I know next to nothing about Malaysia. I know I visited as a child – and that Kuala Lumpur is a major plot point in Zoolander – but otherwise my knowledge is very sparse. My previous trips have all been to countries where I already have a relatively firm grounding in the culture, language, and history, so this is a first for me. That’s mostly intentional. I avoided starting this trip in Taiwan, where I lived from 2013-14 and where my mother’s family lives, because I wanted to do something new. I chose Malaysia arbitrarily, but it turned out to be kind of perfect – I have a bit of an in thanks to my Mandarin language skills, but English is widespread enough that I’m not struggling otherwise.
So, Malaysia! My tentative itinerary is three weeks in Kuala Lumpur and three weeks in George Town, volunteering at hostels through Workaway to cover my accommodation costs.
It’s a hot country. I was somewhat prepared for this thanks to my time in Taiwan, but I naively hoped that arriving in December would take the edge off. As it turns out, the temperature doesn’t vary much with the seasons this close to the Equator, and my first couple of days have been spent sweating through 32+ degree weather – not helped by the lack of air conditioning in the hostel. Thank god for malls.
The diversity is remarkable here. The streets are filled with Indians, Malays, and Chinese, consistently dotted with white travellers. For me, this last group is surprisingly large. However, that’s most likely because my only frame of reference is Taiwan, which attracts relatively few European and North American visitors.
The architecture is a similarly unique melange. The buildings range from ultra-modern skyscrapers and condos, through tightly-packed tiled residential areas with the second floor sheltering the sidewalk, to white and red brick colonial buildings. These latter buildings are described by the tourist information signs as being “Moghul style,” which made no sense to me – the Mughal Empire never extended past Bangladesh. Some perfunctory Wikipedia-ing tells me that they were designed by British architects based on an orientalism-fuelled, imagined “Neo-Moorish” vision. Which is almost more fascinating in its own right. And they’re certainly stunning buildings.
And of course, there’s the food. I’ve been told that Kuala Lumpur barely holds a candle to George Town for street food (something I’m looking forward to judging for myself), but it’s certainly not bad here at all. I usually like to spend some time researching my options before I decide on a place to eat, but KL may end up training that out of me. One of my best meals was when I chose a restaurant at random, picked an appetizing-looking picture off the menu, and found myself digging into a shockingly flavourful chicken curry. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to Google it – it was called Gang Nam Curry on the menu and all the results were for Gangnam Style.
Two last stray observations before I sign off:
There are a remarkable number of security guards in this city, far more than seem necessary. They’re very visible in every public place, standing dourly by the entrance in near-paramilitary uniforms, usually with bright red berets. Somebody at the hostel told me that they were Nepalese, which seems even more unnecessary – why bring in Gurkhas to be mall cops? What on earth are they guarding against?
Finally, the Malay language is kinda neat. I’m picking up bits and pieces (“Lelaki” means Men, as in bathrooms), but there are enough loan words that I can often pick up the meaning based on context – or, if I’m being honest, the English translation underneath. The loanwords sometimes makes Malay seem like pidgin English – “Zon Tunda” for “Towing Zone,” “Stesen” for “Station,” stuff like that. Other times it makes it seem like English if the spelling actually made sense: give me one good reason that “Central” shouldn’t be spelled “Sentral,” because I can’t think of one. Similarly, “Teksi” instead of “Taxi.”
That’s all for now. Not sure when the next update will be – maybe next week or the week after.
Harmon Moon 