11 total days in Malaysia is hardly enough time to say that you have seen the country. It is definitely too short of a time to attempt to understand the people and the culture. I feel like I have to go back, I should spend more time there, eat more food there, and see more of the diverse landscape, really 11 days is nothing in a country with two very different environments (the peninsula and the island).
What I saw in my 11 days in Malaysia is something that I have yet to experience and come across in my travels. To me it was a large cluster of cultural confusion, it was a diverse country, but diverse only because it contained such large numbers of four different countries and cultures; Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Malay. What I couldn’t figure out the whole time I was there though, is who and what is “Malaysian,” I had a difficult time distinguishing between someone or some cultural things that were truly Malay and those people and things that were just a muddled mix of all the neighboring countries.
I couldn’t really tell what was “Malay” and what was fusion. I guess that is what Malaysia is, a beautiful mix of people and culture, living together happily, from the food to religion, it was all mixed together. If you asked me to describe Malaysia (in the 11 days I was there) I would say, it’s a muddled intermingling of Asia. I liked it, but it confused me, when seeking out “real” Malaysia I felt like I kept coming up empty handed, but perhaps what I saw, what I tasted, what I experienced, and lived amongst, for those 11 short days was in fact what I was looking for the whole time. Maybe that mix, that fusion, the people, the flavors, and the culture it creates is “real” Malaysia. I’ll have to go back to and investigate more.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur:
Arriving in the airport at KL after an all night bender with two friends was a bit difficult. The airport was tiny and cramped, the humidity hits you like a bag of bricks as you step off the plane, and the baggage claim has but two wheels that only load one plane at a time. Since Bangkok was shut down due to protests, there was a bit high volume pushed through KL. Needless to say I was sweating, tired, and needed a hotel bed ASAP. 9ringet latter I get on the air asia bus which was about an hour long. KL was pretty much as expected, a slightly chaotic Asian city, to be honest I expected it to be a bit more crazy, but it seemed to have a flow to it, decent public transport, and ENGLISH, most people spoke English which was a treat after being in china for 2 months.
I checked into the Grocers Inn, which is located in China town for a whopping $6 us a night. I spent two days wondering the streets of KL. Hitting up a couple of food markets, hunting down some decent Malaysia food (which was actually difficult), seeing Patronas towers, and simply wondering the streets of KL took up two full days. It is remarkably a small city and it is almost possible to walk the entire thing. The main down town area is easily walk able, and everything else is accessed with ease via bus, or mono rail.
The food, just like the people and culture in KL were a bit confusing for me, as nothing seemed to have a distinct identity. Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Malay make up the major countries and cultures that KL and Malaysia is comprised of, but very often it was difficult to distinguish where one culture ended and the next began, it was a very muddled, intermingling of people, culture, and flavors. Confusing, but good.
Camaroon Highlands,
The highlands lay about 5 hours north of KL by bus, but when your bus is an hour late getting to your station, and when you are a mere 4 kilometers away from your destination and a massive landslide comes and takes out any possible rout, the 4 to 5 hour trip can last well into 8 to 9 hours. I remember opening my eyes from a nice nap on my extremely luxury pimped out bus (Malaysian busses are amazing), and seeing my driver hold up a sign that read, “road closed, land slide” I laughed out load because I thought, hey shit happens, and I was interested to see where and what I was going to be forced to do to get where I wanted to go.
Simply enough it was a 3.5 hour wait for the roads to open back up and the land slide to be cleared. I sat by the bus for a good 30min. before I told the driver I would see him later and charged up the hill and through the jungle roads, passed lines and lines of cars waiting to get through, just as we were. When I get to the slide I was a bit amazed when I saw 3 excavators, and 1 backhoe, going to town on this MASSIVE amount of dirt and mud that had come down and completely blocked any possible rout. It was pretty impressive to watch these drivers clearing the road with ease. Sure 3 hours, a couple of telephone poles, a few trees, and a ton of dirt moved off the road we charged through to the highlands which lay less than 3 min. away by bus.
The highlands was a good place to chill out for a day, relaxing with nothing to do except hike and visit tea plantations. The plantations although cool to see and experience were not all that exciting and I really didn’t spend too much time there. The HIKE on the other hand went from being an innocent walk to a pretty uneventful water fall (30min.), to a 4 hour trek through though the JUNGLE, alone, with just a photo copied crappy map.
