My time in "city-Malaysia" -- Penang and Kuala Lumpur -- has been spent largely at various cafes working on my computer. I've been trying to not fall too far behind with the blog, as well as dealing with an unexpected increase in my auto loan payment, still trying to get those miles from my Brazil-to-Thailand flights, finalizing Japan plans, and submitting my first post-Bonderman job application. (Keep fingers crossed for me! It's a really really good one, and it's in Seattle!) I spent the morningS/early afternoonS working on those things, and then in the afternoon/evening I'd check out some attraction or another, or just have a "wander and explore" day. I was experiencing some traveller fatigue, so I wasn't as go-getter about seeing tourist attractions as I would normally be. Plus, I've been concerned about how much money I'll be spending in Japan, so both Penang and KL were places where I aimed for a daily spending budget of $20. I am proud to say, I totally did it, and still had a great time in both cities. I'm actually learning a lot about how to prioritize experiences and manage money while traveling. Hopefully I can carry over some of these new budget-tracking and spending habits to my daily life back home.
The Food
I tried to eat lots of local Malaysian food; Malaysia (Penang especially) is known as a food capital of the world, and my friend Marcus gave me a list of about 20 different dishes he wants me to try. I realize most of you won't know what these dishes are, but I want to tell you anyway. So far, I have had:
Nasi goreng alam: chicken fried rice, but like... really good chicken fried rice
Nasi Lamak: Malaysian coconut rice, served with anchovy hot chile sauce, fried anchovies, fried peanut, sliced cucumber or tomato and hard-boiled egg
Gado Gado (South Malaysian/Indonesian): Indonesian salad of slightly boiled, blanched or steamed vegetables and hard-boiled eggs, fried tofu and tempeh, and lontong (rice wrapped in a banana leaf), served with a peanut sauce dressing
Botok botok: fish steamed in banana leaf without any additional fats or oils, often served to pregnant women because it's very healthy and good for the mother's and fetus' health
Pentang: a dessert, bananas in coconut milk with pandan leaf (pretty sure we learned to make a Thai version of this in the cooking class I took with my mom and Therese)
Ice kachang: this is like a snow cone (shaved ice in a bowl) that you add a bunch of random toppings to, like a sundae, but they aren't necessarily sweet toppings. It's odd, but delicious. I tried one at a buffet lunch and asked someone else to choose the toppings for me because I had no idea what would be good.
Char kway teow: Kind of a Malaysian Pad Thai.... (Malaysians might take offense to that, but that's as descriptive as I can be)
Asam Laksa: Noodles in tangy fish gravy
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Bak Ket The: Pork bone tea soup
Kaya: Coconut jam (spread on toast)
Clockwise from top left: char kway teow, Hainanese chicken (and two kinds of pork) rice), asam laksa, and Bak Ket The (with Shanti and Phil, my very generous and wonderful hosts in Kuala Lumpur)
My hostel in Penang was right next to Little India so there was always inexpensive Indian food tempting me as well. The thing is, if there aren't pictures to go with the menu items, I have no idea what I'm ordering, and then half the time, I don't even know if I'm eating it properly. And that might seem silly, like "just put the food in your mouth, dummy," but think about if you ordered a French dip sandwich and didn't realize that you were supposed to dip the sandwich into the soupy sauce thing on the side. What if you just ate the sandwich, and used a spoon to consume the sauce, and walked away thinking "that sandwich was super dry and the soup was too salty... I do not enjoy these 'French dip' sandwiches!" So yeah, sometimes it's important to know the proper way to enjoy a dish, because otherwise you could be missing out on a mind-blowing culinary experience.
Anyway, enough food talk. There were several other cultural highlights from my 12 nights in Penang and 6 nights in Kuala Lumpur that I need to get to :)
Georgetown Street Art
My first full day in George Town (which is a whole neighborhood in Penang designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site), I used maps.me to locate several pieces of street art and made a little tour for myself, but then I realized that the street art is literally everywhere and there's no need to go on a scavenger hunt for it. A lot of it is like this, paintings interacting with 3D objects:
...or just huge murals...
