Borneo Street KL 2019 in Sunway Velocity KL

Presenting the Largest Borneo Street KL 2019 Festival at Sunway Velocity

Borneo is also known to be the East of Malaysia where its rich with tribes and different cultures, sharing a part of the world's third largest island! It's usually a flight away if youre planning to visit from West Malaysia, but now with the Borneo Street KL taking over Klang Valley, you wont have to pay for your flight ticket to be able to enjoy the culture, the food and even the textiles that they have to offer. The Largest 2019 Borneo Festival in KL was held from 17th July to 21st July at Sunway Velocity Mall over the weekend.

Here is where you'll find Borneo treasures without having to fly all the way to Borneo

Handmade beads are available for sale

They also have textile that are authentic from Borneo as well

What you can expect during this festival would be to expose yourself to Borneo's diverse culture all in one location. The international Borneo Festival usually takes place at multiple locations in a year, and if you missed out on the one which recently happened in Sunway Velocity KL, fret not as there will be another 3 more festivals happening within the next 2 motnhs to come. Be sure to plan ahead to visit, as Borneo has a lot of surprises and culture to share during the festival.

The setting here is legit you guys, it felt like i was in Borneo already

They also had performances to show the ethic cultures of Borneo

And if you crave for Kek Lapis that are homemade, here is the place to be!

Scartch the comercialized ones cause these are the real deal!

Available in different flavours too!

Over the weekend, i visited Sunway Velocity Mall and Borneo Street KL, and i had no regrets taking my sweet time enjoying the environment of the Borneo Festival. The five-day event featured indigenous vendors situated amongst a giant atrium with larger-than-life bird cages, and was filled with colourful weaving artwork, lush greens and wood carvings. The vendors at the festival were all born and bred in Borneo, hailing from tribes such as the Penans to the Kadazans, Dusuns, Bidayuhs, Ibans and more. The highlights were as unique as the name of the event had suggested, and i think what really caught everyones attention was the Sago worms being presented for guest of the festival to enjoy.

Anyoen tempted to try the Sago worms? 

Testers of Kek Lapis is available too!

Not to forget the famous Sarawak peppers that you can also get it from the festival

Present during the festival was Dr Laurence John, who is the founder of Borneo Street KL, also shared on how excited he was to have co-organised the event with Sunway Velocity Mall. The opportunity enabled him to showcase what he has always been passionately doing for years after first marrying his Bornean wife: preaching on the wonders of Borneo and giving us more insight into the Sabah and Sarawak that we all know. 

This was a big hit if you happen to be visiting any Borneo Street KL festival. A MUST TRY!

Bamboo chicken, a popular Borneo fish as well

Skip your typical lunch and maybe get a taste of Borneo during this period!

The main highlights of the Largest 2019 Borneo Festival in KL were the amount of indigenous vendors concentrated in a 5,000 sqft atrium inside the mall, on top of the Sago Worm eating challenge and the Borneo Blowpipe Charity Challenge. There were easily more than 25 booths selling hand-sewn batik clothing and “songket”, handicrafts such as woven baskets, bags, lanyards, beaded accessories, and authentic delicacies such as “bambangan” (a unique fruit in Borneo, similar to mangoes), “hinava” (raw slices of fish marinated in chillies and lime), bamboo chicken, Sarawak kolo mee (springy noodles with a special dry sauce), Sarawak laksa and colourful layer cakes that we skillfully assembled. Not to forget, shoppers were also treated to generous samples of the ever-so-famous “tuak”, also known as rice wine that were harvested from the finest fields in Borneo and fermented up to 3-years. 

Also not to forget, you can also get in touch with the locals of Borneo and maybe make new friends too!

Or if youre daring, theres always a blowpipe charity challenge to join as well

To make things more interesting, the Borneo Blowpipe Charity Challenge was also initiated by Sunway Velocity Mall as part of its corporate social responsibility. During those sessions, participants from the public were given a chance to take aim at a wooden target with their blowpipes. For every target that was hit, Sunway Velocity Mall donated RM100 to the Penan Empowerment Networking Association, also known as PENA. PENA’s main goals are to advocate the Penans’ rights in the matter of citizenship and welfare, empower them in education, health and economy, and lastly, to preserve and and promote the Penans’ heritage which encompasses language, songs, dances, poems, crafts, celebrations and traditional sports. At the end of the festival, Sunway Velocity Mall has donated a total of RM2,5000.00 to PENA, in hopes that the small gesture would help them achieve their goals sooner. 

More textile that you can purchase and maybe turn it into a skirt/dress?

Rattan bags are popular in Borneo as well (They last long too!)

You can also get rice wine if you havent tried it already (Alcoholic)

And for honey lovers, you may also try honey from stingless bee's from Borneo

Throughout those five days, many interesting activities such as cultural dances by performers donned in impressive Borneo costumes, sago worm eating, handicraft demonstrations, food tasting sessions and mini educational tours were well received by the public. The festival also successfully drew residents from beyond Kuala Lumpur, reaching as far as towns like Bangsar and Petaling Jaya, prompting Ms Phang to comment that the mall would definitely be keen on revisiting the event again next year. For more updates on Borneo Street KL, feel free to visit their facebook page below. 

Borneo Street KL

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