Take The Path Less Ordinary

“Stink like hell, but tastes like heaven”. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Botany certainly didn’t mince words when it comes to describing Bombacaceae durio zibethinus.
The Malaysian Agriculture Department is perhaps more specific. In their list, codes like D2, D24, D99 and D158 depict each sub-species and a hefty 190 clones have been recorded since [...]

Penang is listed in Patricia Schultz’s “1,000 Places To See Before You Die”, a New York Times bestseller. It’s easy to grasp why. With its melange of ethnicity, multiculturism and fabulous spread of food, this island city is a striking example of Malaysia’s unusual social fabric.
How the myriad of races identify themselves
As early as 500 [...]

No one tests the depth of a river with both feet. Don’t dive in as soon as you spot the cheapest deal. One must first and foremost decide whether the price is boon or bait.
More often than not, one can expect quality and comfort to go downhill in cheap stays or tours. Hence, understanding the [...]

LAST UPDATED / EDITED – 30th Oct 2009
The Malaysian currency encapsulates the sediments of bygone era.
The Spanish dollar was historically used widely in the East Indies, which covers Indonesian spice islands and the Malay archipelago. As soon as the English established the Straits Settlement in Penang, colonial government half heartedly introduced the Indian rupee in [...]

Don’t ask what this country can do for you - ask what’s for dinner.
Eating your way around Malaysia can be much of an adventure itself. There are meals that feed your soul, and not just your taste buds. You never go hungry in Malaysia.
“Don’t eat street food” - there’s no greater myth in travel lore. [...]

In history, there are always two sides, maybe more, of the story. Everyone knows history written earlier is often bias, half guesswork and peppered with inconsistencies, like spelling mistakes in a document few zillion letters long. Corrections are inevitable. History taught in school nowadays is rather watered down and outdated. At the dawn of 21st [...]

“Yet another continent of life remains to be discovered, not upon the earth, but one or two hundred feet above it, extending over thousands of square miles … There awaits a rich harvest for the naturalist who overcomes the obstacles — gravitation, ants, thorns, rotten trunks — and mounts to the summits of the … [...]

Every jungle has its hobbits. If you dipped in the rainforest long enough, you’re bound to bump into an Orang Asli or two who are as warm as the year-round sunshine.
When prehistoric man first left Africa, he came to Malaysia.
In 2005 May, Glasgow and Leeds University’s researchers found that the Orang Asli has mitocondria DNA [...]

We don’t think people should visit the rainforest just because everyone is doing it. The place deserve more respect, and finding a good local guide to make the experience educational and worthwhile is a prerequisite - not to mention safety.
Money, or lack of it, is an important part of vacation planning. Yes, without doubt, cheap [...]

A mix bag of websites to help you take a stab at planning your own holiday in Malaysia.