Sarawak  is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang ("Land of the Hornbills"), Sarawak is situated on the northwest of the island, bordering the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, Indonesia to the south, and surroundingBrunei. It is the largest Malaysian state.

The administrative capital is Kuching, which has a population of 700,000. Major cities and towns include Miri (pop. 350,000), Sibu(pop. 257,000) and Bintulu (pop. 200,000). As of the last census (2010), the state population was 2,420,009.

SARAWAK AMAZING PLACES

CULTURAL VILLAGE

Known as the 'Living Museum', the Cultural Village was set up to preserve and showcase Sarawak's cultural heritage. Located at Pantai Damai, Santubong, just 32km from the state capital, Kuching, it is the perfect place to get introduced to local culture and lifestyle. 

Sprawled across 17 acres, there are about 150 people living in the village, demonstrating traditional daily activities from Sarawak's diverse tribes like the processing of sago and the making of handicrafts. They wear traditional costumes and also put on dances for visitors. 

The village residents provide information on their various traditional cultures and lifestyles. You can see replicas of buildings that represent every major ethnic group in Sarawak; longhouses of the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu, a Melanau tall-house and a Chinese farm house among others. 

The village also has a theatre, where you can enjoy 

SARAWAK AMAZING PLACES

KUCHING WATERFRONT

Kuching Waterfront, which lines the south bank of Sarawak River, is THE place to sample the city's cosmopolitan vibes. During the daytime, it offers scenic views of the Astana, Fort Margherita and the Malay kampungs across the river; but night-time is when it really comes alive! It seems like half of the city is out meeting friends, watching a show, or just shooting the breeze. For something different, why not try jetty-hopping along the river on the local Penambang boats, and savour the different sights, sounds (and delicacies!) between the two riverbanks. 

A result of a major restoration and land reclamation project, Kuching Waterfront today is the most popular meeting place in the city. Drab warehouses have been replaced with an almost 900m long esplanade, beautifully landscaped and dotted with wooden benches, food stalls, restaurants and entertainment facilities. A number of older buildings have been preserved and incorporated into the design, including the Chinese History Museum, the Sarawak Steamship Building, an open-air theatre and the Square Tower. Modern additions to the Waterfront include a restored Chinese pavilion, colourful musical fountains, and a number of modern sculptures.

SARAWAK AMAZING PLACES

GUA NIAH AND GUNUNG MULU

Niah Caves is located within the district of Miri in Sarawak,Malaysia. Part of Niah National Park, the main cave, Niah Great Cave, is located in Gunung Subis and is made up of several voluminous, high-ceilinged chambers. The Great Cave lies in a large limestone block, about a kilometre long in general north to south direction and about half a kilometre wide, that is detached from the main Gunung Subis complex, by a valley between about 150 to 200 meters wide. The main Gunung Subis complex rises to about 394^[1] meters above sea level at its highest point. The whole "Gunung Subis Limestone Complex" lies some 17 kilometres inland from the South China Sea coast and about 65 kilometres south west of the town Miri. It is roughly heart shaped measuring five kilometres from its northern tip to the south and four kilometres across. The Gunung Subis is surrounded by a low countryside with gentle hills from which the small limestone massiv and its smaller detached blocks rise rather appruptly out of the jungle, some with cliffs over 100 metres high.^[2] Though it is not an extensive cave system compared to others in Sarawak, it has been estimated to cover some 10 hectares and the roof rises to about 75 metres above the cave floor in some places.^[3] In geological terms, the limestones are part of the Subis Formation. This is dated to some 20 to 16 million years ago during the Early Miocene.^[2] The caves have been used by humans at different times ranging from the prehistory to neolithic, Chinese Sung-Era and more recent times.

The cave is an important prehistorical site where human remains dating to 40,000 years have been found.^[3] This is the oldest recorded human settlement in east Malaysia. More recent studies published in 2006 have shown evidence of the first human activity at the Niah caves from ca. 46,000 to ca. 34,000 years ago.^[4]Painted Cave, situated in a much smaller limestone block of its own, some 150 metres from the Great Cave block's south eastern tip, has rock paintings dated as 1,200 years old. The caves are also well known for thebirds' nest (Swiftlet) industry. It is a popular tourist destination in Sarawak. Archeologists have claimed a much earlier date for stone tools found in the Mansuli valley, near Lahad Datu inSabah, but precise dating analysis has not yet been published.^[5]

Research was pioneered by Tom Harrisson in the 1950/60s.^[6] Since then local universities and foreign scientists have continued the archaeological research, and many articles have been published in the Sarawak Museum Journal. The site has been re-excavated (1999-2003+)^[7] by a joint British-Malaysian expedition to determine the accuracy of Harrisson's work.

