Sabah and Bali with coeliac and allergic children

Hi there

We're planning a 6 - 8 week trip to Sabah and Bali with our two children who will be 8 and 4.5. This will be our first trip where we will have to manage our sons diet overseas. He has coeliacs disease (gluten free) and is allergic to egg.

I've researched Indonesian food and I'm fairly confident that we'll be Ok as long as I can make myself understood and there's no cross contamination happening, or hidden gluten such as in normal soy sauce. I'm not as confident about Sabah.

Apart from the food aspect, I'd love to hear from anyone who has been to Sabah with young children. It's been a lifelong dream for me to see orangutans in the wild and I hope the kids love it just as much as I will.

Thanks :)

You should try posting this on the SE Asia branch too as there will be alot more comments on the food. But, I would have thought Indonesian food will be as tough as that in Sabah, if you have to avoid something like soy sauce. It has been a while since I was in Indonesia and simple, local food was my only option and many things were flavoured with soy sauce. I would guess Bali has many more options though.

I did want to comment on the orangutan aspect though - seeing orangutans in the wild can be very tough - unless you mean rehabilitated animals? If you do mean wild, it can take alot of walking and time to see one - and it may only be a short glimpse you get. I took my son into the forest when he was 4 and he managed reasonably well, but he is a very good walker. If I was planning on trying to see something like an orangutan I'd try and get someone to take us to a big fruiting fig and sit and wait and watch all the other animals as well. My son is more fascinated by the insects than the primates and can spend hours just watching termites.

If you mean a rehabilitation centre then, obviously, seeing orangutans is much easier!

One another thought (not related to your question). But, if you are going to Bali, what about Tanjung Puting to see orangutans since it is in the same country? It is a lovely setting and you can guarantee to see orangutans (rehabilitated ones).

hi - i have coeliac and went though bali and sarawak ok (so cant give advice re travel to sabah).
in terms of coeliac many rice noodles and rice available.
In indo most were ok when i said saya tidak makan tepung terigu (i cant eat wheat flour) - i know it is more than wheat flour but the reality is oats, barley and rye are not so much around. regarding soy sauces (kecap manis dan kecap asin) - not many know they have wheat so will need to make sure.
Sim for Sarawak except saya tidak makan tepung gandum.

I had translate cards from various sites but found people got confused as it mentioned too many things (and things not readily eaten in that country).
egg = telur. for your son swap saya for dia (he) ... sorry if you know bahasa indo fluently .. :)
we had a fantastic time and the kids loved the orangutans

my son was the same when we lived in borneo (he was also allergic to dairy at the time, but with age has grown out of that one!).

most soy sauces and foods use corn or rice flour rather than wheat as a thickening agent rather than wheat flour as it is cheaper & easier to get hold of.

for noodles, obviously make sure they are rice rather than egg or wheat (ask for rice or glass noodles). one thing to watch out for is the egg - a lot of the rice dishes and some meat dishes have omlette or whole egg chopped in. we had a panic when he accidentally ate egg fried rice (we were given the wrong dish) and he blew up like a balloon. obviously carry several 250ml bottles of anti-histamine with you, and if he is really bad, consider carrying an epi-pen as well.

I'm not coeliac but I have a wheat allergy that can flare up, and during this time I learnt the above as well, and was well practiced. you just need to remain aware at all times, but it is manageable (and remember I had to substitute soy products for dairy!). it's actually easier in SEA than Europe.