular stage for the Ramayana Ballet. The Balinese version of the ancient Hindu epic focuses heavily on duty, love and the ultimate triumph of good over evil.
The story is told through a mixture of Legong, a classical and highly stylised form of Balinese dance, and the dramatic Ramayana Ballet. The dancers use dramatic eye movements, intricate hand gestures and vibrant costumes to express emotions without words.
The entire performance is accompanied by the energetic, metallic sounds of a live Gamelan orchestra. The open-air courtyard at night, with its illuminated ancient stone temple gates and lotus ponds, provided a spectacular backdrop for the performance. I did shut my eyes a couple of times , and I don’t think we would rush back to watch another one but glad we experience one !
After the show, we finished the night at a restaurant opposite the temple. I was more than delighted when my pizza arrived with proper dough and was actually delicious, rather than being made with the thin wrap-like bases we had encountered elsewhere.
Before heading back to the guesthouse on motorbikes, Mum and I stopped at a crepe stand opposite the restaurant called French Crepes. They were delicious, and Eashan and Dad truly missed out!Read more
Day 22:Leaving Cangu for Ubud by Simi
August 4 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Another super comfy night's sleep meant we didn't really stir until about 8 and then enjoyed our delicious breakfast. Granola for Matt and I and pancakes for Eashan and eggs and bacon for Millen.
We needed to do a few jobs before we left for Ubud involving money changing. In Bali it is easy to use your card which is great as in Borneo we needed cash but as we had some Malaysian cash left over we figured we should get it changed to the Indonesian Rupiah. Matty went to change the money whilst the boys and I did some shopping / browsing.
However a panicked Matt called us to say something amiss had happened during the money exchange... basically his gut instinct told him something wasn't right (always trust your gut when it comes to money changing) so after changing the money he went to a coffee shop to check it again... it seemed to be about 2 million short. Ahh yes, that's the other challenge — the numbers are huge in Indonesia with a whopping 25,000 rupiah being the equivalent of a quid. Oh and also trying to count money in public places isn't easy either, especially when they give you small denominations so you have a huge wad! So he went back to the dodgy exchange place and the guy counted it out for him and appeared to show him it was all correct — still not quite comfortable, he came and found us and got me to check too. I agreed! So this time we all went back… 4 pairs of eyes on one shifty money exchange guy. These guys are total dodge malodge and sleight of hand wizards. If you go by yourself ensure you count the money at the end again and don't let anyone else touch it. He looked uncomfortable that we were all back. It's not easy to see what exactly he did as his desk was high and he's sat down behind it with his hands low! But basically we think Matty was the victim of two cons and this is what we think happened:
The Drop-and-Swipe: Dodge Malodge (hereby known as DM) counted the cash, split it into piles, and surreptitiously dropped a portion of the notes off the edge of the desk onto his lap, while Matt was distracted putting his passport into his bag.
The Recounting Switch: After Matt watched DM count the stack and confirm it was correct, DM grabbed it back to "recheck" or wrap it, palming bills away in the process- eat your heart out Paul Daniels !
With us all there, he still had to work hard to give back the extra money he had skimmed. Satisfied we had the right amount, we left and still checked again and hooray, we had the entire amount this time.
Why the guy hadn't shut up shop for a bit, we will never know, but we were lucky to get our money back and all in very calm circumstances with no accusations flying around — just us saying all the money wasn't there, counting it out, and Eashan seeing he had a shelf close to his hand where he was counting the money, so adding more money to our pile rather than it disappearing… and then two of us counting it again without DM touching it! Anyway, lesson learnt... again!
After a quick dip back at the hotel to relax the nerves, we hailed our Grab taxi to Ubud. Sad to leave Cangu — it's a whole new place we never went to when we were here 29 years ago. Heavily westernised with a trendy, youthful energy reminiscent of Tulum, it is packed with surfing outfits, wellness centres, beach clubs and endless shops — it doesn't feel like traditional Bali. Don’t get me wrong, we happily devoured the fancy coffees, beers and gorgeous food; but we were ready for some more natural Bali beauty! Slight oxymoron as Ubud has developed so much too... anyway, let's see!
Grab is unbelievably cheap! The taxi took about an hour and a quarter and cost us £12! We checked in to our next hotel, dumped our bags and went for a wander.
Millen found a place round the corner for some late lunch which was delicious. Fuelled, we were ready to tackle the very busy streets and see what we could spot.
Central Ubud was less frenetic than Cangu but still crazy. Just strolling through is a thrilling sensory overload. The air smelt of so much — frangipani, the tropical flowering trees which are everywhere in Ubud, clove cigarettes, roasting coffee, incense curling up from little palm-leaf trays (the canang saris) left on doorsteps. The main road, Jalan Raya Ubud, is a tangle of scooters weaving around delivery trucks and wandering tourists, the constant buzz of engines mixing with gamelan music drifting out of shopfronts and the occasional temple ceremony.
Down the smaller lanes, or gangs as they're called, we found ourselves walking past family compounds with their carved stone gates, roosters in bamboo cages, dogs sleeping in doorways... always such gentle dogs.
The Ubud Palace sits right in the thick of things, its dark volcanic stone carvings and tiered roofs looking almost otherworldly against the modern cafés across the street. Nearby, the art market is a crush of stalls. We left this for another day! Everywhere you go, vendors calling out prices, bargaining as its own kind of theatre.
The other thing about Ubud that is special is the number of temples and shrines. Bali is over 80% Hindu, and Ubud especially wears that faith on its sleeve. It's not one big temple you visit and move on from (even though there is that too) — it's woven into the fabric of daily life everywhere you look.
Every family compound has its own small temple in the corner. We wanted to go into one — the Shiva one. We were welcomed warmly by the family and it was stunning. I especially love that religion is such an important part of Bali — maybe I feel this way as it's my religion, even though it's different to what I know from India. It brings me a warmth, a reconnection to not only my roots but just more love for my parents who had such strong faith.
Browsing through the shops and stalls we hatched a plan for tomorrow — instead of a guided tour to see some of the wonderful sights around Bali, we preferred to do things at our own pace, so we looked into hiring a car. Goodness knows what we would get, but for £15 for the whole day, we need to create a new word as bargain doesn't even cut it. Matt checked the car and was happy to report back it had 4 wheels and a steering wheel. We were set! 🤣
We thought it was time to stop for a refreshment, and luckily it was happy hour. I had a ginger sensation, Matt had a rosemary sunrise and Millen was treated to a margarita. Eashan had an avocado and chocolate shake. Soooooo good!
Matt and Eashan were keen to head back to "unstick" and have a quick swim so they took some Grab scooters back to the hotel. Millen and I carried on with our wander!
As we walked toward Monkey Forest Road, the energy shifted again: boutique shops, juice bars, and yoga studios with open-air decks, the scent of coconut and turmeric from the cafés. Millen and I were rather proud of ourselves identifying the long-tailed macaques rather than just shouting out "monkey monkey" like some of the other tourists.
We fulfilled our browsing cups and spotted coconut ice creams, Bali monopoly, wooden incense holders, kopi luwak (civet coffee — the famous coffee made from beans that have been eaten and partially digested by the Asian palm civet then collected from its droppings — however Millen informed me we can't buy any of this as it is extremely controversial due to animal welfare concerns with caged civets, so we refrained), the ubiquitous elephant print harem traveller pants, silver jewellery, made-to-measure yoga gear, essential oils and spa products… just a small sample of what we saw!!
Tired, we met up with the others for dinner and drinks at a rooftop tapas place. The food was okay — ha, nothing to write home about (for once!). Ready for bed, we scootered home to get ready for tomorrow's exciting adventures.Read more
Day 21: Canggu by Matt
August 3 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
We awoke after a peaceful night's sleep in the aptly named Calmtree Bungalows and stepped across the small but manicured garden for breakfast. We opted for muesli, granola (Simi's standout winner, with mango yoghurt) and omelette, orange juice, tea/ coffee and lots of fruit included.
Fed, watered and with a few cafes and shops on our hit list we headed out onto the streets of Canggu. We were expecting it but even still the amount of traffic, especially scooters, on the narrow roads, with rough or non-existent pavements, was overwhelming.
We bee-lined to a coffee shop called The Goat Father we'd spotted last night, selecting a couple of iced coffees with fancy ingredients such as Himalayan pink salt and maple. Despite the pretentiousness, they were delicious and the cool vibes typical of the cafe scene here. I used the washroom, accompanied by a Macy Gray tune, and we moved on.
We perused a few shops, navigating the traffic and occasionally having to cross the road, which required nerves of steel. At one point the pavement completely disappeared and we found ourselves totally immersed in wall to wall motorbikes. Unsurprisingly, no one really walks anywhere here, opting to hire a bike or get a lift on one.
The long, long main roads head down to the beach, where we eventually found ourselves. With many popular surfing spots, catering for different skill levels, we chose to head for Batu Bolong, known for it's beginner friendly breakers. Picking one of the more established surf shacks, Dian's, they suggested we return later in the afternoon when the waves wouldn't be so big.
Warily navigating the streets, we made our way to Milk and Madus for lunch, somewhere Eashan had picked out. Simi had a corn fritters and poached egg dish, Eashan a tofu poke bowl, Millen a meatball sub and I had a BLT with avocado (BLAT). All very delicious, presented with panache and vibey decor to match.
After a bit more shop crawling and but-clenching kerb clinging, we paused to grab some drinks at another cafe on our list, Copenhagen, more Skandi minimalist unsurprisingly. We decides to eschew the 30 min walk to the surf shack and do what everyone else does, grab a scooter ride. How hard could it be? We'd even seen a guy with his dog at the front, paws resting on the handlebars. The dog was wearing sunglasses, I kid you not.
Eashan went first, hopping on the back with delight. I went next, rather more nervous. My lady driver was so short I had a perfect, if not quite wanted, view of the traffic chaos unfold before us. Of course, she was an expert and safely delivered me to the beach. Millen was close behind whilst Simi chose to direct hers to the hotel pool and milkshake alternative.
We handed over our million rupiah (about £40), donned rash vests and began our surf instruction on land on the board. Down, then up 1,2,3 onto your feet into a surfing pose, then back down to do it again, repeat. It felt like a drill sergeant demanding burpee after burpee. Finally he was satisfied with my form, the boys instructor too, and we headed out into the Indian Ocean surf.
After half an hour of mainly paddling out, often to be pushed back by the breakers, I'd maybe successfully stood up on about half of 6/7 attempts. I was starting to feel exhausted but he then told me he was impressed with my fitness, so I couldn't tell him! I showed him my Ironman tattoo instead, which prompted a chat about that and marathons, which his wife seems to have done lots, and gave me a much needed breather. He even told me he'd visited London 10 years ago and ice-skated at Somerset house! I managed to see the boys catching some waves nearby, but it was busy and our 3 instructors worked hard to keep us clear of others.
After about an hour in the water, I caught one last wave and surfed right into the beach, closely followed by Eashan and Millen, who promptly declared his enjoyment despite his initial reticence. All in all huge fun, hard work and great value, considering the 1-2-1 teaching in the water. The boys now considered themselves seasoned surfers, me not so.
Some of the men on the beach had cameras, with huge lens, and sure enough we were shown some photos we could buy. They were actually very impressive shots and we had a good laugh at eachs others board poses, especially mine. The boys weren't that bothered, and they weren't that cheap (£10 per set) so we just got mine for entertainment value.
The 3 of us walked along to Echo beach to catch the sunset and met up with Simi. Feeling rather drained, sandy and thirsty, Eashan and I popped back to the hotel, sharing a scooter ride, for a quick dip in the pool, shower, fresh clothes and a cold beer. Rejuvenated, we reunited with the other 2 for dinner at Penny Lane, very boho chic, with lots of greenery covering the walls and roof, a fountain in the middle and a toilet people seemed to be queuing up to take photos in front of.
We found ourselves sharing a table with a solo kiwi traveller. Millen struck up a conversation with him, learning about his adventures and self reliance. We couldn't help but think of Arushi, now embarked on her own solo trip, and hope she won't be sat in restaurants by herself too much!
Concerned thoughts aside, and convincing ourselves that she'll be fine, we ate our huge and satisfying burgers, Simi a Super Food Salad, which really was super and included some very tender chickpeas.
As Eashan's market stall bag had given up the ghost (and all it's zips) in KK, we'd been shopping around for a decent holdall, victim to the by the buy cheap buy twice principle. We'd settled on a genuine Quicksilver one and picked it up on the way back, I also got a fancy pair of 'amphibean' shorts.
