Malaysia through the eyes of a child

April 14, 2026By maverickbirdPosted in Asia, Malaysia, Outside India

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´´I find Malaysia to be a super beautiful place with very nice nature. It is also the home to a lot of animals that don´t exist in other parts of the world.´´, said Akash. Last year, my 8-year-old son, Akash, and I went on a month-long holiday to Malaysia. I have been there several times and have an intense love/disappointment relationship with this country. Love, because of the way I feel there. Malaysia makes me happy. I love its melting pot of vibrant culture, its contrast of skyscrapers and rainforests, its islands, and its delicious food. The people of Malaysia are the biggest highlight, and I haven´t yet met a Malaysian who hasn´t been friendly and welcoming. But this post isn´t about me. It is about Akash and his impressions, and in this post, I have transcribed his words directly as mentioned by him. Let´s discover Malaysia through the eyes of a child.

The house by the river in Borneo

I often think of the house by the river where we went on a boat tour and saw pygmy elephants. I remember the animals, like the pygmy elephants, the black squirrels, the big-nosed monkeys, and the glowing eyes of the Malayan civet that came to eat fruits at night. I also remember Kuching, the cat city. Kuching is my favourite city in Malaysia because they have a lot of contact with cats. For example, the cat statue in front of our hotel. I also liked the Bako National where we went by boat and saw our first big-nosed monkey. We also saw other monkey species, two snakes, and lots of horseshoe crabs.

Malaysia for the senses

Malaysia smelled of durian. The food in Malaysia is sometimes very spicy and at times very sweet. I still remember being served rice in leaf packets. In the jungles, I heard a lot of animal sounds, but you hardly see them. The bird sounds, and the shrieks of monkeys surround you. You know that they are there, and when you are lucky, you see an orangutan, its orange fur standing out amidst the green foliage. I still remember when we were in the small river, when suddenly orangutans swung from tree to tree in front of us. I also remember seeing the sudden appearance of pygmy elephants in the Kinabatangan River.

Malaysia memories

I also remember how many shops had cats, and these cats were very friendly. Sometimes they were kittens, and sometimes they were pregnant mothers, and at times, just big tom cats. The trees in Malaysia were really big, and the beaches were also nice. But when I was there on a little island that had a very nice beach, it was also very far away from the mainland. I also remember when we went by boat to the little island, that the sea was very choppy and the island was very green. I also remember the houses on stilts and came to know that these houses are portable. Men actually moved these houses when needed. When we went trekking in the jungle, we walked by a river that was very deep. When we went further, we came to a river, and the water was so clean that you could drink it.

Borneo glimpses

During our boat tour, we saw a family of monkeys cleaning themselves. They were sitting on a branch right over the water. At one point of our holiday, we were driving around in a boat on a very narrow river, when we suddenly noticed a crocodile right next to our boat. One time, we were in Kota Kinabalu, and we went walking around at night and came across a very big market. There were hundreds of lights and a lot of shops. There were even fish tanks with live fish. You could choose one, and they would cook it fresh in front of you. The hotels in Malaysia were very nice. Some were in the jungle, and some were in big cities. When we were in Malaysia, we had to take a lot of flights because some places were very far from each other. When we were again home, we were happy being out of the plane. I really miss Malaysia.