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Tourism Malaysia

HK’s new luxury cruise terminal

Repurposed: The former Kai Tak International Airport is now a luxury cruise terminal.Repurposed: The former Kai Tak International Airport is now a luxury cruise terminal.

Hong Kong’s old airport is now a contemporary seaport.

HONG KONG opened a US$1.1bil (RM3.5bil) cruise terminal at the site of its former airport on Wednesday in a bid to become Asia’s hub for luxury liners.

The new terminal, built on the runway of the old Kai Tak airport, will be able to accommodate the largest cruise ships in the world – liners of up to 220,000 gross tonnes.

�Kai Tak was the site of our legendary airport and is now turning a historic page by connecting Hong Kong with the rest of the world through the seven seas,� said Commissioner of Tourism, Philip Yung.

“With the addition of this new facility, Hong Kong is in full gear to receive mega cruise ships,� said Yung.

Royal Caribbean’s 1,020 feet (310m) long Mariner Of The Seas was the first mega luxury cruise liner to dock at the two-berth terminal, which boasts a 360° panoramic view of the city. A troupe of lion dancers welcomed more than 3,000 passengers as they disembarked.

“Our favourite port was Venice. You beat Venice,� George Lamson, a 74-year-old artist from the United States, told reporters, adding he was amazed by the views as the ship entered the city’s famed Victoria Harbour.

“We feel privileged to have this honour,� 65-year-old retiree from Britain, Valerie Blakeway, said of being amongst the first visitors to the terminal.

The former Kai Tak International Airport was considered one of the most challenging places to land an aircraft due to its central location in the city and tall mountains surrounding it.

The airport closed in 1998 after being in service for over 70 years and was replaced by the current Chek Lap Kok International Airport.

The cruise terminal will open to the public in the third quarter of the year with its second berth opening in 2014.– AFP RelaxNews

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All Malaysia Info

Unconventional museums

 

Highlighting all things kitty at the Cat Museum in Kuching, Sarawak

 

TripAdvisor editors have given a meow to Kuching’s Cat Museum in its list of the most bizzare museums in the world.

TRIPADVISOR, the world’s largest travel site, has drawn up a list of 10 unusual museums around the world, including the Cat Museum in Kuching, which is known as Cat City.

A comment from a TripAdvisor traveller about the Cat Museum: “This is an interesting museum, with an amazing collection of cat ornaments and statues and paintings – you name it.”

The museums in the list are as follows:

1 Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada ? The Bata Shoe Museum houses a collection of more than 10,000 items of footwear with over 4,500 years of history. See 15th century Peruvian ceremonial aladeros and 19th century French chestnut-crushing clogs. From ancient Egyptian sandals to 20th-century celebrity shoes, this vast shoe collection will excite both fashion devotees and history buffs alike.

2 Paris Sewer Museum, Paris, France ? Sure, travellers flock to the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, but there is also the less conventional attraction that is the Paris Sewer Museum. First opened to the public in 1867, the sewer tunnels running underneath Paris are where visitors can gain first-hand knowledge of the history and inner workings of the city’s sewer system.

3 Museum of Witchcraft, Cornwall, England ? Anyone even mildly curious about witches must visit the Museum of Witchcraft in Cornwall. Opened in 1951 by Cecil Williamson, the museum exhibits the largest witchcraft collection in the world.

Visitors can learn about the practice and history of witchcraft and magic, and view artifacts such as a witch’s altar and a magician’s sword. The museum also houses a library of more than 3,000 books.

4 British Lawnmower Museum, Merseyside, England ? The fastest lawnmowers, lawnmowers of the rich and famous, and some of the most expensive lawnmowers in the world: these can all be seen at the British Lawnmower Museum in Merseyside, England. With over 250 lawnmowers, this museum is a tribute to the garden machine invented in 1830 by Edwin Beard Budding.