Canngu is full of shops, of varying quality, some fake, some real, lots of surf gear, jewelry, handbags, t-shirts, phallic bottle openers, pharmaceuticals, trainers, and much, much more. It's a shoppers paradise, though finding what you're looking for ,and then usually having to barter to get a good price, is exhausting. There was so much more we could have bought, ate and done, including Pilates, yoga and even F45. Millen decided he could live here quite happily.Read more
Day 20: Kota Kina Kinabalu to Canggu
August 2 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
We headed to the airport early in the morning. We had been to the airport 3 times already, and now this was the last. After loading all our bags onto one trolley and handing in the keys of our rental car, we entered the airport. We enjoyed a quick breakfast largely consisting of toast and coffee. Then we handed in our luggage quickly, and easily, before arriving at a fork in our road. To one side, were the domestic flights within Malaysia, and to the other, international flights.
This was where Arushi would be flying solo, having adventures, making her own memories with new friends. But it also meant she would be leaving us. And of course, that was a huge step for her, and is. The tearful goodbye was bittersweet. We watched as she disappeared round the corner, and after a second of coming to the full realisation that we wouldn't be seeing her for 6 weeks, and that when we would, it would only be a week before she's off again, we began to walk in the other direction. Moments later, however, mum and Millen saw her one final time for another 5 minutes watching the floor above before she boarded her plane.
We then sat around waiting for our gate to open. And soon we were off to Singapore airport. Often acclaimed as the most beautiful airport in the world, we were all excited to see it. Although, after the uncomfortable plane ride, I was very tired and grumpy and so I couldn't enjoy the airport fully. We only had half an hour before boarding, but on our way, we managed to make time for a visit to the cactus garden, which was filled with all kinds of various cacti that I didn't even realise existed. There were tall ones, and short ones, ones with flowers on top, and ones which curled around one another and even ones made of metal. And of course, they were all very spiky.
With the time ticking closer to boarding, we soon moved on to lunch. After a short look around, we decided it was best to have something quick and simple to take out, and so we landed at Burger King. We ordered, picked it up and left. We got to our gate with not much time left to eat. Then, before I had even begun to eat, the last call for our gate was announced. I hung back as much as possible, barely managing to finish my food and about half a drink before I had to get on the plane. Once on the plane, it was a lot more relaxed and calm. Trying to get some rest, I managed a poor couple of hours of interrupted sleep throughout the plane journey.
Once at Canggu, we called a grab, and waited in the tediously slow queue for border control. Eventually, dad decided to try the e gates, however, his passport was blocked. I decided to give it a go too, just in case, and for some strange reason, managed to get in. As did Millen and mum who then followed, while dad continued to wait in the queue. We waited by the bags. Our bags arrived not too long before dad, and so we once again set off.
Waiting once again, and this time it was for the grab taxi dad had ordered. We finally spotted out guy amongst the crowd of cars, and we made our way to our hotel. Once at the hotel, we dumped our stuff and went to look for a place to eat. Being in such a touristy area does have its perks, as we were overwhelmed with cafes with western style food. We soon decided on a Greek restaurant, and walked through the town to it. On our way we were met with bright lights and speakers. Canggu is known for its beach parties and clubs, and we certainly saw that today. At the restaurant, after flipping through the pages, I was very excited to see all the vegetarian options compared to what had been the case for the majority of the holiday. We all enjoyed our meals, and Millen even got a full coconut to drink from. Finally we returned home after a very long and tiring day.Read more
Day 19: Last day in Kundasang by Millen
August 1 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
After such an early wake up the previous day, we permitted ourselves a later start this morning. After making a plan for the dad, we headed to our favourite place, Kopisanangan. The rooftop cafe that we had been to twice yesterday. Our breakfast consisted of pastries, pies and other delights, including a strawberry coffee (to no ones delight). Fuelled up following the leisurely start, we arrive at the Kundasang national park. Established in 1964, this is Malaysia’s fist world heritage site designated in the year 2000.
While the puzzling network of trails took a while to workout, we eventually found ourselves on the Silau-Silau trail. The heavy rain in the previous night created a squelchy and at some points, flooded, path that we had to cautiously avoid. The trail followed a stream running down the central of the park, surrounded by rich biodiversity which made up for the ruined path. The track parted ways, and we said goodbye to the Silau-Silau river and path, choosing the Bukit Burung trail. However shortly after joining this path, thunder crashed down around us and rain started pouring heavily. After a short but steep scramble to our fortune was a small shelter. As the rain showed no sign of stopping, we carried on the trail using coats and trees as shelter . The short walk returned us to the carpark where we then explored the botanical gardens, opened in 1981 and housing around 800 species of plants and trees, many which were endemic to Borneo. They had the kerosene tree, a lemon scented but orange fruit producing tree, rattan tree, trees that’s used to create Rattan furniture, and the naked tree, a commonly sighted but funny-looking tree that’s sheds itself to clear parasitic plants from growing on them.
After finishing the botanical gardens, we hopped back in the car. Returning back to the guesthouse to begin packing up our stuff, ready for the early departure the following morning. After packing everything up and getting ready for the next day, we finished the day in the Kloud cafe, a restaurant filled with slightly meagre but non the less delicious (mostly fried) food accompanied by gorgeous views of the dramatic mountains.Read more
Day 18: Kundasang by Arushi
July 31 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Our sleepy eyes awoke to blaring alarms at an equally alarming 2.45 AM and we tumbled into the car.
The town was surprisingly littered with lights, although not much activity until we arrived at the meeting point we scouted out yesterday. At 3.30 we were joining the gaggle of dazed walkers, we waited for the truck, to take us to the base point of Maragang Hill. Two trucks carted the rest of the group until it was just the five of us left, plus our guide Aswan. This gave us ample time to fuel up on bananas albeit they were smaller than our pinkies.
Our ride arrived and we piled in, Dad, Millen and I holding on for dear life on the back of the truck, clinging onto anyone and anything we could get our hands on. We survived the bumpy journey and at 4.20 we were at the base ready to start our journey. It started with a devastation, when I learnt that my torch light was in fact dead, and feeling like a foolish tourist I shamefully tucked it back into my pocket and accepted Aswan’s gift of his head light.
We began our ascent in the pitch black, with Aswan holding up the rear. As mum pointed out, the Last Frontier Resort had trained us for this moment, and climbing the steps reminded us coldly of the flights of stairs up to the accommodation. It was a mix of steps and roots to clamber over, and the ground was a lot squelchier than we expected, so I was glad my hiking shoes were on my feet and my tevas were at home.
We ventured up, with a few short breaks to swig water, delayer, and recoup, but for the most part we sped up the walk like hiking bosses, overtaking people and reaching the summit in under an hour. I let the way, followed by Millen, Mum, Dad, Eashan and Aswan, (alpha walker at the back), which was a good order with light distribution and walking speeds, and by the time we reached the top, there was a sliver of red just peeking over the horizon.
We were at the top at 5.20, and had a while to wait for the sunrise so we layered up, and devoured some mango (and did some blog catching up… got to fit it in where we can! Currently live from the top of Maragang Hill as I type). We spent an hour people watching my and sunrise watching from the third tallest hill on an island at 2232 metres above sea level. Bit of a mouthful!
As the sky grew lighter, the clouds danced around playfully, shifting shapes and colours from deep reds to light purples. The tip of Mount Kinabalu was drenched in sun as the clouds shifted.
Standing right next to the mountain we were overly confident after accomplishing the third tallest island hill we reckoned we could tackle the tallest mountain in south east Asia, however we were brought back down to earth as Aswan responded to our delusions by laughing… still not sure if he was laughing at us or with us still.
We generated more laughter from Aswan when we were the first people down after being the last people down as we began our descent. He pointed out a trumpet flower to us and we visited a midway view point, but all in all the descent was smooth and much brighter as the blue sky ahead shone down onto the winding route.
Ravenous after our excursion we went to L’armonia for food, which meant a ‘full breakfast’ for the carnivores (closest they’ve had to a full English) and mushroom quesadilla for the vegetarians and mum. The cafe was near the hot springs which is a local tourist spot so we researched them a bit to find the most appalling reviews (screenshot for reference) which provided great entertainment for the meal, and were all so negative that my interest was peaked and I almost wanted to visit just to see if it’s as bad as Ann S says.
We then went back to our base camp for a siesta snooze which was much needed! We also tried some
Golden apples / June plum fruit which was purchased last night with the mango, which were small green crunchy fruits that were weirdly salty?
Millen and Eashan visited the laundrette a whilst mum and I visited the upstairs cafe called Kopi Sanangan to get drinks. The cafe had a really nice vibe, a cool breeze and yummy drinks so will be back!
For late lunch we chose Sabah tea plantation, which is one of the few that is truly organic and doesn’t use pesticides! This is because the ‘pests’ have the rainforest next to the plantation to explore, and have no interest in the tea crops interestingly. At the restaurant we ordered some Sabah tea, which even had a 2litre option - we just went for a normal tea pot! We visited the little shop for some souvenir presents and checked out the view Mount Kinabalu, which by then had a ring of clouds encircling it. There was also an information board around the death marches in Sabah. We have seen threads of the Japanese invasion in Sabah, but haven’t felt like we know the full history, so this was a sad but interesting read. In brief, the death marches refer to when the Japanese invaders forced Australian British and Indian prisoners (who had been defending Malaya) to march across Sandakan. Only 6 survived the marches, and over 2,000 soldiers died, highlighting the devastating impact of these marches.
Following this brief history lesson, the next stop was to do some ‘Luanti Fish Tourism’, also known as a fish massage at a river round the corner, which dad and Eashan were eager to visit. We paid 50 ringits at the reception and a further 2 ringits on two packs of fish food, and found ourselves at the edge of the river in Luanti town, facing off with what seemed like hundreds of Malaysian Mahseer fish, which were much larger than we were expecting!
The sign at the entrance had some helpful facts, and apparently these fish are naturally trained by the villagers. These fish ‘gently nibble on dead skin during the fish spa experience’, and the massage experience is ‘believed to have therapeutic effects, including helping people with skin conditions such as psoriasis, and is said to leave the skin feeling smoother and softer’.
I would not describe the experience as relaxing. This was my experience:
Tentatively approaching the water, toes out, the pack of hungry fish sense food and squirm aggressively in the water, their large bodies almost breaking the surface. I could just about brave two inches deep, squealing every time they came near, mainly for two reasons. The first reason was due to the sheer amount of them - I felt like I was being attacked by a hoard of hangry fish. Secondly, was the size, most of them being about the size of my foot, and the occasional fish was the size that could eat my foot. I felt two nibbles and that was enough for me!
Eashan on the other hand was comparatively chilled compared to me and even sat on a chair in the water while they swarmed around him (and even when it started raining cats and dogs!) Dad also was fairly calm and whilst Millen was not, he also embraced them much more than mum and I, who decided it wasn’t for us.
It was a fairly long drive back, another hour or so, so we drove straight to August for dinner (early again as most places shut around 8/9 here), and enjoyed our food whilst playing hearts. When we left, the sky had darkened and yet it was only 18.30, so we hit up the local supermarket. We purchased a few bits and bobs, exploring local culture through examining what snacks they had on offer, including a lot of fish snacks.
We then returned to our hotel for a not so chilled evening of trying to go through the dark pit of hell which is securing Indonesian visas which was a palava and a half! It was also a sad reminder that we leave Malaysia in two days, which is when I will be off solo, as I go to Samboja to volunteer with orangutans for 12 days, and then for another 4 weeks travelling around Indonesia, which is incredibly exciting, but also means that this is farewell on the blog from me, and hopefully a good nights sleep!Read more
Day 17: Kota Kinabalu to Kundasang by Simi
July 30 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 21 °C
We all enjoyed a little lie in this morning until about 8am. Diving whilst being early starts was also pretty tiring which never makes too much sense as you’re not massively active but I guess you’re breathing underwater and swimming with weights and a tank on your back.
It’s usually a good, satisfied kind of tired! Anyway the lie in was appreciated by us all.
We packed up and headed off in two different directions . Matt and Millen to collect our rental car as we were heading out to the national park for the last part of our Sabah Adventure. Arushi, Eashan and I to complete check out, collect supplies and then to meet the others at a rather tasty brunch place called October. We had both taken separate Grabs. The Bornean people are so friendly and so honest . For the second time, Eashan had something fall out of his pocket and the Grab driver came all the way back to hand deliver it to us and then dash out again. How kind!! How lucky for Eashan too!
October totally delivered.. .delicious coffees and sandwiches . I had an absolutely divine pistachio latte! Really good!!
