AST: Sabah

'The Secret Spots of Sandakan' - could only be about food!

2011-11-03T02:13:00.000-07:00

I have been to Sandakan quite a few times and, as everyone says, the food there is delicious. But you know what it's like - as a visitor, you feel that you're not really getting to the places that locals think are the BEST places to eat. And 'best' here can mean taste, freshness, quality, value for money - not usually anything to do with the decor, the service, the desirability of the location.

From KK to Sepilok

2011-11-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

Recently I drove from KK to Sepilok with some friends who were in Sabah on holiday. They only had a few days, so we went straight from the airport to Kundasang. And Mt Kinabalu offered some beautiful views, both in the evening and the next morning! On the way to the east coast, we went on a rafflesia hunt and were lucky enough to be able to see one. Although I have seen quite a few now, it

Chinese New Year - not smoke and mirrors

2011-03-04T18:33:00.000-08:00

Gong Xi Fat Cai - Selamat Tahun Baru Cina - Happy Chinese New Year! No matter how you say it, it still means colour, noise and food!In February of this year, we were really lucky to be able to see lion dances with lots of lions. There is a kind of magic to it. The young men who become lions These young men practise long and hard to improve and extend their routines and

Opposites: Oman and Sabah - not so opposite!

2011-02-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

This is the second blog about our trip out of Sabah last year to other countries and other climes! At the end of our holiday we visited friends in Oman, many of whom have already come to stay with us here in Sabah. Although we are familiar with the scenery in Oman, our friends there made sure that we went to places we hadn't been before and this meant spending a night in the desert. The

Linangkit Cultural Village - by Cherry and Mac

2011-02-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

One of the highlights of our visit to Sabah was the afternoon we spent at Linangkit Cultural Village. This collection of traditional buildings has been set up by a small group of individuals keen to preserve their cultural heritage in a rapidly modernising society. The visit starts with the removal of shoes and ceremonial washing of feet before entering the small museum by our guide and

The rest of the world - in October

2011-01-18T02:09:00.000-08:00

During the 6 weeks spanning the end of September to the end of the first week of November, I was out of Sabah and into a whole lot of different worlds. It was amazing being in autumn - and it was a particularly colourful season this year in the UK, apparently. Oh, I just love the colours and seeing a glowing red tree or a sparkling yellow tree just appear among all the green. What a wonderful

Sandakan in July: Part 2 - Kylie Crawley

2011-01-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

Continues Kylie's story, adapting her travelogue: On our third day in Sandakan, we got up at 7:30am, had breakfast and were collected at 9am for our 9:30am boat ride to Turtle Island, Selingan. The ride out was pretty rough indeed but thankfully we didn't need any sea sickness bags. Upon arrival we had a bit of a rest and then went for the buffet lunch. Turtle laying eggs In the

Sandakan in July: Part 1 - Kylie Crawley

2011-01-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

The following is adapted from Kylie's travelogue: Sandakan War Memorial The flight to Sandakan from KL was about three hours in length. We were quickly able to meet Jude Day who was to be our guide for the next three days on our brief tour of Sabah. Following a beer in the lobby bar of the Sabah Hotel, she drove us to Sandakan Memorial Park. The reason for this stop over was to visit the

Hoya - ole!

2010-03-08T19:04:00.000-08:00

Hoya - an odd name, isn't it? But for some reason I find it a particularly attractive name for a species of flower. And at the Sabah Agriculture Park in Tenom there is a hoya garden which generally has a few varieties of hoya in flower. If you look carefully, you'll find them in the native orchid garden as well.Imagine my delight, then, to actually see the flowers! They are simply wonderful. Tiny

Chinese New Year Lion Dances in KK

2010-02-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year in Kota Kinabalu! It seemed to be even noisier this year - wonderful fireworks and lots of trucks driving around town full of lion and dragon troupes.Before the start of New Year itself - which is a two week event! - there is a Lion, Unicorn and Dragon festival in KK. It's a wonderful opportunity to see the skill of these young men as they prance and jump and rear up and seem to

KK - coming of age

2010-01-22T18:15:00.000-08:00

Kota Kinabalu is a great place to live. There is a lot going on here, a lot of new developments, a lot of different events happening all the time. The trick is to be able to find out about them! So you have to get onto people's mailing lists or sms lists - or join societies - or talk to people a lot about what you are interested in so that they remember to tell you when something is coming up!And

New Year's Day 2010

2010-01-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

What better way to start a New Year than going out into the countryside with good friends, a delicious picnic and cameras to the ready!Four of us set out in the morning – three of us with cameras set to go! We drove through a beautiful part of Sabah and were delighted when we came upon a spot where we could look down into a valley of

Kota Belud's Annual Market - the Tamu Besar

2009-10-26T01:32:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, a group of us went to the annual Big Market (Tamu Besar) in Kota Belud, a small town about 45 minutes' drive north of Kota Kinabalu. It's great going to the weekly Sunday market at any time - but this Big Market has an even livelier atmosphere and provides the background to the inevitable speeches, cultural performances and the selection of the young woman who represents the spirit

Malacca - design, colour, history, food

2009-06-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

Griffin and I have just made a short trip to Malacca (Melaka), in West Malaysia. It is a place with a long, interesting history that includes Malays, Chinese, Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and, inevitably (somehow) British influences. Perhaps it is the intermixing of all these cultures that has lead to such interesting decorative elements in Melaka - starting with the handmade beaded slippers that

Trying to be selective!

