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WHAT began as a casual visit in 2010 blossomed into a transformative journey for Itisha Ismail @ Tisha who carries her family roots from Malacca but was brought up in Ampang and Swiss husband, Simon Werren, who now call Lahad Datu home. 

Drawn by curiosity and a shared passion for discovering a place on two wheels, the couple made their way from Kota Kinabalu to east coast of Sabah. 

In the rustic town of Lahad Datu, they eventually tied the knot in 2013, a milestone cementing Lahad Datu in their personal and professional story.

“Back then, my father worked here as a consultant for a fertiliser company, so I’ve always had a connection to this mysterious town, a place that outsiders often pass through without truly getting to know,” Tisha recalled. 

She admitted that it was her father who encouraged the couple to visit Lahad Datu to see whether the place had something to offer them. She also mentioned that they do not have any relatives living in the district.

That early exposure laid the foundation for what would become a deep commitment to the people there, environment, and potential. 

Initially, the couple reached out to the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) to explore ways to promote cycling and build a community around the sport. 

“We wanted to revive interest in cycling and create meaningful travel,” said Tisha. 

Their efforts soon expanded beyond recreation, evolving into a broader mission of sustainability, food heritage, and environmental stewardship.

They used up whatever savings they had to set up Bike and Tours, took a chance on the place, and arranged things where they felt they belonged, testing what worked and what didn’t. They never looked back.

During the pandemic in 2020, the couple pivoted their focus to food and founded the tourism arm of Bike and Tours known as Hawa’s Artisan Kitchen (HAK), a cozy, reservation-only private dining experience offering authentic Malay heritage cuisine, including Laksa Johor and vegan options inspired by family recipes. 

HAK also produces sustainable local products such as home roasted Arabica coffee with green beans sourced from farmers in the Mount Kinabalu area, sambal, and aromatics such as Kampung ginger, Bunga Telang and Moringa powders, connecting visitors to Sabah’s rich agricultural traditions.

“We were amazed by the natural beauty surrounding Lahad Datu, Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Danum Valley, Darvel Bay, Mount Silam. It’s a treasure trove for eco-tourism,” Tisha said. 

During this time, Simon learned about syntropic farming from a Swiss farmer Ernst Götsch, who successfully transformed degraded land in Brazil into a productive food forest. 

Inspired by this model, the couple adopted syntropic methods in Lahad Datu, focusing on restoring soil health and producing food in a way that works with, rather than against nature.  

Their dedication to protecting the environment took root in 2017 with the launch of the Bukit Piton Reforestation Project, focused on rehabilitating critical orangutan habitats in Sabah. 

What began as a conservation effort had since evolved into Synborneo, a broader initiative that blends syntropic farming with wildlife protection. 

By channeling farm surplus into reforestation efforts, Synborneo hopes to create a self-sustaining model that supports both ecological restoration and long-term funding for conservation.

Through their work, Itisha and Simon have demonstrated how tourism, food, and sustainability can intersect to create meaningful impact. Their model could support livelihoods as well as protect the environment and preserves cultural heritage.

After two years of nurturing their syntropic farm, Simon and Tisha began slowly harvesting ingredients for their own kitchen. Whenever certain produce isn’t available from the farm, they would turn to the local market, supporting vendors by sourcing fresh, seasonal ingredients. 

At their table, guests are served their signature sambal, sweet potato chips, the butterfly bluepea tea, hearty Malaysian meals made from recipes inherited from Tisha’s late mother, Hawa.

“My mother, Hawa, is the inspiration behind the name Hawa’s Artisan Kitchen (HAK). 

It is worth to note that there are no fixed menus at HAK, instead, each meal is a little adventure, guided by what can be sourced on the day itself,” she admitted.

The approach keeps the dishes fresh, celebrates the season’s bounty, and help reduce food wastage. 

Guests would need to inform if they have any food restrictions, Though the joy of cooking comes without being tied to any restrictions, they would try their best to accommodate such request if needed. 

Most of their meals are baked, sauteed, steamed or enjoyed as ulam (salad) rather than deep fried, allowing natural flavours to shine through. 

In their home eatery, they also share a shelf of culinary inspiration, filled with books by both local and international cookbook writers, a reflection of Tisha’s passion for learning from diverse culinary voices. Guests are welcome to browse through them while they are there. 

Tisha also offers cooking classes, which guests must book in advance. She usually teaches traditional local dishes, and after the hands-on session, everyone gathers to enjoy the meal they’ve prepared together. 

“This activity gives guests a real sense of how local food is made; from ingredients to techniques and helps them connect more deeply with our culinary heritage,” she explained.

With their syntropic farm serving as both a source of produce and a learning ground, Simon reflected “We are still new at this, and we don’t claim to have all the answers. 

“We have had our fair shares of mistakes along the way. But what we do know is that we do not want to further harm the environment with chemicals and contribute to soil erosion or global warming. 

“We just want the food on our table to be good and safe for the people and kind to the environment.

“In syntropic farming, cash crops are cultivated together with other variety of plants, creating biodiversity that restores soil health and enables natural systems to work in balance. 

“Our hope is simple: to use what’s around us, turn it into something meaningful and in doing so, play a small part at keeping these treasures alive for future generations.

For us, it’s a reminder that sustainability starts with small choices, one meal and one harvest at a time”.