Borneo!

My son, Jared, came to visit us from Philadelphia!!  He had some vacation time left so he bought a ticket and came to visit!  He came during the school's fall break for my younger kids. So, even though we all just got back from China/Bhutan/Laos, I wanted to take advantage of the free week and go somewhere with Jared.  But where?  I first wanted to go to Thailand, but it is monsoon season there, so I tried to find someplace 'drier'.  I found an internet article titled "Top 10 Beach Resorts in Malaysia", and that was that.  There were two Shangri-La resorts on the list, my favorite hotel chain over here, so I chose the Rasa Ria Resort.  I then booked some incredibly cheap flights on Air Asia, and wondered why it would take 2 1/2 hours to get to our resort, when Thailand was less than 1 1/2 hours away.  I had forgotten that Malaysia has this eastern part, on the island of Borneo.

You may think Borneo was its own country, but no.  Borneo is the island, with part of Malaysia, Brunei, and part of Indonesia.  We were in Kota Kinabalu, the Malaysian part of Borneo.  It was actually very nice to go on a vacation where our cell phones worked and we didn't have to exchange our money!

Sunset view from our balcony

Our favorite spot to sit and read

Second favorite spot.  We spent three days at this resort and never left it.  The food was fabulous and there was plenty to do.

The beach

Austin holding his big brother,  Jared

Beach ball fun

Joe on the hydro-bike.  We spent two fun mornings doing water sports.

Jared sure enjoyed the warm weather.  It is already chilly in Philly.  :)

Papa Joe conquers stand-up paddling!

I loved being out on the water

One morning we went on a hike in the rainforest.  This resort has a wildlife reserve right next to it, where they take care of wild baby orangutans.  We were hiking up to the observation platform, to watch their feeding time.  The hike probably lasted 15 minutes, but it was sticky and hot, and we were swarmed by mosquitoes.

These two young males were quite entertaining.  I know a gal who came to Borneo to seek wild orangutans.  She hiked in the jungles for days.  Let's just say, my family was very done after our two hours in the forest.  We were all ready to head back to water.

View of the water from the platform

After the orangutans had eaten their fill, these small monkeys came and gobbled up the leftovers.

After watching the orangutans, we did a canopy walk on a suspended bridge.  Oh, in the evenings, we enjoyed watching movies together in our hotel room.  What movie did I pick the night before our orangutan viewing??  Who remembers "Any Which Way but Loose" with Clint Eastwood?  It was so bad, but the orangutan in the movie had the funniest part.  :)  A great movie to watch before our hike.

Clyde and Clint

Look closely at the park ranger's wrist.  Do you see that ant??  It was huge!!!

Austin

I am a sucker for a set of big brown eyes.  I just had throw in a picture of my adorable grandson, Cooper.  It's my blog post and I am allowed.  :)

In the afternoon, the kids went zip-lining and did a ropes course.  Here is Savannah's trip across the river.

Austin on the ropes course

Savannah, Austin, Jared

Ready for zip-lining

Ready for the ropes course.  Or it could be vice versa.  My kids are in the other room so they aren't here to ask.

This was an especially busy day for Savannah.  We are enjoying cupcakes as she and I wait for our massages.

This is the main hotel lobby.  As in The Maldives, the public spaces were open-air.

Joe and the welcome gong, as we were leaving.

I snapped this picture of the gorgeous golf course on our way to the airport.

Boarding our Air Asia flight ahead of the storm.  Actually, we got a thunderstorm every afternoon, but it didn't rain long.  And Air Asia was great.  I had low expectations for a budget airline in Malaysia, but it was a comfortable and efficient trip.  

A truly great time was had by all in Borneo!  And we stayed safe from the headhunters (the kind that take your head, not offer you a job).  Next blog post will be about showing Jared KL.