IT TAKES considerable time to get to Mount Kinabalu and Sipadan Island, two of Malaysia’s most famous landmarks outside Kuala Lumpur, but Sabah State’s capital, Kota Kinabalu (“KK”), is a great place to spend the day. It offers a rich cultural heritage, lush landscapes and the turquoise waters of the South China Sea.

Easily accessed by a 15-minute speedboat ride from downtown, Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park is home to Gaya Island, whose name means “big” in the Bajau dialect. Unfortunately it developed a crime problem many years ago and went on the no-go list for KK residents.

Tourists race along the Coral Flyer zip line in Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. 

In the 1970s, illegal Filipino immigrants established a stilt village at water’s edge and then more communities scattered all around the isle. The state government has since cleared them out and is promoting Gaya as a re-born attraction of white-sand beaches and interesting trekking trails.

Just a few kilometres from Gaya is Sapi Island, now developed as a fun water-sports hub with more sandy beaches. This is one of the area’s most popular spots for snorkelling, even though some of the coral’s been bleached out.

Borneo Reef World’s huge pontoon features tourists a breathtaking undersea walk.

Seasoned scuba divers head to the isles of Manukan, Pulau Mamutik and Pulau Sulug, where the coral reefs are dazzlingly colourful and teem with clownfish, trevally, jackfish, barracudas, marble rays, reef sharks, seahorses, sea turtles and frogfish.

Floating between Sapi and Gaya islands is “the world’s second-largest pontoon”, operated by Borneo Reef World. It’s ideal for people who don’t want to dive but who do want to see the marine life up close.

Everyone is fitted with a helmet that’s heavy enough to sink the body deep in the water. Oxygen is pumped in through an air compressor as you stroll along a lengthy underwater path admiring the sea creatures as they dart or swim lazily past.

Once-troubled Gaya Island has become a popular holiday destination again. 

A climb up Padang Point on Gaya Island takes you to a thrilling but entirely safe 250-metre-long zip line, the Coral Flyer. Ropeskills Rigging uses the latest technology to ensure no one miss-zips as they soar 45 metres above the water at up to 60 kilometres per hour, all the way to Sapi Island.

The best views on the mainland can be found at the Signal Hill Observatory Tower, a two-minute drive from Padang Merdeka. From the breezy deck you can take in fantastic views of downtown KK and the marine park with its five islands.

North Borneo Cruise treats travellers to a twohour sunset journey.

In the evening, a two-hour luxury boat ride with North Borneo Cruise features a buffet of local and international delicacies and great sunsets as you pass stilt villages and beautiful islands.

The air-conditioned dining area on the main deck becomes a dance floor when the live musicians start performing, continuing until the boat arrives on the lovely, illuminated KK waterfront.

The Signal Hill Observatory Tower offers stunning views. 

A wonderful morning excursion to the Mari Mari Cultural Village out in the countryside feels like a voyage back to the Iron Age. Designed to conserve Borneo ethnic culture, this living museum has traditional houses that never did get electricity.

Five different ethnic tribes live in the hamlet – Kadazan rice farmers, Murut headhunters, Rungus witch doctors, Bajau cowboys and sea gypsies – as well as Lundayeh people who raise livestock and catch fish.

A bamboo Lundayeh house is graced with skulls. 

An old wooden Kadazan house has a remarkable design and functionality and easily accommodates a large family with its two bedrooms and living room. A rice barn stands nearby, most of the rice roasted for sticky rice and used to make a liquor called montoku.

The Lundayeh, expert in producing metal weapons and bamboo vests, live in a house of bamboo that’s decorated with skulls, signifying the occupants’ strength and bravery.

A traditional Rungus longhouse features more than 75 rooms, each housing a family, and a communal space where spirit rituals are performed and ailing people are cured. The residents are also gifted at making honey.

Murut villagers spend festivals jumping on a bamboo trampoline. 

The Murut also occupy a longhouse, this one surrounded by towering walls for privacy. Inside is a wood-and-bamboo on which the residents jump during festive rituals. A gateway at the centre of the house is only used when someone has died. That’s where the body is carried outside.

The village tour includes demonstration of cooking with bamboo, making fire, using a blowpipe and traditional dances.

The writer travelled courtesy of AirAsia and the Sabah Tourism Board.

IF YOU GO

AirAsia operates three direct flights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday between Bangkok and Kota Kinabalu.

Check out the best rates at http://www.AirAsia.com.

