Malaysia lies in the hearth of the indo-pacific

Malaysia lies in the hearth of the indo-pacific basin in an area known for great marine biodiversity and there are marine parks which offer divers an opportunity to enjoy some of the most beautiful marine sights in the world. Eco-tourism has been heavily developed in the last decade and there are many tour agencies that offer holidays suitable for adventure seeking visitors.

Diving

Diving is another well-developed sport with several professional companies offering fully-equipped packages to dive sites.

Professional and recreational divers are discovering the enchantment of malaysian water which contain sites catering to every level of expertise.

Accredited dive operators offer packages for every need and budget. Premium packages include pickup at the airport, transfer to the dive sites, food, accommodation and dives. Alternatively, one can opt for a dive only package by making arrangements with a dive shop or operator.

The east coast of peninsular malaysia and sabah and sarawak offer beautiful dive sites. The latter's proximity to the south china sea and the celebes sea attracts a wider range of marine life and pelagic species among its world-class reefs. Visibility is great. Pulau payar, one of the islands in the langkawi group lies off the west coast of peninsular malaysia and has many endangered species found in the park's sanctuary. Local dive centres in langkawi offers excursions to pulau payar and its neighbouring islands located half way between pulau langkawi and penang where marine fauna characteristic of the indian ocean can be viewed.

Read more

Malaysian are enthusiastic sportsmen and many international sports are played in the country

Malaysian are enthusiastic sportsmen and many international sports are played in the country. The bright, tropical climate ensures that most sports can be enjoyed throughout the year. Popular national sports include soccer, badminton, hockey, tennis, squash. Other favourites are biking, cricket, bowling, rugby, table-tennis, softball and grand prix racing.

Malaysia has a long coastline with several offshore island and sea sports are coming to fore. There are plenty of opportunities to water-ski and wind-surf or snorkel and dive in the many islands and marine parks found throughout the country. The country's large river system has made canoeing and white water rafting popular adventure sports.

On a national level soccer is played at school right up to international level. Soccer matches and competitions such as the semi-pro league and the malaysian cup are two popular matches. Badminton is another favourite sport with international competitions held from time to time.

Malaysia also has a great variety of excellent golf courses scattered around the country. Golfing holidays are becoming trendy and combine splendid golf course to play in with the country's many other attractions.

Read more

Malaysia international Kite Festival

Malaysia international Kite Festival

Kite flying is popular activity on the east coast of peninsular malaysia. Kelantan and terengganu have a tradition of making and flying huge kites known as wau bulan (moon kites). The malaysia international kite festival held in may each year at the sri tujuh beach in tumpat kelantan is a major attraction which draws participants in the region.

World amateur Inter-Team Golf Championship

This event takes place annually from around april and goes on till august. Golfers team up and play on some of the most challenging and magnificent course around malaysia. An enjoyable and unique way of experiencing the country's numerous tourist attractions.

National water Festival month (april-may)

Visitors can expect a splashing good time at this month long event featuring an international dragon boat race, a regatta, watersports, fishing competitions and other water-based activities in various states.

Read more

Malaysia has a rich and colourful cultural heritage

Malaysia has a rich and colourful cultural heritage. Many of traditional arts, cultural and crafts are dilligent kept alive the various communities. Traditional dance and music hold a special place in the performing arts and every community has something to present at festivals or special occasions.

Aside from religious festivals, malaysian find many occasions to celebrate. There are a large number of public festivals and parades at certain times of the year. Some of these include the penang street festival known as chingay, the national day or merdeka celebration in kuala lumpur on august 31 and the month-long colours of malaysia held annually from end may to june, which showcases the cultural heritage of the 13 states consisting of a grand procession as well as traditional dance performances and promotions at participating hotels and complexes in kuala lumpur.

In kelantan, a colourful display of giant kites weave in the wind in late may in the international kite festival which draws participants from the region and enthusiasts from europe and japan.

Read more

Putrajaya, just outside the city of kuala lumpur

Putrajaya, just outside the city of kuala lumpur bordering on malaysia's silicon valley of cyberjaya is designed as a intelligent, cyber-city and is the new federal goverment administrative centre.

Designed of a model city , it is a throughly modern township displaying the best of malaysian design and architecture in an environmentally-friendly setting of Beautifully landscaped lakes and parks.

Putrajaya encompasses the dual concept of intelligent city and garden city and 38 percent of the land area is devoted to parks, lakes and wetlands. The latter provides interesting get aways for visitors and an opportunity to learn about the country's diversified tropical flora and fauna.

The prime areas in putrajaya city are divided into precincts and area devoted to government offices, commercial, residential and recreational facilities. The buildings in the government precinct feature smart building concepts with computerized utilities and amenities.