...but there is also a series of wrought-iron cartoons that provide fun facts about the area's history, found all over George Town.
I'm going to group the architecture into the "George Town Street Art" section, because technically, it fits. Isn't this a lovely style? I'm so glad that people have fought to save old buildings like these and maintain a sense of the area's heritage. I know it's tempting for places to want to tear down old things and make way for the new, but I think we often end up regretting doing that. I don't know what it is about modern architecture, but I feel like it's objectively less beautiful than the buildings erected at the beginning of the 20th century and earlier. But who knows -- maybe some of the buildings I consider ugly and "too modern" now will be seen by future generations as charming relics of a simpler time, and they'll fight to preserve them. Something constructed in 2017 could end up being as historically cherished as the temples of Angor Wat 1,000 years from now. Except the materials we use now probably wouldn't survive that long... never mind. It was a fun thought experiment while it lasted.
Interactive Art
Wednesday, March 1st, was also an artful day. I went to an exhibit of art created by children with disabilities, followed by the 3D Interactive Art Museum. I had no idea what I was getting into. It's definitely not the kind of museum you go to alone; you need a friend so you can photograph each other, because all the art is designed for you to insert yourself in it somehow. I already posted a bunch of these photos on Instagram (@hashtagSeattle) and Facebook, so I won't repeat them all here, but this is how it works: the art is set up so that you can sit on, lay on, pretend to hold, or otherwise somehow interact with it. Then, depending on the scene, you might need to flip the orientation of the photo so that it makes sense.
After taking a few awkward selfies with some of the smaller art pieces, a worker at the museum offered to be my photographer (thank goodness...), allowing me to participate in the larger art scenes. I wish she'd advised me to put my hair up, though, so gravity wouldn't give away the magic...
The actual set-up, with me laying on the floor...
...and the final product, with me sliding down chopsticks!
I know -- it's super cheesy, but I really enjoyed the creativity involved in the whole interactive art concept.
I <3 Live Music
On Thursday, March 2nd, I spent the evening listening to live jazz at a place called China House. There have been so many venues to listen to live music around SE Asia, and nearly all of them are covers of popular Western songs -- sometimes classic hits from the Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra eras, but mostly it's recent pop hits. I wish there was more of an opportunity to hear original music from these areas, but maybe those just don't draw crowds the way these cover bands do. And perhaps it's not a matter of just catering to tourists; maybe that music is as much part of the culture here as it is back in the States. In any case, I'm not really complaining -- I really enjoy hearing familiar songs, especially the older ones. Reminds me of home, and how excited I am to perform live music myself again.
This band (who had members from Hong Kong, Indonesia, and India) did a Louis Armstrong cover that sounded JUST like him...
Stumbling Upon a Cemetery
Friday March 3rd was one of those days I just allowed time for myself to wander aimlessly and see what I would happen upon, and I came across this very old cemetery that looked like it should have been in some English countryside.
Side note: The English influence in Penang is very prominent. For one thing, there are the names of places: George Town (named after King George), the Queen Victoria clock tower, etc. Also, I've noticed that people in Malaysia are especially fluent in English -- more so than the other countries in SE Asia. This all makes sense, because Malaysia was a territory of the British Empire until things were complicated by Japan's invasion of the area in WWII. Once Britain's grip was initially loosened, Malaysia gradually became the independent country as it is known today, in 1963. As a former English territory, though, Malaysia seems to still emphasize learning English as an integral part of the education system. Not only that, but Malaysia seems to also have very close relationships to Australia and India, both additional areas once controlled by Britain. There are lots of Aussies in Malaysia, and my friend Marcus has lived in both places -- born in Penang, Malaysia and raised in Perth, Australia, I believe. (If he reads my blog, he can correct me if I'm wrong, but otherwise I'm allowed to be inaccurate about that loose timeline.) Anyhow, it's just interesting to me how I can travel to one country and feel like I'm experiencing three others at the same time, because of the way their histories and cultures have overlapped and influenced one another. Now, back to the cemetery.
