Sarawak

Sarawak is one of the two Malaysian states located on the island of Borneo. Sarawak is quite different from Peninsular Malaysia. The ethnic and religious make up in Sarawak is much different from that found on the peninsula. Over 40 different ethnic groups, each with their own language or dialects, are found there. There are many indigenous tribes that make up a sizeable portion of the population (unlike the Orang Asli who make up only a very small portion of the population in penisular Malaysia). Sarawak has the highest proportion of Christians found in Malaysia.

Sarawak has a fascinating history. An Englishman, James Brookes, was appointed as Raja by the Sultan of Brunei in 1842. The Brookes family, including the "White Raja" Charles Brookes, ruled over Sarawak for almost 100 years until the Japanese occupation in WW2. Following the war the Brookes family ceeded Sarawak to the British government and Sarawak became part of Malaysia in 1963.

To learn more about the people, culture, history, and environment of Sarawak check out-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarawak

Kuching

A one hour and forty five minute flight took me from KL to Kuching, the largest city in Sarawak. I spent most of my time in Kuching eating, shopping for handicrafts, and walking along the waterfront.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuching

Along the waterfront.






There were lots of women on the street selling these colorful and tasty cakes.


Tune Hotel

If you are planning to travel in South East Asia then you might want to look into staying in a Tune Hotel. Tune Hotels are owned by Air Asia, Malaysia's low cost airline (like Malaysia's Southwest Airlines). Tune Hotel is the first attempt to develop a low cost, basic hotel chain in the region. They claim to provide a 5 star bed for a 1 star price and I thought that the room provided a good night's sleep for a good value.



http://www.tunehotels.com/

Don't worry that Tune doesn't seem very good at directions.

Back to Borneo

I am headed to the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. A few days touring the rainforest and visiting Iban (inigenous tribe) longhouses and a couple of days in Kuching. A full report when I return.

Corny Bean Desert!?!

Although I have enjoyed eating Malaysian food, there are times when I miss familiar foods from home. Living in Texas I eat a lot of Tex-Mex and barbeque, so I eat a lot of beans. I am also not a big fan of green vegetables, so I eat a lot of corn (corn of course, is "the edible vegetable". Beans and corn are not a major part of the Malaysian diet. It is possible to buy little cups of corn at roadside stalls, but neither corn nor beans are ever served as part of a main Malaysian meal.

Instead, beans and corn are found in a popular Malaysian desert!?!

Ice Kachung

Ice kachung (also known as ABC) is a dessert made out of shaved ice. It is sort of like a snow cone. In addition to several types of very sweet syrup, ice kachung contains beans, corn, and some wierd jelly-like gummy worms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ais_kacang

This is not a good example of a normal ice kachung because it has more liquid than normal. The beans and the corn are hidden beneath all of that inpenetrable liquid.


I don't think that red beans or corn should ever be anywhere near to a desert so ice kachungs are not my favorite, but clearly people here love them. Even KFC has gotten on the bandwagon. Are they serving this dessert in Lubbbock yet?

Putrajaya

Putrajaya, created to serve as the Federal Capital during the 1990s, is located in the suburbs abouot 25 km from KL, Putrajaya is a planned city that contains a large central lake and lots of gardens. To learn more check out these websites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putrajaya

http://www.kuala-lumpur.ws/attractions/putrajaya.htm

Tne Prime Minister's Office.


I think that this building is also part of the Prime Minister's Department ...


and it's great to see that they are using the most modern of communication technologies.


Looking out over the lake.




Putra Mosque




I don't think that there is any truth to the rumor that this is where the members of the government do their best work.


All of the buildings housing the different government Ministries are lined up along this street.


Malahysians love to ride their scooters, but I don't see to many people riding bikes. Thus, I was surprised to see so many bike racks lined up around the main park at Putrajaya. Maybe all of the government workers ride bikes.


No, they weren't bike racks, just really uncomfortable benches.

What The Heck!!!

Tonight, about 6:30 PM, I was eating dinner on the sidewalk in front of a local cafe. I heard a sound behind me and turned to see that they were fogging for insects around a tall office building. This building sits in the center of a courtyard surrounded on all four sides by outdoor eating places. What the heck!! I don't think that this would pass muster with OSHA.

Luckily, the wind blew most of it past me and I was able to finish most of my food before getting smoked out. I imagine that tonight there is a huge exodus of rats and roaches from the office building into the surrounding buildings. Maybe I won't eat over that way again for a while.

Mamak Stalls

Mamak stalls are popular eating places in Malaysia. Mamak stalls are usually run by Muslims from India. In many ways mamak stalls serve the same function as the corner pub because they are a gathering place for people to eat, drink (not beer), bs, and watch TV. Many mammak stalls are opened 24 hours! You can learn a lot more about mamak stalls by checking out the Wikipedia article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamak_stall

Many mamak stalls are small mom and pop affairs, but I visited a large mamak place deep in the burbs of PJ.


Roti Canai
Roti canai (pronounded "chenai") are a mainstay mamak food. Roti canai is a type of flat bread that you eat dip into an Indian-type sauce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_canai

Spreading the dough on the counter.


Stick them on the griddle and let them bubble.


Fold the dough up in the correct shape.


After a bit more cooking you have yummy goodness!


Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori chicken is another popular dish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandoori_chicken



They stick the chicken on long metal skewers and then cook it in these big clay pots.




Finger lickin' good.