Time seems to have stood still in Kawagoe, an Edo-period town in Saitama Prefecture some 40 kilometres from downtown Tokyo. Life here is much less frenetic than in the Japanese capital, making it the perfect place to escape the city’s chaos and take life a little easier.

It’s easy to access too, just a 30-minute train ride on the Tobu Tojo Line from Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo.

Our visit to Japan coincides with the hottest weather the country has ever recorded but the slow pace of life in this small town turns out to be an antidote to the heat. We stroll along streets lined with temples, shrines and traditional storehouses stopping off at Toki no Kane (the Time Bell Tower), the symbol of Kawagoe.

It’s possible to explore the town on foot but those who don’t have the energy can always opt for the Koedo Loop Bus, a retro-style vehicle that takes you around such tourist spots as Kitain Temple, Honmaru Goten and Kashiya Yokocho (penny candy lane).

Kawagoe is definitely a hot spot for both local and foreign travellers. Arriving at Kawagoe Station, we realise instantly that we don’t need a map to get around. All we have to do is follow the tourists as they make their way to Crea Mall, an outdoor shopping venue filled with restaurants, dessert shops, and coffee shops, as well as Atre and Maruhiro department stores.

We do however stop at Kumano Shrine, where we are surprised to find cobblestone paths designed to massage visitors’ feet on both sides of the pathway leading from the entrance to the temple. Walking on it is very good for you but also very challenging, because the stones are supposed to stimulate acupressure points on the soles of our feet. We manage a short distance before giving it to the pain. The shrine itself is popular among those seeking success, good fortune, business and marriage and we are told that if we put money in a basket and wash it in the Takara Ike pond, we will enjoy economic fortune.

From the shrine, we walk to Taisho Roman Yume Dori, where we spot many visitors shopping or relaxing in one of the many coffeeshops, then move on to the Nakacho Kosaten Intersection and into Kurazukuri Street. Also known as the warehouse district, the area boasts buildings constructed during the Meiji period (1868-1912) in the wake of a devastating fire. The new buildings were built to be fireproof with several layers of clay used for the walls. Today the spaces are no longer used for warehousing but have become home to souvenir shops as well as small boutiques selling folk crafts, tea, soap and Coedo craft beer plus restaurants.

Many visitors to Kawagoe enjoy dressing in colourful yukatas and kimonos, all available for hire from one of the many rental shops in the area. Some stroll around the streets while others take a rickshaw to see the sights.

We take a break at Kawagoe Pudding shop and sample a pudding in a glass bottle. The shop gives you back 10 yen if you return the bottle, a practice that should be adopted by every city. Further along the street, we see a long queue of people waiting for okaki (Japanese fried rice cakes), which remind us of khao jee (grilled sticky rice so popular in the Northeast of Thailand), and egg baumkuchen, which bears the amusing slogan “addicted by the art of eggs make you happy”.

Despite the heat, we continue to walk along the street and eventually arrive at the entrance to the symbol of Kawagoe, the 16-metre-high Bell Tower (“Toki no Kane”), a western-style edifice constructed in 1918. The original was built approximately 400 years ago in the early Edo period, and the current one is the fourth tower, reconstructed after the Kawagoe conflagration in the Meiji period. It is a three-storey wooden structure, and it tells the time with a loud bell striking at 6am, noon, 3pm, and 6pm. The sound of Toki no Kane was chosen as one of the “100 soundscapes of Japan”, a list of soundscapes worth protecting, in 1996.

Because it’s one of the most famous landmarks of this ancient city, it’s packed with both Japanese and foreign tourists taking those must-have selfies with the tower in the background. While walking through the alleyway, our tummies rumble at the pleasant aroma of baked soy sauce and savoury grilled skewered dango (rice dumplings) as well as potato-flavoured ice cream with deep-fried sweet potato chips.

Kawagoe is well known for its eel dishes, most of them cooked with a sweetened soy sauce. We decide to pass in favour of green tea soba noodle at Kotobukian Kuranomachi Restaurant. A waitress serves hot soup and instructs us to mix in the dipping sauce before drinking.

Our day away from Tokyo ends with a display of fireworks marking the summer festival of Hanabi Matsuri.

The writer travelled with NokScoot Airlines.

It will be hosted by Resorts World Genting and visitors will step inside the Star Wars universe in a fully immersive experience unlike any other.

