Tanjung Piai National Park is the Southernmost point in mainland Asia – located in Johor, Malaysia. The park is about 80 km from Johor Bahru.
The video shows my view as I walked through a mangrove forest and emerging onto the Johor Straits. The video zooms in to see part of Singapore (since Singapore is an island off of Asia this point is the southernmost point on mainland Asia instead of Singapore). And if some in Singapore try to claim that title, which some do, then why not Indonesia?
My single most amazing experience during several years in Malaysia was watching Rhinoceros Hornbills fly around on my hike on Mount Santubong on Borneo in Malaysia. I stayed in a treehouse cabin at treehouse cabin, Permai Rainforest Resort (in Damai about 45 minutes from Kuching). From there it was a 15 minute ride to the trailhead.
The hike of Mount Santubong was amazing itself, and I will post more about it later. It was the longest most vertical hike I have been on. At what I think was the first overlook I stopped and ate a snack and drank some water. And during my stop hornbills started flying around.
I didn’t remember that Bornean Hornbills (Rhinoceros Hornbills) were huge and it was quite surprising how large they were. The Rhinoceros Hornbill grows to 90โ120 cm long and weighing 2โ3 kg. In captivity it can live for up to 90 years. It is the state bird of Sarawak and the National bird of Malaysia.
During 11th Annual JB Arts Festival I stopped by the White Box which is on the top floor of Danga City Mall in downtown Johor Bahru. A few weeks later I listened to a talk on backpacking around South America and Europe at the Black Box.
JB sketchers display with some of the participants work. Join in their monthly outings and more activities.
These have become permanent spaces (for the time being anyway). Since the mall has many unrented spots this is a very wise idea; making use of otherwise wasted space and also brining in potential customers for businesses at the mall.
Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in Kuala Lumpur offers a nice location for a hike. I took the train to Kepong and then a taxi to the park. There is then a fairly long walk to the trail (from the entrance) but past interesting sites, so I found it worthwhile. You could probably get driven in further but you have to pay at the gate, so I think the taxi was reluctant to enter.
My guess is this isn’t high on tourists list of attractions in KL (more an education and research center and resource for those living in KL). But for people that like hiking (such as me) it is a nice location. And for those living in KL it is a great hike (those I saw hiking seemed like locals to me).
Yes it has great food, which thankfully there is a a great deal of in many place. What makes Tribal Stove someplace not to miss is it is the rare combination of great and generally inaccessible food.
I often find great restaurants in tourist destinations. And sometimes it is even local in a sense – but nearly always (not all, but almost) I can get very similar good dishes in any large city across the globe.
Tribal Stove had truly distinctive dishes that were also great. They have quite a few dishes, some of my favorite are wild jungle salad and tapioca leaves. The restaurant serves cuisine from Kelabit Highlands in Sarawak.
Maybe my all time favorite meal. The 3 sample items were great.
The set menu (photo above) of tea, a meat dish with 2 vegetable sides, soup and rice that was US$5 (15 MYR). It was amazing. It would be great at $20. I happened to be lucky enough to get my favorite vegetable there with my first order.
The meet dish in the triple was very good, the rice I didn’t care for. But the two vegetable dishes were amazing – truly great. One the right is Lamud Busaq Keluduh (Bario Wild Flower Salad) – wild ginger flower, petai and wild chives flavored with Bario Higland salt. I believe the dish on the left was Udung Ubih (Wild Tapioca Leaf) – cassava or tapioca leaf pounded and shredded and cooked to perfection over a slow heat. The middle dish was, I believe, beef with crisp vegetables.
I have been trying other dishes which are also great but those 2 are not to be missed (you can get “small” dishes of those for $3, see photo below – two pretty easily make a meal in my opinion). If the prices triple this place is still not to be missed.
There is no restaurant I recommend to travels more strongly than I recommend Tribal Stove. If I could have one restaurant transplanted to my location so I could eat their in my home town it would be Tribal Stove. There is nothing remotely close.
The 11th Annual JB Arts Festival is presented by The Johor Society For The Performing Arts. Once again a wide variety of artists will perform, providing many opportunities for fans to enjoy new artists and past favorites.
There are also new additions this year including the white box (The Art Gallery will not only features framed art and installations but will also feature artists at work) and black box presentation spaces at Danga City Mall. These spaces include many workshops for attendees.
See the full schedule of schedule of events. The embedded webcasts in this post showcase some of the performers scheduled for the month long festival.
Bako National Park offers a network of trails through jungles, scrub environments and to beautiful beaches. The post includes spur trails which I took as part of a loop off the Lintang Trail. I slept in Kuching, hiked during the day in Bako National Park and returned to my hotel at night.
On the Pandan Kencil Path
Great views from a plateau. And the plateau also had large numbers of pitcher plants.
Then there is a short spur off the Pandan Kencil path to this wonderful beach overlook (Besar):
Hemmant Trail is a short (1 km) trail located inside Fraser’s Hill (just a short walk from the clock tower, the trail is next to the golf course).
The entry to the trail is difficult to see if you come from the north, though it doesn’t look like it would be from the photo. If you walk to the start from the clock tower it is much easier to see the trailhead which is will be on your right before your reach the Mosque.
The trail is quite nice and fairly easy.
Batu caves is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the focal point of Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia. To reach the caves you must climb 272 concrete steps up the limestone formation that make up this site.
The stairway to Batu Caves.
The caves are in Kuala Lumpor (technically a bit north of the city) but reachable by commuter train, Komuter train Batu Caves-Port Klang Route. The cost is 2 MYR (less than $UD 1).
Inside Batu Caves. The cave is partially covered with several large opening on top.
The video shows a view of the caves. The water is from water seeping down from the ceiling (it hadn’t rained that day). There are also several large openings letting in light from above. The main area with the temples has very high ceilings.
Sun arts and culture carnival is taking place at Bukit Layang-Layang, Pasir Gudang, Johor from the 11th to 12th May 2013 from 10am to 7pm. This free admission event, Karnival Seni Kreatif Kita, is organised by My Performing Arts Agency in collaboration with the National Department for Culture and Arts.
As their webcast says it is suitable for ages 1-109 with 300 artists giving 30 performances.
Performers include: Najwa Latif
Azmyl Yunor and The Siggarettes