This place is so good! Cheap hawker style stalls, dishes from all over Malaysia, and also some Thai. The atmosphere is buzzing and informal, and its open-air location is particularly interesting during a tropical downpour! About 10 minutes' walk from the Eastern & Oriental hotel - if you are saving your pennies for a drink or two in its colonial splendour - this is the place to go for tasty cheap eats!

Lebuh Leith, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia.
www.malaysiasite.nl/redgardeneng.htm
tinyurl.com/36g2des

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Very stylish restaurant, on a cafe/eating stretch in central Kuching which is likely, should you have any preconceptions about nightlife in Borneo, to blow them away. This place serves up local food with a modern edge, and despite the service sometime being a bit haphazard, on the whole its worth the trip. Prices by Kuching standards are high (around £8 for a main) and you may well get just as good quality somewhere round the corner for half the price. However, come here for the atmosphere, the ambience, the stepping stones over a fish pool to reach your table in the lush gardens - this place is unique!

Jalan Tabuan, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Google map: tinyurl.com/36w3w8e

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Situated on one of Edinburgh's most wonderful streets (Victoria Street) with all its multicoloured independent boutique shops and restaurants, the Bow Bar is a step back in time to the days when you could spend an entire evening in the local and still leave without having tasted every ale on offer.

Classic interior with friendly, extremely knowledgeable staff, its a small, cosy kind of pub that locals and an increasing number of tourists frequent.

Come the Edinburgh festival, it will be heaving, but you'd be daft to let that put you off - afterall, so will everywhere else!

If you're after an excellent choice of (mainly British beer) and a chance to chat without blaring music, then do yourself a favour and give the Grassmarket with its hen and stag groups a swerve and hit the Bow Bar instead.

80 West Bow Edinburgh EH1 2HH
0131 226 7667

Google map: tinyurl.com/2wputu8

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Located on Gaya Street, one of the few tree lined streets in downtown 'KK' - the Jesselton Hotel is a throw back to colonial times. Kota Kinabalu, formerly know as 'Jesselton' pre WW2, is the capital of the Sabah.
While the hotel gives itself the rather grandiose title of 'Premier Boutique Hotel in Sabah' it is really no boutique by European standards, but is definately a cut above the majority of options in the centre of town. It might not have the majestic views of the Hyatt or Meridien on the waterfront, but has a charm more akin to finding yourself turning up in a small hotel in Paris or London. The rooms are spacious and the green outlook over the trees is welcoming amidst the searing heat of Borneo. Downsides are no balconies and breakfast is very expensive and not worth the trouble - but hey, Gaya Street is choc a bloc with super tasty Chinese and Malay cafes where you can set yourself up for the day with an excellent roti canai, laksa and a teh tarik!

69, Gaya Street Kota Kinabalu
www.jesseltonhotel.com
Tel:(6088)223333

Google map: tinyurl.com/375kofz

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The bamboo train, some 10 miles into the countryside from Cambodia's second city of Battambang, is a journey you are unlikely to forget - ever. Whilst this part of the world is admittedly full of spectacular land journeys - from mountain ranges to rice fields - some of them are incredibly long and arduous. Not so the bamboo train. Ok, so its not exactly a comfortable journey as you trundle along the line at around 20kph - with every uneven join in the track unnervingly within close eye shot, but it is just a 20 minute or so round trip. Its function is for local farmers to transport goods between the small villages. Without this in place, people would have to wait about a week (the frequency of the standard train on this route) This was clearly not acceptable, and so, the bamboo train was born. I think it cost us about £5 per person for the ride. Massively expensive by local standards, but hey, the thrill as you fly past lush paddy fields, water buffalo and fishermen is only matched by the warm glow of goodwill you are left with, having done your bit to help the local community. I'm not sure how much the train costs to run or assemble (its size could be no more than about 10 x 6 foot) covered in bamboo slats - that'll be where the name comes from! One thing seems pretty certain however, given that we handed the money straight onto what I believe was the head of the village, a decent cut must surely be going to help the locals build a better life.
Whilst its not for the faint hearted, anyone who likes an adrenalin rush in the heart of the Cambodian countryside, along with a visit to a local village, relatively off the beaten track - and a chance to do your little bit for the local economy - give it a go - the bamboo train is a quirky experience to remember!

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This is the best national park in Sarawak, on Malaysian Borneo, for seeing wildlife. The bizarre Proboscis Monkey is the standout wildlife attraction at Bako, situated roughly 1.5 hours' time from the lovely capital city of Kuching. The boat journey from "Kampong Bako" is an exhilarating and scenic experience in itself, as a six-person wooden motorboat takes you past village houses (and some crocodiles) before the majestic South China Sea opens up before your eyes.

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Jalan Alor, located in the heart of KL, just off the main thoroughfare of Bukit Bintang, is for me, the best place in the capital for fast, street food. It's basically a stretch of restaurants and food stalls that create a 'hawker stall' atmosphere. The selection of food is substantial, from super crispy pork to exotic (obviously) fish such as garoupa in mango. A view of this street from the top end is one of the highlights of this city - all bustle, bright neon lights and noise. As well as the outdoor seating most of the eateries have some indoor space too - worth bearing in mind if the weather looks like its about to take a turn for the worse! Food style is mostly Chinese here. I personally recommend the buttered prawns from the first stall at the top of the street.

Jalan Alor, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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This is a lovely retreat high above the town of Sandakan, on Sabah's east coast. A real throwback to colonial days, it has gazebos on the lawn (which incorporates a croquet pitch) and great scones and tea served as you take in the picturesque bay. A wonderful setting, and well worth the hot walk up the steps from the town to get there.

www.englishteahouse.org/

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Unika Borneo, nestled in the heart of the old chinese quarter in Kuching, is a shop selling collectibles from all over Borneo, as well as some other parts of Southeast Asia. Whilst the main bazaar in the city is where people go for the more obvious tourist souvenirs, a visit to Unika Borneo, as the name suggests, gives you the opportunity of finding something a little bit different. I went here in 2009 and was very impressed with the range of wooden carvings (some of which are very old) and the laid back attitude of the staff, there is no hard sell here whatsoever. The atmosphere of the shop is more akin to that of a small art gallery, but the temptation to purchase something is high, and I was very pleased with the small stone buddha that I bought, which hailed from java. Kuching is a wonderful city and I hope to return again soon, when I'll also look forward to another visit to this specialist (and special) shop.

5 Wayang Street,
93000 Kuching,
Sarawak, Malaysia.

+6 082-416857
www.unikaborneo.com

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