Read more

Pubs and discotheques, with some featuring live bands

Penang

Pubs and discotheques, with some featuring live bands, can be found at most hotels and their vicinity in the batu feringghi, teluk bahang, tanjung bungah, beach areas as well as in georgetown at lebuh leith, lebuh campbell, lebuh gereja and pangkalan weld.

Malacca

The sound and light show, held near the porta de santiago, is malacca's most popular form of public evening entertainment. There are one hour shows held each evening. Portuguese culture shows are held at the restaurants at medan portugis usually every saturday nights. Dance group perform portuguese and malay dance accompanied by a traditional band. Malacca raya in the heart of the city is the nightlife district and has several pubs, discotheques, karaoke bars and show lounges.

Johor

The main town of johor bahru has a thriving nightlife. Johor is a popular weekend retreat for visitors from across the causeway in singapore and there is a profusion of restaurants, pubs, discotheques, and show longues in the main town areas and at the hotels.

Read more

Kuala lumpur the capital city of the federation of malaysia

Kuala lumpur the capital city of the federation of malaysia, is centrally located on the west coast of peninsular malaysia. Covering some 243sq km (94 suare miles), it lies approximately 35km from the coast. Kuala lumpur was conferred city status on february, 1972 and declared a federal terrritory in 1974.

The city begin as a mining settlement in the late 1800s with the discovery of tin at the confluence of the klang and gombak rivers. Although KL's tin trade has since declined, the growth of the city has remained unabated. Today, with the population of 1,5 million, it is the pulse of the nation. Kuala lumpur leads the country's fast paced development in trade and commerce, banking and finance, manufacturing, transportation, information technology and tourism.

Getting to kuala lumpur is easy with over 45 international airlines, including malaysia airlines, serving the city's new state of the art KL International Airport (KLIA) at sepang. Domestic routes are served by air asia, singapore airlines and royal brunei airlines, in addition to malaysia airlines.

Place of interest
Dataran Merdeka

At the stroke of midnight on 31st august 1957, the union jack was lowered for the last time at this historic place in the centre of town. The dataran merdeka (merdeka square), is a field fronting the royal selangor club, where malaysians converge each year to celebrate indepedence.

Read more

Malaysia has a great variety of refreshing tropical fruits

Malaysia has a great variety of refreshing tropical fruits. Some are seasonal while others are available throughout the year. Local fruits which are especially popular include papaya, passion fruit, water melon and pineapple.

Banana. There are several kinds of bananas available and varieties grown can be grouped into two categories : those eaten raw for the fine flavour, lamaican banana, pisang mas, pisang rastali, and those which are made into goreng pisang or banana fritters.

Carambola. Much better known as the starfruit because of its shape when sliced, this fruit's yellow flesh enclosed in a crisp skin is soft and juice. Its flavour varies from sour to sweet. Starfruit is available all year around. Although it is eaten fresh, starfruit juice is very popular as it is believed to lower blood pressure.

Cempedak. Like the jackfruit, this is a compound fruit. It is fruit contains dozens of seed covered with a sweet fragrant, rich yellow flesh. When eaten raw, the seed is discarded. A popular way of eating cempedak is to deep-fry it in batter. The cooked seed, which tastes like young potato, can be eaten too.

Read more

Natural, home grown ingredients figure prominently in malay food

Malay Cuisine

Natural, home grown ingredients figure prominently in malay food. Coconut, chilli, lemon grass, lime leaves, spices and turmeric are basic ingredients cooked with fish meat or vegetables. A traditional accompaniment to measl is a hot sambal made of ground chilli, prawn paste and condiments.

The famous dish of satay consist of skewers of marinated beef or chicken barbecued over charcoal and served with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce dip. It is accompanied with cucumber, onions and ketupat (rice cubes boiled in palm leaf).

Nasi Lemak. A popular malay dish breakfast nasi lemak is a spicy and fragrant meal of rice steamed in coconut milk served with a selection of curried chicken, beef of squid, cucumber, fried anchovies and sambal all neatly served in banana leaf.

Read more

Dining in malaysia is a truly gastronomic experience

Dining in malaysia is a truly gastronomic experience. The multi cultural nature of malaysia's population has provided a rich legacy of local cuisine and creative styles of preparation. The staggering variety of food, desserts and food found throughout the nation ensures that eating out anywhere, be it in a country setting, island or town, is a pleasant encounter.

The unique and authentic cooking styles and flavours of malay, chinese and indian cuisine is an experience to be enjoyed when visiting malaysia. Dining or eating out is relatively inexpensive experience. Visitors can dine in five-star hotels, food courts, hawker centres, 'kopitiam' or coffeshops, restaurants, fast food chain outlets and even at roadside stalls.

The interesting potpourri of local cuisine has been complemented with cosmopolitan influences and european, japanese, thai and vietnamese fare is available at specific restaurants.

Read more