5 Toilet Seat Museum, Alamo Heights, Texas, the United States ? Barney Smith, a retired plumber, has been creating toilet seat art for over 30 years. More than 1,000 of his decorated commode covers are on display in the Toilet Seat Museum (Barney’s garage) in Alamo Heights, Texas. Since Barney is the only person who operates the museum, travellers should call first, so he knows to open his doors.

6 Instant Ramen Museum, Osaka, Japan ? Dedicated to ramen noodle cups and creator Momofuko Ando, the museum showcases the many ramen flavours made through the years, and there’s also a reproduction of the hut where the first noodles were first produced. The museum has a kitchen facility where visitors can make fresh noodles, as well as a factory where visitors can assemble their own cup noodles.

7 Salt Pepper Shakers Museum, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the United States ? Explore the Salt Pepper Shakers Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee housing a collection of over 20,000 sets of salt and pepper shakers from around the world, some dating back to the 1500s.

Andrea, an archaeologist, was fascinated by the history behind salt and pepper shakers, so she launched the museum.

The museum also displays the largest collection of pepper mills in the world!

8 Spam Museum, Austin, Minnesota, the United States ? Here sits a museum that covers an area of more than 1,486sqm and dedicated to Spam, the mystery meat. It features a wall of Spam, interactive displays, a video, and historical exhibits of the Spam brand and Hormel Foods Company.

Visitors can even learn how the “mystery meat” is produced. After touring the museum, you can browse Spam novelties in the gift shop and nosh on Spam cuisine in the dining area.

9 Cumberland Pencil Museum, Keswick, England ? According to legend, a huge storm in the 1500s uprooted trees in Cumberland, and graphite was discovered. Shepherds used the graphite to mark their sheep, and thus began the area’s pencil industry.

The Cumberland Pencil Museum takes visitors through the history of the pencil and pencil-making. The museum also houses the biggest pencil in the world measuring 26 feet and weighing 446kg (984 pounds)!

10 Cat Museum, Kuching, Malaysia ? In Malaysia, the cat is considered lucky, and since Kuching is also known as “Cat City”, it is only fitting that the Cat Museum is a popular attraction here. Feline enthusiasts can enjoy 2,000 exhibits, artifacts, and statues from around the world, from an Egyptian mummified cat to Hello Kitty items. The museum is also a research and information centre that concentrates on the history and cultural beliefs surrounding cats.

The list of 10 unusual museums is based on feedback from TripAdvisor travellers and as chosen by TripAdvisor editors.


Map: Bizarre Museums

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All Malaysia Info

Beach-bumming in Cambodia

With 60 pristine tropical islands nestling in sapphire waters easily reached from Phnom Penh, Cambodia is the place to island-hop while enjoying sand, surf and traditional village life.

TRUSSED between two huge palm trunks, my hammock sways in a gentle breeze as Heng brings me a Mojito packed with ice and fresh mint.

Stretching out a lazy hand to clutch the ice cold glass, I bless the owner of Sihanoukville’s Snake House ? a quirky Russian food restaurant where you eat surrounded by crocs and snakes ? who told me about the 60-plus islands studding the sparkling waters of the Gulf of Thailand along Cambodia’s southern coast.

Far from the (sometimes maddening) full-moon parties and kitsch bungalow accommodation cramming Thailand’s coastal resorts, Cambodia’s beaches ? because they were undiscovered for years due to the upheavals of the Khmer Rouge regime ? are largely deserted, a fact that tempted me immensely.

“It’s no tourist guide’s junket,” Ivor of the Snakehouse told me. “Not many of these islands have decent transportation links, so if you want to discover the best of what’s out there, you’ll probably need to hire a boat.”

That night in Sihanoukville, as my feet were nibbled free of calloused skin by fish in a tank, I decided to get a first-taster and booked a ticket for Koh Tang. Ivor had warned me to bring plenty of camping gear.

“Not many of the islands have proper tourist facilities or accommodation, so you’ll need to be prepared and, if you need diving gear, it’s probably better to arrange it all ahead of time from the mainland,” he warned.

