AirAsia welcomes Visit Malaysia Year 2014 .

AirAsia adds to the celebrations of Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (VMY2014) with exciting promotional base fares from as low as RM14* one way with applicable taxes & fees from RM26, to great domestic destinations such as Alor Setar, Penang, Johor Bahru, Langkawi, Terengganu, Tawau, Kota Kinabalu and more.Read HERE AIR ASIA & To booked on line AirAsia.

Discover more of Malaysia’s wonders by downloading AirAsia’s ‘Awesome Malaysia’ & ‘Discover Borneo’ travel guides at http://www.airasia.com/travelguides. The travel guides are free and include essential travel information at each domestic destination such as accommodation, transport and the must-see’s and must-do’s of each place. These guides will provide both domestic & international travellers a better insight into the places they are visiting throughout VMY2014.
Air Asia is  ‘World’s Leading Low Cost Airline’ at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2013 held in Doha, Qatar.AirAsia emerged as winner in the ‘World’s Leading Low Cost Airline’ category, receiving the highest votes from travel professionals from around the globe, surpassing other nominees in the category, namely Air Arabia, Air Berlin, easyJet, JetBlue Airways, Precision Air and Southwest Airlines.

 I have been hearing about the  Air Asia Queens Park Rangers Official Partner Airbus A320 Aircraft and finally I managed to spot the plane while doing my routine hobby as plane spotter in Kuching .QPR and Air Asia have been bringing Malaysian name to new heights for the correct reason of course.

Selamat Datang ke-Kuching.
Where to Eat in Kuching...HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit Sarawak Year 2014. Seeing Orang Utans in Kuching.

If you flew to Kuching, on the Malaysian side of Borneo, for a chance to see endangered animals in the wild and explore native tribal culture. It was like stepping into the pages of National Geographic.
Visit Orangutans  for more info HERE or Sarawak Tourism Board .

Adventure, jungle, wildlife and beauty are the first words that spring to your mind when you travels to Sarawak in Borneo, East Malaysia. You can view here what the tourist say about his or her trip to Sarawak. British Travel Press Award 2013.

Transportation :HERE
My Visit to Orang Utans: HERE

Thank You .WELCOME to SARAWAK.

Orang Asli in West Malaysia.

Orang Asli (lit. “original people”, “natural people” or “aboriginal people” in Malay), is a generic Malaysian term used for people indigenous to Peninsular Malaysia. Officially, there are 18 orang asli tribes. Orang Asli kept to themselves until the first traders from India arrived in first millennium AD. Living in the interior they bartered inland products like resins, incense woods and feathers for salt, cloth and iron tools. The rise of the Malay sultanates, coinciding with trade in Orang Asli slaves, forced the group to retreat further inland to avoid contact with outsiders. The arrival of British colonists brought further inroads in the lives of Orang Asli.They were the target of Christian missionary and subjects of anthropological research.
Slave raids into Orang Asli settlements were quite common feature back in the 18th and 19th centuries. These slave-raiders were mainly local Malays and Bataks, who considered the Orang Asli as ‘kafirs’, ‘non-humans’, ‘savages’ and ‘jungle-beasts.’ The modus operandi was basically to swoop down a settlement and then kill off all the adult men. Women and children were captured alive as they are ‘easier to tame.’ The captives Orang Asli slaves were sold off or given to local rulers and chieftains to gain their favour. Slaves trade soon developed and even continued into the present century despite the official abolition of all forms of slavery in 1884. The derogatory term sakai was used to refer to the Orang Asli until the middle of the 20th century meant slave or dependent. Many of the elders Orang Asli still remember this period of their history, and they detest being called Sakai.

In 2000, the Orang Asli comprise only 0.5% of the total population in Malaysia. Their population is approximately 148,000.
Text adapted from Wikipedia’s article on the Orang Asli.
Most of the photos here are photograph by my daughter using Panasonic DMC Lumix LX3.During her field work trip to Pos Orang Asli Senderut,Kuala Lipis in Pahang.
Photo edited by myself.

Orang Asli is not like what we expected. We can change them to be like others. BUT changing time must be consistent and taking long time. Their children really want changes. They want to go to school BUT we do not plan for them. Short thinking we are cruel to them and let them living in the forest hunting wildlife which we want to conserve for future generation. Some one have to do it.

Media Visit for Pesta Babulang Lumba Kerbau in Batu Danau in Limbang. (part4).

The program for 8th of June 2013 (Saturday).
.Bisaya traditional cooking contest
.Buffalo race competition
.Exhibition and sale of handicrafts
.Official opening ceremony of Buffalo Race 2013
.Buffalo Race & Kuntul berhias (decorated float)
Myself, Amirul of Sarawak Tourism Board in Miri and Lim of Borneo Touch Ecotour heading to Batu Danau about 40 KM from Limbang Town and less than 10 KM from the border with Brunei.Well,,I would say it was a carnival like atmosphere as buffalo racing is a traditional pastime of the community here and they keep it alive thru Pesta Babulang.The pesta is included in the Tourism Package offering Culture and Buffalo races as part of the attractions among local and tourist from Sabah and Brunei.Do you know that the buffalo 'Jockeys' need to be agile to get on their beast of burden before hurtling down the race track.The unpredictable temperament of the animal would add to the excitement  of the event.The jockeys need not have to wear safety suit like those jockey who ride Horses.."Watch out and do not stand too near as these buffaloes don’t have brakes and proper steering wheel. They can go out of control and barrel at you,” came the warning loud and clear by the event commentator over the public announcement system.".
There was also the colorful parade of ‘Kuntul’ depicting Bisaya history, including the single pole paddy barn.It was fun but the weather that day was 'HOT' ,It was a feast for both cultural and photo-bugs to savour, as almost everyone was snapping pictures and videos of the colourful event to be posted on Facebook, Instagram and other social media while the more serious ones, including photographers from Brunei, came armed with top photographic equipment to capture the magic unfolding at this Buffaloes that provide thrills and spills, fun and hilarity.
Below is a set of photograph that I shoot during the 'Pesta Babulang (Lumba Kerbau)' in Kampong Batu Danau in Limbang.