I'm not sure why I was drawn to this place, but I think something about the old gravestones and the trees growing around them made it feel like a beautiful and peaceful place -- a place of eternal rest -- rather than a scary or creepy place, which is how I generally expect graveyards to feel. I liked how there were gravestones with Chinese writing on them right next to ones with English inscriptions. It seemed to indicate solidarity between those populations buried in this cemetery (if not in life, then at least in death).
Below is a summary of the cemetery's history and who is buried here.
Joanna, age 27, must have been one of the 33% under age 30 buried here who died from cholera, malaria, dysentery or hepatitis. I thought the two children described below her name were her own children, but the tombstone only mentions that her infant son died with her, and the infants' names both sound female... plus, she couldn't have a six month old AND a one-month old at the same time... it doesn't really matter, I suppose, but I got a little caught up in trying to figure out their story...
I didn't expect to come across a cemetery in Penang and be reminded how fortunate I am to be living in a time and place where epidemics of incurable disease are not threatening my life and the lives of everyone around me, but I am certainly grateful for the reminder. So easy to take for granted all the ways you are NOT suffering at any given time.
Penang Hill & the Botanical Gardens
On Saturday, March 4th, the adventure of the day was to go to Penang Hill and the Botanical Gardens.
View from the top of Penang Hill
There's a bunch of stuff at the top of Penang Hill in addition to the great view: a zoo-type/nature exploration place, an aviary, a food court, an ice cream stand (I saw a kid walking around with mint chocolate chip ice cream cone and decided I must have one as well), an owl museum, a gift shop, a mosque, and a Hindu temple. That last one is pictured below. The colors and detailed engravings really remind me a lot of the Cao Dai temples in Vietnam; it's pretty clear that they borrowed some design elements from Hindu temples when they were designing their own.
From the top of Penang Hill, you can hire a jeep to give you a ride down to the bottom of the hill where the Botanical Garden is, but I opted to walk down the street because 1) I'm cheap, 2) I had the time, and 3) I am always trying to walk when I can, since it's the only exercise I ever get. The road down was super steep, though, and my leg muscles actually got quite tired on the way down. I used maps.me (a GPS app that doesn't require wifi) to try to find a waterfall that was supposed to be off the main road just a bit. It led me off the road and onto a trail, which took me past a clearing where a bunch of monkeys were hanging out (YAY MONKEYS! I am still very amused by them), and into the jungle-y bits of the hill.
I never did find that waterfall. But instead of going back to the main paved road, I stayed on the jungle trail to descend to the Botanical Gardens, which meant going down about a million of these steps:
Needless to say, my legs and butt were very sore the next day. The Botanical Garden was well worth the journey, though! I don't want to bore you with a ton of botanical garden photos (I already did that with the ones from Medellin and Rio), but just know that there were lots of lovely plants, and these are a couple unique highlights.
Bamboo Garden
I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but it is definitely stop-and-take-a-photo stunning
After the botanical garden, I decided I had time to walk back to Georgetown instead of trying to catch the bus back. During the 2-hour walk back to Georgetown, one of my sandals broke. This was very sad at first, because I really didn't want to have to go shoe shopping and go through the ordeal of breaking in new sandals and getting blistered up in the process. But then I realized there was a super easy fix to the sand problem, made possible by the loop-y velcro straps. So no need to replace them! I am pretty determined to get through the rest of this trip with the original two pairs of shoes that I started with. Having only two pairs of shoes has not been a big deal for traveling (I think I chose them very well), but I do find myself fantasizing sometimes about my shoe collection back home... hopefully they are still there, and my niece Lucia hasn't stolen all my favorite pairs for her dress-up collection...
