Theme Week Vietnam

23 March 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  14 minutes

Nha Trang beach © ntt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Nha Trang beach © ntt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Southeast Asian Indochinese Peninsula. With an estimated 95.5 million inhabitants as of 2018, it is the 15th most populous country in the world. Vietnam shares its land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. It shares its maritime borders with Thailand through the Gulf of Thailand, and the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia through the South China Sea. Its capital city is Hanoi, while its most populous city is Ho Chi Minh City, also known by its former name of Saigon.   read more…

Theme Week Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur

30 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: 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: | Rubric: 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: | Rubric: 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: | Rubric: 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: | Rubric: 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: | Rubric: 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 China – Foshan

24 July 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Downtown of Guicheng © Lindley/cc-by-sa-3.0

Downtown of Guicheng © Lindley/cc-by-sa-3.0

Foshan, formerly romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers 3,848.49 km² (1,485.91 sq mi) and has an urban population around 7.1 million. It forms part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, which includes Guangzhou to the east and northeast and Zhongshan to the southeast. Foshan is regarded as the home of the Cantonese versions of Chinese opera, kung fu and lion dance. Foshan lies on the Fen River in the estuaries making up the west side of the Pearl River Delta. Guangzhou lies 25 kilometers (16 mi) to the northeast, Zhongshan to the southeast, Jiangmen to the south, Qingyuan to the west, and Zhaoqing to the west.   read more…

Da Nang in Vietnam

17 July 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

L'Indochine Da Nang Hotel © panoramio.com - 嶋耕作/cc-by-3.0

L’Indochine Da Nang Hotel © panoramio.com – 嶋耕作/cc-by-3.0

Da Nang is one of the five largest cities in Vietnam including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Haiphong, and Cần Thơ in terms of urbanization and economy. Located on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River, it is one of Vietnam’s most important port cities. As one of the country’s five direct-controlled municipalities, it is under the direct administration of the central government.   read more…

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