We're Home!

We're home!

Here is the best picture of the trip, what made the whole trip to Malaysia worth it:

HOME!

That's right. We are headed to the airport in less than an hour for HOME! I am seriously feeling the way Joey did in the episode of Friends where he is totally homesick for London. Not that I haven't loved it over here and everything, but I am getting really tired of Asian everything. I am ready to go back to America where everyone hates you (or at least stays out of your business, haha!). Dad feels the same way. Yesterday we hit up Little India, which is a cool bazaar but we were out of space in our suitcases. Also, it was so hot I literally felt like I was going to puke. Gross. 

Today we went back to the 5-story techie mall, much to my chagrin. I was not amused. Then we did something pretty un-smart: we went and watched a 2 hour movie before a 26 hour plane ride. And now I'm watching my last Malaysian sunset while Dad takes a shower (little does he know I used up all the shampoo. Ha! That's for using all of my good soap!). Soon I will be back at home with a lot of Malaysian stuff and life will go back to normal. But I definitely have loved my stay here (except for some bathroom experiences)! See you all when we get home!

A Little Taste of What We've Been Up To

Cool ceiling facet thingy at Meneras Tower. 

Me and Dad in the revolving restaurant (which was so cool) with the Petronas towers in the background. 

The Petronas Towers by night! 

Again, with some of the city around it. 

Bird's eye view of sunset in Kuala Lumpur.

Look at some of the awesome food we had!

We were REALLY high up there...REALLY REALLY high!

The towers by day. 

Some cows that crossed the road. Cows are sacred to Hindus, and so in Hindu areas they free-graze...right across the road. We were stuck in a little traffic jam for about 5 minutes while a whole heard meandered through. 

This is a picture of the inside of one of the shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur. This mall is dedicated specifically to electronics, and Dad wanted me to take a picture for all of his techie friends. 

I think he was getting rather fed up with my picture taking. 

A beautiful male peacock at the bird sanctuary. The sanctuary is the world's largest free-flight bird sanctuary, and  it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I only have a couple pictures of this place because my camera got too hot and died right as we started (just FYI, actual temp that day was 99 degrees, and with the humidity the heat index was something like 110, so I don't blame the poor camera). 
This one's for Zack. Check out the water park right by our hotel. You would love it!

This is how dark it got in the middle of the day when a storm was headed in. 

We've been having a good time here, but are missing American food and all of our friends and family! Stay tuned for an update. We are on the hunt for gifts for the family (which is becoming quite a challenge).

Monkeys!

Monkeys here...

Monkeys there...

Monkeys everywhere!

Including on people.

I'm Still Here!

Yes, I am still alive and kicking. The interwebs here are being pretty lame, though, so I have mostly been reading a book. I've been told by pretty much everyone not to go out unless I've got a male chaperone, so I haven't been doing much going out until Dad is back at night, and then we can go explore. 

Sadly, no pictures this time. I am just glad that I'm able to finally post something! 

Last night I had my first obstacle of sorts - an entire shrimp. Most people know how I feel about eating stuff that's looking at me. I just couldn't do it. Like, it had eyes and brains and skin and legs and veins and things, and that was all good and dandy, but it was LOOKING at me! I couldn't eat it and as a result was hungry. But that's ok. 

Other than that, not a lot has been going on. Last night, Dad and I went to the Central Market again, and got a lot of stuff for everyone and also ourselves. That was pretty fun. Tonight we're eating dinner with a Russian (!! excitement), and then this weekend we are planning to head out of the city a little bit and see what's around us. Sometime next week we're also thinking about eating at the KL tower, which is similar to the Space Needle in Seattle. If we go, I'll definitely have some pictures to post of it. 

It's still pretty awesome here. It's been so hot I haven't felt like doing a whole lot of anything, really. It's kind of hard to describe just HOW humid it is (and this is coming from an Alabama-raised girl). Nonetheless, it's still pretty out here, and at night it's not as bad, because A) there is no sun and B) the wind is blowing a little bit. Hopefully there will be pictures all around soon!

FYI: I am old enough to drink here. I love Malaysia!

First Impressions

Some titles of Malaysian romance novels in a book store... they appear to be a lot more risque than U.S. titles!

A cool government building that we drove by in Kuala Lumpur. Our taxi driver told us that it was made by Russians. Interesting. 