After noticing that the water fall was utter crap I decided to turn to map and navigate another rout back so I was not back tracking. The other rout turned out to be beautiful, but slightly stressful when the clearly market trail went from detailed English signs with distances and directions, to Malaysian signs with no distances or directions, to trees marked with orange spray paint. Walking through the jungle alone is one thing, sure it would have been good to go with someone, but when the humidity kicks in, the brush gets supper dense, so dense that getting off your tight narrow path is virtually impossible, the sun begins to disappear because the jungle canopy is just as think as the brush on the ground, and you start to sweat because, well, your alone, and the signs you were fallowing that were in English are just orange paint on a tree leading in two different directions. Yeah, that is when things get a little scary.
Finally after an hour or so of slight panic, some brisk walking, and a few “hail marries” and “our fathers” later I busted into a clearing where thank god there was a clearly market sign with three distinct paths, the one I was looking for, clearly market, just 1.7k away. Down the path I
charged, happy to make an exit of the jungle, I came across a couple whom I said hello to. A conversation breaks out and it turns out that they are from North Carolina and the guy had been living in Malaysia for a few years, I told him my slightly scary story of how I “got lost” and moments ago found a market sign which led me to him. We had a laugh about it but then his wife proceeds to tell me to watch out for the Vipers (poisonous snakes) and that the Constrictors are nothing to worry about. Ok, I can deal with some snakes, but to add to the issue the husband goes on to tell me that 2 years a go a woman and three kids were lost for 3 days in this same jungle, OH, and a TIGER was captured (extremely rare for those parts now a days) in town that same year.
With that new info I literally RAN out of the jungle for my last 1.5k. boarded the bus the next day and was back to KL to meet Marty for a 13 day Malaysian, Thailand extravaganza.
Penang
5 to 6 hour ice cold bus ride from KL to Penang got me and Marty in around 7am, Hotels and Guest Houses apparently book up pretty quick there, so if your going you may want to book
ahead of time (I did my second time down there). Penang, very similar to KL is a complete muddled mix of people and culture, it has its very distinctive Chinese area where I love to indulge in what I call “meat on a hook.” This can be anything from sausage, pork belly, pork tender loin, duck, chicken, etc. etc. simply slow roasted meats, beautifully caramelized, hanging from a hook and chopped to order by a passionate “meat on a hook” vendor whom are typically happy to have a westerner share their passion of food. There is also the Indian Section that is basically INDIA, just less filth, better sanitation, but still with all the flavors, and aromas you get from 
the big Indian cities. Vendors, elbows deep in dahl, sag, chicken gravies, curries of all flavors and textures, nan bread, tandori, and all the classics. I actually ate in little india a few times, my second time back to Penang.
Penang as many backpackers described it, is boring, but for me and Marty, it was a solid day of eating as much as we could fit in our mouths. The Night Market was basically 20+ stalls of Malaysian madness that ranged from “meat on a hook” to Thai inspired noodles, malay chicken wings, and of course, my favorite squid curry which blew me away. Waking up early and heading to the wet market, and eating street food just out side “love lane” was another great experience “curry mee” a lightly seasoned broth with egg noodles, sliced pork, dumpligs was a favorite, god there were too many options.
Besides eating Penang was Not all that exciting, but it’s towns like this that I enjoy the most. Local cities that typically have “nothing to do” always offer you that little extra, that something special that helps you see what a culture and a people are really like. Your tourist areas definitely don’t do this.
Langkawi
Arriving here via ferry from Penang was a cool experience, getting a Moped or “hog” as marty and I called it was probably one of the best things we could have done. Right from the ferry dock, we settled up, back packs and all and took out on the open road, with bight hideous blue helmets we whipped down the road towards, what we hoped a lazy relaxing beach town. Upon arrival we realized yet again that we should have booked a hotel in advance because it probably took up 2 hours and 15 hotels later to find a room, which turned out to be OK in the end but way too much needless time on our “hogs” with heavy backpacks, cooking in the hot Malaysian sun.
A quick dip in the ocean and back on our “hogs” for a trip around the island, up a cable car to the top of the tallest peak of the island, a beautiful sun set, and down back to our hotel to sleep. A very enjoyable day, which we could have stretched into a whole week, but in an attempt to see more and do more, it was on to Thailand from here.
PHOTOS:
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/vaccaro.marc/MarcvaccaroMalaysia?feat=directlink
Arriving in the airport at KL after an all night bender with two friends was a bit difficult. The airport was tiny and cramped, the humidity hits you like a bag of bricks as you step off the plane, and the baggage claim has but two wheels that only load one plane at a time. Since Bangkok was shut down due to protests, there was a bit high volume pushed through KL. Needless to say I was sweating, tired, and needed a hotel bed ASAP. 9ringet latter I get on the air asia bus which was about an hour long. KL was pretty much as expected, a slightly chaotic Asian city, to be honest I expected it to be a bit more crazy, but it seemed to have a flow to it, decent public transport, and ENGLISH, most people spoke English which was a treat after being in china for 2 months.
