A guide to Malaysia's regions

Malaysia offers travelers tropical islands, a 130-million-year-old rainforest and (almost) secret diving havens. The country’s many features make it challenging to know where to visit.

Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is Malaysia’s beating heart. This skyscraper-laden city houses the world-famous Petronas Twin Towers, while Little India and Chinatown offer a taste of its thriving multiculturalism. Malls are stocked with the latest fashion, technology and souvenirs, alluring bargain-hunters inland and overseas. But it isn’t all about the high life: KL is also one of the world’s food capitals, filled with street-side restaurants, vendors and food courts. Away from the skyscrapers, KL Forest Eco Park provides a slice of the rainforest in the city center.

Malacca

Malacca oozes with history and culture, with a celebrated title as one of the most historically important states in Malaysia. Malacca’s 15th-century Sultanate led to the modern Malay identity, accepting three eras of colonial influence (Portuguese, Dutch and British influence) that spanned almost five centuries. Today, UNESCO-listed Malacca City bursts with centuries-old structures, including St Paul’s—Malaysia’s oldest church. It also has a thriving food scene: Many people come here solely to eat their way through Jonker Street and stuff their faces with mountains of Peranakan cuisine.

Penang

Penang, once Malaysia’s colonial jewel and now proud street art and food capital, is split between Penang Island and mainland Butterworth. Capital George Town’s historical center includes dozens of colorful restored British colonial buildings, with traditional two-storey decorated shophouses lining the narrow streets. More curious travelers can stop by Butterworth, the hub connecting Penang and KL. This little-visited city offers colorful Chinese temples and views over the Straits and Penang Bridge.

Sabah

Borneo’s Sabah in East Malaysia showcases the best of Malaysia’s biodiversity. Pre-historic rainforest covers most of the state, where endemic proboscis monkeys and orangutans swinging from the trees. Mount Kinabalu at 4,095 metres (13,435 feet) stands proudly as Malaysia’s tallest peak, with most travelers arriving at Kota Kinabalu (literally Kinabalu City) as a base for scaling this beast. Speedboats connect the city with Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park’s beach and snorkeling opportunities within minutes. Take a day trip to the northernmost ‘Tip of Borneo’ in Kudat and watch the fireflies in Kota Belud. If you want the jungle, spend a few nights in Danum Valley or the rarely explored Maliau Basin.

Kedah

Kedah State covers a section of the Malay Peninsula and the famously duty-free Langkawi Island. World-acclaimed Langkawi receives the vast majority of the state’s tourists, home to beautiful beaches, verdant hills and a colorful nightlife scene. As an alternative, the dazzling white-sand beaches of Pantai Cenang provide the perfect place for relaxation, especially with cheap cocktails in beachside bars overlooking the gentle sea. Mainland Kedah offers a completely different travel package. Alor Setar’s modern city center blends decorative, traditional and Islamic styles of architecture, while paddy fields forming the famous ‘Rice Bowl of Malaysia’ stretch towards the horizon.

Read more: Top reasons why you should visit Malaysia

Source The culture trip

5 best libraries in Singapore

With libraries all over Singapore, some of which have specialised areas of interest, it should never be too hard to locate the information you’re after. Here’s our list of the city’s best, including state-of-the-art facilities.

National Library of Singapore

The National Library of Singapore on Victoria Street can trace its history back nearly a century when the Hullett Memorial Library became Singapore’s first public library. Today, seven of the National Library’s sixteen storeys are occupied by the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library (LKCRL) named for the Lee Foundation’s S$60 million donation that contributed to the current library, as well as the previous building on Stamford Road. The LKCRL has a collection of over 600,000 reference items making it Singapore’s premier knowledge institution. The National Library also has a public lending library, performance space and runs exhibitions teaching Singapore’s history through a variety of mediums.

