Damai Beach

Day One

Due to the bad flight timings departing from Singapore, we had to book AirAsia flight departing from Johor Bahru instead. Took an early train and reached Kranji MRT station at around 7 am. Then boarded SBS Bus no. 170 to Kota Raya II bus terminal at Johor Bahru. It wasn't a straight-through bus journey; all passengers had to alight and board the same SBS bus number at both Singapore and Malaysia checkpoints. Made a calculation, altogether I had to board and alight from the bus 3 times. This can be quite a hassle if you're carrying a big luggage during peak hours.

Senai Airport City Lounge

After reaching Kota Raya II bus terminal at 0840 hrs, we then walked towards the Senai Airport city lounge located at the end of the terminal (left photo below). Purchased our shuttle bus tickets to Senai Airport for only MYR 8 per person at the service counter (right photo below). The shuttle bus departs at every 40 / 60-mins interval and takes about 30-mins to an hour (depending on traffic) to reach Senai Airport. Click here to refer to the shuttle bus schedule.



Had my breakfast at the lounge (left photo below) where I ordered a Mee Soto at MYR 4.50 and a cup of milk tea at MYR 1.50 (right photo below). Taste was good except the price was only slightly cheaper; in fact I'm hoping to be half the price of those in Singapore which wasn't possible in Johor Bahru.



Senai Airport

The shuttle bus set off from the lounge at 0950 hrs and reached Senai Airport at about 1025 hrs, which allowed us to have plenty of time for flight check-in. We explored almost every corner of the airport before decided to have our early lunch at this Bistro Restaurant (left photo below). Had a plate of Penang Fried Kueh Teow at MYR 8.90 and a Pearl Bubble Green-tea at MYR 6.90 (right photo below). The Kueh Teow was great and comparable to the one I had in Penang.



Didn't realize that there were even more shops in the airport transit hall (left photo below). Probably we're on budget airline, there was no sky-bridge connected to the aircraft; every passenger had to walk to the plane for boarding regardless rain or shine (right photo below).



Hired a cab at the taxi counter of Kuching International Airport. Cab fare was fixed at MYR 62 to Damai and the ride took about 40-mins to reach the resort (about 35 km from Kuching city).

Permai Rainforest Resort

Damai is located at the foot of Mount Santubong (left photo below) where there are beautiful beaches. Upon arrival, was rather amazed that the reception of Permai Rainforest Resort (right photo below) was well hidden from the carpark area; probably due to the thick vegetation. Several activities such as kayaking, forest tracking, or obstacles course could be carried out inside this resort. Locals could also access to the resort (including the beach area) at a cost of MYR 5 per adult.



Tree-house Lodging

Nevertheless I was more impressed with my lodging (a Tree-house) for the next 2 days. The treehouse stay cost MYR 300 and MYR 260 for first and second night, respectively. These tree-houses are 6-meters above ground (photos below).



Basic facilities such as air-cons, hot showers, bath towels, fridge, tea/coffee making facilities were provided (photos below). However no telephone or television was installed because it would defeat the purpose of relaxing in a natural-setting resort.





Speaking of getting close to nature; the sound of sea lapping against the shore could be heard clearly at night and in the morning birds chirping could be heard while showering. Occasionally insects such as moths and ants do get into the room. One solution I've learned was to ensure that all windows and insect-screens are tightly closed.

Resort Breakfast

Breakfast was included in the package, and depending on the number of occupants it would either be a-la-cart or buffet breakfast. Here were my breakfast selections for both days; a-la-cart selection of American Breakfast (left photo below) and buffet breakfast (right photo below).

Wildlife Encountered

During our stay, I could only see two wildlife species within the resort: a Green Crested Lizard (Bronchocela cristatella) (left photo below), and Sliver-Leaf langurs (Presbytis cristata) (right photo below). The lizard was spotted near the tracking route and the langurs were spotted in the morning near the resort entrance.

Damai Beach Resort

Since there was some time before dinner, we then decided to explore the Damai area. Walked about 20-mins from our resort, where we bypass Sarawak Cultural Village, Damai Lagoon Resort and finally reached this Damai Beach Resort. View from this lagoon resort was great (left photo below). Previously known as Holiday Inn, Damai Beach Resort is definitely the best holiday resort in Damai area.

Went to Satang café located inside the resort to enjoy a 'Satang Island Ice-cream' (right photo below). This cup of 3 scoops ice-cream cost MYR 12, excluding 5% government tax and 10% service charge.



Treez Restaurant

After our ice-cream indulge, we then walked towards our dinning place – Treez, a restaurant located on a small hill beside the Damai Beach resort main entrance (left photo below). The ambiance was good and the restaurant got crowded after 7.30pm. We each ordered a glass of fruit juice since it was happy-hour and all drinks were on discounted price. I got myself a honeydew juice at MYR 10.90 (right photo below).