I checked into the Grocers Inn, which is located in China town for a whopping $6 us a night. I spent two days wondering the streets of KL. Hitting up a couple of food markets, hunting down some decent Malaysia food (which was actually difficult), seeing Patronas towers, and simply wondering the streets of KL took up two full days. It is remarkably a small city and it is almost possible to walk the entire thing. The main down town area is easily walk able, and everything else is accessed with ease via bus, or mono rail.
The food, just like the people and culture in KL were a bit confusing for me, as nothing seemed to have a distinct identity. Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Malay make up the major countries and cultures that KL and Malaysia is comprised of, but very often it was difficult to distinguish where one culture ended and the next began, it was a very muddled, intermingling of people, culture, and flavors. Confusing, but good.
Camaroon Highlands,
The highlands lay about 5 hours north of KL by bus, but when your bus is an hour late getting to your station, and when you are a mere 4 kilometers away from your destination and a massive landslide comes and takes out any possible rout, the 4 to 5 hour trip can last well into 8 to 9 hours. I remember opening my eyes from a nice nap on my extremely luxury pimped out bus (Malaysian busses are amazing), and seeing my driver hold up a sign that read, “road closed, land slide” I laughed out load because I thought, hey shit happens, and I was interested to see where and what I was going to be forced to do to get where I wanted to go.Simply enough it was a 3.5 hour wait for the roads to open back up and the land slide to be cleared. I sat by the bus for a good 30min. before I told the driver I would see him later and charged up the hill and through the jungle roads, passed lines and lines of cars waiting to get through, just as we were. When I get to the slide I was a bit amazed when I saw 3 excavators, and 1 backhoe, going to town on this MASSIVE amount of dirt and mud that had come down and completely blocked any possible rout. It was pretty impressive to watch these drivers clearing the road with ease. Sure 3 hours, a couple of telephone poles, a few trees, and a ton of dirt moved off the road we charged through to the highlands which lay less than 3 min. away by bus.
The highlands was a good place to chill out for a day, relaxing with nothing to do except hike and visit tea plantations. The plantations although cool to see and experience were not all that exciting and I really didn’t spend too much time there. The HIKE on the other hand went from being an innocent walk to a pretty uneventful water fall (30min.), to a 4 hour trek through though the JUNGLE, alone, with just a photo copied crappy map.After noticing that the water fall was utter crap I decided to turn to map and navigate another rout back so I was not back tracking. The other rout turned out to be beautiful, but slightly stressful when the clearly market trail went from detailed English signs with distances and directions, to Malaysian signs with no distances or directions, to trees marked with orange spray paint. Walking through the jungle alone is one thing, sure it would have been good to go with someone, but when the humidity kicks in, the brush gets supper dense, so dense that getting off your tight narrow path is virtually impossible, the sun begins to disappear because the jungle canopy is just as think as the brush on the ground, and you start to sweat because, well, your alone, and the signs you were fallowing that were in English are just orange paint on a tree leading in two different directions. Yeah, that is when things get a little scary.
Finally after an hour or so of slight panic, some brisk walking, and a few “hail marries” and “our fathers” later I busted into a clearing where thank god there was a clearly market sign with three distinct paths, the one I was looking for, clearly market, just 1.7k away. Down the path I
charged, happy to make an exit of the jungle, I came across a couple whom I said hello to. A conversation breaks out and it turns out that they are from North Carolina and the guy had been living in Malaysia for a few years, I told him my slightly scary story of how I “got lost” and moments ago found a market sign which led me to him. We had a laugh about it but then his wife proceeds to tell me to watch out for the Vipers (poisonous snakes) and that the Constrictors are nothing to worry about. Ok, I can deal with some snakes, but to add to the issue the husband goes on to tell me that 2 years a go a woman and three kids were lost for 3 days in this same jungle, OH, and a TIGER was captured (extremely rare for those parts now a days) in town that same year.With that new info I literally RAN out of the jungle for my last 1.5k. boarded the bus the next day and was back to KL to meet Marty for a 13 day Malaysian, Thailand extravaganza.