Dragging my heavy pack on and off boats and along sandy beaches and jungle paths was a bit of a nuisance, but I was soon glad I heeded his advice.

A breezy five-hour trip from the mainland, Koh Tang became a battle ground in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge captured the crew of SS Mayaguez, a US-flagged container ship, and US marines launched an abortive rescue operation.

Later in 1978, this uninhabited island some 40km south of the Cambodian mainland again hit the headlines when Englishman John Dewhirst and New Zealander Kerry Hamill were captured here and later executed at the Khmer Rouge’s notorious S21 prison in Phnom Penh.

Deserted, apart from a small military presence, Koh Tang today has a happier reputation as one of the best dive sites in Cambodia.

Along with five other deep sea fans who’d come here, with Scuba Nation Diving Centre (two days’ “room”-and-board from US$220 (RM668), we set up tents in a shady spot behind the long, sandy beach, then headed out to dive.

Over the next few days, we explored the wonderland of multicoloured shoals of fish that live in the staghorn coral of Explosion reef and frolicked with the barracudas, jacks and cobias along Three Bears reef, then returned to the campfire every evening and ate fresh fish, and drank punch-packing palm wine under a brilliant canopy of stars.

However, with my hair matted from washing in briny water and skin stinging from sunburn, the romance of roughing it Robinson Crusoe-style began to wear thin, so I was more than ready for my next stop at Koh Rong Saloem a few days later. Hailed as the next Ko Samui, Rong Saloem island is breathtakingly beautiful with endless stretches of chalk-white sand and a dense jungle interior where I hiked with a guide the following day and glimpsed a big-fanged black cobra.

Most of the time, however, I spent in the aptly named Lazy Beach Bungalows (US$40/RM121 a night) chilling out in one of half a dozen thatched-roofed huts scattered along a sandy beach nursed by a gentle curve of turquoise sea, then cooling off in the phosphorescent waters at night.

Seeking stimulation on the last day of my stay, I hired a long-tail boat powered by an outboard motor that looked like a hedge trimmer, and headed round the coast to Mai Pei Bei to do some volunteer work.

“If you’re staying for a while, you can teach at the school, but if you’re only here for the day, we’d love it if you help out with our beach clean-up operation,” said Nhean, who runs volunteer operations in this friendly little fishing village.

Along with Nhean and some other volunteers, we combed the beaches all day for litter and felt pleasantly meritorious as we relaxed our tired legs and aching backs that evening in one of the local food shacks sipping ice-cold Angkor beer and supping on tasty chunks of fresh-caught squid.

Back at Sihanoukville and surrounded by revelling crowds, I was soon feeling agoraphobic, so I decided to head for the islands on the other side of this lively Cambodian resort. Catching the Coasters boat which leaves every morning at 9.30 from Ochheuteal beach, I was soon leaping from the high prow of the boat into the soft sand of Koh Russei.

An hour’s ride from the mainland, Bamboo island is just two long sandy beaches linked across the middle by a jungle path that buzzes with cicadas. Friends had recommended Bimbamboo Bungalows on the busy side of the island which attracts all the daytrippers, but I opted for the more peaceful Koh Ru Bungalows (from US$15/RM45) on the southern side.

Enjoying the serenity in the Koh Ru bungalow

Painted in vivid colours, these bungalows are fairly basic, with shared showers and toilets, but the gently shelving sandy beach strewn with seashells makes it ideal for kids, giving a laidback, family feel to this side of the island. After a few days lazing on the beach and supping on prahok-flavoured fish soup, samlor machu and a grilled-fish-and-pickle dish called trik kreoung pahok at the beach restaurant, I headed back to Sihanoukville.

Up early the next day, I headed a few kilometres out of town and caught the passenger boat which travels along the mangrove-lined Prek Toeuk Sap River into Ream National Park.