Roti Tissue

If you still have room for desert then you can try roti tissue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_tissue

Making roti tissue requires a skilled roti artist. Start by spreading out a very thin layer of dough.


Next coat the dough with a handful of butter.


When it is cooked just right you roll it up into the shape of cone. Cover with condensed milk and syrup.


After they bring this over 1 meter long masterpiece to your table you can start getting a months worth of calories! Maybe we need McRotis.

Do I Need To Use This?

Here is a photo from Thailand that I forgot to post.

I think I took this in the public restroom at the Bangkok Airport. Do you think that I should be using this stall ?

Mabul Scuba

As beautiful as Mabul is above water, it is the goodies underwater that I came to see. Mabul is located about a 30 minute boat ride from Semporna and a 30 minute boat ride from Sipadan Island. Now that they have removed all of the resorts from Sipadan, Mabul is of the nearest places to Sipadan where people can stay. Most people come to Mabul for a mixture of diving at Sipadan and around Mabul. The diving in Sipadan is famous for its steep walls and large critters (e.g., sharks, baracudas, and sea turtles). Mabul is famous for muck diving, which is searching in rubble for small and interesting creatures.

Because I dove at Sipadan for several days in December and I felt like I had experienced a "perfect" Sipadan dive, I decided to do all of my diving this trip at at Mabul and other nearby islands. So what did I see? Remember I don't take photos underwater, so here are some shots of Mabul critters taken from the internet.


Leaf Scorpionfish

photo by Scubster. http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1440175406821468415

Ornate Ghost Pipefish. Usually these are a beautiful red color. I saw two while diving at Kapalai and both of them were black and were living near black crinoids. One of them was a pregnant female and it was easy to see her big belly.

Photo by optix the gaul. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30173633@N
05/5433859336/

There was a large grouper (about 4 feet long) swimming around the artificial reef at Kapalai. This was the second largest grouper I have ever seen. Lucky alums of Odyssey Expedition's BVI voyage may have been able to see the 600 pound monster living in the Chikuzen wreck.

photo by imagine.asia. http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6609184

I saw several very large moral eels. I saw a couple of unusual eel behaviors on this trip. Once I saw two small eels sharing the same hole which I had never seen before. I also saw an example of cooperative hunting between an eel and some sort of a sea bass. The eel swims in the holes in the reef while the other fish cuts off the poor potential prey's opportunity to escape. It hardly seems fair!

photo from http://www.dive-the-world.com/diving-sites-malaysia-mabul-island-seaventure-platform.php

There were lots of cool nudibranchs. This is the most interesting, and beautiful, nudi that I have ever seen. (I can't download this photo, so you have to click on the link if you want to see it).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/symbion/2954567903/

Crocodile Fish. These guys are about a foot and a half to two feet long. You can find them chilling on the bottom. I really like the way that they have tried to hide their eyes. They are ambush feeders that wait until an unsuspecting fish gets too close before they strick.
http://www.superstock.co.uk/stock-photos-images/1566-352137

photo from http://www.scubadiving-malaysia.com/mabul.htm

Overall Review of Sipadan and Mabul Diving

Overall I think that the combination of the "big critter" diving at Sipadan and the muck diving at Mabul makes for a very interesting combination. Alone the muck diving at Mabul did not seem to be as good as at Lembeh Straits in Sulawesi, Indonesia and the big animal action was not as exciting as Palau in Micronesia. Together they make a worthwhile trip. If you add on a few days viewing wildife in the rainforest then I think that a trip to Borneo should be on every divers schedule.

Mabul Sea Gypsys

If you have been following along on this blog then you probably realize that one of the most intersting things that I have seen while I have been in Malaysia are the Sea Gypsys (Bajau Laut). Maybe I should go back to school and get another Ph.D. in Sea Gypsy anthropology. If the Peace Corps is looking for someone to stay on Mabul Island to work with the Sea Gypsys they should give me a call.

A group of about a dozen boats was achored off the shore of our resort for the entire time that we were there. People are living on these boats. At least they have a great view of the sunset.


It seems that each of these boats is home to one family. I was able to count two parents and six kids living on one boat.


With so little privacy, I am not sure how the parents have time to make more kids!


When I saw the Sea Gypsys at Sibuan Island during my last visit to Sabah I noticed that many of the women had green stuff on their faces (you can see it on the woman wearing black). At first I wandered if it was some sort of religious ritual, but someone told me that that was some sort of beauty treatment. It apparently works because some of the young women were strikingly attractive. Of course it is possible that some of the "old ladies" are really 20 years younger than I am.


Kayaking.


During low tide, they foraged on the reef. I am not sure exactly what they were collecting. These guys poled (like a gondola) their canoe in search of goodies.


Some of the women collected along the shore. It appears that the "Donald Duck" look is popular with some of the kids.


Many of the women and children waded through the water. There were signs along the beach saying that guests should be careful because the sandy area near the shore were full of stingrays and poisonous scorpionfish. I wonder how often they get stung?




At least they had a short communte from home.


I wish that this picture had turned out better. I was trying to get the Sea Gypsies collecting from the sea in the same photo as the Malaysian flag. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib frequently states that "Malaysia will be a high income nation by 2020". It looks to me like they still have a long way to go. Of course, it is possible that these Sea Gypsys are people without a country who are not actually citizens anywhere. It is not surprising that they are often ignored.




There do not appear to be any child labor laws.




You can see the flames from the fire that is cooking up today's dinner.