Malaysia is a diverse melting pot of Indian, Chinese, Arab, Achehnese, Siamese, Burmese, European, and Malay people. Most cities have a Little India and a Chinatown along with a smorgasbord of places of worship (churches/temples/mosques). The population is predominately Muslim. What I find amazing is that the federal government is secular, but the states have their own Islamic laws. One such law that is currently creating legislative problems is that non-Muslims are not allowed to use the Islamic word for God in publications or when speaking in public. I can’t even type the word here.
Other than the obvious diversity, the first thing I noticed was that it feels an awful lot like home. There are Bath and Body Works, Victoria Secrets, Payless shoe stores, Baskin Robbins, etc. Thus far, Malaysia is a modern country with the conveniences of home. It is more expensive than Laos and Cambodia, but still an affordable place. In all honesty though, I don’t have a ton of glowing reviews to share. To date it is the most boring country I have visited. In its defense this may largely be due to the fact that many of the highlights of Malaysia are unvisitable at the moment. It is monsoon season on the east coast, so many of the islands are closed to visitors and the famous hiking spot, the Cameron Highlands, is under torrential rain. In the eastern part of the country 100,000 have evacuated their homes and five have died due to intensive flooding. The road between Penang and George Town have been closed because of a massive landslide. I guess I am glad this occurred before my departure for the Cameron Highlands and not during my journey there. So my trip is limited to Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Malacca (Meleka).
The highlights of Kuala Lumpur were the modern architecture of the Petronas Towers, the Batu Caves, and the delicious food of Little India. If you make a trip here, make a point of visiting the Petronas Towers after dark to see them light up the night’s sky. The Batu Caves were first used as a place of worship in the 1800’s, when people realized that they provided a place for Hindu worship that gave the feeling of being in the Himalayas. The climb up the long staircase is worth it! Watch out for the brazen monkeys though. They will steal a bag right out from your hand or throw a coconut at you.
I am currently traveling with a woman I met in Thailand. She is from Northern Ireland. We have taken great delight out of expanding our English vocabularies to incorporate lingo from ‘across the pond’. For example, their word for pickle is gherkin! GHERKIN! This brought me great joy. Unfortunately, our sightseeing has been limited and we have had so much time on our hands we have even gone to two movies. TWO MOVIES while on the road is just plain embarrassing. Regardless, the third Night at the Museum movie was pretty entertaining to my surprise.
After some time in Kuala Lumpur, we headed north to our current location of the island of Penang. We are staying in the old British trading stronghold of George Town (Malaysia unlike its neighbors to the north was a British colony). The architecture is a throwback to the 1800’s and with a bit of imagination one can picture what the area would have looked like back then. What really gives the town its flare in my opinion is the wall art hidden amongst the streets’ walls. Many of the murals include 3D components. Such as a little boy riding a bicycle. The boy is painted on the wall and the bicycle is real. George Town is very proud of its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. A visitor can spend a day walking around searching for the wall art and stepping into the town’s abundance of temples, mosques, and churches. Worthy of note are the Church of the Assumption, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Mahamariamman Hindu Temple, and the Goddess of Mercy Temple. Also make a point of visiting Fort Cornwallis. I am actually chuckling while typing this, because in all reality the 2 ringgit (58 US cents) to get into the fort isn’t worth it. Just walk around the perimeter. It is the famous landing spot of Francis Light (Late 1700’s) and the main defense of the cape. The Blue Mansion or the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was impressive. It gets its name with good reason… it is really blue! We stopped to ask an Australian family for directions and they suggested we follow them to the East Oriental Hotel. I am glad we did! It was built by the British and has a rich historical flavor to it. The bell boys even wear khaki shorts and high socks. Every afternoon for roughly 20 USD, you can have high tea with unlimited refills of finger sandwiches. Perhaps this makes me unclassy, but when I heard the word unlimited I got excited. Leave your Tevas at home though!
I also spent an afternoon visiting Kek Lok Si Temple. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. Not far from the temple is Penang Hill and the Penang National Park. Set aside some time for hiking in this area.