"Tsunami Baby": The Best Story Ever
On Wednesday, I met a local Malaysian guy named Suneel. I haven't been meeting or hanging out with many locals lately, so it was nice to get an invite to hang out with him. Of course, I had the usual "what's his agenda really, though?" reservations, but I made it clear to him that I wasn't available, and "please do not make things weird by making a move," and I hoped that would be enough to keep things easy and fun. Which it was, for the most part.
He picked me up from the hostel and took me to a restaurant near the beaches of Batu Ferringhi, called Miami Cafe, the site of one of the most incredible stories I have ever heard. You can read the published story about it in the article below, but in case it's hard to read, here's what happened: Back in 2004, a tsunami hit Malaysia. In the Batu Ferringhi coastal area alone, 37 people died. One of the homes in this area was flooded, and a 27-day-old infant who was asleep on a mattress was swept out to the sea. After the baby's mother had managed to swim and stay alive in the flooded home, she came outside to hear people shouting, "The baby, the baby!" and pointing out to the water. She, and her husband who was at the scene by this point, were panicked and running out into the water. Then, as waves rolled back to the shore, the mattress floated back into the same shack, through a different door, and the doors shut behind it, baby still asleep.
The family opened Miami Cafe at that same spot. The "tsunami baby," Thulishi, now a tall 12-year-old girl, was there when I went with Suneel, and I got to meet her! Obviously, she didn't have memories of what had happened (not only was the less than a month old, but she was asleep at the time), but it still must be incredible for her to know her life had kicked off with an event that many would consider a miracle.
One day, after retrieving my cell phone charger and outlet adapter from a cafe I'd left them in (oops), I met some members of Marcus' family for lunch at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel. They were very friendly and welcoming people, and we actually talked about some things that weren't Marcus-focused! Its always a bit funny to me when people find out I'll be somewhere, and they know someone there, and they suggest I meet up with this other person they know. I understand why -- having just one degree of separation counts as familiarity on some level when you otherwise know nobody, but initiating that conversation is always a bit awkward for me... "Hi! I'm a friend of _____ and you know him/her too. Want to get lunch with me, a complete stranger, and talk about the last time we saw that person we mutually know, while I wait to see if you'll offer me free lodging for a few nights? Thanks!" It's never that awkward, thankfully, but I always worry it will be. I just hate inconveniencing people, which is why I try to be as independent as possible and I ask few favors, but I have to remember that people like to be helpful. We are social creatures, and it's good for us to strengthen our social ties by extending hospitality to one another. One day some random person who knows one of you will be in my corner of the world, and looking for lunch recommendations or a place to stay, and I'll be happy to offer that, in large part because of all the incredible hospitality that has been extended to me these past several months.
Here I am with Marcus' uncle, another uncle, and an aunt, in the lobby of the very old and fancy E&O Hotel
International Women's Day & The Big Onion
Marcus asked me if I'd been to the Penang State Mosque yet, and when I said "no," he said that when he was a kid, he used to call it "the big onion." I thought that was super cute, and so on my last full day in Penang, I set off on a two-hour walk to find it. (Wow, my time in Malaysia has really been dominated by Marcus' influence, hasn't it??)
On my way to the mosque, a woman riding by on her scooter stopped to wish me a happy Women's Day (definitely an international holiday!). Ching (that's her name) gave me an origami heart, and then bought me a snack from a food cart that was nearby. It was so unexpected and sweet, and I really love that she decided to celebrate the holiday by just doing a random act of kindness for another woman. How beautiful is that??
After that, it only took me another 5 minutes or so to reach the State Mosque. Pretty easy to see how it got its nickname.