Items found at Niah Cave include Pleistocene chopping tools and flakes, Neolithic axes, adzes, pottery, shell jewellery, boats, mats, then iron tools and ceramics and glass beads dating to theIron Age. The most famous find is the human skull dated at around 38,000 years BCE.^[3][7]Painted Cave has paintings and wooden coffin 'death ships'.

Niah National Park was 31.4 km² when it was gazetted in 1974.^[8]

Nomination for World Heritage status was sent to UNESCO in 2010.

Gunung Mulu National Park near Miri, Sarawak,Malaysian Borneo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforestsetting. The park is famous for its caves and the expeditions that have been mounted to explore them and their surrounding rainforest, most notably the Royal Geographical SocietyExpedition of 1977–1978, which saw over 100 scientists in the field for 15 months. This initiated a series of over 20 expeditions now drawn together as the Mulu Caves Project

The national park is named after Mount Mulu, the second highest mountain in Sarawak.

Gunung Mulu National Park is famous for its limestone karst formations. Features include enormous caves, vast cave networks, rock pinnacles, cliffs and gorges. Mount Mulu is asandstone mountain rising to 2,376 m (7,795 ft).

Gunung Mulu National Park has the largest known natural chamber or room - Sarawak Chamber, found in Gua Nasib Bagus. It is 2,300 feet (700 m) long, 1,300 feet (396 m) wide and at least 230 feet (70 m) high. It has been said that the chamber is so big that it could accommodate about 40 Boeing 747s, without overlapping their wings. The nearby Deer Cave was, for many years, considered the largest single cave passage in the world.

Other notable caves in this area are Benarat Cavern, Wind Cave, and Clearwater Cave; which contains parts one of the world's largest underground river systems and is believed to be the largest cave in the world by volume at 30,347,540 m³.

Mulu's limestones belong to the Melinau Formation and their age is between 17 and 40 million years (Late Eocene to Early Miocene).

Stratigraphically below the limestones, and forming the highest peaks in the south east sector of the Park including Gunung Mulu, lies the Mulu Formation (shales and sandstones). The age of these rocks is between 40 and 90 million years (Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene).

SARAWAK AMAZING PLACES

BAKO NASIONAL PARK

Bako National Park, established in 1957, is the oldest national park in Sarawak, eastern Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It covers an area of 27.27 square kilometres (10.53 sq mi) at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsula at the mouth of the Bako and Kuching Rivers. It is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) by road fromKuching. Millions of years of erosion of the sandstone have created a coastline of steep cliffs, rocky headlands and stretches of white, sandy bays. Wave erosion at the base of the cliffs has carved many of the rocky headlands into fantastically shaped sea arches and seastacks with colored patterns formed by iron deposition. Some of these rock formations can be seen on entry to the Teluk Assam Beach, which fronts the park. The park can only be reached by a 20-minute boat ride from the village of Kampung Bako. It is often visited as a day-trip from Kuching, though accommodations (campground and forestry service bungalows) are available.

Bako is one of the smallest national parks in Sarawak. However, it features multiple biomes (including rainforest), abundant wildlife, jungle streams and waterfalls, secluded beaches, and trekking trails. A network of 16 marked walking trails of different lengths allows visitors access. In addition, various beaches are accessible by boat from Kampung Bako or Teluk Assam, as well as a geologically interesting sea stack rock formation. The range of attractions and activities in a compact area have made Bako one of the most popular parks in Sarawak^{[citation needed]}.

The park was the final pit stop of The Amazing Race Asia 1.

SARAWAK FAMOUS FOOD

KEK LAPIS SARAWAK

Kek Lapis Sarawak is a layered cake, traditionally served in Sarawak, Malaysia on special occasions. In the Malay language, they are known as Kek Lapis Sarawak, Kek Lapis Moden Sarawak, Kek Sarawak or Kek Lapis. They are often baked for religious or cultural celebrations such as Eid ul-Fitr, Christmas,Deepavali, birthdays and weddings.

People in Malaysia practice an open house on festival day. A unique feature of Sarawak's open houses is the modern layered cakes.

Modern Sarawakian layered cakes were introduced to the people of Sarawak from Indonesia officially around 1988. The Indonesian version has been known since the Dutch colonial era; its most famous varieties are the Lapis Legit, a spice-flavored multilayered cake, and Lapis Surabaya.