We then loaded all our bags into the new wagon. It was super plush and felt luxurious to know we had a moving base for a few days.
The roads here in the city are pretty smooth and Matt found the driving pretty easy. People here are slower drivers and actually give way to pedestrians and obey traffic signals so that all felt reassuring !
Whilst it was only 55miles away to Kundasang where we were staying , it was due to take 2 and a quarter hours . Once out of the city we could understand why: potholes , traffic and roads of pretty high gradients - all adding to the fun! Kundasang is at the base of Mount Kinabalu which is Malaysia's highest peak and also Borneo’s. Standing at 4,095 metres above sea level , it is a UNESCO World Heritage site .
Kundasang itself is a cool highland town marketed as the "New Zealand of Borneo", sitting at nearly 1,900 metres .
As we drove into the town the heavens opened up. We had heard good things about an independent coffee shop called Anoop renowned for its stunning view of Mount Kinabalu from its terrace. However as we pulled into its makeshift car park, the heavens truly opened and the rain hammered the roof in a relentless drumroll, so loud it swallowed conversation, and sheets of it blurred the windshield into frosted glass. .. there was no getting out of the car just yet, and deffo no stunning view of the mountain. Luckily it did pass after 10 minutes or so. Lunch was damp and quick and the view was misty !
We checked into our sweet accommodation and unloaded and worked out a plan for the next few days.
We already knew we were unable to climb Kinabalu itself as it would take 2 nights and we hadn’t applied for the permit in time. However we had been keen to climb Maragang Hill which at 2,232m claimed to be the highest hill in Malaysia, offering a rugged, challenging trail with breathtaking views of Mount Kinabalu and the Crocker Range but again needed a permit for this. Sadly the website didn’t seem to be working and registering our application so we decided to drive to the National park office to sort it. It was here that we realised fully that the town is really quite spread out and as there are no Grabs how lucky we are to have a car . The office said they weren’t able to help with the Maragang permit but gave us a phone number . Following an initial phonecall with no idea who , we proceeded with what’s app chats. The Malaysians have excellent English and our Malaysian is terrible( with us only about managing some of the below phrases which we still keep forgetting 🤦🏽♀️)
Selamat pagi – Good morning
Selamat petang – Good afternoon / evening
Terima kasih – Thank you
Sama-sama – You're welcome
Sedap – Tasty / Delicious
We were keen to do the sunrise walk which meant being at the base for 3am. Everywhere we read said you needed the permit and could not just turn up despite our what’s app communicator telling us to come tomorrow at 2.30am to sort out all the paper work.
So as we had the car we figured we would just drive to the office . We were informed it was shut so don’t worry and we could just turn up tomorrow but we were enjoying the drive so carried on.
In retrospect , it was definitely a wise move - even with the help of google maps and Waze, it was still tricky to find …. Matt spotted a sign and we drove up a dirt track .. looking very lost, we were approached by a sweet man wearing a white vest as he stood up from his white plastic chair in a small backyard quoting my phone number!He told us the office was shut and his colleague had passed on our details . As the website was currently down we could come and do the sunrise trek tomorrow. He promptly got his calculator out and punched in a load of unfathomable numbers ; when I questioned it, the price seems to reduce by about 200 ringetts and was more in keeping with the quote we had expected! All a little incomputable! Anyway who knows what we signed up to but no money was exchanged just yet thankfully. I think he sensed my slight apprehension of this being official - we were in someone’s back yard with their washing!!He pointed to the currently shut office which looked far more official thankfully and told us to be there for 330am tomorrow !
From there we headed to a viewpoint called Sosodikon Hill to fully appreciate the New Zealand of Malaysia . At the top you get a 360-degree view of the rolling Kundasang hills and farmland, and on a clear day, Mount Kinabalu . It seems to continually be in cloud but peeked through momentarily . It was worth the stroll up there. It was so tranquil and peaceful.
With an early start ahead of us we promptly decided we needed dinner and bed. We headed to a total IG/ TikTok marketed place called the Bus Restaurant and yes you guessed it - it’s a restaurant built from converted vintage buses. I think we were so desperate to eat and get to bed and passed it .. so got sucked in.. not sure how or why!! You buy a ticket (RM5/person) at entry, which gets exchanged for food credit when you order at the counter — you’re then assigned a bus number. .. even writing about this is painful . Anyway food was decidedly average and the decor about the same .. but I guess it was better than I thought and we just needed to eat. This town is also an early to bed kind of place with most restaurants shutting around 8!
We headed back to our homestay and lights out by 930pm all set for our early start !Read more
Day 16: Third day of diving by Matt
July 29 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Woke up to our last dive day, and the sunniest. Our routine now established, we readied our washing pile for later, got some packets of biscuits/pastries for breakfast and stepped out to the grap pickup point just as the taxi pulled up.
We quickly located our man at the harbour, and shortly boarded the boat for the crossing with a bunch of retirement age Germans. I watched with amusement as the man opposite me tried to put his life jacket on like a life buoy ring round his waist, their guide coming to his rescue, whilst his wife filmed him in hysterics.
We stepped into the jetty for our last diving day with a pang of sadness, greeting the 3 island dogs like old friends and began our prep for the day. We were to be accompanied by a young Swiss couple, who'd recently completed their open water at Dive Down Below.
We filled our online log books with our past 2 days diving whilst we waited, by now used to the fact that whilst it was likely we'd go out soon it was never that clear when. But very shortly we assembled in front of the board for our first briefing. Jam explained his largely illegible scribblings and reef map and we were ready to set off, none the wiser but excited never the less.
The 'captain', whose real name we never found out, sped us to our first dive site called Sulaman Reef. It was very exciting to all enter the water together for our dive, reminding me of the first time we all got on a ski lift. It was Eashan's and Arushi's last dive for their Open Water certificate so we couldn't quite all pleasure dive. As we descended, Eashan had a bit of difficult equalising in one ear so we separated anyway. On this dive we saw a stone fish and another lion fish and slowly continued to build our confidence.
After a good 40 mins underwater, though I still seemed to be the one that sucked air the fastest, we clambered aboard and headed back for a quick tea break. The sun was out and tropical location shone even more brightly than the last 2 days. Jam explained in our briefing that we were next heading to Married Reef, so called because of the proximity to another reef. This time we descended and stayed together, and because it was a relatively shallow dive of no more than 12m I brought the GoPro, apparently ok up to 10m without a case.
We quickly discovered that a family dive wasn't well coordinated, with the kids swimming in different directions, both horizontally and vertically, meaning it didn't make for a particularly relaxing experience. It was however, lots of fun and amazing to be sharing such a privileged event. Sadly, the button on the GoPro stopped working after about 5m so when we came across a turtle at 10m I spent more time trying to get the dam camera to work than actually look at it.
Dive 2 completed and a fantastic shared family underwater adventure, we headed back for lunch discussing all the fish we saw. A familiar spread of rice, noodles, vegetables and wedges awaited us, which we happily devoured. For an activity in which the less you move the better, it's amazing how hungry you get.
Our last dive was to the encouragingly named 'Turtle House'. Another relatively shallow one, especially as the tide was going out. We descended together and, after some advice from the instructors on body position and buoyancy control, our children seemed slightly more composed.
We drifted along, Chris searching under rocks for creatures, he found a blue spotted ray, and Jam seemed mainly concerned with projecting bubbles with his hand. As we ascended the reef wall, we came across a hawksbill sea turtle, which Eashan, being near the front, managed to follow for a while, until it effortlessly glided off. A critically endangered species, they're 1m long and the only known biofluorescent reptile due to the properties of some of the coral they eat.
A fabulous dive to finish on, we carried out equipment ashore, dunking it in the fresh water tank, and finished our log books and Open Water course admin. We said goodbye to Gaya Island, though we'd seen very little of the actual island, the biggest in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. We sped back with the caption, Chris and just us, ending our diving adventure with the feeling of a very personal touch we'd had throughout.
We said our goodbyes and walked back, crossing the highway at a junction this time rather than playing frogger with the traffic. Foregoing the pool, we dropped another load of washing (free washing the highlight of the accommodation) and headed over to the Imago shopping centre and all it's eateries we'd discovered last night.
Opting for DubuYo serving 'urban Korean food', we chose a selection of bimbaps, soups and fried chicken. Millen and I picked a deal for 2, which was a bit hit and miss. We headed back, via an ice cream shop, picked up our washing and collapsed into bed, tired, happy and fed.Read more
Day 15: Second Day Of Diving
July 28 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Day 15. Closer to the end of our trip than the beginning. And yet, we are still constantly amazed by the wonders that Malaysia has. Today, was our second day of diving, and for me and Arushi, our first to explore more than just 10 metres away from the beach. However, before we could, we still had one more practise dive to do.
We were driven, just like yesterday, to the waterfront where we then got on a boat and headed to the island where the Down Below instructors were waiting. We got ready for our first dive a lot quicker than yesterday, and after Millen, mum and dad left on the boat, me and Arushi waded our way through the water. And, no longer total newbies, we were able to soon go down.
Since the rain had cleared after yesterday, the visibility was loads better, and as we were about to reach the bottom, we noticed the sand move. We delayed our descent just enough for Jam, our instructor, to blow a ring bubble at the moving sand. The temporary air was just enough to cause the creature, which was a hidden stingray to swim off.
Then we continued with our dive, practising skills such as removal, and replacement of our mask, and emergency ascents. The 40 minutes flew by,, and we were soon once again out of the water. This time, we were excited to be out of the water because we knew that the next time we'd be in it, we would be diving with the pros. We had our first proper briefing, in which, as well as introducing me and Arushi, they congratulated Millen on officially becoming a certified diver. As the briefing continued, we learnt that we were heading to Ron's reef, which the others had already gone to yesterday. We learned it was named that because of a well known local who pioneered Malaysian diving. Soon, we were on the boat for the first time, along with Millen, mum and dad's group. As well as their instructor, they had an Australian who now lived in Dubai, and a Pakistani diver who was giving us tips throughout the day.
We were taken to Ron's reef where we performed our first back roll into the water. Then we waited for everyone to join us in the water before descending. Once at the bottom, however, me and Arushi, along with Jam and Mathias, who was doing the course with us, left the other group, and headed in a different direction. Swimming through the reef was a completely different experience to kneeling on a sandy seabed. We were swimming over the coral and sea life as if we were flying. The coral, and fish had a huge range of colours, and shapes. some fish swam in large schools, while others hid in the reef. It was an incredible experience. But, before we knew it, we were resurfacing. We climbed onto the boat and returned to Down Below's island for lunch.
Lunch was the same as yesterday, being rice, noodles, and vegetables. Despite diving involving slow, and few movements, we were all ravenous, and made good use of the free refills. Just before the end of lunch, we gathered around for the final briefing of the day. This time, we were going to pyramid reef. We learned it was named that because it is shaped like a pyramid. We descended to the bottom of the pyramid, where we began to circle its based, slowly moving upwards. Initially, me and Arushi's group swam in the opposite direction to Millen, Dad and Mum's, but after crossing paths, we ended up slowly trickling behind them. This dive was no less magical than the previous one, taking us across a beautiful garden of otherworldly plants, and fish. Yet, true to form, the dive ended after what felt like no more than 10 minutes, but was truly no less than 45.
With our second official dive done, we had finished the days dives and so we headed back to our apartment and to the infinity pool and gym that came with it. However, while the pool was open, it was very cold, so we gave up on the idea. The others returned to the room while me and Millen turned to the gym.Read more
Day 14: First day of scuba diving by Millen
July 27 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
The early start was quickly forgiven by the thought that we would finally be diving later that day. We rushed out of our homestay and into the back of a Grab, before being swiftly dropped off at the jetty, where chaos immediately ensued. Dad fully embraced the confusion everyone seemed to be experiencing, searching every corner of the terminal in an attempt to find our boat transfer. Fortunately, our unsung hero Arushi calmly found a photo of our meeting point and confidently guided us there, nestled in the centre of the chaos like the eye of a storm.
The Downbelow staff handed us our boat tickets and consent forms before we made our way onto the jetty and boarded the boat. With equal parts excitement and nervous anticipation, we headed out towards the open sea. Thankfully, our boat was far roomier than the surrounding ones, many of which looked packed like sardines. Joining us were just two other divers: a father and son from Australia, seasoned scuba enthusiasts who made the most of every holiday by getting underwater whenever they could.