Photo by Awang

 Are you ready for the show ?

Lawas Town.

 More picture in my next entry.....of Pesta Babulang in Limbang.

Media Visit for Pesta Babulang Part3...Tagang Long Lidung(Eco-Tourism)

On our way  from Merarap Hotsprings to Lawas Town. Myself, Mr Lim of Borneo Ecotour & Amirul of STB Visitor Center Miri .We stop by for fish spa in TAGANG Long Lidung.We want to experience the thrill of the wild river fishes feeding from hands and you can even even swim with them.On our arrival we meet by the person incharge Mr Raut Kading & his family.We proceed to Sungei Tengoa but it appears nothing significant has happened. But on the river banks, Raut Kading, a tall pony-tailed man, puts down the can and pours some dried fish feed onto the palm of his hand. He casts the feed into the waters.Immediately, the river’s surface begin to bubble with fish rushing to grab their share of the nutritious fish food.Satisfied that the fish have heard his call, Raut call Lim and Amirul  stands on the water’s edge and drops more feed into the churning water. The fish respond by literally throwing themselves at his feet to get at more tasty morsels.
The village is just off the Lawas-Ba Kelalan road which was recently improved and is experiencing increasing traffic. The villagers hope to be able to divert some of the visitors towards their system Tagang(System Tagang is basically a mean to maintain the ecological balance of a river. It also prevents unsystematic harvesting of fishes and other marine life).

The public interested in visiting Long Lidong to find out more about their unique tagang system can contact Madam Roselyn Kading (0198468079). To help cover maintenance costs of the system, a minimal entrance fee is charged — RM2 per Malaysian adult, RM1 per Malaysian child, RM4 per person for foreign nationalities and RM2 per child).
For visitors wanting to immerse in the water with the fish, fees of RM5 per Malaysian adult and RM10 per adult of foreign nationality is charged for every 10-minute block. For those justing want to dip their feet, the charges are RM2 (for Malaysians) and RM4 (for foreign nationalities) for every 10-minute block.

 Fish foot SPA........

Media Visit for Pesta Babulang,Limbang .. Part 1.

So I was happy indeed when Sarawak Tourism Board  invited me as a blogger to be one of the representative of Sarawak Blogger Community for media visit for Pesta Babulang in Limbang from 6th to 9th June,2013.It;s largely to-do with Bisaya Community cultures from Limbang and Lawas in Sarawak.
So I look forward to telling you more and sharing the photograph of the event that I shoot during my trip.First of all I would like to Thanks and Thank You very much to my host Sarawak Tourism Board..
About Sarawak Tourism Board:
VISION - Making Sarawak the naturally preferred tourism destination.
MISSION- Positioning and promoting Sarawak as a safe and friendly Eco-tourism destination.
                   Be the catalyst for tourism growth.
                   Providing networking and synergy among the official gencies and tourism promotion partner.
                   Increasing awareness among Sarawakian on the benefit and importance of tourism industry.
                   Enhancing performance though motivation and teamwork.
My itinerary on the 6th June is flying to Miri by MAS and Miri to Limbang by MASwings.I reached Miri almost 3PM and Limbang almost 4:30PM.In Miri airport I meet Mr Amirul (Paul)the officer from STB Visitors Center Miri and in Limbang airport Amirul introduce me with Mr Lim from Borneo Touch Eco Tour  who arrange our trip to Merarap Hotspring Lodge in Lawas.
Merarap Hot Springs :: Lodge is in Lawas division and Mr Lim drive us all the way from Limbang airport straight to Lawas via the Malaysian border town of Limbang in Sarawak and Temburong District in Brunei.To cross the border we use ferry, the ferry services are operated by two companies on a rotation basis, each ferry has a maximum load of 10 for saloon cars and six to eight for bigger vehicles, and takes approximately five minutes to transport vehicles across the river.The bridge over Pandaruan River is scheduled for completion in August 2013 three months before the 2013 ASEAN Summit which will be hosted by Brunei.With the increase in cross-border traffic for various purposes, the bridge will facilitate connectivity, increase transport and logistics activities and create a spin-off for the both Limbang and Temburong especially in social-economic and tourism activities.
We reached Lawas town almost dark and from Lawas we heading straight for Merarap .
About Merarap Hotspring Lodge:Located on a 5-acres in Ba'kelalan Highlands, Lawas District, Limbang Division, Sarawak..its a good place to seek rest and recreation. Merarap Hot Spring Lodge is a private/family owned business..How to get to the lodge)  because its' quite remote into the jungle, you have to get-into a four wheel drive (4WD) and it takes 1 1/2 - 2 hours journey (approx 68km) from Lawas town. Fares..is rm600 -max 10 person in 1 car (to & fro) - current fares.

You have to get into a 4WD .

Merarap Hot Spring Lodge.

Crossing the border...
More on part2 & will updated soon.
Thank You.