Malaysia: Truuuuuly Asia

I went on the trip to Malaysia and Singapore with 7 other people: Alyssa (from Wisconsin), Cheryl (from Canada), Peter (fromUVa.), Dustin and Joe (from Texas), Marieke (from Holland), and Jasmine (from Michigan). It was an awesome trip. We flew into Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and stayed there until we went to Singapore (in a later blog). As soon as we arrived in, we saw from the plane that it was pouring rain. But, being that we flew a discount airline, they dropped us off in the middle of the landing area and we had to walk (in the rain) to the back entrance of the airport...so ghetto. Luckily, they provided us with umbrellas for the short walk, but we still all got wet. We got in late the first night (like 1am) and our hostel, which we had booked earlier and confirmed by email (Father Carlson would be proud), neglected to put us on the schedule, so we didn't have a room. I guess you can't expect much when you are only paying US$9 a night. But because they messed up so badly they squeezed us all into beds and spaces in the hostel instead of searching for other hostels that night so we could at least get a little sleep before we headed on our sightseeing the next day.

We woke up early the next morning and began scurrying around town. First, we went to the Batu Caves. They are about 1hr outside the city, but they were so worth the travel. At the Batu Caves there is a huge, gold statue of Lord Murugan (the god of war for the Hindus and Buddhists. see the picture) . Also, you can enter this gigantic caves (hence the name) that are beautiful. We got to hold a huge snake (see picture). At one point it started contracting around my neck...this picture makes me look far more calm than I actually was. Also, there were also monkeys climbing around everywhere at the caves. We got a bunch of pictures with them...for some reason they didn't like me though! However, the monkey's really liked Peter, the other guy fromUVa. He was eating a popsicle, and monkey came right up to him, jumped on his arm, and started prying the popsicle out of his hands. It was craaaazy. We didn't know what to do. I would have to say that the Batu Caves were one of my best memories from the trip. And afterward we went to a local Indian restaurant (there is a huge Indian population in Malaysia, so the cultures have really meshed), and got some legit Indian food that was delicious. While we were at the caves we found out that on February 8th this year there was a huge religious festival for Hindus at the Batu Caves. It happens every year sometime in January or February. It is one of the largest gatherings of people in the world every year. Someone said close to 1.5 million people come. The devotees of the Hindu religion will pierce their tongues and cheeks, and they will carry these large decorations up the 272 stairs that you must climb to get to the caves. We were all so disappointed that we could have come to the festival but we just didn't know about it!

After the Batu Caves we went to see the city of Kuala Lumpur. First, we saw the Petronas Towers, which used to be the tallest towers from 1998-2004 until they were surpassed by Taipei 101 (yea, Asia!) They are really beautiful, and the architecture is unbelievable. They are most stunning at night though. I could not snap a picture that did them justice at night.
Then we were all so hungry that we looked for a place to eat in our travel book. The book recommended a place that had "food and local dancing." We figured this would be a good cultural experience so we went. Well, we were very surprised when we got there because the place was SO nice. It looked like a banquet that you should be dressed in a cocktail dress or something. It was a full buffet with a ridiculous amount of amazing food. From pineapple shrimp to Brazilian BBQ style chicken, everything was amazing. Then we got to watch an hour of traditional dancing from all over the area. The title of the blog comes from a song that they danced to. The whole song said "Malaysia, Truly Asia!" It sounded like they were trying to convince us that they were actually a part of Asia, even though it is obviously so. We also got to get on stage and do a dance with them, so I have added the video of me doing it...enjoy. ha. It was such a great experience (except for that I got a cold, red drink spilled all over me!) and we only paid US$25!


After dinner we went dancing out in the town at what we heard was "the #1 rated club in Asia," but we don't see how that could be true. The music was okay (all techno...except the last 3 of the night were American, and we all really rocked out. ha.), and they had some nice tanks with sharks in them, but the overall vibe of the club was kind of creepy.

The next day, we went to see many other things around town like the Jamek Mosque and Sultan Abdul Samad Building. We had to cover up (see picture) in order to enter the mosque...it was SO hot. I don't know how they do it! We also went to the Padang Merdeka (are really beautiful grassy area that where we almost died of heat). We also got to eat a lot of local food on the 2nd day including satays and roti (Indian, but still local), and other things that I don't know how to say. I LOVED the roti, so we are looking around Hong Kong to try to find a place that sells cheap Indian food. Also, we drank "pulled tea" which is a tea that when they mix it (by pouring it from one can to another...see picture), looks like it is being pulled. And you all know how much I love tea, so this was quite a special treat for me. It was sweet and kind of similar to Hong Kong's "milk tea." I plan on also figuring out how to make this one and doing it at home!
We also went to Central Market in Kuala Lumpur where many tourists go to shop for souvenirs. When we were there we saw something called the "Cute Fish Spa." Well we look in and see that the spa is just a little pool with lots of fish, and you are supposed to just stick your feet in the pool and the fish bit your feet so they end up feeling smooth. It sounds disgusting, and I am pretty sure it is...but to be cultural I had to give it a try. It just feels like tiny pinches all over, and my feet did feel soft in the end...it was just a little bizarre.
Instead of doing the fish pool, Cheryl and Alyssa got a foot massage. While we were at the foot massage place, we went into the back to go to the restroom, and found a little baby monkey chained in the back closet. He was so cute, and he was dressed in little clothes. So we asked the owner if we could pick him up and they said yes (see picture). So we got to hold and feed apples to this 2 month old monkey with huge, soulful eyes and tiny, human-like hands, named Amat. It was such a cool experience, and now I want a monkey as a pet as well (I hope Father Carlson is down with that!).
Many other exciting adventures happened in Malaysia, but I don't want to make this blog too long (or should I say...any long than it is already). I will post a blog for the Singapore portion of the trip soon. - Love from around the globe, Sally