Oh boy..its going to be a week since I arrived to Malaysia...What a great 7 days! Since I got here, I am just amazed how wonderful and friendly people here are..they are starting conversations with me in a bus, subway, while I am standing on a street with a map, always ready to help, speaking perfect English..Right at the airport some guy both me a 10$ subway ticket just to welcome me and make good impression about his country..it definitely worked.
KUALA LUMPUR
I have to say I fell in love with this city. Despite the high rises and freeways its one of the greenest cities I ve ever seen. I had a great CS(couch surfer) host Mun, who hosted me at his place for the first 3 days. He lived little further from the city but i loved it since i got to see the real apartments outside of KL and people living there..Mun was awesome. He is an CS ambassador for Malaysia so he has lots of contacts and friends all over the city. He was very accommodating, generous, always made sure I have everything I need .His friend just opened a restaurant downtown KL, really nice place,almost reminded me of some US restaurants, so we spent some time there just hanging out and talking with random people and friends..
There seems too be very strong CS community in KL. CS's and their hosts and getting together a lot during a week, partying,bar hopping, pretty much good time every night. In those 3 days i stayed in KL, i haven't gone to bed earlier then 5 am...i felt like being 15 again haha! The only problem is that alcohol is so expensive that you just have to learn how to have fun without it( i mean if you on a budget). Since this is a Muslim country there is still lot of people who cant drink or who simply don't drink which is kinda weird but I am slowly getting used to it.Still strange when you out with friends and you are the only one drinking...but drink 5-7 cocktails like in the US? forget it!
I was very lucky to spent Halloween with Mun and his friends who came from all around KL just to party with us..we bought some bottles of whiskey and vodka and a liqueur store and in a classic way- we smuggled it inside a club. Thanks to Mun we got to go to few parties where i would never got into since there were lines and dress codes and well we weren't really prepared for that. Spent that night partying on a street lined up with tens of little bars and clubs - DJ's played really good house music and people were dancing in the streets...lots of fun till 6 am...met lot of bar/restaurant owners from all around the world - they all fell in love with Malaysia...
Few more things I noticed about KL:
People eat all the time. Noodles or rice for breakfast,lunch,after lunch, around midnight and around 4am when they go home from the clubs.
Some places are open 24 hours,always packed with eating people. I can't believe these people are so thin and small! Each ethnic community brings something to the table - most importantly in a form of cousin - making eating the standout experience...
Mc'Donalds seems to be very popular, always packed with young chatting people munching on burgers and fries...i guess its such a big deal since its a nice change once in awhile from noodles and rice...If you get lucky, you might see some monkey eating the leftovers....bizarre!
People are really nice when it comes to answering your questions, but they don't give a shit when you crossing a street...no rules here when you driving a car or motorcycle..or when you on a crosswalk
Everyone speaks perfect English, even very little kids...If people think they are cool that they speak two different languages, they should come here...even young kids usually speak 3+ languages and parents talk to them in English as well. Very impressive!
When you order a food, its like 50/50 surprise about what you gonna get...Asian people are very nice and their answer is always yes, no matter if they know what are you talking about or not..
MELAKA
After few days in KL, i decided to head down south to Melaka which was about 3 hours in a bus. This town was founded in 14 century and the history of the town is pretty impressive. Founded by the Chinese, it was later dominated by Portugese, then the Dutch and finally ceded to the British. Melaka was at one time the busiest port in Southeast Asia which could accommodate 3,000 ships at the same time. The town was very cute and scenic, with small river running trough the town. After the sunset, the whole town lit up with colorful lights, which created really romantic atmosphere.
I stayed for couple nights with my CS host Jordan,who was originally from Canada but traveling Asia and teaching yoga in Malaysia for awhile. Jordan lived in abandoned spa house, where were bunch of empty rooms with small pools or massage chairs.Kinda weird to sleep in a facial room with no windows but hey, it was for free so why not. I met some nice people there as well, like Spanish twin sisters in their 40's who have been traveling for 4 years now....Every time i think I am doing something cool, i meet people who are doing even more HC things then me....After couple days in Malaka i decided to go across the peninsula on the east coast, since i heard there might be some waves...and cleaner ocean.
KUANTAN
It was a 7 hour bus ride across the county. Since there was nothing besides palm trees i quickly fell asleep and woke up shortly before arrival to Kuantan. I choose this little town since it's suppose to be a known surf spot during monsoon season, which is starting on the east coast this week. Kuantan is a small town with not much going on, but it has an amazing jungle and first nice beaches I've seen since I've arrived...I found another CS who was able to host me for another couple days. I feel very lucky since these home stays are saving me tons of money + I get to meet locals and see the real life here.My host Chin was in his 40's, living with his 2 kids in really cute house close to the beach.So here I am, walking to the beach and I see this white boy riding a bike down the hill. So I look closer since he looks kinda familiar to me and I can't believe it it's a french guy I met in KL few days ago!!! 300 miles away here we are in a middle of nowhere! Ha! What a small world!
Chin took me out to eat some good Malaysian food, fish on a BBQ, sticky rice and Satay that night and it was so far the best food I had since I arrived here.Today I went back to the beach hoping for some better waves but it pretty much sucked so I went to this 4 star hotel right on the beach, pretended I am a guest and had a nice day by the pool drinking beer and relaxing.
Tomorrow I'll be heading back to KL for couple days since I met someone who wants to take me around for a few days. There is a Hindu "festival of lights" on Friday and I'll be going to Batu Caves, where is Hindu shrine and 43 meters high statue of Murga - the tallest in a world. Then escape to Cameron Highlands for a few days - with hills high in the mountains full of tea plantations, waterfalls and green humps.before hitting up the party place Penang Island...but about that later...
