Malaysia- The Essence of Asia

We arrived in Penang on Tuesday, October 28 and I decided to relax for a few hours before getting off the boat. It was a more difficult and longer process in this port to get off the boat because we were not anchoring at a dock, but rather in the middle of the ocean and had to take the little tender boats from the MV to the pier in Penang, about a ten minute ride. Luckily, about one hundred people can fit on each lifeboat. Unfortunately, however, there was only one boat running at a time. By the time I got off the ship, it was noon. Lunch time. I decided it might be fun to go with one of my professors to lunch and see a few Buddhist temples around the city. Myself and about ten other students, after dodging through the throng of taxi drivers trying to coerce us to employ them, we clambered into a van and told Tan, our driver, to take us to an “authentic Chinese restaurant.” We arrived, about twenty minutes later, at the May Lei Garden Palace. The smell of seafood and spices penetrated our nostrils the moment we stepped through the glass doors of the Palace. It was almost too much for me to handle and I debated walking out. We all were seated at a giant circular table with a Lazy Susan in the middle so that we could all share the exotic dishes we each chose. We didn’t get the opportunity to really look through the menu and each pick an item because Professor Groner told the owner of The Palace to give us seven of the best dishes in the house. I was scared. I knew that real Chinese food was nothing compared to the Pick-Up-Stix and P.F. Chang’s that we enjoyed in the states. While sipping on sweet hot tea and snacking on peanuts, an array of dishes was placed on the lazy Susan. One dish had fried pig skin, Peking duck, and Chinese style ribs. Another was cooked prawn and rice. We had stir fried vegetables, seafood noodles, seaweed soup, and fish. Two full, with heads and tails fish smothered in an orange and green sauce. I thought to myself that since I am only in Malaysia once, I might as well enjoy all this country has to offer. That thought was a bad one. For the next two to three days I was so sick from the Malay food that I vowed not to eat anything but rice or McDonald’s french fries for the remainder of my Asian tour. After lunch, we headed to the Reclining Buddha Temple and the Standing Buddha Temple. You could immediately tell the difference between the two. Walking into the Reclining Buddha temple was like walking into a Disneyland ride. Everything looked so fabricated and plastic, bright colors everywhere, and a million Buddha statues. I have expected there to be a roller coaster running through the middle of it. Across the street at the Standing Buddha, the atmosphere was much more spiritual and peaceful. I witnessed a young Malay man make an offering to one of the monks. He knelt ritualistically in front of the meditating monk, presenting him with an orange robe. The monk took the robe from the young man, surrounded his head with incense, blessed him, and tied a yellow ribbon around his wrist for protection against evil spirits. It was a really cool experience. The last stop on our temple tour was the Khoo Klan house, a building where all the ancestors of one family are kept and worshipped. It was the most ornately decorated building I had ever seen. Gold, red, green, and blue was splashed everywhere. It’s hard to describe in words, but I took some great pictures that I’ll upload when I get to an internet café, hopefully in China. The rest of the day was really relaxing, I headed back to the ship to grab my overnight backpack because my friends and I were planning on staying the night at the Shangri-La Hotel, a 5-star hotel in Penang that was only $60/night. It was amazing! The rooms were fabulous and the beds were to die for. Too bad we were only staying a night there. The rest of the night was spent dancing at Slippery Senoritas, one of the most popular night clubs in Penang. It was definitely a favorite with the SAS crowd. The next day, Thursday, it was time to leave Penang and head to Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. KL or “Garden City of Lights” is the gateway to Malaysia, resembling a small-scale New York City. Greater KL, with a population close to two million, forms the powerhouse of the Malaysian economy. Despite its rapid development, KL has managed to maintain historical edifices and plush greenery. Colonial buildings stand proudly in the center of town, and lively Chinatown, with its street vendors and night markets, can be found in the heart of the city. You will also see fine examples of Moorish architecture in contrast with the new Petronas Twin Tower that is the tallest building in the world.We departed by bus for KL (4 hrs) at 10:30am by the way of 13.5-km Penang Bridge that connects the island of Penang with peninsular Malaysia. Along the way, we saw picturesque paddy fields, Malay kampongs, and oil palm plantations. Lunch was at an authentic Chinese restaurant- it was very good but the last Malay food I ate because I became pretty sick. We arrived in KL in the late afternoon, checked into the Swiss Garden Hotel, which was spectacularly beautiful. That evening, we went to a Selamat Datang Malay dinner complete with a cultural show at the Sri Melayu Restaurant. The dancers were really good and dressed in traditional garb found from many cultures around Malaysia. It is the melting pot of Asian cultures mixing Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian, and Thai. The finale of the show was the singing of the “Malaysian theme song.” The lyrics went something like this: Malaysia! It’s truly Asia, the essence of Asia- Malaysia!” After that, we returned back to the hotel. Most people went out to tour the nightlife while I stayed in the room (due to the Malay cuisine), falling asleep to Mary Poppins.Friday, After breakfast at the hotel, we went off for our city orientation. We drove by the Petronas Tower, went to the front doors of the Jamek Mosque, saw the Sultan’s palace, and the railway station which was a brilliant display of Moorish architecture. We continued on through Chinatown and had a brief visit to National Museum and the National Monument. Lunch was at McDonalds and then shopping in the afternoon. We were supposed to go to see the Firefly Phenomenon in Kuala Selangor, where we would watch thousands of fireflies blinking in dark as we took a dinner cruise but instead of doing the fireflies cause it was drizzling so they wouldn’t be out anyways, I went shopping with Maggie, Sarah, Allison and Darcy. The Pavillion Mall was where we were headed and let me tell you, it was the best mall in the world! After dinner at the hotel pool bar, I met up with some friends not on the SAS trip (Dan, Tyler, and Ryan) and went to a bar called the Beach Club. As soon as I walked in I noticed a line of young women all standing tall and looking pretty. Dan quickly informed me that they were “call girls looking for rich tourists to pick them up. I was shocked. I had never really seen a prostitute before and now, here before me, were about 50 of them. The coolest thing about Asian nightclubs and bars is that instead of a DJ, live bands play all the popular music for the crowds to dance to.On our last day in Kuala Lumpur, we had our morning free- I choose to get up and have breakfast at the hotel and headed back upstairs for a quick nap before our five hour drive back to Penang. When we got into Penang, my friends and I got a hotel room for the night at the Cititel Hotel. We Packed 5 people into a king sized bed that night- not the best night of sleep in my life..The last day in port, the only energy I had was to go shopping in little India for about an hour and lunch at McDonald’s before heading back to the boat to do some homework and relax a little bit. It was about100 degrees with humidity outside, so Dan, Jenny and I decided to go lay out at the pool, swim a little bit. However, there was no water in the pool. I convinced a waiter in the dining hall to supply me with pitchers of cold water to cool myself off. Luckily, I didn’t get a sunburn.Overall, it was a good trip to Malaysia. I want to go back, though, because I feel like I didn’t get to see enough of the country. Anyone want to join me?