In 2011, the history of Sarawak layered cakes once again change by a new generation (Sarawakian) of innovative natural layer cakes evangelist named Kek Lapis Qalas Qalas. By introducing modern design and traditional layer, coupled with new flavors which inspired from home-made inspiration,each layer is tastefully interlaced with various natural flavours in between the original recipe, modern taste and knowledge from their ancestor.

Sarawakian modern layered cakes can be divided into two categories: cakes with ordinary layers and cakes with patterns, motifs, or shapes. All must have at least two colors. The cake can be baked in an oven or microwave. The batter uses butter or vegetable oil, milk and eggs, and requires a strong arm or electric mixer to be properly prepared. The baked cake has a high, firm texture and the layers are fastened together with jam or a similarly sticky sweet substance. More detailed cakes often require special moulds to maintain the perfect layer thickness.

Spekkoek (also called Spiku in some cities in Indonesia) or more popularly called lapis legit in Indonesia is a Dutch-Indonesian layered cake. It was developed during colonial times in the Dutch East Indies and may have been based on Dutch cake recipes using local ingredients.[citation needed] The cake is the Indische (Dutch people that had lived for years if not generation in Indonesia during the colonial time) version of Baumkuchen and contain popular mix spices of cinnamon, clove, mace and anise. In Indonesia, the cake is very popularly known as lapis legit, which literally means (very) rich layer-cake. The cake is very rich for a 20x20cm size cake contains up to 30 egg yolks, half a kilo butter, and 400g sugar. The name of the cake is derived from its layered structure. This layered structured is achieved because of the many very thin layers of cake that are piled on the top of each other. A good lapis legit has more than 18 layers. This makes the baking of spekkoek a very labour-intensive process. The product is therefore a rather expensive delicacy: about EUR 20 per kg in 2010.[1] In Indonesia, a 20x20cm-sized spekkoek (or lapis legit) can cost up to IDR 400,000 (approx. EUR 12.5).

Spekkoek on sale in Indo (Eurasian) shop in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In Indonesia, spekkoek is enjoyed during Chinese New Year, Aidilfitri and Christmas celebrations. It is also served or given as gifts in many local festivities, sometimes in a birthday party and wedding. In the Netherlands, the sliced cake is traditionally served as dessert in rijsttafel.[2] The cake has a firm texture, similar to the one of a Baumkuchen in a baking plate but without a chocolate or sugar shell. Baking the cake requires much patience. Each thin layer is made by pouring a small amount of the batter from a small cup, baked one layer after another in the oven until golden with heat from the top. Cakes baked in electric ovens have a better taste as the cake can bake a lot faster gas is not recommended, but Dutch ovens with charcoal fire on top of the lid produces the best results. In some cases where clove buds or cardamon seeds are difficult to find, bakers use spekkoek powder as a replacement. Milling and mixing the spice before baking produces a cake with an excellent aroma. Actually the spice must be sieved into the flour at least 3 times as the spice is very fine and balls of spice will appear in the batter

SARAWAK FAMOUS FOOD

LAKSA SARAWAK

• Sarawak laksa (Malay: Laksa Sarawak) comes from the Malaysian state Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. It is actually very different from the curry laksa as the soup contains no curry at all. It has a base of Sambal belacan, sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns, fresh coriander and optionally lime. Ingredients such as bean sprouts, (sliced) fried tofu or other seafood are not traditional but are sometimes added.

SARAWAK FAMOUS FOOD

IKAN TERUBOK SARAWAK

The only species of Terubok Sarawak “Tenualosa Toli” that can be found in this world is in the rivers of Sarawak. It is a river fish and the best ones are from the rivers of Sebuyau. The fish has 2 gendre, male & female, during the 1st year it will become a male and thereafter the 2nd year it will transformed into a female and will lay eggs. The best species are from the Sarawak rivers (Tenualosa Toli), to recognise this species among the rest of the imported teruboks, you can see that it's mouth will be longer but the head is smaller, the body will be wider but short and the scales are silvery bluish in color. Best prepared is either grilled or salted.

SARAWAK EVENT

RAINFOREST WORLD 

MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Rainforest World Music Festival is an annual three-day music festival celebrating the diversity of world music, held in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, with daytime music workshops, cultural displays, craft displays, food stalls, and main-stage evening concerts. It is now one of the largest musical events in Malaysia with a total weekend audience approaching 30,000.

