| When my wife and I were deciding where to go on | | | | Coffee Terrace restaurant, or 100RM (about 17 quid) |
| our honeymoon, we knew one thing, we wanted to | | | | per person towards a meal in one of the other |
| go to Penang in Malaysia, to celebrate with relatives | | | | restaurants. This allowance pretty much covered the |
| out there, but we knew we wanted to then move | | | | full cost of a meal in the other restaurants, except |
| on to somewhere else after that, the only thing was | | | | for the gourmet Coast restaurant which really is fijne |
| where? | | | | dining at its best. |
| The Caribbean or Africa was a no go as the price to | | | | The culinary highlights for us were dinner at Naan and |
| fly half way around the world and then back round | | | | Tepi Laut 'Makan Street'. |
| again would have been monumental. Also the | | | | Naan was, funnily enough, and Indian restaurant and |
| weather was a bit of a problem too. We tied the | | | | this award winning restaurant served some of the |
| knot in early September, which ruled out the | | | | best Indian food I have ever had, food which went |
| Maldives, Tahiti and Bali due to monsoon and rainy | | | | perfectly with the Malaysian local brew, Tiger Beer! |
| seasons. | | | | Tepi Laut 'Makan Street' was a typical Malaysian style |
| We had been to Thailand the year before so decided | | | | food court, offering all the tastes that make |
| we wanted to try somewhere else. We eventually | | | | Malaysian cuisine so special, with dishes from China, |
| chose to stay in Malaysia, but more precisely, Sabah | | | | India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Each station offered |
| in Borneo. | | | | something different, and the vegetable station |
| Well known for beautiful beaches and tiny islands | | | | featured baskets of uncooked Chinese vegetables |
| great for diving, Sabah is also well known for | | | | and sauces where people could put what they |
| orangutans, and has a world famous orangutan | | | | wanted on a plate with the sauces of their choice. |
| rehabilitation reserve at Sepilok, a short flight from | | | | The chef would then quickly stir fry these while you |
| our hotel at Kota Kinabalu. | | | | wait. |
| However, we discovered that the hotel we chose | | | | Our favourite was the kangkong belacan, what is |
| had a nature reserve within the hotel grounds that | | | | basically ung choi fried in garlic and sambal (a fiery hot |
| was affiliated with Sepilok, and took in baby | | | | shrimp paste) with some red chillies - very hot but |
| orphaned Orangutans, preparing them for their next | | | | very tasty. |
| stage at Sepilok before eventually being released | | | | The real highlight for us was the orangutans. Each |
| back into the wild. | | | | day, guests can make a donation to the reserve and |
| The Shangri-La Rasa Ria resort is situated on Pantai | | | | trek a short way into the jungle to a pair of viewing |
| Dalit Beach, a beautiful stretch of beach that is | | | | platforms to watch the baby orangutans feed. The |
| sheltered and exclusive to the resort. The hotel was | | | | experience is quite simply amazing. |
| fantastic, and deciding to treat ourselves to a stay in | | | | They are extremely cute and very agile. Some shy, |
| the Ocean Wing, the exclusive wing with its own | | | | others mischievous it is fantastic to watch their |
| private pool, breakfast and luxury rooms with sea | | | | playful antics. We went twice to see them, the first |
| views and giant soak tub on the balcony, was well | | | | time I filled my camera's memory card of around 500 |
| worth the extra money. | | | | photos well before the hour came to an end and |
| The hotel had a great choice of restaurants, and | | | | was frantically having to delete bad shots in order to |
| deciding to go half-board was a good option. | | | | take more. |
| Half-board entitles you to breakfast and dinner at the | | | | |