Dreamline Aviation

I wanted to share my Borneo/Singapore Adventure with you while it’s still fresh in my mind. This trip has been one of my most unusual and unforgettable experiences, and I sure hope I’m able to “capture the magic” in my descriptions!

My Aunt Denya turned 60 this year, as many of you know, and we decided to take a vacation together to celebrate. When I told people I was going to Borneo, I was often met with a strange glance, or a “…Where’s Borneo?”

Until this year, I didn’t really know myself, so let me share with those of you who don’t know! Borneo is the third largest island in the world, and is part of Southeast Asia, just east of the country of Malaysia. The island of Borneo is occupied by two countries, Indonesia and Malaysia. We visited the Malaysian side only on our journey.

Our trip was divided in three parts: Singapore, Borneo “Lite,”and “Deep” Borneo. I’m glad the trip divided the way it did, because it helped us get acclimated little by little.

Our Asian adventure started with a looooong flight (20 hours plus of travel time) to Singapore. My dear friend Erika lives there with her hubby and two young boys, and it was great to see them all. The weather was warm and humid in the city, but not nearly as steamy as my visit to Thailand/Cambodia last year!

I had two favorite experiences of Singapore. My first highlight was using the VERY EFFICIENT mass transit system. We mastered it within our first day. It provided some of the most interesting people-watching I've ever witnessed. There is a strange mix of Malays, Chinese, Indians and Indonesians in the city. On any one subway ride, you would see Indonesians in these amazing brightly colored costumes, complete with head scarves and little jaunty hats for the men, as well as Indian women with a full rainbow of saris. All nationalities of people had their own certain odor, the smell of their respective nationalities' cooking spices.

There were two holidays taking place while we were there. It was Malaysian New Year, so there were beautifully costumed Malaysians everywhere, out celebrating. We visited Little India, where another festival was taking place, the Deepavali Festival. I had a rocking massage in Chinatown by a lady who walked on me.

We visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens, and the adjoining Orchid Gardens. They were both magnificent. I'd never seen so many colors, types and different scents of orchids in my life!

We also had a few dining feasts, at Maxwell's Hawker Stall and Takashimaya Basement.  Hawker stall/food center dining is a trip! You walk through long rows of food stalls, and point to what you want. Because of the culture mix, you could have Indian curry, Malay noodles, and the freshest fruit ever, all at one sitting.

After tasting the food here, I thought I’d died and gone to food heaven! The food on this trip was THE BEST EVER, and I ate way too much every day!

We then flew out to Kota Kinabalu, in Sabah, Borneo, to begin our Borneo “Lite” adventure. We stayed at the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort, and it was, hands down, the nicest place I’ve ever stayed. Gorgeous views of the South China Sea from our room, warm, flower- fragranced breezes, amazing restaurants, etc. I was in heaven! We snorkeled in Palau Manukan, a 20 minute speedboat ride from town center. The water was warm and clear. I'd never seen so many amazing coral reefs and such a wide array of fish in my life. Some of them looked like they were electric, their colors were so vivid. I even saw a "Nemo" fish! Denya said it best: "It's like swimming in a gigantic fantasy aquarium!"

A hot-bodied Malaysian lifeguard came out in the water with us and gave an impromptu tour, to the deeper coral reefs, and handed me a red starfish and a gigantic sand dollar to play with while we kicked along. Too fun.

Many Malaysians we talked with asked where we were from, and not one of them guessed that we were Americans. They all thought we were Australian or English, and we finally figured out that this was because we were basically the only Americans there! Interesting…..

Denya talked me into going to a Malay buffet/dance performance at the Shangri-La, and I was truly surprised by how impressive the performers were. It was very educational, with an MC explaining the significance of the dances and songs. The education came in handy once we began our “Deep Borneo” experience, that’s for sure!! More on that later.

We had a wonderful day touring Mt. Kinabalu Park, which is about halfway up Mt. Kinabalu’s 13,000 foot peak (the highest peak in Malaysia). We drove the scenic route, stopping at a small town called Kundusang for a tropical fruit fix: jackfruit, dragon fruit, mangosteen and rambutan. Delish! In Poring Hot Springs, where the smell of sulfur overpowered our noses, we did a very humid, sweaty hike in a rainforest up to a canopy walkway (tiny suspension bridges with a narrow walkway, suspended 41 meters above the rainforest). It was terrifying, but ultimately empowering to keep walking across, even as I looked wayyyy down. NOTE: For those of you who don’t know, I am afraid of heights!