The festival features a wide range of performances from traditional music, to world fusion and contemporary world music. The festival emphasizes the use of traditional acoustic world instruments, although electric accompaniment instruments are common. Invited performers come from Sarawak, other provinces of Malaysia, and countries near and far. Festival acts have included: Joey Ayala (Philippines - 1998), Shooglenifty (Scotland - 1999), Inka Marka (South America - 2000), Rajery (Madagascar - 2001), Black Umfolosi (Zimbabwe - 2002), Huun Huur Tu (Tuva), Cynthia Alexander (Philippines) - 2003), Te Vaka (Samoa/New Zealand - 2004),Namgar (Mongolia - 2005), Peatbog Faeries (Scotland - 2006), Tarika Be (Madagascar - 2007), and Ross Daly (Greece - 2008), Shannon (Poland - 2005, 2007).

The festival was founded by Randy Raine-Reusch, a Canadian world music instrumentalist, Robert Basiuk (then marketing head of the Sarawak Tourism Board), Edric Ong, President of the Society Atelier of Sarawak, which supports traditional arts, and Edgar Ong ^[1] a film producer, at the Ong brothers' residence in Kuching in 1997.

The Society Atelier undertook the initial planning, financing and laid the future groundwork. When approached to assist, the Sarawak Tourism Board later took over and greatly enlarged the idea.

In the early years, Randy, Edgar Ong and Yeoh Jun Lin were instrumental in selecting the international musicians who took part; and they nurtured the future direction of the festival. During its fourth year, there was a bid from WOMAD to take over the festival and rename it WOMAD Borneo.

The Sarawak Tourism Board has since taken the festival to a larger audience, hence also to a more commercial level. During it first and second year, only about 400 people attended the festival.

The festival is held in the grounds of the Sarawak Cultural Village nestled against the base ofMount Santubong, about 35 km. north of Kuching. The festival runs workshops (mini concerts) in the afternoon followed by evening performances held on the two main stages in the village. The festival usually features from 18 to 20 bands through the weekend.

The atmosphere is very relaxed. Although there are timetables for the workshops and evening performances, visitors are free to enter and leave any event at will. The daytime workshops are held inside various traditional houses in the village, where the performers and leaders of the events are often on the same floor-level as the audience, allowing them to get up close to the performers. There are also no restrictions in communicating with the performers, and the musicians themselves sometimes encourage conversation, especially if it is regarding the topic of the workshop they are running or about the traditional instruments they use. Artists are also not hidden behind barriers at the festival and can seen walking through the site throughout the duration, allowing the audience access to them at any time.

The book "Music without Borders" written by Heidi Munan, was commissioned by the Tourism Board to commemorate the 10th anniversary. With a limited publication of 5000 copies, this lavish publication featured many interviews and colour photos of the event. However it received criticism for an alleged lack of balance, with only subtle references to shortcomings and no critical commentary on possilbe improvements. Many contrary opinions were supposedly "censored" and anecdotes and energetic contributors from the early years omitted.

Sarawak Event

SARAWAK REGATTA

An annual event organized by Kuching Resident Office. The event is the showcase of boat race with participation from various government agencies, private sectors and also participants from overseas such as Indonesia and Brunei. Other activities include displays of crafts and exhibitions by local entrepreneurs.

Sarawak Regatta has been a premier event with a distinct historical and cultural significant. It was held as early as before 1872 and was organized as an annual event taking place during the New Year. Sarawak Gazette had recorded in 1872, that the annual Regatta that year was held, on 29th February 1872 at the Sarawak River infront of the Astana. The European community in Sarawak and in the neighboring countries were invited to the Astana - for breakfast - before the race. Keen competition were also recorded for the Rajah Cup. The boat 'Sri Matu' built and manned by the Melanaus, was reported as the winning boat.

The Gazette records provided the indication that Regatta had been an important social event organized annually for social integration and goodwill for the people of Sarawak. Prominent political figure, the late Tan Sri Datuk Amar Ong Kee Hui, recorded that Rajah Charles Brooke used to send his yacht Maimunah1 to outstation to bring in the various Tuan Residents to join in the social event.

The tradition of holding the annual Regatta in the Sarawak River continued through the Colonial period and into the post-Malaysia period. During these periods the Regatta was organized by Resident and District Office with funds from the Government while the rest of the fund was raised through public donations.

The day programme include races for traditional longboats, dragon boats and other activities, like the running of totolizers, climbing greasing poles, catching ducks and pillow fights. Racing boats from outstations made it a grand affair and also a great occasion for families from outside the State Capital to visit Kuching town.