As the captain steered us towards Gaya Island, the wind whipped against our faces. Then, when it had apparently had enough of us, it decided to claim Dad’s hat instead. The cap sailed into the sea, and the captain, noticing immediately, swung the boat around as every pair of eyes scanned the water. Soon enough, a dark object bobbing in the distance came into view. We sped towards it, and to our relief, it was the hat. The captain grabbed a boat hook and reached for it, but with one unlucky poke the cap slipped beneath the surface. After that frustratingly close attempt, it disappeared for good, and we reluctantly waved it goodbye as we continued our journey, stopping briefly to collect another father-and-son pair from a neighbouring island before finally arriving at Gaya.
The jetty connecting the boat to the island stretched far across beautifully clear green water. Unfortunately, the view was somewhat spoiled by rubbish scattered across the surface. Even so, as we ambled along I spotted a small blue-spotted stingray gliding gracefully across the seabed, instantly raising everyone’s excitement for what lay beneath the water.
We were welcomed by Chris, who, like the rest of the staff, radiated a genuine passion for scuba diving. His enthusiasm was infectious, quickly spreading to us and everyone around him. Eashan, Arushi and another student split off to begin their Open Water course, while Mum, Dad and I had a short briefing with Chris. It ended up lasting far longer than expected after Mum and Dad struggled to remember their PADI numbers, having not dived since 1998.
Once the paperwork was finally sorted and we had said goodbye to Eashan and Arushi, we suited up and entered the sea from the shore. Chris guided us through a series of refresher skills to rebuild our confidence underwater. The dive itself was shallow, with visibility so poor that anything beyond five metres faded into a blur. Being close to shore also meant there was very little marine life, and the murky sandy bottom made spotting anything even more difficult. Despite this, it was exactly what I needed—a chance to get comfortable again and complete the first of the four Open Water dives required for my PADI certification.
After a short surface interval, we returned for our second dive. We entered the water at almost the same spot and worked through more skills, making sure we were fully prepared for our boat dive later that afternoon. Towards the end, Chris led us deeper and further away from the beach. Suddenly, the underwater world transformed. We drifted over vibrant coral formations that looked almost alien, while tropical fish swam effortlessly around us. Most barely acknowledged our presence, some disappeared behind coral heads, while the occasional curious fish came over to inspect us. The sheer beauty of it all completely humbled me. By the time I surfaced, I couldn’t wait to get back in the water and explore even more of the reef.
Back at base camp we refuelled over lunch. I hadn’t realised just how hungry diving would make me and happily helped myself to several servings. We caught up with Arushi and Eashan, who had spent the morning working through their Open Water theory and confined-water skills. They were just as eager as we were to get out onto the reef.
After lunch, Chris told us we’d be joining the Australian father and son for our first dive from the boat. Following a thorough briefing, we carried our equipment down to the jetty and climbed aboard. We were reintroduced to the captain who, like everyone else we’d met, clearly loved scuba diving and brought an endless amount of energy to the day.
Our destination was Fan Corner. As the boat skimmed across the sea, the warm breeze rushed past us and the endless ocean stretched to every horizon. Mum, Dad and I shared a mixture of excitement and nerves as the engines gradually slowed above the dive site. We completed our final buddy checks before rolling backwards into the water. Any nerves disappeared the instant we hit the sea.
As we descended, an entirely new world revealed itself beneath us. Colourful coral gardens stretched across the seabed, schools of tropical fish shimmered around us, and shafts of sunlight danced through the water above. For the first time, I experienced the incredible feeling of drifting weightlessly over a thriving coral reef. Everything felt so peaceful. Time seemed to disappear as we floated effortlessly through this underwater world, taking in every detail around us. When I finally surfaced, I couldn’t stop smiling. It was everything I had imagined scuba diving would be—and more.
The boat carried us back to base camp, where we reunited with Eashan and Arushi. We excitedly swapped stories about our afternoons, each of us eager to hear what the others had seen and learnt. Even after leaving the water, I couldn’t stop thinking about the next day’s dives.
Back at our homestay, we were greeted by an unwelcome welcome committee of cockroaches, prompting a very quick exit in favour of the infinity pool. Overlooking the city from high above, the cool water was the perfect way to unwind after a long day. Later, Eashan and I squeezed in a quick workout at the gym before joining everyone else again.
Determined to spend as little time as possible sharing our accommodation with its six-legged residents, we headed out to a local diner for dinner. Bowls of steaming noodles and rich broth were exactly what we needed after a full day of diving. Satisfied, exhausted and already looking forward to getting back underwater, we returned for an early night, ready for another day of diving ahead.Read more
Day 13: Kinabatangan to KK by Arushi
July 26 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
We left the tranquil oasis in Kinabatangan this morning, swapping the leafy greens and gentle bird calls of the jungle for the shiny greys and automated chirps of the airport.
A taxi driver transported the five of us, plus the Swiss family along the bumpy roads to the airport, where we met Jason, who had taken the British family to the local hospital and then clinic last night. He said Eddy was now sleeping, which was a hopefully good thing. Mum also received a text from Becs updating us, and they would wait until he had woken up to assess his condition, and if he needs a CT scan - fingers crossed he’s feeling better!
Jason and Gert both came to the airport as they had taken some of our bags last night, and they wished us a final farewell, sweet as ever. They truly made this stay so special with remembering our names and likes, and really getting to know us. Jason trained as a cook and made all the scrumptious and comforting food for us, leaving us extremely satiated after every meal.
We began the process of checking in, along with our Swiss friends and for the first time ever, we were too early for bag check in! So many firsts experienced on this trip: first orangutang sightings, first nasi lamak, and first time early for bag check in.
With a quick stop for coffee, muffins and a waffle we were sat at our gate waiting for boarding. Whilst waiting, dad and Eashan showed us pictures from their sunrise wake up, with a silver mist laced across the hill tops, with white clouds peppered against a blue backdrop. And a picture of a bug from breakfast. (Variety)
Fuelled on cheese sandwiches, pizza and pot noodles we boarded the plane, where we found our Swiss friends where just the row behind us! We landed in the blink of an eye and grabbed a grab to our air bnb for the week, after saying goodbye to the Swiss trio.
The route to our apartment turned out to be more complicated than building our own apartment, and after an overly helpful security guard who kept asking for our and a phone call, we found our way to the check in to grab our key. After one final journey we found our room, nestled in an apartment block above a shopping centre. It’s a perfect apartment for what we need, with two rooms a bathroom and even a small kitchen. The view is slightly dodgy (picture attached) and in the water Millen even seemed to spot a monitor lizard.
We went to visit the pool, which looked very appealing and had a lovely view of the city, and Millen and I also utilised the free laundry services with two bags worth before promptly getting lost / stuck in the apartment complex with fobbed doors and no key. Comically, Eashan walked past as we banged on the glass door to get his attention, to no avail and left us two poor helpless people yelling for help. Someone eventually came into the lobby and we were sheepishly released!
We went for a mooch around the city, feeling more and more weary with each step. We visited a few stationery / souvenir shops, with independent artists work, which were beautiful but pricey and the products weren’t too appealing, they felt as though they were directed towards the Chinese tourist audience, featuring similar art styles and themes. We continued to the waterfront, where we were met with a fish stall and an array of sellers who’s primary life goal seemed to be to entice dad to eat some of their lobsters by waving the poor (alive) animals in his face, much to Eashan’s horror!
Further along the waterfront was the night stall, full of locals fruit shopping, and we picked up some mangoes for breakfast tomorrow. There were sellers fringing the pavement boasting a selection of drugs and teas, then a selection of sellers offering by mending services, and repeating in that order.
Dad led us along to a row of restaurants / bar and we settled on an Italian restaurant where we ordered pizza and pasta (cultural!), and Eashan ordered his favourite - calzone, which he was very pleased with. We were right in the riverfront with a view of Gaya, prompting excitement and talk about our dive tomorrow!
Dessert was next on the agenda, and an ice cream shop located, which appeared to have its own theme song, blasting out ‘I love you and you love me, with some ice cream and tea’ for all to hear. Dad got a plain ice cream, and Mum and Eashan got ice cream sundaes, and Millen had a bubble tea, and he even bought a water bottle. After leaving the bop we hurried to a grab to hopefully get a swim before the pool closed.
In a flurry of swimming costume and towels we rushed up to the pool for 15 minutes of swimming, in front of the glistening night sky line it was a peaceful swim, (if you ignored the boys splashing and fighting). From the pool, we can see the Gleneagle hospital, which is where Eddy and Becs are, waiting for his CT scan to hopefully show he has appendicitis and he can then get surgery!
Millen’s bday gift to me came in handy to hang up all our wet stuff (thanks Millen!) and we then swiftly fell asleep in our apartment, dreaming of diving.Read more
Day 12: Kinabatangan Walk and River Cruise by Simi
July 25 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
Matt and Eashan woke early ( 515am) to do a sunrise trip. The remaining three of us opted to snatch a few more hours sleep. They enjoyed their boat cruise and Eashan took his drone too.
We all met up again for breakfast at 830. Wow considering we are in the middle of nowhere , they go to town with the food. Check out the photos of the sweetest personalised ( and biggest) breakfast of delicious banana pancakes with yummy homemade syrup. So good. Arushi could not finish hers… I’ve never seen that before ! I checked her temperature ! She was ok!
We then all headed out for a 2 hour jungle hike with Ryan who kindly reminded us that hopefully we might see some interesting wildlife but that this is the real jungle and sometimes you see nothing.
As for the big Borneo 5 , we were still to see the Pygmy elephant and the crocodile . It was highly unlikely to see the Pygmy elephants as they had migrated further down the river and due to the heavy rainfall because of the incoming storm from Western Malaysia ; this meant it was unlikely we would see the crocs too as they were more easily spotted when the water levels were low.
So with low expectations but stunning views around us we set off. … up and down along a thin ridge, Ryan taught us many things along the route .
The jungle is so noisy especially the cicadas-There are around 3,000 species of cicadas worldwide, with approximately 150 species found in Malaysia alone. Sabah, in particular, has over 80 described cicada species and wow they are LOUD- whilst we were trekking amidst the lush forests of Sabah, their melodious chorus filled the air.
We learnt that only the male cicadas can sing. Cicadas can produce a sound exceeding 100 decibels, which is technically loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss if it sings right outside your ear
We found some mounds in the middle of our path- also called kmud chimneys or mud towers. They are vertical tubes of earth built by the cicada nymph as it prepares to leave the ground. These structures look like small mud tubes or domes rising an inch or more above the soil. They were cool looking!
Ryan also showed us the Tongkat Ali , a slow-growing rainforest tree native to Southeast Asia. In traditional Southeast Asian medicine, the long taproots of this tree are harvested, chopped up, and boiled in water to create a bitter tonic or herbal tea frequently used in modern capsule or powder supplements by bodybuilders and athletes looking to increase performance and stamina… ooh and also improving libido too!
The walk climaxed at the top of the hill where we were left unshaded and realised quickly how hot it was once again. Shrouded in sweat we appreciated the views of the river and also realised once again all the palm oil plantations around us. Ryan told us the main industries here were logging, palm oil and tourism .
We confirmed our understanding of logging as not being the same thing as deforestation, though they are closely related. Logging is the process of cutting down specific trees for timber or wood, while deforestation is the permanent clearing of forest land to use it for something else, like farms, towns, or roads.. so primitively speaking or writing in this case ,logging can involve harvesting specific trees or timber from a forest, then the forest can often grow back over time, or new trees can be planted.
Palm oil has been and continues to be a major driver of deforestation of some of the world's most biodiverse forests, destroying the habitat of already endangered species like the Orang-utan and the pygmy elephant.
Just driving here from Sepilok it was clear to see that this area alone is all about the palm oil… which seemed so ironic as all the tourists are here to see the wildlife! According to the web, “Malaysia is incredibly rich in palm oil, serving as the world's second-largest producer and exporter of the commodity. The sector is a cornerstone of the national economy, contributing roughly 3.7% to the overall GDP and generating billions in foreign exchange earnings through exports to top markets like India, China, and the EU.”
Palm oil is in nearly everything – it’s in close to 50% of the packaged products we find in supermarkets, everything from pizza, doughnuts and chocolate, to deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste and lipstick. It’s also used in animal feed and as a biofuel in many parts of the world (not in the UK though!).
As well as being versatile, compared to other vegetable oils the oil palm is a very efficient crop, able to produce high quantities of oil over small areas of land, almost all year round. This makes it an attractive crop for growers and smallholders, who can rely on the steady income that palm oil provides.