Central Public Library

Part of the Singapore National Library, My Tree House at the Central Public Library focuses kids and environmentalism above all else at the World’s First Green Library. One of the library’s most impressive features is the treehouse canopy made from recycled bottles. Another feature that kids will love are The Knowledge Trees, an interactive and kinetic learning portal where kids answer questions about environmental issues and it either grows or withers in response.

library@orchard

The library@orchard was recently renovated and reopened in 2014. Located in Orchard Gateway, this library caters to adults and youngsters with texts covering topics including arts, technology and travel. The library has large open reading spaces where you’ll find design students pouring over textbooks or collaborating on projects. One of the library@orchard’s unique features is The Book Trees, multi-platform displays that are tied to the space, product and visual design collections in the library. Another useful feature is the self-service collection lockers where users can quickly retrieve reserved titles.

library@esplanade

Another library popular with young Singaporeans is the library@esplanade, Singapore’s only library dedicated to the arts and offering breathtaking vistas of Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands from its location atop the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay. Besides an extensive resource collection focused on the arts, the library features four areas dedicated to music, dance, theatre and film respectively as well as several performance spaces where users can screen films, practice piano and even hold silent jam sessions.

Bishan Public Library

Bishan Public Library gained immediate popularity soon after opening in 2006 thanks to its trademark colourful cantilevered reading pods. The library caters to the needs of the surrounding community with a collection of fiction and nonfiction titles with an emphasis on recreation, health and family related topics, spread over five storeys. In addition, the library runs monthly storytelling programs and hobbyist meetups.

See more: Best new Singapore attractions in 2019

Source: Internet

7 traditional foods to try in Oman

One of the wonders of the unique Omani culture is the exceptional mouthwatering traditional cuisine. From dates and coffee, to rice and grilled meat, here are the top Omani dishes that every visitor must try during their visit to the country.

Shuwa

Shuwa is a celebratory Omani dish that is only prepared on special occasions like Eid. During the festival, many families in Oman begin cooking their Shuwa on the first day and consume the dish on the second day.

The making of the dish is a very long and elaborate process. On the first day of Eid, the meat, which is typically lamb, goat or camel, is marinated with all kinds of spices. Each household has their own blend of ingredients that they use, including spices like coriander, nutmeg and cumin. Then the meat is wrapped in banana leaves and thrown into an underground sand oven. It is cooked underground for a day or two and then hoisted up from the ground ready to be eaten. Once the meat is taken out of the ground, it is tender with a layer of crispy spices around it. It is served with rice and tomato sauce.

Dates

Palm trees are the most frequently seen plantations around Oman. They produce mouth-watering dates. Differing in size, color, and tenderness, these dates are one of the essential meal items that are presented to every guest as part of the wonderful Omani hospitality. Sometimes, Omanis mix dried dates with sesame paste and sesame or ground coconut. They also use them in preparing different types of desserts and Omani sweets.

Harees

Harees is a porridge-like dish made from wheat and ghee, mixed in with some type of meat (often chicken). The word Harees comes from the Arabic harasaor even older, the Akkadian ‘harasu,’ which refers to the mashing of meat with barley or shelled whole grains of wheat. The bone-in meat is often first cooked separately before combining with the starch, de-boned and then rhythmically pounded into a smooth paste. It is undoubtedly one of the most ancient and popular iftar dishes across the Gulf countries during Ramadan.

Halwa

Halwa means dessert in Arabic. However, Halwa is also the name given to the most famous Omani sweets. It has a strong texture that is thicker than custard. Although Halwa is brown-colored, there is no chocolate used in its preparation. Omani Halwa consists of sugar, honey, rose water, eggs, several Omani spices and nuts. It is usually served with kahwa and dates. Omanis present it on one big plate with several spoons so that guests and visitors can share in the deliciousness.

Mushaltat

A well-known delicacy in Oman is Mushaltat, which is soft flatbread stuffed with honey, meat, spinach or cheese.  The bread is made out of refined wheat flour and kneaded into thin cakes, stuffed with ingredients and baked for about 5 minutes.

Mashuai

Mashuai is a tasty Omani fish dish. It consists of grilled kingfish with a special savory lemon sauce. With the traditional Omani spices, this dishes is uniquely mouthwatering and should not be missed on a visit to the country.

Bablou Soup

Omani paplou soup is a fish or seafood soup. It is often made with tuna and tuna roe, however shellfish and other types of fish can also be used. This dish is loved in the coastal regions of Oman. It has a wonderful citrus flavor that counterbalances the heat along with a wonderful paste made from garlic, ginger and cilantro. The soup is served over a heap of basmati rice and garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

See more: Top places to visit Oman

Source Internet