I didn't go inside this mosque, just snapped a photo and turned around to head back to George Town. I needed to get out of the sun ASAP because I was getting sun blistered on my feet and ankles, which I'd forgotten to protect with sunscreen that morning. However, later that evening, I finally went inside a mosque for the first time, but I'll talk all about that in the next post, which focuses on everything Islam-related that I've experienced and learned here.
Skimmer Scammed
On Thursday, March 9th, I had plans to go to the Butterfly Farm and Tropical Spice Garden before catching my flight to Kuala Lumpur, but when I tried to withdraw money from four different ATMs, none of them would work for me. Then I remembered, "oh right... there was an unauthorized withdrawal a few days ago, and Schwab texted me to see if it was me, and i said no, and I was supposed to contact their fraudulent activity people, and I never did..." So of course my debit account had been frozen. So, I bummed the wifi from a cafe I'd been to several times (with no cash money, I couldn't even buy a coffee at that point) and used Skype to call Schwab. I learned that there had been multiple fraudulent withdrawal attempts in Indonesia and Malaysia (none of which were successful, thank to Schwab's good detective work), which meant that someone had gotten a hold of both my debit card number AND my PIN, and made a fake card with it. I swear I've been checking the ATMs for those stupid skimmer things to avoid this exact situation, but I must have been outsmarted somewhere along the line. Anyhow, we worked it out so they could lift the freeze on my debit card just long enough for me to withdraw the maximum amount of cash from a nearby ATM, which would need to last me 6 nights in Kuala Lumpur and 2 nights in Tokyo, before my replacement debit card would arrive. Anyway, this whole ordeal took too much time to allow for butterflies and spice plants, so I missed those. Oh well. The day would turn around soon enough.
Kuala Lumpur (KL)
Remember my friend Shelly from the Etnikas retreat in Peru? Well... since Peru, she's been traveling more as well, and she met a guy in Kuala Lumpur who is now her boyfriend (Ash), and she put me in touch with him so I could do the "let's hang out because we both know Shelly" thing and get some insider KL tips. So from the airport, I took a taxi to Ash's place, and he made a dinner of delicious Nasi Lemak and provided plenty of whiskey for me and four of his friends. To my delight, the night eventually led to singing karaoke in the living room, and both Western classics and traditional Malaysian songs were enjoyed:
The day after this, I was pretty hungover, for the first time in a long while. I slept in, watched a couple movies, and then made my way to Marcus' godmother's place, "Aunt Rani." I had messaged Aunt Rani at Marcus' suggestion a few days back, to let her know I would be in KL and asking if she'd like to get together for lunch or something. She asked where I was saying, and when I said "a hostel in China Town," she said, "No, you can stay with my sister Shanti. I already have company staying with me, otherwise you would stay with me." Always thankful for hostel-alternative lodging, I gladly accepted the offer. So for the next five nights in KL, I stayed with Shanti and her husband Phil (who is Australian). Yay!
The highlights from KL can be summarized pretty succinctly, since I wasn't very ambitious about getting to see many tourist things here:
Karaoke and whiskey night with Ash & friends
Islamic Arts Museum (more on this in the Islam post coming up)
Heli, a bar with a helicopter-pad-patio on the roof of a hotel (there's no sign on the street for it, you just have to know it's there and once you get in the hotel you just go to the top floor)
Meeting a guy from Yemen at Heli who wanted to practice his English, and took me to a Yemini restaurant for lunch
The National Mosque (photos and more on this in the next post)
Talking to my Muslim Uber driver about how I wanted to learn more about Islam and then being offered a copy of the Qur'an and taken to the Hidayah Centre Foundation to get a private Q&A session with three Islam educators
Seeing the Petronas Towers
Having a private room with awesome wifi, and the hospitality and delicious meals (both home-cooked and at local restaurants) offered by Shanti, Phil, and Rani
The Petronas Twin Towers and skybridge at the KL City Center
KL at sunset
View from the helicopter pad bar
So that was secular Malaysia! I've got a whole other post coming about all the Islam-education stuff I did in Penang and KL :)