So it is strangely weird being here surrounded by all the palm oil plantations . As well as the deforestation issue there is other concerns about the conversion of carbon rich peat soils throwing out millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. There also remains some exploitation of workers and child labour. These are serious issues that the whole palm oil sector needs to step up to address because according to the western world it doesn’t have to be this way… but I’ve seen no evidence of anyone thinking this is wrong here… and I don’t feel confident asking about it .
Palm oil is an incredibly efficient crop, producing more oil per land area than any other equivalent vegetable oil crop. Globally, palm oil supplies 40% of the world’s vegetable oil demand on just under 6% of the land used to produce all vegetable oils. To get the same amount of alternative oils like soybean, coconut, or sunflower oil you would need anything between 4 and 10 times more land, which would just shift the problem to other parts of the world and threaten other habitats, species and communities. Furthermore, there are millions of smallholder farmers who depend on producing palm oil for their livelihoods. Boycotting palm oil is not the answer. Instead, we need to demand more action to tackle the issues and go further and faster.
The best thing we can do is support sustainable palm oil and avoid boycotts, since we know substitutions with other vegetable oils can lead to even further environmental and social harm. In fact we need to make sure it has
The RSPO certification (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) . This is a global standard verifying that palm oil is produced legally, without new deforestation, and with fair treatment of workers and local communities. It aims to make sustainable palm oil the norm through strict environmental and social rules.
A quick Google showed me this
Unilever PLC: Sourced through brands like Dove, Magnum, and Knorr, Unilever PLC was one of the early major consumer goods manufacturers to join the RSPO.
Nestlé SA: In 2025, 100% of Nestlé's crude palm oil and palm kernel oil was verified via RSPO-certified sources or credits.
Ferrero Group: Known for Nutella and Kinder, Ferrero achieves near-total traceability, sourcing over 96% of its supply through the strict RSPO segregated model.
So looks like Nutella is actually ok for now ! Anyway still better to eat our “not”ella and just ensure we keep informed about RSPO and make sure their members are really making the palm oil industry sustainable as it promises.
We started heading back as it wasn’t a circular route. Then about half way back Ryan heard from his colleague there were some wild orang- utans nearby . We quickly sped up which trying to remain as quiet as possible … and then the magic happened… We saw an orang u tan in the wild! Totally incredible !
We watched in awe and shared the binos between us all. Our eyes even sweating ! But we could catch glimpses of the orange furred creature ..Ryan beckoned us off the path so we could try and get even closer . Arushi and Eashan could hardly get there quick enough . We slipped and slid down the hols, snapping branches and twigs but were rewarded with the sight of 3- a mum and her teeny baby and another youngish one. Ryan seemed in total awe too and kept on saying
the orangutan was deffo angry and agitated as it was showing the clear signs of that which were most notably the "kiss-squeak" sound and aggressive branch shaking. Meanwhile he kept on getting us closer and closer .. i was torn.. I was excited to see them but also didn’t want them to be distressed or put any of us in any danger of course !
We just followed Ryan’s lead and put all our trust in him and watched them very closely and followed them for 20 mins or so. It was one of those times in your life you will never forget … totally mesmerising ! It was of course amazing to see but I did feel the mother was deffo giving us warnings to leave them alone which we did of course .
We headed back to camp for another amazing meal. Lunch was chicken and rice with egg noodles and crispy onions . Really good!
I haven’t mentioned that our 3n2d trip is also with two other families - a Swiss family of 3 and another British family of 4 from Reading. All lovely people but poor Eddie ( the English 16yr old) has been suffering with a dodgy tummy ache. He didn’t make it for breakfast or the morning walk but actually a few hours later he was able to join us for the end of the walk and so was rewarded with the orang u tan sightings.
In the afternoon we headed back to the river for another cruise. Knowing Pygmy elephants were really not going to happen , we pinned all our hopes on the still pretty unlikely crocodile. The weather was a million times better than yesterday and it was so pleasant out on the water. We were all more experienced in scanning the foliage and tried to spot crocs in the mangroves. We went down narrower tributaries of the river which really felt like the deepest darkest jungle and before we knew it we were rewarded with a sighting of a flying lemur. How the guides sported that was really incredible . Millen the wildlife spotter saw what they were pointing to very quickly too.. it took me an age.. it was so well camouflaged but I got there in the end .. much to the children’s relief !
Ryan with his expertise spotted a baby crocodile about 10cm off the river bank.. it was about 20 cm long so probably only about a month old or so.. almost looked kore
And if that hadn’t ticked all our boxes ( well minus the Pygmy elephants) we joined the hordes of boats ( there was 8 other boats) spotting another orangu tan. We just about saw it which was cool but it really made us appreciate what we had seen earlier as this really wasn’t anything compared to our nearby 30 mins encounter with three of them on our walk!
Cups full we headed back up the 600 stairs for one last time . Beers on the verandah followed by another delicious meal of chicken cordon Bleu with mushroom sauce ( we found out Jason trained a a chef.. made total sense) before a bit of blogging and Padi theory so we would all be set for our diving adventure.
Meanwhile poor Eddie having perked up earlier was deteriorating again with tummy ache when he walks and a temperature and even sickness… it was looking like appendicitis !!! Poor them!! They were all so calm as they realised they had no choice but to head off to hospital. We really are in the middle of no where. There was a small local hospital 45 mins away otherwise they would be heading to Sandakan 2 hours away and failing that a flight to Kota Kinabalu in the morning . It was a sudden and sad departure as they were a lovely family. Let’s hope he gets it sorted at the local hospital . Poor boy.
We found out in the night they had checked into a nearby hotel and how brilliant Jason had been. Eddie was having a CT scan the next morning . So fingers crossed all will be ok!Read more
Day 11: Sepilok to Kinabalangtan by Matt
July 24 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
After a full day yesterday at the orangutan and sun bear sanctuaries, we'd all slept well in our chalet and rose around 9am for our complimentary breakfast. Not the worst, but certainly not Shangri-la standards, the highlight was the cook your own parathas, similar to the frozen ones we buy at home. We filled out boots, Millen 3 times over, and followed the very specific instructions for our next place to pack a separate bag for the 2 nights there as we'll be climbing 600 steps to get there.
With an hour or so to kill before being picked up, we headed to the pool for a final dip and lounge in the sun and to use the quirky outdoor tree shower.
The Last Frontier, on Kinabalangtan river, was about 1.5 hours drive. We had to split up between the 2 cars, so I went with a Swiss family of 3, and the driver Jason, who we think co-owns it, and chatted to us the whole way. He started off giving us a detailed itenary, what to expect, what to wear, which I listened to attentively being the family rep. Then he started telling us about deforestation caused by planting for palm oil, then he talked about the corruption amongst authorities in the country, which seems to exist at all levels and increases the cost of legal requirements, such as business permits, by 10-20 times more. Even worse, he told us off the discrimination that the majority Muslim population had against the non-Muslim when it comes to jobs and even University acceptance. This was obviously very sad to hear but was also starting to feel a bit negative so I changed the topic, whilst he took a phone call, to the Swiss family's background, who seemed well travelled and fond of Asia.
We reunited at the bottom of the lodge and met Girt, the Belgian chap we'd liaised with, who like Jason had been working here for 20 years. They were younger than me and Simi so must have started it in their 20s and kept it going, which is very impressive for such a s small operation.
We left our excess luggage in the storage locker, and began the infamous stair climb. Halfway up we came across what we thought was a snake skin, but turned it to be a live, and very poisonous, pit viper!! Fortunately we didn't try and pick it up.
After 10 minutes or so, we reached the lodge, perched on a ridge with a view across the rainforest in one direction and the river in the other. With only 4 rooms and space for 12 (us, the Swiss family and an English family of 4) it felt very private and serene.
We checked into our rooms, enjoyed a simple pasta lunch and got ready for our first river cruise, led by the guide Ryan. This meant a trip back down the stairs, though lighter on luggage, carefully avoiding the viper on the way. We passed through the outskirts of the local village, Bilit, and passed a building playing bird noises through a speaker. Ryan stopped to explain that this was to attract swifts into a hatch and build nests inside, using their saliva. These were then sold at a premium to make birds nest soup, a Chinese delicacy said to improve youthful skin and strengthen immunity.
We donned lifejackets and boarded the long narrow river boat, in rows of 2, and were soon heading out into the wide, brown Kinabalangtan river. Once past the riverside lodges, Ryan opened the throttle and began skillfully steering the boat between the floating logs, the skies darkening around us. A white-bellied eagle swooped overhead.
As we sped along, we felt the first drops of rain and quickly donned our wet weather gear, which in the case of Arushi was an attractive pink poncho they'd given her and Simi's was her first outing in the second hand mac we'd bought in Kuching for 10RM. Sadly, it turned out, any waterproof qualities it might have once had were long gone.
We stopped by the riverbank for our first sighting of a family of pig-tailed macaques, jumping and playing in the branches. We then came across some silvered langurs, even more acrobatic and daring in their leaps. An oriental pied hornbill flew over the boat, landing in a nearby tree, shortly joined by it's mate. This medium sized frugivore (animal that survives mainly on fruits) grows to a heat-to-tail length of 60cm and wingspan of 35cm and is the most common of its species. The rain got heavier and our waterproof choices were put to the test! Simi lost on permeability and Arushi won on style.
We left the main river and travelled up a smaller one, passing under a rope put there by a WWF associated charity to help the orangutans cross over. We continued up the tributary, everyone keeping their eyes peeled for wildlife, until we found a group of proboscis females. Bigger and heavier than the macaques and langurs, they aren't so acrobatic, though webbing in their feet gives them swimming abilities making them the most aquatic of all primates. They can even dive underwater, cross rivers and escape crocodiles.
Even though the rain had eased off, everyone was starting to feel a bit cold and damp so we didn't mind when Ryan announced it would soon be dark so we were heading back. For a final but fabulous spot, we came across a rhinoceros hornbill, the national bird of Malaysia and found on the 5 ringgit note. It has a prominent golden-yellow horn, called a casque, on the top of its beak. The casque is a hollow structure made up of keratin (the same material as human fingernails) and acts as a resonating chamber, amplifying the bird’s calls. The largest of the 8 hornbills found in Borneo, it has a wingspan of 1.5m. Due to the loss of the tall trees it relies upon for breeding, it has a vulnerable status and is in decline.
We trudged back up the stairs, keeping a wary eye out for the pit viper, and took a welcome hot shower. Dinner was a delicious corn soup followed by nasi lemak, with beef rendang for the carnivores and a veggie curry for the veggies, then a seemingly endless supply of watermelon to finish.
An early morning cruise was an optional extra the following day, which Arushi, Millen and Simi seemed to quickly decline. Eashan and I were keen though, despite the doubts of everyone else as to our waking abilities. Jason then explained that no reservation was necessary we just needed to turn up at 530am, so the challenge was on!Read more
Day 10: Sun Bears and Orangutans by Eashan
July 23 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 31 °C
After saying good bye to Shangri La, and all the luxury it came with, we drove to our next accommodation. In the village of Sepilok, in Sabah, we arrived at our resort. We dumped our bags onto some shelves and once again, we were off. This time, we were headed to the orangutan sanctuary.
On the short journey, we learnt that orangutan means man of the forest in Malaysian because of their human-like nature. After we arrived, we immediately headed to where the feeding was to take place. We also learnt all about Sepilok's rehab centre. After the monkeys/orangutans are rescued, they spend a month separated from the others getting medical attention in order to make sure they don't have any viruses, or infections. Then, if they are very young, such as 1 or 2 years, they go to the indoor nursery. Here, the public aren't allowed in. The orangutans learn how to climb, how to interact with other animals, and other stuff that they would've otherwise been taught by their parents. Then, the ape will move on to the outdoor nursery which has a purpose built viewing building on the side of it. Here, they have access to the forest, and they have much more independence. They tend to spend the rest of their childhood and, for some, parenthood here. Finally, they are given full independence. Some orangutans still return for food, while others forage for their own food, make their own nests and make their way in the forest, becoming fully independent.
We were half an hour early, so we grabbed front row positions, watching the empty platform that we were facing. Soon, we spotted our first monkey. It was a pig tailed Macaque hidden in the tree's foliage. It sat, waiting for something, or someone. As the feeding time drew near, more and more monkeys could be spotted poking their heads out of bushes, or trees. And then, finally, a man carrying a large basket filled to the brim with fruits and vegetables. An excited buzz overcame the crowd, but it wasn't the growing population of hungry monkeys creeping towards the platform that caused this. An orangutan had appeared, on the same walkway the worker used. He walked slowly, on all fours. Then, from behind the Orangutan, appeared a baby orangutan, with a head as big as his tiny body, and hairs that stick up like a crazy scientist. He followed his mum, who in turn, followed the worker up the steps to the platform. The orangutans sat down, and once the worker emptied the basket onto the platform, they began to pick up the food, eating it in an incredibly humanoid fashion.