This is definitely only the beginning of the odd food parade. Trust me. Pastries stuffed with sardines only begins to encapsulate the strange foods. 

I'm not sure if you can read this, but this is a sign painted on the side of the jail. It basically says that the mandatory sentence for possession of any illicit drugs is death. That is why Malaysia's drug usage rate is so low. They take it pretty serious here. 

The Petronas Twin Towers, one of Malaysia's biggest attractions. It is the tallest twin towers in the world, and they were the tallest towers in the world period until 2004, when Taiwan built a larger building. Surprisingly, this building only has 88 floors (the Twin Towers in NYC had something like 115). It's still pretty neat to check out when you are standing under them. Talk about feeling like an ant. 

Our view from our room at night. We're 20 stories up. I like this picture because you can see me in it too!

I’m doing my best to remedy this picture situation, because I am starting to get a bunch of pictures that I think are worthy of sharing with the internet as a whole.

Today we went out on the town and hit up the Central Market, got some fabulous ice cream and FRESH SQUEEZED APPLE JUICE (very important because it was amazing), went to an aquarium where I touched a very large snake that really wanted to escape, and saw Chinatown. Our taxi driver is pretty rad. He comes from Bombay (which I suppose is now Mumbai), and although we don’t communicate well, he is a hoot. Also, very nice, because he totally stopped our car in the middle of traffic, whipped out an umbrella because it was raining, and took me in the middle of the road so I could get some pictures. And because of that, I will forgive him for his crazy driving (although everyone here does it).

Everyone knows that I have the bladder the size of an English pea, right? Well, today, after we had been gone about two hours, I had to “go”. So after many hand gestures and gesticulating, I found my way to the bathroom. First of all, you had to pay to get in. Not a big surprise, because in a lot of larger foreign cities (and even in the U.S.) this is common. So I pay my dues, which was RM.50, which is about $0.14. No big, I will pay $0.14 because my bladder is going to explode if I don’t go. So I walk into the bathroom, and there are these little room type things. Going off of my bathroom schema, I realize these are the stalls. I also notice on the wall that for the six stalls in this room, there is one lone toilet paper holder on the wall. A warning flag pops up in my mind, and I go to grab some TP but low and behold, it was empty. And when I get in my peeing room, there was none either. I know I can deal with this, mostly because I have no choice. But the toilet itself – OMG! It was not a toilet at all but a glorified hole in the ground! Just equate a men’s urinal to this thing, because there was definitely no sitting on it. I did some maneuvering and finally made it out of the bathroom, but from now on I am SO carrying TP with me when I’m out and about. I am such a wuss, I know, where is my sense of adventure? But I just really like indoor plumbing and TP. Is that too much to ask? Apparently in Malaysia, it is.

Anyways, later we went to this HUGE mall that is connected to our hotel. Let me tell you, this is the biggest mall I’ve ever been in. It could eat like twenty Opry Mills, no joke. Also, there are no anchor stores, it’s all little shops. On the ground floor (there are five floors total) there is an ice skating rink. Also, there is a grocery store and an amazing pastry shop and THREE Starbucks! Just a shout out to my work homies who are probably too busy, ya know, working to read this, but I have seen a three-story Starbucks in downtown Kuala Lumpur. It was pretty epic. Also, they have waaaaay different pastries than we do. Just FYI. I have not actually bought anything, because I am too busy trying local fare, but I have walked past several and checked out what they have.

Another thing: they pretty much worship McDonald’s around here. I totally don’t get it, probably because I am an ignorant American. But around here, it is a big deal to be able to go to McD’s. Also, their McD’s are HUGE (as in I saw a four-story one) and always packed. AND they deliver. And I’m pretty sure they have different menu items, but once again, I have not actually gone inside one.

Last night we ate at a for real Chinese restaurant. As in, we had to point to what we wanted and gesture. Also, we were the only non-asian people in the joint. It was delicious, too. Except dessert, because I got a dumpling thing that was made out of bean curd and stuffed with red beans and bananas. It wasn’t as gross as it sounds, but it wasn’t delicious either.

I keep thinking of everyone while I’m here! For instance, all I could think about in the Central Market was Megan and how if she were here, she would totally buy all of this stuff (it is totally cheap) and decorate her house with it. And also wear a lot of it. I also keep thinking of Cody, because all the women here are beautiful and he would totally get a kick out of it. They really are. I’ve seen like…two unattractive women out of the 3459743704 people I’ve seen. And of course I think about Mom and Zack all the time, because they would get a kick out of some of the things we’ve done and seen. Everyone needs to take a trip to Malaysia with me, haha!

