If you look above Indonesia on a map, you’ll bump into Malaysia. It’s like that cousin who lives in the same building but on a different floor. The island of Borneo is actually shared between Indonesia (Kalimantan), Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), and a tiny, wealthy sultanate called Brunei. Talk about a awkward family dinner.
Malaysia is famous for the Petronas Twin Towers and nasi lemak, a breakfast rice so good it should be illegal. Meanwhile, Brunei is small, super rich from oil, and has a sultan who literally lives in a palace with 1,788 rooms. That’s 1,788 rooms to lose your keys in. Stressful.
These three share a rainforest that smells like damp earth and adventure. It’s home to the world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia, which smells like a rotting corpse. Nature has a weird sense of humor.
The Little Red Dot: Singapore
Right off the southern tip of Malaysia is the powerhouse of Singapore. This tiny city-state is so small you could probably throw a rock from one end to the other. But don’t do that—you’d hit a bank, a hawker center, and a Michelin-starred street food stall all at once.
Singapore is where you go for immaculate cleanliness, chewing gum bans, and a Marina Bay hotel that looks like a spaceship parked on three skyscrapers. It’s basically the neat freak of Southeast Asia, and we love it for that.