2009-06-04T01:23:00.000-07:00

The Pesta Ka'amatan is now at an end - we'll have to wait another year for the next Harvest Festival. It's a wonderful month of celebration - and a real problem as far as photos go! I took a lot and just can't decide which ones to show you. So have a look at these pictures that were all taken at the Heritage Village which is part of the Sabah Museum. During the first week of May, in particular,

May - Harvest Festival Month in Sabah!

2009-05-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

Pest Ka'amatan is the Harvest Festival Month of May which stems from a tradition centred around rice and thanking the gods for a good harvest. This year the celebrations started in Papar, a small town about 40 minutes south of Kota Kinabalu.The main ethnic group in Papar are the Kadazan. They were dressed in their finery for this day, looking wonderful from top to toe! Both men and women wear

The Murut Festival in Tenom - April 09

2009-04-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

Plan your holiday in Sabah to include the Pesta Kalimaran of the Murut people - the third largest indigenous group here! It is held in Tenom every year in April. This year it was over the weekend of April 3-5. What an event! It was visually stunning - a kaleidoscope of colour. People were having a good time and there was a strong sense of vitality. Going to a festival like this reminds me why I

Brenda's overnight trip to Tenom

2009-03-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

I recently spent two wonderful weeks in Sabah. During the first week, I took the Food Tour offered by Adventure Study Tours and in the second week, I did several of their day trips. These included an overnight trip to Tenom, a two and a half hour drive south-east of Kota Kinabalu. This was an opportunity to see a different part of Sabah. To get to Tenom, we needed to cross the Crocker Range, the

Going to a Lotud Wedding - by Brenda Morgan

2009-03-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

How fortunate I was to be here in Sabah for a real Lotud wedding! The nephew of the Manager of the Linangkit Cultural Centre (see the blog below Preserving traditions - a family venture) was getting married and I was invited through my connection with Ron and Jude. I had chosen to do the Food Tour with Adventure Study Tours and was lucky enough to be included in the wedding as well.When we

Photo opportunities at a water village

2009-02-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

Sabah is an incredible place for photo opportunities and last year I visited a 'kampung air' (pronounced come-pong eye-yah) or water village near Kota Kinabalu that had plenty of superb photo ops. A 'kampung air' is where the houses are built on stilts over the water. Some of these villages are found along the coast, but the one we visited was up a river. A small group of us went and Pam Sidhu (

The Annual Big Market in Kota Belud

2009-02-04T17:35:00.000-08:00

In October there is a 'Tamu Besar' or big market in Kota Belud, just a 40-minute drive north of Kota Kinabalu. It runs over two days, instead of the regular half-day Sunday market, and provides a real spectacle, especially on the second day.Of course, you can't settle down to anything before you've had a drink and a snack and everywhere you go in Sabah, you can find fried bananas and local cakes

Preserving traditions - a family venture

2008-11-22T17:21:00.001-08:00

AST: Sabah is about to launch two more tours: the Peoples of Sabah and the Arts & Crafts Tour. It's always a lot of fun researching these, partly because of the wonderful people you meet and partly because of what you learn - and there is so much to learn here in Sabah!I had been talking to someone about the possibility of having a mock traditional wedding as part of the Peoples Tour and she rang

Truly weird and wonderful!

2008-10-09T17:37:00.001-07:00

September was a fantastic month for me as I accompanied two photographers around Sabah. It gave me the chance to go back to so many of the places I really love - Sabah Agriculture Park in Tenom and Mt Kinabalu National Park, for example - as well as go to new places that are also really wonderful. These were mainly on the east coast of Sabah in Sandakan, on the Kinabatangan River and in Danum

Oaths, stones and black cockerels

2008-10-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

In August, we were invited to a celebration to end a seminar about the rights of indigenous people. There is great concern about this in Sabah, as elsewhere in the world, and the hope that improvements will be made at the government level since the UN has provided a baseline with its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted in September, 2007.And what a sight the ceremony was that

Mt Kinabalu

2008-06-12T02:20:00.000-07:00

On a Special Day, you can see Mt Kinabalu from all sorts of points around KK, even though it's a two-hour drive away. But that's why this is called 'Kota Kinabalu', City of Kinabalu. The stately mountain is there all the time, at the edge of our vision, deep in our hearts, occasionally revealing itself, only to be swiftly enveloped in clouds again. It really is wonderful to see it rising up in

Harvest Festival Month in Sabah!

2008-05-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

May is when the whole of Sabah celebrates the Harvest Festival - the Tadau Kaamatan! There are celebrations involving dancing, singing and traditional games - as well as drinking rice wine (lihing). The month kicks off with the Sabah Fest which has the theme of 'Harmony in Diversity' this year. And the grand concert which I attended at the beginning of the month really showed this. What a

After launching the website!

2008-04-30T01:21:00.000-07:00

Last week was certainly an interesting one as we launched the AST: Sabah website. Thanks to many of you for sending in such positive comments and helpful suggestions. Someone said that they had found a missing fullstop and capital letter but we probably weren't interested in things like that. Not at all! I'm still trying to find them. If you know where they are, please let me know at: jude@

Welcome to the AST Community Blog!

2008-04-21T02:02:00.000-07:00

Helen (on the left), Ron (or Griffin, as I call him) and I are delighted to be able to design tours for people like you. I'm Jude. You can find out a bit more about us on our website - http://www.astsabah.com/.We all love Sabah and are committed to living here and sharing some of our wonderful experiences with you.There is so much great stuff here. The day this photo of us was taken, for example