The food here has been out of this world. If I lived here, I would definitely be able to accomplish being a vegetarian. They have so many fresh fruits and vegetables, and there is so much variety that it is mind-boggling. I could eat myself sick on some of the random fruits they have. It is absolutely nothing like in the states.

Another thing I totally dig: everyone here is super-friendly. Imagine your grandmother, the way Starbucks employees are supposed to be perky, and Southern hospitality all mashed into one and you will get this level of friendliness. It’s really difficult to be unpleasant or in a bad mood when everyone else around you is so warm.

EDIT:

I just tried Wendy's here. Definitely not as good as home. #1 - the ketchup is gross. It is too sweet and has an odd tang to it. #2 - my fries were good (although they'd be better with REAL ketchup) but my burger was also odd. I'm pretty sure this is because Wendy's in Malaysia is Halal, which means it is OK for Muslims to eat there. This means that the meat has to be slaughtered a certain way, only certain spices and additives can be used, etc. Another thing - Coke is different here too! AND THERE IS NO DR. PEPPER, WHICH BREAKS MY HEART! Hannah Jones, if you are reading this, our conversation inspired me to go get greasy food. Too bad it was not Waffle House (which is what I really wanted)!

Here's a view of the clouds over Taiwan. 

More pictures to come, I promise. However, the interwebs here are terribly slow, and trying to upload more than one picture at a time is just downright redonkulous. 

Apparently, Malaysians like bad American music

That's right. They do. I have not heard one song in any kind of foreign language. It is all American music, and it's usually stuff that makes you want to scratch your ears off. I have listened to John Denver, the Beegees, and the Eagles since I've been here. Not that I dislike any of them, I just think it's funny that I'm in Malaysia and that's what I'm listening to.

We made it into Kuala Lumpur safely. Dad managed to lose his wallet in Seoul, so... it was no good. However, we managed to make it to the hotel okay. Actually, it's a resort, and IT. IS. HUGE! It looks pretty beautiful. Also, it is apparently a happenin' spot for nightlife. Who would have thought?

Anyway, after all of the craziness of the last 48 hours, we are getting some food and going to bed. Tomorrow is for exploration! After we call American Express and cancel those traveler's cheques, haha.

Yay South Korea!

Cool car at the Seoul airport (for Zack)

The view we have of Seoul from our waiting area.

Please note the carrying of bear's gall & musk in this picture. 

We made it to Seoul! It was a really, really, really long flight, but now it's only 6 hours and we'll be in Kuala Lumpur. There was the cutest Korean family that sat next to us that had the fattest, cutest, most well-behaved baby I've ever seen. I'm super sleep messed up. Seoul has a haze around it and I can't figure out if it's heat or pollution. More to follow!

MALAYSIA!!!!

This poor blog has fallen by the wayside. That's mostly because a) I am sometimes opposed to people wasting time writing supposedly "deep" insights b) I have not had anytime to waste.


That being said, I'M GOING TO MALAYSIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I leave on the 10th, and come back on the 27th. I'm going to take some pictures, put them up here, talk about some things, let you guys check out my witty observations about a country that I know almost nothing about. I'm so nice, I'll even let you comment about it.



We're headed to Kuala Lumpur. I would draw a star, but I don't have Paint, and that is the only thing that I will doodle on an image with (unless it is a physical image, in which case I would use a Sharpie). But anyway, that is where we are headed. I'm pretty excited. I'm a little stressed out, because I now have 8 days (eek!) to get everything finished up. We leave next Friday at 6:35am (!! Are you serious?) and arrive at Kuala Lumpur on Saturday at like 10pm. How lame is that? I can barely handle sitting in a car for 4 hours to make it to my grandparents' house, being cooped up on a plane for roughly 30 hours. We do make pit stops in Atlanta and Seoul, Korea, but other than that - it is all plane time. BOO! Also, everyone knows how math retarded I am. Unfortunately, although it has been explained to me many times, I still don't understand the whole time difference. This should not be a surprise, since I couldn't even figure out "springing forward" when the time changed in March. Oh no's!

Anyway, I am really excited about my journey, and am pretty pumped about documenting it. Yay travel!