This is The Void’s first venture outside of North America and the UK, making this experience at Resorts World Genting the first in Asia. It will be one of the key attractions at the resort, which received almost 25 million visitors last year, and will exist alongside dining and retail outlets as well as entertainment attractions that include the upcoming indoor and outdoor theme parks.

“Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire” will take guests through a breathtaking journey into the Star Wars universe allowing them to walk freely and untethered on an interactive stage. Reality and imagination mix to deliver fully immersive experiences that evoke all the senses, where guests will feel the impact of blaster bolts, smell the smoke from the surrounding environment, push buttons to solve an interactive puzzle to escape enemies, all the while coordinating directly with their unit in real time through the blended virtual and physical world.

Under the orders of the rebellion, teams of four travel to the molten planet of Mustafar and sneak onto an Imperial Base. During the mission, visitors will encounter familiar Star Wars characters as they navigate dangers at every turn.

“The Void’s hyper-reality experiences are taking people to worlds that, until now, only existed in their imaginations. By making the impossible real and allowing guests to step into completely new and alternate realities. In “Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire” visitors can hear, feel, touch and even smell bringing them closer to the story, characters and places,” says The Void’s chairman Craig Watson.

Vicki Dobbs Beck of ILMxLAB, adds that the company’s goal is for people to “Step Inside Our Stories”. “And now Malaysian and Asian audiences will have the opportunity to do just that as they experience the excitement and adventure of Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire,” she says.

With six routes to choose among, this is the only luxury train in India that reaches all the major tourist destinations – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Delhi.

“The Deccan Odyssey has surpassed the definition of luxury with its unparalleled service and stunning design that not only offers unimaginable comfort but also a rare window to tour India,” said Arup Sen, director of special projects at Cox & Kings.

“The World Travel Award acknowledges the train’s excellence in offering unique experiences and extraordinary journeys.”

The train offers four presidential suites with exquisite decor and all modern amenities in every cabin, such as Wi-Fi, cell phones and LCD TV sets. Two gourmet restaurants on board, Waavar and Utsav, serve a variety of delicacies from the different states the train passes through. There’s also a full bar, a lounge, a spa and a beauty salon.

Find out more at http://www.Deccan-Odyssey-India.com.

IN THE 1980S, Iraq’s Lake Habbaniyah was a tourist hotspot, popular with wealthy newlyweds and so luxurious it was even a haunt of dictator Saddam Hussein and his fearsome entourage.

Top-notch restaurants, flower gardens and pristine lakeside bungalows saw Habbaniyah Tourism City pull in clients from across the Middle East and beyond.

But like much of Iraq, this oasis – located between Fallujah and Ramadi – has fallen into disrepair since the US-led military coalition toppled Saddam 15 years ago.

In the 1980s, Iraq’s Lake Habbaniyah was a tourist hotspot. Today, it’s a shadow of its former glory, the victim of neglect since the 2003 USled invasion. /AFP

“The tourist complex is terribly degraded,” admits 60-year-old Karim Turki, who has spent nearly half his life running communications for the state-run complex.

Standing in front of a bungalow festooned with torn electric wires, he laments a “paradise lost”.

Piles of garbage, drained swimming pools and a merry-go-round featuring limbless horses create the impression of a ghost town.

Under the American occupation, armed extremist groups in 2006 and 2007 installed operations rooms in the sprawling complex’s deserted hotel and bungalows.

Iraq’s police retook control in 2008 and the resort staged a brief revival – amateur jet skiers returned to the still-sparkling lake and families enjoyed picnics on the shore.

In a bid to attract a rush of new foreign visitors, a Turkish firm was contracted to revive the facilities around the vast artificial lake, which was created in 1956.

But it was all in vain.

After a few months, the firm threw in the towel.

The zone became a new theatre of sectarian violence, culminating in the Islamic State group taking control.

During the Iraqi army’s long offensive to dislodge IS, the state requisitioned the resort’s 500 bungalows and 265-room hotel to accommodate some of those displaced by the latest round of conflict.

While the government declared victory over the jihadists in December and Iraqi tourism has begun to revive, the days of access roads to Habbaniyah being clogged with traffic jams are long gone.

But there has been a trickle of visitors – some keen to cool off briefly in the summer heat, others seeking a longer trip down memory lane.

“People come to Habbaniyah today to remember the good old times,” Turki says.

Saad Alani honeymooned on the lake in the early 1990s, during its golden age.

He ventured back last year – a mistake, he says.