Created in 1995, the park, which extends over 15,000ha of land and 6,000ha of marine habitat, is home to a host of endangered wildlife, including king cobras, pythons, great hornbills and leopard cats.

During my six-hour trip along this river which empties into the Gulf of Thailand, I saw coffee-coloured Rhesus monkeys grooming each other in the sun, rare Irrawady dolphins that popped their strange lumpy heads out from under our boat and dozens of flying fish leaping out of the water around us like rainbow-coloured spinners.

Apart from a few budget rooming places, the only accommodation inside the park is the Ream Beach Guesthouse (room from US$15/RM45 a night), a basic-but-friendly sleepery right on the beach where I spent the night.

The Ream Beach Guesthouse is the only accommodation available inside the Ream National Park

Early the next day, a small boat whisked me on the 30-minute ride across the glittering gulf to Koh Thmei, a pristine island where I’d reserved a room at the eco-friendly Koh Thmei Resort (room from US$15 a night).

Sitting on the balcony of one of the resort’s wooden bungalows overlooking a long sandy beach fringed by casuarina trees, I ordered another mojito and toasted the sun setting in streaks of fiery crimson over the gulf of Thailand. – Heidi Fuller-Love


Map: Bizarre Museums

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Wonderful Malaysia

Cheap international calls from Malaysia

NobelCom 10% discount code: WMALAYSIA-1784725821 (exp. Dec 31st)

A phone booth high up Mount Kinabalu in MalaysiaTravelers that visit Malaysia often want to call to check up on family or friends in their home country. This usually leads to high roaming charges when they are using their own telco. Calling via Skype is free, but not every traveler has access to Wi-Fi or 3G or has a smartphone and/or carries along a laptop/tablet. This article describes a way to make cheap international calls with phone cards while traveling. A phone card is a product designed to connect you to local and international destinations at significantly lower rates. When you use a phone card, you’re using a special access number to call anyone, anywhere in the world.

The cheapest way to use a phone card is by buying a local prepaid sim card first in the country you are residing, with that sim card you use the phone card. If you use your own telco, you might still end up paying high roaming charges to your own phone company, while you only have to top up a Malaysian prepaid sim card once to be able to call with a phone card.

Popular Malaysian prepaid telcos are Hotlink, Umobile, TuneTalk and Celcom. All of them offer cheap prepaid sim cards. Usually starting costs range from RM5 to RM20 (only a few USD). They come with 3G (speeds vary, but usually fast enough for regular browsing with 1mbps to 4mbps). Obviously you can simply use this prepaid sim to make local calls, but international calls are usually very expensive.

Here is where NobelCom comes in. They offer affordable phone cards, which allow you to make cheap international calls. NobelCom offers a few plans, but usually travelers are best off with the standard and most popular ‘No Connection Fee’ phone card.

When ordering a phone card you need to first choose the correct destination. So when you are from the US, you go for the Malaysia – US phone card. Based on your calling habits you may choose one of their plans (look specifically at the ‘Rounding’ part, where you see how much the conversation is rounded up per call). The phone card expires 1 year (365 days) after last use.

Paying is easy as they offer numerous payment solutions, including PayPal. After your order is completed you can follow the calling instructions at the NobelCom website.

Steps of calling with the phone card are easy:

  1. Make sure you get a local prepaid sim card.
  2. Call the local access number, or toll free number if no local access number is available.
  3. Enter the PIN to identify you.
  4. Dial the full international destination number.

And that’s it. You will now be able to call international for much lower prices and without ridiculously high roaming charges (were you to use your own telco within Malaysia). In our previous US example, you would only pay 9.5 cents with the cheapest Nobel plan to call from Malaysia to any number in the US (fixed lines and mobile phones). In other countries this might not be the case and results in slightly higher prices when you are calling mobile phone lines. Each country has their own calling rates. If you are traveling through numerous countries in Southeast Asia (or everywhere in the world for that matter) you can simply add a new phone card for each country. You can even move balance from one phone card to the other.