But at the same time, as if on cue, all the other monkeys who had been watching the food greedily, had scampered into the wooden legs holding up the platform. The first brave monkey snuck onto the platform, and going around the back of the orangutan, stole a banana. He ran to the edge of the platform in order to eat his prize out of reach of the orangutan. The second monkey didn't get so lucky, however. He took a more direct approach, and the mother orangutan was able to scare it off with her long arms. The monkey retreated down the side of the platform. But as the orangutans ate, more and more monkeys successfully tried to nab pieces of the fruit.
Eventually, the orangutan stopped trying to scare them off, letting them eat freely. Then the baby orangutan left his mother's side for the first time. He reached up the tree, pulling himself up with ease. He grabbed the rope that had been put up by the workers. He swung around, seemingly getting stuck a couple times. He eventually reached halfway along the rope before he decided he was satisfied and he returned to the safety of his mother. Then the worker left the platform, and more monkeys climbed, joining their own in trying to get food. Eventually the orangutans left, swinging across one of the ropes leading deeper into the forest, leaving all the monkeys to fight over the leftovers. And then, slowly the monkeys also left, with only a few staying behind.What was left were 2 bigger monkeys, and fewer than 5 smaller monkeys on the platform. One of the big monkeys had an incredibly red bum, which we learnt meant they were ready for mating, and clearly the other big monkey was all for it. Then, finally, the last of the fruit had gone, as had the last of the monkeys.
We then headed to the nursery. It was an indoor viewing room with one wall being made of glass overlooking a playground. The playground was equipped with hammocks for the apes, as well as monkey bars and wooden platforms. The nursery, while having as much access to the forest as the feeding platform did, felt a lot more supervised and made for human interaction with the orangutans. After standing outside for the last 45 minutes, being able to sit on cushioned benches with air conditioning felt like a blessing. Eventually, however, we dragged ourselves away from the comfort across the road to the bear sanctuary. Upon entry, we were met with a row of life sized bear cutouts. The sun bear, which we had gone to see, was the smallest, almost half the size of dad. Meanwhile, the polar bear, by far the biggest, was almost double the size of mum.
Walking into the bear sanctuary, we found ourselves on another platform. We were overlooking a part of the forest. In this sanctuary, the bears were more looked after, and more dependent on the workers. Many of the bears had been in cages since they were young, their parents had been killed, or their habitat destroyed, and the sanctuary had rescued them. We spotted the first 2 bears lying down in the shade, sleeping. Amongst them were some long tailed macaques passing through the bear sanctuary. We walked along the platform, and it wasn't long till we spotted the next bear. This time, the bear was above us, resting on a tall tree branch. After watching the bear for a little while, we moved on to the final area of the sanctuary. The platform was overlooking sleeping bears on all sides. We circled around it, watching as the bears moved around below us.
Sun bears were typically very weary of humans and, when they feel threatened, they could bark like a dog. They are able to avoid humans by smelling them before they are in sight with their excellent sense of smell. Mum and I even got lucky enough to have a bear stand up, revealing the golden mark on its chest which gave the sun bears their name. In the centre of the viewing platform, there was a profile of each bear in the sanctuary, along with facts, their personalities and how to identify them. We were able to identify this particular bear as Fulung. We read that Fulung arrived as a 2 month old after he was being illegally kept as a pet. And that he tended to stand up whenever he felt curious.
Soon, we left the bears, to have a delicious lunch in a positively packed cafe in between the 2 institutions. And then, we returned to the orangutan centre. This time, the platform facing the feeding area was almost empty, and we walked right to the front of the platform, before realising that the feeding time had been delayed, and that we should go to the nursery instead. And so, of course, we headed to the nursery. Along the wooden path, however we had a surprise visitor. A huge orangutan climbed onto the handrail, and was making his way towards the nursery. A large following of phone bearing spectators, led by one of the workers. Managing to snake through the crowd near the front, I held up the camera trying to zoom out as far as it would go purely because of how close it was to me.
The worker directed us up to a certain distance behind the great ape, and every time he momentarily stopped, he directed them past him. As I passed, the orangutan began to move, in line with me for an amazing moment. And though it felt forever, the orangutan soon stopped again, while I continued along the path. Once the rest of the famalam caught up with me, we headed to the nursery to find seats as we waited for the next feeding session. Looking outside the glass, we were met with a troupe of macaques scattered across the playground, as well as an old, sleepy orangutan lying on the structure at the back. One particular macaque was in a monkey hammock, trying to figure out how to stay in it. Every now and then he would fall out, catching the hammock as he went, pulling himself back up. Eventually, he returned to one of the wooden platforms picking up scraps of leftovers.
Then, as the monkeys began to filter out, an orangutan appeared with its baby. The orangutan found a place for a bit of rest, while the baby found some shade, and a pole to practice his standing up. The baby pulled on the pole to pull himself up but, every time, without fail, he fell back down. However, as we were watching all the monkey business in front of us, we barely realised that it was feeding time. We made it back in time, however we had lost our front row seats. It didn't make much of a difference, and we were still able to watch in wonder as a small family of orangutans shared around the food. This time, there were no monkeys, and the orangutans were able to peacefully enjoy their lunchtime. After watching them play for a bit, the orangutans left and so, we did as well.
On our way back from the centre, we passed a stand, which was advertising orangutan adoptions. And with Millens encouragement, mum decided to adopt one. We looked through the adoption options, eventually settling on Agop, a young, curious orangutan. The adoption came with photos of Agop, regular news updates and best of all, a soft toy.
Finally, we headed back to our accommodation. We immediately headed to cool off in the pool, and put our feet up in the surrounding deck chairs. It was soon time for dinner. We went to get changed before having a delicious, if not overpriced, meal before slumbering off to bed.Read more
Day 9: Leaving KK for Sepilok by Millen
July 22 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 29 °C
Waking up early (for a holiday), mum and dad and I took advantage of the hotel’s luxury amenities and headed to the gym. Following an intensive workout we were joined by Arushi and Eashan at the breakfast buffet, where we fuelled ourselves for the journey ahead. After I had a final dip and goodbye to the pool, we packed our bags and said farewell to the luxury hotel that we had been so fortunate to stay in. As we drove to the airport, looking out to the city that we had barely explored, we were all excited for our return in a few days time.
After a short flight, we arrived in Sandakan, we quickly hopped in the grab taxis and arrived at our destination, Sepilok B&B, where we were welcomed by 3 stray dogs staring us down .
After dropping off our bags, we decided to explore the neighbouring rainforest, Sepilok rainforest discovery centre (SRDC). Despite missing out on the evening guided walk, we were equally happy walking on the skywalk trail, a 628 meter canopy walk towering 28 meters (felt much higher) over the Rainforest floor. My favourite part was the flying squirrel which i managed to luckily capture the animal taking of and gliding into the air. The canopy levelled us with the top of the lively forest, which was bustling with birds swooping around and calls and tweets from various animals.
After the canopy walk came to an end at Bristle-head tower, we walked down the spiral staircase of the watchtower to the floor. We walked along the lake trail, the path was much closer to the life of the forest and subsequently much spookier. We trekked along warily, cautious of anything that moved including the leaves blowing in the breeze. Completing the walk, we crossed a rope bridge which hovered no more than a metre over the water, the mix of this, the instability and mum warning us of crocodiles made me and Eashan rush hastily over the bridge to the relieving safety of the other side.
Wanting to avoid a meal at the B & B, Arushi found a local restaurant. The high reviews and lack of anything else being remotely close easily attracted us. After a filling and delicious meal, we retired to the B&B, which was a short 2 min walk in the pitch dark. While the lizards living in every corner, questioning toilet smell and constant animal noises surrounding the room definitely added to the charm, they did not help with the much needed rest.Read more
Day 8: Kota Kinabalu by Arushi
July 21 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Our ginormous bed was enough for all three of us, until the little one fell out. Literally. Somehow Eashan woke up on the floor this morning, but was still very pleased with the quality of sleep, which says a lot about the hotel room!
We raced down to the buffet breakfast to meet mum and dad, and gorge on the multitude of foods on offer. They had pastries, noodles, baked beans, fruit, eggs, anything you could possibly eat for breakfast was laid out in front of us, including some more unfamiliar foods. One of those being ‘century eggs’, which I tried, and tasted not that unusual, just had a slight jelly texture. It’s a Chinese delicacy, cured for a few weeks to a few months in an alkaline mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime and rice hulls.
The breakfast was included and had such a vast array that when we were all full so quickly, we made plans to have an early dinner so we could optimise the breakfast tomorrow - taking advantage of it as much as possible! So, we planned for a light lunch and early dinner so we would be hungry tomorrow morning, and have a better appetite than we did this morning.
We spent the rest of the late morning at the pool, playing polo, handstand competitions and lounging in the sun. We found some chairs near the deeper section of the large pool and swam in the clear waters, which even had sun loungers built into the pool. The beach was still displaying a red flag due to jellyfish, but we were content in the pool, cooling off from the heat. There were even cold towels being handed out which made us feel as though we were at the height of luxury.
Millen and Eashan went to play tennis and go to the gym, whilst I stayed with mum and dad, doing much lazier activities, including starting my PADI theory for our upcoming diving training which is uber exciting! The boys eventually returned from their tennis game, which had been very very humid and warm!
Around 2 we started to feel peckish, so we ventured over to one of the resort restaurants for some lunch. There were limited options, so Eashan asked for vegetable rice and tofu, and I ordered the vegetable chard off the menu without the shrimp paste. However, what I received, was simply a glorified fruit platter much to my disappointment. Mum had the national Malaysian dish, a Nasi Lemak, and Millen and Dad had laksas. Our ‘light lunch’ that we had strategically planned turned out to not be so light, and still quite pricey as it was a restaurant within the hotel, but we left satisfied (for the most part - I had only eaten apples and some of Eashan’s rice).
There was a beer competition at 3, which meant free beer (we really are trying to optimise our stay this hotel!), so Coco Joe’s bar was our next stop. We soon found out that the beer competition only had one competitor: dad. So, mum and I joined him to see who could finish our half a pint the quickest... not a sentence I ever thought I’d write! Dad unfortunately smoked us, mum was not too far behind and I was barely two sips in by the time he finished, until Millen grabbed a straw and hoovered the rest of my drink up before mum had even drank all hers. I was given third place, mum second and dad first, which was not unexpected but still unfortunate for me. At least I made the podium!
Our prize was more beer (yippee…). Dad won three cans, mum won two and I won one! (Mum and dad were very pleased with the free beer - me not so much). We followed up with more competitions, playing pétanque and some sort of caged football game under a table.
After all this we returned to the pool for another swim, before showering and changing. We all headed to first beach in KK for the local food market, walking along the beach front which was packed! There were hundreds of people out, and as many on the water as in the beach, with lots of paddle boarders floating around (there wasn’t much paddling going on), some jet skis and these funny banana boats.
In the background, the clouds were darkening and there was an occasional warning flash accompanied by threatening clouds. There was even a distant rainbow to add to the drama. It was the calm before the storm.
Our first purchase was an avocado and chocolate smoothie, which tasted like it sounded, yummy to the four of us, disgusting to Millen. A lot of the stalls in the market were repeated and selling the same or similar things, and the products mostly consisted of smoothies / juices, mozzarella and sausage corn dogs, meat on sticks, fish, and corn.
We bought a few things each as the first drops started to fall. Then the skies opened and we hurriedly ate on the way back to the hotel, as the beach was illuminated with lightening.
I shared a mozzarella corn dog with Eashan , and had a jagung mix, which was a pot of corn mixed with mayonnaise, butter and milk. They were both delicious but very rich! Also ordered were meat sticks, smoothies, some sort of fried potato chip thing, and a hot dog corn dog. Not our most cultured food but filled a hole and cheap as chips if you pardon the pun!
We spent the evening playing scrabble and card games under shelter outside, near where we ate dinner last night. The hotel staff from the restaurant were very sweet and ushered us under their shelter, which was more protected and robust, and they gave us table lights to see our cards in the evening darkness. There was even a singer and band, who ended their set on ‘Have you ever seen the rain’, which felt very apt. We then returned to our room, excited for tomorrow.Read more
Day 7 : Leaving Sarawak for Sabah by Simi
July 20 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Staying right in the heart of the rainforest was an incredible way to truly feel immersed in it, but this morning everyone deffo was rather tetchy…. Why? We all had a dreadful night’s sleep. They don’t call it a rainforest for nothing; the rain never let up, and combined with the constant chatter of nocturnal creatures, drifting off felt almost impossible. Even when I did manage to catch 40 winks, I was quickly awakened again… anyway it was still a very special location and today was looking like a pretty non eventful day with travel being the main agenda item so we could sleep en route.