“The place has become a dump. There is no water or electricity, and no service.”

A view of an abandoned hotel resort by Lake Habbaniyah, in Anbar province, about 85 kilometres west of the capital Baghdad.

And Alani is not the only one to be disappointed.

“This is the last time I come,” says Hussein Jabbar, a civil servant from Baghdad, visiting with a dozen friends.

“Before, it was great – but everything has deteriorated,” he adds, pointing to the lifeless lake banks where amateur sailors and flunkies once roamed.

A few small unpretentious canteens and lakeside stalls endure, but returnees are dismayed to find that the famed restaurants are derelict and the once immaculate gardens overgrown.

For Alani, the way to revive tourism in Habbaniyah is simple, given that Iraq is the 12th most corrupt country in the world, according to NGO Transparency International.

“We must engage with specialist private tourism companies and retire Lake Habbaniyah from state hands,” he says.

Iraq’s ministries of tourism and culture did not respond to requests for comment.

SEPARATED by the South China Sea, Malaysia comprises two very distinct regions – the Peninsula abutting Thailand’s southern provinces and Borneo Island, which it shares with Indonesia and Brunei.

Some 3,700 kilometres from Kuala Lumpur, the resort of Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah State, is a popular destination with tourists thanks to its verdant mountain ranges, massive farmlands and beautiful beaches. It’s also a bustling business hub and easily accessible for Thai visitors thanks to regular three-hour direct flights from Bangkok.

The Desa Cattle Dairy stands in the middle of the valley. 

Spread over 73,000 square kilometres, this city of 450,000 people has everything you’d expect to find in a modern capital including such leading hotel chains as Hilton, Shangri-La, Le Meridien, Mercure, Hyatt Regency and ibis.

Many visitors, though, prefer to head out of town and discovered the state’s many rural charms. Located some 80km from KK, as the city is known locally, the village of Lingkubang is a paradise for the adventurous sort. Most come for the white water rafting along a 10km stretch of the Kadamain River, which flows down from Mount Kinabalu.

The land is blanketed with black sands and volcanic rocks and the waterway is full of twists and turns. Small stone dikes are built by the locals during the summer months to enhance catches in the bamboo traps they craft for fishing.

The rafting routes are divided into four levels ranging from beginners to veterans and everyone is provided with a life jacket and helmet. Hemmed in by a lush tropical jungle on the sides, we spend two hours paddling and rafting along the river –jumping into the cold water when the levels are low and floating to our heart’s content. Those wanting more extreme experiences can head south to Beaufort and enjoy a full day of rafting along the Padas River.

Tourists stop to take a picture with Mount Kinabalu during a rafting adventure. 

Leaving the river behind, we head to Kinabalu National Park, Malaysia’s first World Heritage Site designated by Unesco in 2000 for its “outstanding universal values”. Covering 754sqkm, it boasts four climate zones ranging from tropical rainforest to sub-alpine, and is home more than 5,000 plant species of Himalayan, Indo-Malay and Australian origin, plus more than 4,000 species of birds and wild animals.

Perched at 1,563 metres above sea level, the average temperature here is about 20 degrees Celsius and the rain falls year round, making it a popular holiday escape. The park offers a selection of 10 trekking trails and visitors of all ages can enjoy strolling through the lush jungle and learning about ecology and the life cycle of animals.

Mount Kinabalu itself stands high above the national park at an altitude of 4,095 metres. The temperature on the peak drops to minus 8 to 10 degree Celsius and it gets its name from the Kadazan word “Aki Nabalu” meaning “the revered place of the dead”. Locals believe that this summit is a sanctuary for their ancestors’ spirits.

Luxurious but surprisingly affordable bungalow style accommodation in the park along with a restaurant serving a variety of local delicacies.

Kinabalu National Park offers a collection of comfortable accommodation at reasonable prices for tourists. 

And staying overnight is a good idea as we discover the next morning on a visit to the Desa Cattle Dairy in the foothills of Mount Kinabalu and just 10km from the national park. Dubbed “Little New Zealand”, it was set up in 1980 and is today a popular setting for pre-wedding photography, with grassland spreading out over 199 hectares and the mountains as the backdrop. The farm specialises in breeding Holstein Friesian cattle, the world’s highest-production dairy animals whose origins can be found in Northern Holland and Northern Germany, and which each year produce some 90,00 litres of milk.

