TRAVEL WITH BLACKBERRY IN 2011 - BALI EXPERIENCE

Cindy & Fiza - First thing to do at the Arrival in Bali

When I first arrived in Bali, I had little hope of getting my Blackberry connected to a local carrier, as I had experienced in Kalimantan. 

Upon arriving at the hotel near Jl Poppies 1, myself, Deli, Cindy, and Fiza went to a nearby shop to purchase a new local SIM card. We were fortunate to find Eddy, the helpful owner of the kiosk, who sold us a starter-pack of AXIS for Rp50,000, which included Rp2000. Although it was easy to get a SIM card in Bali, I have to admit that the reliability was not as good as I had hoped. The 3G connection was also quite slow, and it would often disconnect every few minutes.

Deli 'Checked-in' at Kuta Beach

Overall, getting a SIM card in Bali was a pleasant experience, despite the expensive phone plans and potential for being cheated. The service was average and the rates were cheap. Even though the network was not very reliable, we were still glad to get our phones hooked up with a local carrier. This enabled us to tweet, Facebook, email, and access information about almost everything regarding the island, which was invaluable to us.

RWMF TOP 5 MUSIC FESTIVAL IN ASIA

Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) was listed amongst the Top Five festivals in Asia by ContentCreatorZ, an international website. This augurs well for the festival which is making a name for itself in the international music scene and thus also putting Sarawak on the world tourism map.

Leweton Women's Water Music from Vanuatu
among the group perform at RWMF 2011

ContentCreatorZ’s website lists key events and festivals from around the globe. Rainforest World Music Festival was rated in the Top Five amongst other acclaimed music festivals in Asia. Amongst the festivals lauded are Seoul World DJ Festival in South Korea, Beijing Pop Festival, Jaffna Music Festival and Madras Music Season which is held in India.

RWMF which features world famous World-Music artist from all over the world will be held in Santubong near Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak in the island of Borneo. The days of festival are filled with jamming session in each ethnic houses within the Sarawak Cultural Village which also involved close interaction audience with the performers. Evenings fill the air with music on the stage with the rainforest jungle as the backdrop.  

More info about RWMF at http://www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com/
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RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL 2011 LAUNCHED

Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2011 was officially launched today by the Sarawak Tourism Minister. The festival will be held on July 8 to 10 in Sarawak Cultural Village in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

The organiser has confirmed participation from by Startijenn of France, Pacific Curls of New Zealand, Mamak Khadem of Iran, The Blue Canyon Boys from USA, Lisa Haley & The Zydekats also USA, The Shin of Georgia in Eastern Europe, Ikswew of Canada, Frigg from Finland, Malick Pathe Sow of Senegal, Agungbeat, the only Malaysian represents, Victor Valdez Trio of Mexico/Australia, Ilgi from Latvia, Hanggai of China, Kissmet of India/UK, Paddy Keenan Trio from Ireland, Duoud from Tunisia/Algeria, Joaquin Diaz from Dominican Republic, Kamafei from Italy, Kenge Kenge from Kenya and Warsaw Village band from Poland.

The festival venue capacity is the matter but the festival organizers hope to attract a crowd of at least 21,000 for the whole 3 nights event. 70% from outside the state of Sarawak are the target which will thus augur well for the local business people as well as contributing to the tourist arrival numbers into Sarawak which was the main role of their Tourism Board. The organizer has also promised to make an efforts to move towards making this year's Music Festival a greener festival.

Festival’s official website www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com.

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MIRI JAZZ FESTIVAL IS NOW ‘BORNEO JAZZ’

Borneo Jazz new Image

Miri International Jazz Festival (MIJF) is now renamed Borneo Jazz.  The rationale behind this change is to bring the event at par with other international festivals. This renaming is also to capitalize on the destination Borneo, a name which conjurs images of a magical destination. With this change, comes a reimaging to reflect the vibrancy of this festival and the destination. The event will be held at the Parkcity Everly Hotel, Miri, Sarawak in the island of Borneo from May 13-14, 2011.

The organization of the festival for 2011, will be undertaken by STB Leisure & Properties, a subsidiary of Sarawak Tourism Board (STB). STB however will continue to focus on the marketing and promotion of the event itself.

The organiser is in the midst of designing the packages to attract visitors, so visitors would be able to attend the festival at night and visiting places of interest during the day.

SINGAPORE GRASS ROOT LEADERS’ RETREAT IN SARAWAK

Ms Irene Ng meet Datu Ik Pahon at Seafood Dinner

A group of 69 key grass root leaders from Singapore recently visited Kuching for a retreat in the state.



Led by Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Members of Parliament, Singapore), the group had been touring surrounding of Kuching including a visit to local a village’s Gahat Mawang in Serian on December 3. Here they have been intermingling with the villagers and local grass root leaders where they also have a dinner in the village involve the local community.

GREAT ORANG UTAN PROJECT AWARDED IN LONDON

Great Orangutan Project, a project run by Way Out Experiences, has been highly commended in the Best volunteering organisation category at this year's Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards. This award which was launched in 2004 are run in association with partners World Travel Market, Metro Newspaper and Geographical Magazine industry.

SILVER SHADOW BERTHS IN KUCHING

This morning, the Silver Shadow cruise ship arrived at Senari Port Kuching at 0545 hrs, carrying more than 500 passengers from all over the world. This was the first arrival from Silversea Cruises and the last cruise ship to arrive in Sarawak this year. The 183m vessel had been on a 9-night Thailand to Singapore cruise, making stops in Bangkok (Klong Toey), Ko Samui, Ho Chi Minh, Kuching, and Singapore.

Silver Shadow berthed in Kuching, Sarawak

The Sarawak Tourism Board was on hand to welcome the passengers with a vibrant display of traditional Sarawak dances and garlands of beads, much to the delight of the travelers. Out of the 563 passengers on board, more than 276 were tourists from the US, UK, Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Thailand, Italy, Indonesia, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, China, Canada, and Singapore. Additionally, 65 doctors were part of an incentive group for the Cardiovascular Information System (CVIS), and had included a site visit to the Sarawak General Hospital.

Culture Troupe of Sarawak at the Welcoming

The Culture Troupe of Sarawak was also present to welcome the passengers, and had planned a visit to see the Orang Utan, Sarawak Cultural Village, and a Bidayuh longhouse in Anah Rais. Silver Shadow is one of the vessels of the luxury cruise liner Silversea Cruises, owned and operated by the Lefebyres of Rome. It caters to the cosmopolitan world traveler and has branch offices in the US, UK, Australia, and Singapore, with its headquarters based in Monaco.

Courtesy of Sarawak Tourism Board