Smartphone users can use the special NobelDialer, which is available to iPhone, Android and BlackBerry users. With this dialer it gets even more easy to call abroad with your phone card.

Wonderful Malaysia visitors can now enjoy a 10% discount when ordering a NobelCom phone card. Just fill in the following discount code during the ordering process:

WMALAYSIA-1784725821

This discount expires on December 31st. Check out the NobelCom website here (opens in a new window).

This article was written by Wonderful Malaysia. If you have good similar tips to share, do let us know below by leaving a reply.

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Cuisine in Melaka

MELAKA FESTIVAL 2012 A RESOUNDING SUCCESS

Melaka Art and Performance Festival 2012 a resounding success

Appiah Annan from Ghana performing Sankofa / Photo from melakafestival.com

Sep 28, 2012

MELAKA, Malaysia – The largest and only site specific art and performance festival on a UNESCO World Heritage site ended on a high note today as artists and performers celebrated a successful three-day festival. From September 21-23, Melaka was filled with art installations and performances by more than 50 renowned local and international artists.

Artists from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, France, Ghana, South Korea, Ireland, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Morocco, Canada, Poland, and the USA performed in the streets along St. Paul’s Hill where the asphalt became their canvas.

Running for the fourth year, the Melaka Arts and Performance Festival (MAPFest) is an innovative contemporary festival featuring dance, performance art, visual art, film, and music. The closing of the festival culminated in the gathering of all MAPFest artists and performers as they performed “Eulogy for The Living,” a large-scale performance, which provided a spectacular and soulful finale to the festival. The play was directed by the Founding Creative Director, Tony Yap, accompanied by live music and projections by Khaled Sabsabi.

“We were overwhelmed by the response throughout the festival. These three days has truly shown that Melaka has the potential to be an international hub for arts and performances. We are definitely looking forward for a bigger and better festival next year,” said Andrew Ching, Founder and Producer of the Festival.

As a supporter of the festival, the Malaysia Convention Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) shares the same vision. Zulkefli Sharif, Chief Executive Officer of MyCEB, said, “Our collaboration with MAPFest this year is a successful one as it proves that Malaysia can be a center stage for global events. Melaka, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, was the ideal venue to host such an inspiring showcase of the arts.”

The event attracted over 20,000 attendees, including an estimated 4,000 overseas visitors. Festival goers participated in a dance workshop by Australia’s leading Afrocontemporary dance practitioner, Appiah Annan of Asanti Dance Theatre, as he introduced traditional and contemporary approaches to dance from his motherland, Ghana.

Many people also took part in a forum discussion themed, “Melaka intersections: Living space/museum town” by Associate Professor Cheryl Stock, Director of Postgraduate Studies Creative Industries Faculty of the Queensland University of Technology.

MAPFest 2012 was directed by Tony Yap, in his capacity as the Founding Creative Director. He was one of the principle performers with IRAA Theatre (1989-1996) and has worked extensively in Australia and overseas including the Agamemnon Festival Colline Torinese, Italy, and The Trojan Woman, Vienna International Art Festival. As the founding Artistic Director of Mixed Company (now The Tony Yap Company) in 1993, he has made a commitment to the exploration and creation of an individual dance theatre language that is informed by psycho-physical research, Asian shamanistic trance dance, butoh, voice, and visual design.

MAPFest 2012 is produced by Arts Performance Festival Melaka Sdn Bhd and is supported by Tourism Malaysia, the Melaka State government, together with the efforts of E-Plus Entertainment, Mercatus Plus Malaysia, Badan Warisan Malaysia, Kingdom of the Netherlands, the French and The Netherlands Embassies, the Australian government, the Australian High Commission, Australia Malaysia Institute, Multicultural Arts Victoria, the Embassy of France, The Tony Yap Company, Nyoba Kan, Simone Lourey, and William Randall.

Source: melakafestival.com