Following breakfast we met the trusty and smiley Habib who drove us to the airport . His love for his country and sharing all his facts was so endearing and we were all totally charmed by this gentleman’s kindness and passions .
We were sad to leave Sarawak but it was now time to catch another flight. So from Kuching the capital of Sarawak we took a flight to the capital of Sabah… Kota Kinabalu.
I dozed on the plane but it was only a short flight. We ordered another “grab” and had all decided we were having a chilled couple of days at our next hotel.
Originally when booking our trip we had hoped to go to turtle island in this time but as its peak tourist time, the ethical company that we had wanted to go with was already booked up .. so we re-evaluated our plan and decided a couple of days just chilling at a nice hotel with a pool or two might be in order…. And boy oh boy after our lack of sleep, this decision was a massive welcome relief !
The Shangri La was perfect- bars/ ice cream shops/ pools/ gym.. we had a gorgeous couple of rooms with gigantic beds, waffle dressing gowns and iced coffee in the fridge.
We walked around and checked out the facilities before settling on ice creams , swims and sundowners.
We even ended up having a very non Malaysian meal of burger and chips/ pizza/ pasta at one of the restaurants . I think sometimes you just need a bit of stopping and chilling and that’s what we have right now!
I fell asleep as soon as I my head hit the pillow. Bliss!Read more
Day 6: Permai Rainforest by Matt
July 19 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Jul 19th, 2026
We began the day with coffee and croissants from our favourite local cafe, the Moon and Star. The fact that it was opposite our hotel definitely helped the ranking, but the black croissant with a creamy filling was a winner, at least with me and Simi.
Our new favourite taxi driver, Habib, took us to Permai Rainforest lodges, teaching us more about the area and locals along the way. Everyone else seemed too pre-occupied with phone 'admin' so he happily directed all of his non-stop chatter at me. Although I could only understand half of it, he was so enthusiastic I didn't have the heart, or chance, to clarify what I missed.
Located on a stretch of coastline on which the forest reaches all the way to the sea, the resort has 2 small sandy beaches and several wooden villas separated by winding paths beneath the jungle canopy. Some are very high up on stilts, with several flights of stairs, though thankfully ours was closer to the ground and looked far less likely to topple over in a strong breeze.
There were several walks on offer but the longer ones had to be started earlier so you didn't get back too late. Our choices narrowed as it was nearly midday, we opted for the Waterfall walk. Taking 1.5 hours, it was a humid scramble over tree roots, pulling ourselves up steep slopes using guide lines, walking the leafy forest floor and even traversing a rope bridge.
After a sweaty hour we reached the small pool at the bottom of an 8m waterfall, not big enough to swim in but enough to soak our feet and splash our faces, providing welcome relief from the heat. As we waded in a family of frogs hopped out of the way and we discovered a terrapin sharing the water with us. Wary of it's bite we kept a safe distance and wondered how it had found it's way there. We met a russian couple at the waterfall, who currently live and work in Kuching, but other than them it was quiet in the trail.
The circular route brought us back to the restaurant where we paused for a breather and cold drinks. Mine was a refreshing lemongrass and honey, though anything with ice was welcome! Overlooking the beach, it was basically a covered deck and seemingly popular with the local cats, who prowled around looking for leftovers.
We followed the trail back to our villa, which seemed to go on and on, to remove our sweaty clothes and inspect our accommodation. A large living space was flanked by 2 bedrooms, each with 3 single beds covered by a sripey blanket which I thought gave it an air of prison camp, but Millen more kindly likened it to a scout hut. Closer inspection revealed the sheets had some dubious stains on them, so we chose to focus elsewhere and enjoy the surroundings for our 1 night here.
With a couple of hours to kill before dinner, Millen and I chose to head to the nearest beach for a swim, whilst Eashan took the drone out for a flight and Simi and Arushi had some book time. Along the way was the 'jungle pool'; essentially a couple of man made pools at the bottom of the river running into the sea. We had a quick dip in the cool water, popular with lots of small kids, before heading to the beach.
We clambered over the rocks, navigating a family who seemed to be picnicking at the entrance, one of the only shady spots to be fair, picked our own rock to leave our towels and waded in. It was the warmest sea water we'd swam in in a long time, in which we were very buoyant. We bobbed there for a while, watching the local (presumably Muslims) enjoying a dip covered up in their uniform of black t-shirts. Several fishermen dangled their rods from the rocks but we didn't see them get any bites. The rainforest backdrop to the golden sand made for a beautiful setting. We headed back to the villa, via the jungle pool for a beach cleansing dip.
As we neared the villa, the monkeys seemed to be out in force, chattering and sending loose branches clattering to the ground as they jumped through the trees. We identified them as more of the silvered langurs we'd seen in Bako park yesterday. We got back to the villa as one of them jumped onto the roof and paused to watch their antics. But then I spotted the tell tale nose of a proboscis monkey in a tree close by.
Excited, I ran into the villa to tell the others and grab the camera. We began to spot more of them and then saw the a big male noisily swinging his way through the trees, calling and leading the family, his long gray tail hanging beneath his powerful legs. As he paused to eat right above us, Eashan and I tried to photograph him, which was tricky as he sat amongst the canopy. But it more than made up for not seeing these endemic animals yesterday!
Given the predominantly Muslim visitors and staff, alcohol wasn't sold in the park but a 7-11 apparently did just outside. Eashan and I took the 10 minute walk to the shop, located in a small complex around a big lawn with lots of local visitors milling about enjoying the seafront, bright green ice-cream and a live band. We bagged a few cold beers and headed back to meet the others at the first beach to take in the sunset, drink our beers and, in the case of Eashan, have an evening swim.
It was another small but pretty beach from which paddle boards, canoes and snorkels could be hired. We watched the staff build a tall pyramid fire, which subsequently toppled over near several children playing in the sand! No one seemed that bothered, so after chatting to a friendly Chinese lady l, we headed to the restaurant for dinner.
Millen and I picked the classic Nasi Lemak, with lamb and beef rendang, Simi had roti with chicken rendang whilst Eashan went for a shatshuka and Arushi a noodle soup dish. All in all, pretty decent food for a low key establishment. We strolled back, searching for night creatures on the way, and had a family movie night with The Prestige, a Christopher Nolan film about a pair of rival magicians set in Victorian London. No happy ending but plenty of plot twists and foreshadowing (a term Simi and I learnt that evening!).
I was really impressed with the conscious efforts to keep the park clean and maintain the pristine environment, though the thin stripey blankets and stained sheets left something to be desired. It scored a family average of 7/10, buoyed by the natural surroundings and proboscis monkey sightings.Read more
Day 5: Bako national park by Eashan
July 18 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
We woke up bright and early to get to Bako national park. We went down to breakfast, which, disappointingly, consisted of questionable toast and spreads. Then we went outside to wait for the taxi.
We found a boat taxi to take us to Bako, which was the only way to get there, with a driver called Nazri. as we walked down the docks, We lost Nazri among the loud shouts and chaotic proceedings on the comparably small wooden dock. however, we were soon reunited with Nazri, and we set off at a nice relaxing pace. as soon as we were far away enough from the riverside, however, Nazri hit the gas, and the boat sped along, skimming across the water, at times fully out. With the wind in our hair literally, a mysterious looking mountain made monotonous by being shrouded in clouds to our left, and deep hills blanketed by the rainforest to our right, the scene was right out of a movie. Eventually, we slowed down once again, and came up to the entrance of the park.
Before we even managed to set foot on the shore, we had already seen not one but two monkeys playing in the sand. as they scurried back to the trees, and climbed away, we stepped onto the concrete steps leading up to a small room. Inside were the route maps, alongside corresponding difficulty ratings. we chose a moderately challenged trail to start off. The trail claimed to take around 45 minutes despite being little more than a kilometre. We laughed naively at how silly for such a short walk to take such little time. we walked towards the trail’s start, passing the cafeteria where we were to have lunch later.
By the cafeteria there were 3 incredibly thin, yet large bearded pigs grazing on the grass. they looked similar to warthogs, with snouts protruding out a hairy face. Also by the cafeteria, hanging on trees, was a family of monkeys.They swung from branch to branch effortlessly, gracefully finding flowers or fruits to eat, apart from a slightly older monkey, who was on the larger side of his species. He reached for some food, but after realising it was just out of reach gave up and just lay there. Soon we peeled ourselves away from the wildlife to begin our trek.
We didn't even go 10 metres before we had realised why it was going to take as long as the map had suggested . It was steep. very steep. but we continued on, going up and up, ducking under hanging branches and climbing over tangled webs of roots. though other than the occasional lizard or insect, we didn't see any animals. What we found instead, however, was a view overlooking the river, rainforest and the mountains in the distance. We stopped for a short water break before continuing on climbing higher. it wasn't long before we realised that we had already reached the end, and were just walking into bushes. we turned back, returning to the cafeteria.
There, we decided on our next walk. this was going to be longer, and we were hoping to find the elusive proboscis monkey. On the way to the next walk, a local guide cane up to us and asked if we wanted to see a baby snake. We followed him to where a small crowd had begun to gather around a tree, pointing at the shrubs below. Looking very closely, we managed to spot the well hidden tiny snake, wrapped around a leaf. After we managed to get photos of the snake, we began the next walk.
This time, we passed the riverside and headed in the other direction. We found ourselves on a wooden walkway over the sand where the boatride had recently receded from. looking down, There were dozens of small critters scurrying around. Upon a closer inspection, we saw that the creatures were tiny crabs, with a single white claw about the same size as itself. We carried on and once again followed the path into the rainforest. and once again, the walk was steep, but the nature was amazing and other than the immense heat and humidity, was a great walk. Before long, we arrived at the halfway point: a beach.
Trying not to be put off by the huge crocodile warnings, we stepped onto the beach, and as soon as we did, we saw another gathering of people. this time it was around a grown snake. the snake was frozen like a statue and was staring at the shore. Its body wrapped around a tree branch, and its neck twisted into an "s" shape, ready to spring and attack. Eventually, we moved on, and sat by some rocks on the side of the beach. Then dad noticed all the crabs. On the ground, whenever you took a step, a cluster of tiny crabs, smaller than a fingernail would scuttle across the sand into holes, disappearing in the sand. We remained on the beach for a little longer before beginning the trek back. The walk back was similarly steep and uneven, and we were ready to have some lunch. but then...suddenly Arushi released a huge scream. We turned around to see what was happening but we couldn't see the source of her fear. We searched around to see what it was, bur then it dropped to the ground besides her. it was a harmless, hand sized chameleon, staring up at us. We looked around at the small cluster of eyes that Arushi's scream had attracted, watching the chameleon, and Arushi,so we decided to quickly move on.
Lunch was a buffet with rice, meat, and vegetables displayed along a table. simple, but still nice. a
Alongside this, we each got a well deserved cold drink. while eating, we decided we were ready to head back. we hadn't seen any proboscis monkeys like we'd hoped, but we had still seen silvery langur monkeys, bearded pigs, ring legged fiddler crabs, and Bornean keeled green pit vipers.
We called up Nazri, for the boat taxi, followed by a taxi back into Kuching . Me, Millen and Arushi took the bags to the room and relaxed, while mum and dad went to the launderette to give them some laundry.
Once they got back, we began to head to the pool and for the next 45 minutes, we spent time relaxing in or around the pool.
We then went back inside into our rooms to get changed for dinner. We went to the restaurant right next door to our hotel. The food was good, once again simple, but effective. We returned to our rooms for the final time that night, and after the long day, got some sleep.Read more
Day 4: explore Kuching by Millen
July 17 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Our first full day exploring Kuching and Borneo started later than we’d hoped, mostly thanks to the surprisingly lively nightlife of a city we thought would be quiet and sleepy, which didn’t exactly help us get much sleep.
With Arushi leading the way, we headed towards Carpenter Street. When we got there, Mum and Dad settled into a café for cold coffees, while Arushi, Eashan and I carried on down the street looking for somewhere to eat. We eventually stopped at a small food market. Even though we weren’t too sure about the hygiene at first, the number of locals eating there convinced us to give it a go.