Recognising the potential for agro-tourism, the dairy underwent a major refurbishment between 2007 and 2009, adding a sheep farm to expand the range of dairy products to include home-made yoghurt, ice cream and cheese. The operation is high-tech so visitors expecting to have a go at milking will be disappointed.

Visitors have fun feeding cattle. 

Another popular stop is Luanti, a small kampong on the banks of Moroli River and home is a fish spa. The fish here cannot be caught – only nibble feet – and the kampong itself is the proud holder of the 2006 Malaysia River Care Award.

The Sabah Tea Garden, the only organic tea farm in Borneo, is just up the road and offers an eco-friendly tour through the terraced rainforest along with tea tasting and several recreational activities such as obstacle-crossing and trekking to the peak of Kamunsu Hill. Visitors should make time to sample the home-made tea pancakes at the garden’s cafe.

Sore muscles from the climb are quickly relieved with a mineral bath at Poring Hot Spring, where the water is a glorious 80 to 90 degrees Celsius followed by a vertiginous stroll along the 40-metre-high Canopy Walk to see the jungle from above.

Rafflesia flowers in full bloom. 

As the sun sets, we head to the nearby botanical site to admire the rafflesia flowers, a kind of parasitic flowering plant of Tetrastigma vines that can be found in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Billed as the biggest flowers in the world, they take six months to grow then die within 48 hours of blooming.

The writer travelled courtesy of AirAsia and Sabah Tourism Board.

IF YOU GO

>> AirAsia operates three direct flights weekly (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) between Bangkok and Kota Kinabalu.

>> Check out the best rates at http://www.AirAsia.com.

 The Ocean Park Halloween Fest 2018, to be held from October 5 to 31, will feature 13 all-new unique experiences at 11 haunted attractions to satisfy guests who love different types of scares or fun-filled surprises.

This year, the park will present high-tech elements to enhance guests’ haunted experiences, including Hong Kong’s first ever multimedia and interactive haunted attraction X-Dimension, which creates a frightful alternate dimension with the use of 360-degree interactive projections and 3D mapping technology. Meanwhile, the Devil Seeker’s Tale will offer an interactive game infused with augmented reality technology while Mine Train will provide brand new virtual reality Halloween content. Popular Sanrio characters will host the first-ever “HELLO-ween” party with fun-filled attractions to meet family and friends.

“Guests are no longer asking for just a scary experience. From their feedback, interactivity is one of the elements that they are most looking forward to,” said Timothy Ng, Ocean Park’s executive director of operations and entertainment. “Therefore, we are creating more interactive experiences with innovative technology this year, which will bring more shocks to our haunted attractions and more fun to our family-friendly ones. Among the attractions, X-Dimension presented by Yahoo! Hong Kong boasts advanced technology and a 360-degree interactive projection scene co-developed by the Park and the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, which will provide guests with an immersive and realistic experience.”

This year, Ocean Park is collaborating with Sanrio for the first time to bring the world-famous Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters to the park, staging the largest ever HELLO-ween party in Hong Kong. “Since we have announced news of our collaboration, we have received an enthusiastic response and positive comments on our social platforms by those looking forward to joining our event. We expect the Sanrio-themed attractions will attract a large number of families and young guests, such as secondary and tertiary students, to come to the Park. We will also launch a series of Sanrio-themed gourmet items and limited edition themed merchandise to engage Sanrio fans,” said Vivian Lee, executive director of business development and education.

Hello Kitty, Kuromi, Pompompurin, Little Twin Stars, Cinnamoroll, Gudetama and Bad Badtz-maru will all put on specially-made limited edition Ocean Park Halloween costumes, and greet guests at three family-friendly attractions – Sanrio Characters HELLO-ween Party, Sanrio Characters Trick-or-Treat Trail and Sanrio Characters HELLO-ween Meet & Greet.

For more information and ticket reservations, visit http://www.oceanpark.com.hk.

The discovery was made at a site in Suide county, which falls under the jurisdiction of the city of Yulin. Six grottoes, made of clay, were unearthed. The largest has a depth of 5.7 meters. Sculptures, frescos, and stone door leaves were also found in the grottoes, according to the provincial research institute of archaeology.

These are the first clay Buddhist grotto ruins from the Ming Dynasty discovered in the province. Hu Chunbo, a researcher at the institute, said the new finds offer valuable materials for the study of transportation, Buddhist cultural exchanges, and tribal distribution in the middle of Ming Dynasty.