The prawn cracker was complimentary. Our main course consisted of a plate of Ayam Masak Hitam Manis (Penang style chicken) at MYR 16.88, Udang Masak Lemak Belembing Buluh (Prawns cooked in coconut with chili and lemon grass) at MYR 22.88, Seafood Fried Rice at MYR 15.80 and a dozen of Chicken satay at MYR 27.60. We also had dessert: Sago Gula Melaka at MYR 8.80. Photos below are arranged in order of left to right, top to down as mentioned.

Taste was good, especially the satay gravy remained hot for a long time because it was contained in hot stoneware and the gula melaka was not that sweet. As usual, the total bill would include a 5% government tax and 10% service charge.

Transport back to Permai Rainforest can be arranged by the restaurant for MYR 3 per person. We decided to take the transport since the road back to our Permai rainforest resort was a long walk (at least 20-mins) and rather dark with few street lamps.


Day Two

Sarawak Cultural Village

After breakfast, we walked for about 5-mins towards Sarawak Cultural Village from our resort (left photo below). This is a living museum that features the culture, arts and crafts of Sarawak's ethnic groups. Admission cost was MYR 60 per adult and operating hours from 0900 to 1715 hrs daily.

A passport size booklet would also be given to each visitor (right photo below). This booklet gave a brief introduction to each ethnic house and visitors could also have the fun of stamping onto the booklet after visiting each house.



Ethnic Houses

There are 7 authentic replicas of the ethnic houses, namely Longhouses of Bidayuh, Iban and Orang Ulu, the Melanau Tall house, Chinese Farm house, Malay stilted house and Penan Hut. Inside the ethnic houses, traditional handicrafts and foods making were part of the activities to showcase to visitors (photos below).



The House of Bidayuh and its interior displays (photos below).



A corner of Penan Hut (left photo below) and Long-house of Orang Ulu (right photo below).



Exterior facade (left photo below) and Interior decorations (right photo below) of a typical Malay Stilted House. This is the only house where visitors have to take off their shoes before entering.



Tall house of Melanau (left photo below) and Chinese 'Blue and White' jars (青花瓷) were displayed (right photo below). Only after I visited Sarawak Museum, then I understood that Melanau had traded their spices with the Chinese Merchants for these jars.

Traditional Kuih making

Below is the clip on making the traditional kuih, in sequence of Kuih Jala, Kuih Cup and Kuih Sepit (video clip). Each pack of kuih costs only MYR 2.

Cultural Show

No visitor would want to miss the Cultural show which features dances and hunting techniques of some of the ethnic tribes. The cultural shows are performed twice daily at 11.30am and 4.00pm. The actual theatre was still constructing during my visit, therefore all visitors could only watch the show in the temporary hall.

Following are the snapshots of their interesting performances (photos below).















Following is the clip on part of the cultural show (video below).

Lunch at Cultural Village

We had lunch at one of the restaurants inside the village. Ordered a Bundung Chincau at MYR 3 (left photo below), Sarawak Laksa at MYR 5 (right photo below), Fried Chicken and Fried rice at MYR 9.50 (left bottom photo) and Santubong (similar to our horfun) at MYR 6.50 (right bottom photo). Must comment that the taste of Sarawak Laksa was very different from local Singapore Laksa. Not too sure if this is typical throughout Sarawak, but in my opinion felt that Sarawak laksa had this strong taste of herbs.







Personally I find that the price of food and beverages were rather reasonable in this tourist attraction. For example a can of soft drink costs MYR 2 while a 500-ml mineral water costs MYR 1.50.

Permai Rainforest Resort

Tea Break at Rainforest Café

We left the Cultural Village at about 2.30pm and headed back to the resort for some chilled fruit juices (again) at MYR 9.50 each at their rainforest café (photos below).

Forest Tracking

After some rest, we proceeded to the tracking trail within the resort. It was a 2-km track that would take about 1.5 hours to complete (left photo below). The route was rather challenging for amateur trackers if compared to Mount Kinabalu based on the path condition per se. There was no proper man-made track; in fact most tracks were formed by rocks and tree roots, and ropes were tied only at steepest slopes to aid trackers. Among the 2-km track, most thrilling part was the rope-bridge that spanned across a dried river (right photo below).



The highlight was the waterfall in the middle of the trail which turned out to be rather small (left photo below); maybe it was due to the wrong season. Half-way during tracking the sky turned dark and drizzled down. Luckily the rain stopped and it soon turned bright again towards the end of the track (right photo below). One lesson learned was to inform the resort staff before tracking because at least someone will be there for help if there is any accident or was lost in the forest.

Dinner at Rainforest Café

After a tired track, we then walked back towards the rainforest café to have our dinner. I had a Mango justea drink at MYR 4.50 (left photo below) and Lemon Fillet with butter rice at MYR 16 (right photo below). The fillet was good and there wasn't any fishy taste.



While having dinner, we were lucky to witness the beautiful sunset across the sea (photos below).