Mum, Dad and I all ordered a delicious bowl of laksa, much to Dad’s delight. The vegetarians went for a much simpler dish of plain noodles with beans. It might not have looked as exciting, but everyone was happy enough.
After finishing lunch, we wandered over to the Borneo Culture Museum. We were really interested in Borneo’s amazing wildlife, rich history and different cultures. The highlight was seeing the original Deep Skull from Niah Cave, the oldest known modern human remains found in Southeast Asia, dating back around 37,000 years.
Unfortunately, Kuching’s famous afternoon rain soon caught up with us, so we had to take shelter in a nearby shopping mall. While waiting for the rain to stop, we got distracted by all the different shops. By the time we left, the rain had cleared just in time for an incredible sunset over the riverfront promenade. The Darul Hana Bridge gave us the perfect view as the sky turned brilliant shades of orange. As the daylight faded into a cool evening blue, the glowing lanterns and fairy lights guided us back towards Carpenter Street.
We went to a restaurant we passed this morning on Carpenter street, with Arushi confidently leading us. We ordered three cheeseburgers, a margarita pizza and a shiitake mushroom pizza. Although everything tasted good, the portions were surprisingly small, and the pizza was quite different from what we’re used to back home.
After a long day exploring Kuching, we headed back to the hostel, ready for another day of adventures.Read more
Day 3: KL to Kuching by Arushi
July 16 in Malaysia ⋅ 🌧 28 °C
Today we had a speedy morning from wake up at 8 to pick up at 9 for our flight. Sadly jamboo was shut this morning, so we went to LOKL kapi opposite instead, where dad and I got a flat white and iced chocolate. Mum and the boys picked up some fresh fruit juices from a street stall, which we drank whilst waiting for our taxi driver to come.
We left the high rise landscape of Kuala Lumpur and sped off toward the airport with our kind driver who ended our journey with a group selfie!
At the airport, we had a very fast self check in for our bags, and then went in search of food. We went to a ramen place in the airport to order, then realising we had already pre ordered food in the plane but oh well! The ramen went down a treat and down some tops (munch munch scoop was wearing a white top too but miraculously it stayed white).
A two hour flight later and we landed in Kuching, ordering grab cabs to travel to our hotel.
At the Marian Boutique hotel, we checked in and were directed our rooms, which were much trickier to find than expected and felt like we were trying to find a deer in woodlands.
We unloaded and made our next plans, so before long we were ambling along the streets of Kuching, walking along the waterfront to old Chinatown, taking in the sights, which were mostly cat related. The famous cat roundabout, cat cafes, cat statues, cat shelters, but oddly, very few cats.
We ate dinner country kitchen, which was a buffet style, with an array of meat or vegetable options. We each had rice and some meat/vegetable dishes and some juices, which were very fresh but also weirdly sweet. After we had eaten we walked back along the waterfront into new Chinatown for dessert from Ais Krim (ice cream!) By this point, we felt we had seen most of Kuching, despite trying to hold back on our first evening. So we withheld from the Jambatan Darul Hana bridge, which was opposite the ice cream shop, to save things for tomorrow!
The ice cream in Sarawak is well known as it is made with gula apong, which is palm sugar. We had two gula apong ice creams, which had a caramel / coffee taste, and were thick and creamy, like fro-yo. Eashan went for a waffle with kaya, the same coconut jam that dad had on his toast in KL.
That wrapped up our evening, and we walked back to our hotel for a good night sleep.Read more
Day 2: KL Evening by Simi
July 16 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
We walked along to the River of Life.
It is a major urban waterfront regeneration project located at the historic confluence of the Klang and Gombak Rivers—the exact birthplace of Kuala Lumpur. It’s a bit of a weird place if I’m honest but maybe in the next few years there will be more stuff going on but currently with its neon lights highlighting the dirty river and banks and lack of maintenance .
We went via the Rover of Life to go to the Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Square) is named after the independence proclamation of Malaya (later Malaysia). It was here, at midnight on 31 August 1957, that the Union Jack was lowered and the Malayan flag hoisted for the first time, signifying the end of British colonial rule of the peninsula. This iconic public square features a massive 95-meter flagpole—one of the tallest in the world—and a pristine green lawn surrounded by striking colonial-era architecture.
The most obvious landmarks in Dataran Merdeka are the British colonial buildings who had centred their government administration around a cricket lawn. And that’s basically what Dataran Merdeka was: the field, or padang, of the Selangor Club just opposite the Government Offices. The British architects at the time drew heavily from architecture in British India and other colonial territories of similar climate. The result is an interesting and uniquely colonial style, which gives Dataran Merdeka its iconic look.
The centuries-old colonial buildings, minarets, spires and arches of the area are a stunning reminder of the past and in great contrast to the modern skyline that people generally associate with Kuala Lumpur.
That brings me nicely to just mentioning the towers here in KL. We caught glimpses of them all whilst walking in the city but didn’t get a photo with all the skyline.
Kuala Lumpur is famous for its soaring skyline, anchored by the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, the panoramic KL Tower, and the new megatall Merdeka 118. In actually fact there is something that is dubbed
as the Super 4 and we aren’t talking about a marvel movie .
The Super 4 of Kuala Lumpur are Merdeka 118, Exchange 106 @ TRX, Petronas Twin Towers and the Kuala Lumpur Tower, which you can see in the photo here on the blog.. not taken by us sadly .
Merdeka 118 – Formerly, this megastructure went through three different names, Menara Warisan Merdeka, KL 118 and PNB 118; it is now finally called Merdeka 118 and is a 118-story mega-tall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At 678.9 m tall, it is the second-tallest building and structure in the world. (as of Oct 2023)
Exchange 106 – This skyscraper was formerly known as the Signature Tower and is a 453.6-meter-tall supertall skyscraper in the TRX area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is Malaysia’s second-tallest building and Southeast Asia’s third-tallest building.
The Petronas Twin Towers – This interlinked pair of 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, stands at 451.9 metres (1,483 feet). From 1998 to 2004, they were officially designated as the tallest buildings in the world until they were surpassed by the completion of the Taipei 101 in 2004.
Kuala Lumpur Tower – Often referred to as KL Tower, this is a 6-storey, 421-metre-tall (1,381 ft) telecommunication tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the world’s seventh-tallest tower and Malaysia and Southeast Asia’s second-tallest tower, and was completed in 1994 and was the only one here on Matt and my last visit to KL in 1997!
Anyway back to our day. As we hadn’t got enough time for Batu caves we headed towards a beautiful Indian temple.The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple is the oldest functioning Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur. It is famous for its towering 22.9-meter raja gopuram (entrance tower) adorned with intricate sculptures of Hindu deities.
From there we grabbed our first “grab “ as we were getting a bit tired. Grab is Asia’s equivalent to our uber so mega efficient and cheap and headed to the Pavillion shopping centre- a rather bougie high-end shopping mall. From there you can walk to the KLCC park where you get a great view of the Petronas towers as well as a sound and light show using the fountains in the park. The towers were impressive and changed colour whilst we were there . The fountains with the music was all a bit cheesy but still a nice place to rest our weary feet and watch all the people posing for their perfect shot whether it was with their hats / bags/ cocked faces / bodies in weird positions . We grabbed food from the Mall and headed back home . It was about 11 by the time we got back and England would be playing in the semifinals vs Argentina at 3am! Who was going to get up for it ?Read more
Day 2: KL by Simi
July 15 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
We had made extremely optimistic vague plans to rise early to get to the infamous Batu caves but sadly jet lag and lack of sleep on the plane meant we didn’t really get moving until 10am which was sadly a bit too late to head by then.
Millen had done a brilliant job of putting together a packed itinerary for us so was our tour guide for the day !
Jamoo was the first destination on his list which was an Instagram phenomenon.. a hole in the wall for serving matchas/ coffees etc.. served by some very creepy nails.. we all wanted food so had a quick glance and saw the long winding queue and moved on!
We walked through Chinatown towards a spot for breakfast we had selected . .. some nice cold coffees .. a big selection which took us a while to get our heads round .enjoyed our breakfast at Hock Kee Heritage.
It’s a wonderful city to just walk around and so diverse . In Chinatown around Petaling St and Central market it was deffo sensory overload time; dense, warm, loud, and layered- the kind of place where all five senses are working at once and none of them get a break.
Faded shophouse facades with peeling paint sat next to neon signs for hawker stalls. Steam rising everywhere.. Eashan had a name for it; I need to check with him… bear with ! Steam punk apparently ! From dumpling steamers, noodle woks, herbal soup pots to overworked air conditioning units .
Charcoal smoke from satay grills mixed with the sweetness of soy sauce reducing in a wok. It was also durian season with many shops especially the rather posh food malls proudly displaying their bountiful produce and the versatility of the durian apparently . I think it’s an acquired taste which none of us could sadly appreciate .
We headed to Rex KL which Millen directed us to. Once a grand cinema, this cultural icon has traded its silver screens for espresso machines, indie bookshops, and vintage treasures that deffo gave us Peckham Levels vibes .
The little shops had beautifully curated stuff but were deffo on the pricey side. The absolute highlight was the book shop BookXcess which is a seriously massive space which blends the building’s cinema history with something genuinely imaginative.
We walked in and were immediately swallowed up by a winding maze of bookshelves that weave through the old cinema’s original bones. Whoever designed the layout made brilliant use of the sloped staircases and balcony areas, turning them into a proper book maze full of tight corners and surprise finds at every turn and the five of us had a great time getting happily lost in it together.
Unsurprisingly, it’s become a magnet for Instagram photos. Anyone lucky enough to find a gap between the shelves tended to whip out their phone for a shot — and we were no exception, happily joining the queue of people waiting for their turn learning quickly the audience were not embarrassed to keep anyone else waiting and happy to have at least 20 shots before moving on!
Right by the entrance of REXKL was yet another coffee place - Stellar Coffee, perfectly placed to attract Matty who was in need of a caffeine fix. He couldn’t resist grabbing a quick takeaway coffee from here before we headed off towards the markets .
Our next stop was Central market . Housed in a beautiful old Art Deco building painted in soft blue. The shops seems to deffo be focussed on the traveller and mainly seems to sell local crafts, batik textiles, artwork, and souvenirs with a distinctly Malaysian identity…. Ooh and a lot of stationery.
We opted for a bit more shopping taking in various shops on the way and then the frenetic energy of the infamous Petaling St. All fun ! We purchased some trainers , a belt, some sunglasses, a T-shirt and a bag to carry all our purchases! All the shopping warranted a lunch stop !
After filling our bellies with yet more Malaysian yumminess we headed to Kwai Chai Hong, another Tiktok popular site according to our tour guide Millen. . Long neglected and in bad shape, a project was recently initiated to give this secret alley a big makeover to bring back the golden age of Chinatown.
Kwai Chai Hong is now quite popular for its interactive art. There is a chair to sit on in front of the mural of a barber, for example, and a real-life jumping rope in front of a mural of little girls playing on the street murals.
After taking our few snaps we then decided to head to see the historic cultural centre of the city .
Continued in next post ( reached maximum photo capacity for this one)Read more
Day 1: Travel to KL by Matt
Jul 14–15 in England ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Borneo day has finally arrived! With the luxury of an evening flight we had pretty much the whole day to pack, repack and faff around. Opting to train and bus via Feltham, we got to the airport with plenty of time to enjoy our lounge passes.
Strolling into the Plaza Premium like pros, we filled our boots with beer, wine and various mediocre rice dishes. The chocolate brownies were the highlight, of which we consumed double digits, before heading to our departure gate.
All hopes of an upgrade were dashed and we settled in to peruse the inflight entertainment options and ready ourselves for the next 13 hours. Several films and episodes later, a fitful night's sleep, and 2 underwhelming meals, of which Millen got into the Asian spirit by having chicken and rice for both dinner and breakfast, we landed before we'd barely woken up the following day.
Losing 8 hours, it was a discombobulating 5pm when we stepped out of the plane. We navigated the slightly confusing online entry forms and opted to haggle for a taxi into KL.
Our cheery driver pointed out some of the famous buildings including the Merdeka 118, the second tallest in the world. Twisted in shape and lit up with purple stripes it is very impressive and dominates the skyline. He dropped us at 1000 Miles, our hotel for the first couple of nights.
It was late evening by the time we set out for dinner, finding a sting of Indian restaurants round the corner. We picked a South Indian veggie one called Sangeetha's and ordered mix of dishes such as dosa and oothappa and various others our waiter recommended and we happily obliged. Very full and fatigued we headed back to gratefully doze off.Read more
