wet bums or dry bums..

For those thinking of Malaysia or Borneo for travel, these are my must haves apart from your passport, kids, and wife/husband.

When you do visit, the first thing you noticed is the heat, the crowds, and then the smells hit you. This is when most people run for the air conditioned cafe or hotel.

Once you get passed the assault on your senses, you'll notice the "plastics" its everywhere, maybe not the clean swept beaches in front of the expensive resorts but it will be everywhere else. As kiwis travelers its quite a cultural and environmental kick in the teeth.

We have really tried to minimize our plastic trail but its near impossible and we definitely have fail days.

These items are our go to,

*The stainless thermo mug, (15myr from Mr DIY), keeping your ice drinks cold for days! also saves on plastic cups, bag and straws.

I had a fail this morning, my ice coffee was served in my thermo cup but had a straw sticking out of it.

*A folding fruit knife, there are mangoes and an incredible array of tropical fruit available sold on the roadside!

*The cutlery set is amazing, it has stainless straws, forks, knives and chopstick! ($12nzd), and super easy to clean with wipes.

Also Grab (Asian UberEATS platform) has a really neat function where you can decline the plastic utensils.

Next is the *Wises card, its really really handy and accepted widely here in Malaysia.

https://wise.com/invite/ahpc/nocduoct

Also keep a small bag of tissues, flushable wipes, hand sanitizer, and some small change handy, as the toilets here are as diverse as the people that live here.

Wet toilets, dry toilets, squats, wets bums or dry bums its an adventure every time you have to use a tandas awam (public toilet).

Good luck safe travels