Lastly, I need to point out the café, Mugshot. We ended up spending an absurd about of time there to the point where we know all the employees and they know our back stories.
I hope to have something more exciting to share with you in my next post. As of now, my near future will be consumed by torrential rain and a long bus ride.
Other than the obvious diversity, the first thing I noticed was that it feels an awful lot like home. There are Bath and Body Works, Victoria Secrets, Payless shoe stores, Baskin Robbins, etc. Thus far, Malaysia is a modern country with the conveniences of home. It is more expensive than Laos and Cambodia, but still an affordable place. In all honesty though, I don’t have a ton of glowing reviews to share. To date it is the most boring country I have visited. In its defense this may largely be due to the fact that many of the highlights of Malaysia are unvisitable at the moment. It is monsoon season on the east coast, so many of the islands are closed to visitors and the famous hiking spot, the Cameron Highlands, is under torrential rain. In the eastern part of the country 100,000 have evacuated their homes and five have died due to intensive flooding. The road between Penang and George Town have been closed because of a massive landslide. I guess I am glad this occurred before my departure for the Cameron Highlands and not during my journey there. So my trip is limited to Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Malacca (Meleka).
The highlights of Kuala Lumpur were the modern architecture of the Petronas Towers, the Batu Caves, and the delicious food of Little India. If you make a trip here, make a point of visiting the Petronas Towers after dark to see them light up the night’s sky. The Batu Caves were first used as a place of worship in the 1800’s, when people realized that they provided a place for Hindu worship that gave the feeling of being in the Himalayas. The climb up the long staircase is worth it! Watch out for the brazen monkeys though. They will steal a bag right out from your hand or throw a coconut at you.
I am currently traveling with a woman I met in Thailand. She is from Northern Ireland. We have taken great delight out of expanding our English vocabularies to incorporate lingo from ‘across the pond’. For example, their word for pickle is gherkin! GHERKIN! This brought me great joy. Unfortunately, our sightseeing has been limited and we have had so much time on our hands we have even gone to two movies. TWO MOVIES while on the road is just plain embarrassing. Regardless, the third Night at the Museum movie was pretty entertaining to my surprise.
After some time in Kuala Lumpur, we headed north to our current location of the island of Penang. We are staying in the old British trading stronghold of George Town (Malaysia unlike its neighbors to the north was a British colony). The architecture is a throwback to the 1800’s and with a bit of imagination one can picture what the area would have looked like back then. What really gives the town its flare in my opinion is the wall art hidden amongst the streets’ walls. Many of the murals include 3D components. Such as a little boy riding a bicycle. The boy is painted on the wall and the bicycle is real. George Town is very proud of its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. A visitor can spend a day walking around searching for the wall art and stepping into the town’s abundance of temples, mosques, and churches. Worthy of note are the Church of the Assumption, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Mahamariamman Hindu Temple, and the Goddess of Mercy Temple. Also make a point of visiting Fort Cornwallis. I am actually chuckling while typing this, because in all reality the 2 ringgit (58 US cents) to get into the fort isn’t worth it. Just walk around the perimeter. It is the famous landing spot of Francis Light (Late 1700’s) and the main defense of the cape. The Blue Mansion or the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was impressive. It gets its name with good reason… it is really blue! We stopped to ask an Australian family for directions and they suggested we follow them to the East Oriental Hotel. I am glad we did! It was built by the British and has a rich historical flavor to it. The bell boys even wear khaki shorts and high socks. Every afternoon for roughly 20 USD, you can have high tea with unlimited refills of finger sandwiches. Perhaps this makes me unclassy, but when I heard the word unlimited I got excited. Leave your Tevas at home though!
I also spent an afternoon visiting Kek Lok Si Temple. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. Not far from the temple is Penang Hill and the Penang National Park. Set aside some time for hiking in this area.
Lastly, I need to point out the café, Mugshot. We ended up spending an absurd about of time there to the point where we know all the employees and they know our back stories.
I hope to have something more exciting to share with you in my next post. As of now, my near future will be consumed by torrential rain and a long bus ride.
