Sarawak
Recently I travelled to Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo to do some hiking. I had heard of the wildlife and great hikes in Sarawak so I decided to make this trip more of the eco-tourism kind. I went to Bako, Gunung Gading, Similajau, and Niah Caves national parks. Along the way, I saw a wild baby crocodile (squint your eyes at above pic:-), some beautiful views, cave drawings, birds' nest scaffolding (explanation to follow), proboscis and macaque monkeys, bearded pigs (the most hideous animal on the planet), a few caves (Fairy, Wind, and Niah caves), a beautiful sunset, and in the process almost killed myself while hiking....seriously.
The trail was well-marked but the map wasn't. Any three trails could've been the one I was looking for. Then again, my friends never let me forget that I've gotten lost plenty of times. Anyway, I was resting on my hike and decided to walk off the trail a bit and up a slippery creek, complete with rushing water, rocks, and loose roots. A perfect place to sidehike. Inevitably, I slipped and (mom, stop reading here) smacked my face on a rock (the pic above is actually a cut from a tree on a different hike). I sat up and just chilled for a second to check whether I was ok. A few cuts but nothing major...I decided to have lunch and it was pretty good :-)
Sarawak was my first trip alone--i.e. I wasn't going with or meeting someone--and it went pretty well. I was really able to relax by the middle of the trip (after I wasn't so concerned about seeing everything) and the hiking was really a great way to chill out. In some of the parks, the trails were not well-maintained--fallen trees, fallen bridges, ambiguous trail markings--which meant for probably the most rigorous hiking I've done. From what I've heard, Sabah (the other Malaysian state on Borneo) has a bit more to offer (I go there in February to climb Mt. Kinabalu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kinabalu) and to scuba dive), but from my experiences, Sarawak offered exactly what I needed after sitting in my apt. planning my family trip to Thailand for two weeks (look for upcoming entry). Enjoy the pics and as always, I love to hear from you!

Also, I never saw the woman posted below. I merely sent the picture to my parents to get them excited for Thailand:-P