Spring roll

1 December 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  15 minutes

Chicken and shrimp spring rolls © flickr.com - jeffreyw/cc-by-2.0

Chicken and shrimp spring rolls © flickr.com – jeffreyw/cc-by-2.0

Spring rolls are rolled appetizers or dim sum commonly found in Chinese, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian cuisines. The kind of wrapper, fillings, and cooking technique used, as well as the name, vary considerably depending on the region’s culture, though they are generally filled with vegetables.   read more…

Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur

1 July 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, House of the Month, Museums, Exhibitions, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries, Shopping Reading Time:  7 minutes

© flickr.com - James Kerwin/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – James Kerwin/cc-by-2.0

The Petronas Towers (Malay: Menara Berkembar Petronas), also known as the Petronas Twin Towers and colloquially the KLCC Twin Towers, are an interlinked pair of 88-story supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing 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. The Petronas Towers are the world’s tallest twin skyscrapers and remained the tallest buildings in Malaysia until 2019, when they were surpassed by The Exchange 106. The Petronas Towers are a major landmark of Kuala Lumpur, along with the nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower and Merdeka 118, and are visible in many places across the city.   read more…

Theme Week Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur

30 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  11 minutes

© flickr.com - naim fadil/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – naim fadil/cc-by-sa-2.0

Kuala Lumpur, officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and commonly known as KL, is the national capital and largest city in Malaysia. As the global city of Malaysia, it covers an area of 243 km² (94 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 1.73 million as of 2016. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.25 million people as of 2017. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, in both population and economic development.   read more…

Theme Week Malaysia – Malacca City

29 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Malacca River flowing through Bandar Hilir © panoramio.com - jetsun/cc-by-sa-3.0

Malacca River flowing through Bandar Hilir © panoramio.com – jetsun/cc-by-sa-3.0

Malacca City is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Malacca. As of 2010 it has a population of 485,000. It is the oldest Malaysian city on the Straits of Malacca, having become a successful entrepôt in the era of the Malacca Sultanate. The present-day city was founded by Parameswara, a Sumatran prince who escaped to the Malay Peninsula when Srivijaya fell to the Majapahit. Following the establishment of the Malacca Sultanate, the city drew the attention of traders from the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia, as well as the Portuguese, who intended to dominate the trade route in Asia. After Malacca was conquered by Portugal, the city became an area of conflict when the sultanates of Aceh and Johor attempted to take control from the Portuguese.   read more…

Theme Week Malaysia – Federal Territory of Labuan

28 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Kwang Fook Kong Temple © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kwang Fook Kong Temple © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Labuan, officially the Federal Territory of Labuan, is a federal territory of Malaysia. It is made up of the eponymous Labuan Island and six smaller islands, and is located off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan’s capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support hub for deepwater oil and gas activities in the region. It is also a tourist destination for people travelling through Sabah, nearby Bruneians and scuba divers. The name Labuan derives from the Malay word labuhan which means harbour. Labuan is often referred to as the pearl of Borneo.   read more…

Theme Week Malaysia – George Town on Penang Island

27 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Eastern & Oriental Hotel © Gryffindor/cc-by-2.5

Eastern & Oriental Hotel © Gryffindor/cc-by-2.5

George Town, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang, is located at the north-eastern tip of Penang Island. It is Malaysia’s second largest city, with 708,127 inhabitants as of 2010, while Greater Penang is the nation’s second biggest conurbation with a population of 2,412,616. The historical core of George Town has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.   read more…

Theme Week Malaysia – Kuching

26 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Damai Beach Resort north of Kuching © flickr.com - Bernard DUPONT/cc-by-sa-2.0

Damai Beach Resort north of Kuching © flickr.com – Bernard DUPONT/cc-by-sa-2.0

Kuching, officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is situated on the Sarawak River at the southwest tip of the state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo and covers an area of 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi) with a population about 165,642 in the Kuching North administrative region and 159,490 in the Kuching South administrative region – a total of 325,132 people.   read more…

Theme Week Malaysia

25 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  13 minutes

Fort Cornwallis in Penang, first British colony in what was to become Malaysia © Cmglee/cc-by-sa-3.0

Fort Cornwallis in Penang, first British colony in what was to become Malaysia © Cmglee/cc-by-sa-3.0

Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of 13 states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo). Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital and largest city while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government (List of cities and towns in Malaysia by population). With a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the world’s 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia. In the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries, home to large numbers of endemic species.   read more…

Theme Week Indonesia – Kalimantan on Borneo

22 May 2019 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  14 minutes

Banjarmasin Floating Market © Muhammad Haris/cc-by-sa-4.0

Banjarmasin Floating Market © Muhammad Haris/cc-by-sa-4.0

Borneo is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra. The island is politically divided among three countries: Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south. Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory (East, South, West, North and Central Kalimantan, Kalimantan). In the north, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak make up about 26% of the island. Additionally, the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan is situated on a small island just off the coast of Borneo. The sovereign state of Brunei, located on the north coast, comprises about 1% of Borneo’s land area. A little more than half of the island is in the Northern Hemisphere including Brunei and the Malaysian portion, while the Indonesian portion spans both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The largest Indonesian cities on Borneo are: Samarinda, Banjarmasin, Balikpapan, Pontianak, Palangka Raya, Banjarbaru, Tarakan, Singkawang, and Bontang. Borneo is home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world.   read more…

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