We then flew to Mulu to begin our “Deep” Borneo experience.  I say “Deep,” because from the moment we touched down in Mulu, our deluxe accommodations and easy hikes were pretty much a thing of the past. From this point forward, we were immersed in the wild, wet, humid, abounding animal images of Borneo that I’d imagined!

While in Mulu (part of Sarawak, Borneo), we had a wonderful tour guide, Marshor. He took us deep into the rainforest via longboat on the Melinau River. We buzzed along limestone walls, and watched villagers as they washed their clothes, waving at us from riverbanks. We toured four caves, the most impressive one being the Deer Cave. As you walk through its passage (the widest cave passage IN THE WORLD), the smell of ammonia permeated our nostrils beyond belief. This was because there are 3-4 million bats living on the ceiling of this cave, and their bat droppings (“guano”) create the bleachy smell. It was like walking into a horror movie, with bats screeching, pitch blackness, and gushy footsteps. At about 5pm, we sat in a clearing, staring up at the northern part of the caves, where thousands of bats flew out of the caves simultaneously, in a strange, snakelike formation. This went on for literally half an hour, there were so many of them.

Afterward, we walked several miles through the rainforest in total darkness. Fireflies lit up in the trees, and the fragrant, fecund, earthy smells surrounding us were amazing. We both wished we’d brought a tape recorder to capture all the nighttime animal noises: cicadas, frogs, crickets, and other unidentifiable creatures created a deafening roar that was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Our time in Mulu had ended, and it was now time to fly into Kuching, also a part of Sarawak, Borneo. Our Fokker 50 prop plane had exactly two passengers onboard, Denya and I! That was a first!

The town of Kuching (which means ”cat”) was modern and beautiful. Our guide for this segment was Valentine, a member of Borneo’s Bidayuh tribe. He was amazingly knowledgeable and eager to show us tribal life.

Our day started with a visit to a nature preserve, where we glimpsed orangutans in the wild for the first time! It was surreal to see them playing around with no cages separating us, and there were a few baby orangutans frolicking in the trees as well. At one point, I was about 12 feet from a giant mama orangutan, and got some great photos of her “monkeying around” for the camera!

He then took us on a very scenic, lush, jungly 4 hour drive through Kuching, to depart on another longboat to spend time at an Iban tribe longhouse.

Talk about Deep Borneo! The minute we stepped onto the longhouse grounds, I felt like I was in a village literally suspended in time. The Iban longhouse is a very long structure on stilts, and the Iban tribemembers live communally. They share farming, cooking, and cleaning, among other responsibilities. The conditions were minimal, to say the least, and the Westerner in me had to “throttle back” as we viewed our sleeping quarters. This was no Shangri-La! This was a tiny hard mattress on a dusty, hard board, with ants and other bugs crawling around. With no air conditioning and oppressive humidity, it was literally 100 degrees in our sleeping quarters.

However, as Valetine introduced us to the tribemembers, including the Tribal Chief, who couldn’t have been more smiling and gracious, I began to rise above my initial reaction and instead focus on the beauty in the Iban’s simplicity and oneness with nature. These are a proud and strong people who are focused on perpetuating their culture and lifestyle. They utilize plants and flowers on their longhouse grounds both medicinally and as food.

Speaking of which, Valentine cooked all our food from scratch, using fruits, veggies and fish he picked up from an outdoor food market we stopped at on the way to the longhouse. He made a whole tilapia, head and all, covered with fresh bamboo shoots for dinner. Amazing!

Our evening as longhouse guests was filled with Iban members inviting us for tribal music and dancing, as well as for a few glasses of rice tuak, a sweet wine that tasted like a fruity champagne. They do a version of Chinese jump rope, but with bamboo sticks that they smash together. I became pretty proficient at it, as the tempo increased, until I took a wrong step and one of the bamboo sticks smashed into my toe. I had a very black and blue toe for the remainder of the trip, but it was worth it!

Our adventure in Borneo ended with a flight back to Singapore, one more quick visit with Erika, and a long flight home. I’ve had wicked jet lag in the days since I’ve returned home, but late at night, with my mind restless and still processing the whole experience, I have two observances that repeatedly run through my thoughts: 1) I would definitely recommend Borneo…. for its wonderful, friendly people and staggeringly beautiful nature, and 2) in Borneo, I did something almost every day that pushed me out of my comfort zone. What else is there in life but to challenge yourself and your limits?

For both of these reasons, I loved Malaysia.