Penang
5 to 6 hour ice cold bus ride from KL to Penang got me and Marty in around 7am, Hotels and Guest Houses apparently book up pretty quick there, so if your going you may want to book
ahead of time (I did my second time down there). Penang, very similar to KL is a complete muddled mix of people and culture, it has its very distinctive Chinese area where I love to indulge in what I call “meat on a hook.” This can be anything from sausage, pork belly, pork tender loin, duck, chicken, etc. etc. simply slow roasted meats, beautifully caramelized, hanging from a hook and chopped to order by a passionate “meat on a hook” vendor whom are typically happy to have a westerner share their passion of food. There is also the Indian Section that is basically INDIA, just less filth, better sanitation, but still with all the flavors, and aromas you get from 
the big Indian cities. Vendors, elbows deep in dahl, sag, chicken gravies, curries of all flavors and textures, nan bread, tandori, and all the classics. I actually ate in little india a few times, my second time back to Penang.Penang as many backpackers described it, is boring, but for me and Marty, it was a solid day of eating as much as we could fit in our mouths. The Night Market was basically 20+ stalls of Malaysian madness that ranged from “meat on a hook” to Thai inspired noodles, malay chicken wings, and of course, my favorite squid curry which blew me away. Waking up early and heading to the wet market, and eating street food just out side “love lane” was another great experience “curry mee” a lightly seasoned broth with egg noodles, sliced pork, dumpligs was a favorite, god there were too many options.
Besides eating Penang was Not all that exciting, but it’s towns like this that I enjoy the most. Local cities that typically have “nothing to do” always offer you that little extra, that something special that helps you see what a culture and a people are really like. Your tourist areas definitely don’t do this.Langkawi
Arriving here via ferry from Penang was a cool experience, getting a Moped or “hog” as marty and I called it was probably one of the best things we could have done. Right from the ferry dock, we settled up, back packs and all and took out on the open road, with bight hideous blue helmets we whipped down the road towards, what we hoped a lazy relaxing beach town. Upon arrival we realized yet again that we should have booked a hotel in advance because it probably took up 2 hours and 15 hotels later to find a room, which turned out to be OK in the end but way too much needless time on our “hogs” with heavy backpacks, cooking in the hot Malaysian sun.
A quick dip in the ocean and back on our “hogs” for a trip around the island, up a cable car to the top of the tallest peak of the island, a beautiful sun set, and down back to our hotel to sleep. A very enjoyable day, which we could have stretched into a whole week, but in an attempt to see more and do more, it was on to Thailand from here.
PHOTOS:
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/vaccaro.marc/MarcvaccaroMalaysia?feat=directlink
Leaving Hong Kong
I hear my alarm going off, the buzzer, ringing in my ear, my eyes are sealed shut, my head throbbing, and my mouth as dry as could be. I was in my friend Russ’s apartment in Honk Kong where I had stayed the past two nights (if you includ 1 hour of sleep a “night”). I was told if you are going to do Honk Kong correctly you need a good night out on the town, and stumbling through Russ’s door at 6:30am was exactly that, an expensive, but unique night out on the town.
Operating on pure instinct and zero sleep, I jump in the shower, pack my bag, say good bye to my very gracious host and run out the door and down to the PACKED commuter subway system. My eyes start to get heavy, my bag on my shoulders, feels like 1000lbs and I wondered why the hell I stayed up to 6:30am, sure the live band was great, but this was painful. I get to the airport after changing subways in “central” and realize that I’m kind of running a bit late. My mouth still dry as can be, my head still throbbing and now I'm running down the terminal, i can see my gate, an empty lobby sent a wave of panic through my body. The attendant smiles as she waves me on, I’m the last one to board my flight.
As I get on my Air Asia flight, I can’t help but notice the profound selective hiring of 20 – 30 year old attractive women who crew the plane as your hostesses, not a man to be seen. Thank god because the outfits were a bit revealing. I sit down in my small cramped seat that was clearly designed for a 4’ tall tiny asian person, and I start to laugh, “I believe in miracles” (wont you come along, you sexy thing), is bumping over the loud speaker. I put my head back and close my eyes, because I made it, soon I would be off to Kuala Lumpur.
Operating on pure instinct and zero sleep, I jump in the shower, pack my bag, say good bye to my very gracious host and run out the door and down to the PACKED commuter subway system. My eyes start to get heavy, my bag on my shoulders, feels like 1000lbs and I wondered why the hell I stayed up to 6:30am, sure the live band was great, but this was painful. I get to the airport after changing subways in “central” and realize that I’m kind of running a bit late. My mouth still dry as can be, my head still throbbing and now I'm running down the terminal, i can see my gate, an empty lobby sent a wave of panic through my body. The attendant smiles as she waves me on, I’m the last one to board my flight.
As I get on my Air Asia flight, I can’t help but notice the profound selective hiring of 20 – 30 year old attractive women who crew the plane as your hostesses, not a man to be seen. Thank god because the outfits were a bit revealing. I sit down in my small cramped seat that was clearly designed for a 4’ tall tiny asian person, and I start to laugh, “I believe in miracles” (wont you come along, you sexy thing), is bumping over the loud speaker. I put my head back and close my eyes, because I made it, soon I would be off to Kuala Lumpur.
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