The Malaysian Homestay Programme gives you a chance to experience traditional village life while immersing in a laid-back, beautiful environment
After a busy week in the office rushing for deadlines, fighting with lunch crowds and cramming into packed trains, don’t you think
enough is enough?
Where could one go to escape all this city stress and high blood pressure? Where are places that are green and lush, laid-back and quaint; and nearby so that travel is convenient and quick?
Just watch a classic P Ramlee movie with friends and it will hit you. A Malay kampong would be so nice to escape to.
Where else has the best and the most varied kampongs? Malaysia, of course. A homestay in a traditional kampong across the border would be just perfect.
Enjoyed by All
Malaysian Homestay Programmes can be enjoyed with family and friends, corporate and incentive groups, and simply by yourself. It is the ideal way to not only escape the rush of city life but to also experience the traditional kampong lifestyle at its most authentic.
The Homestay Programmes vary according to which state in Malaysia you want to stay. Some kampongs are close to the towns, others are near the sea, or up in the highlands, or in crop-producing areas.
Whichever kampong you choose, the villagers and your hosts will be friendly and hospitable. You can try your hand at what the local villagers do from fruit-harvesting and fishing to batik painting and kite flying.
It will be an eye-opener for children to see where real food comes from. No, it does not come in a plastic punnet, it comes from
the trees and soil and hard farm work.
Laid-back Ambience that Heals Body, Mind & Soul
Kelantan in the east of Malaysia is a great place for a kampong stay. Each morning, when you wake up, you can breathe in the cool, clean air of the surrounding coconut trees and green fields.
There are no sounds of cars honking, neighbours blasting music and rushing people but the clucks of chickens and birdsong. In the distance is the sound of the rhythmic waves of the sea. Just taking things slow and laid-back in this kind of atmosphere heals your body, mind and soul.
Whether or not you are a foodie, you would find the local food interesting. You can try your hand at making rendang using a recipe that has been passed down from the great grandmother to the current girls of the household.
The food here is simple and the freshest you can find. Herbs and vegetables are plucked from the compound. Even the fish is caught
in the nearby sea.
The Freshest Food & Produce
Every day, you can enjoy food like rendang, acar (pickles), sambal ikan goreng (fried fish with sambal), ayam panggang (grilled chicken), siput lemak (shells in coconut gravy) and ulam (a platter of herbs and salad leaves).
You can experience plucking coconuts and grating them, or mangoes growing on the trees to make dessert. Even tapioca can be dug up to make snacks.
Apart from cooking, you can also try your hand at batik painting, playing local musical instruments, weaving rattan mats, flying kites and climbing coconut trees. Take stunning photos of the landscape, the friendly people and the kampong house in which you’ll stay. You’ll remember them forever.
The Malaysian Homestay Programme is available in other parts of Malaysia as well.
Instead of popping a headache pill for all that stress, pack your bags and escape to a kampong in Malaysia. That will be your happy pill.
For more information, contact: Tourism Malaysia (Singapore), 80 Robinson Road, #01-01 B/C/D, Singapore 068898, Tel: 6532 6321, Fb: Facebook.com/TMSingapore.
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