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| Street art in Penang |
- Malaysia is 60% Muslim and the call to prayer can be heard from loud speakers 5 times daily
- People smile in the street and are friendly
- Scooters in KL drive on the sidewalk to get ahead in traffic
- Malaysia has a lot of Chinese and Indian influence
- Highways are clean, wide and well-kept
- Skin whitening products were everywhere. Most body lotions advertised that they helped whiten skin.
- Our favourite Malaysian dishes were satay and curry puffs but, as a whole, we enjoyed the strong influence of Indian and Sri Lankan food.
- Scooter drivers in Malaysia are as insane as in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia
- Drivers obey the law
- Malaysia is remarkably green compared to its neighbours
- The humidity and heat is intense
- Kuala Lumpur (KL) is the epicentre of technology in Malaysia
- The KL skyline is impressive with its many highrises
- Signs were written in Malay and the language reads phonetically. It wasn't complicated to pronounce words.
- Petronas, the major oil company, seems to be embedded in daily life
- Less scooters, more cars and less pollution
- Diesel exhaust from trucks was insane
- We found many areas outside KL to be grungy
- Durian fruit is popular and used in everything- ice cream, popcorn and popsicles. Mike was the only one brave enough to try it. The smell was awful!
- The rural roads were very winding
- Most food is fried with a lot of deep-frying as well
- Tolls are expensive
- Rice seems to be more present than noodles
- A double yellow line means don't park. We learned this the hard way and the car was towed!
- There were lots of infinity pools
- Fuel cost was low
- Many women wore hijabs
- There was a seemingly amicable co-existance of many cultures. We saw a mosque, church, Buddhist temple and Hindu temple all beside one another on a street in Penang.
- We didn't see the East coast at all as it was monsoon season
- Jungles are crammed with things that can kill you- plants, snakes, panthers, monkeys with rabies
- Hawker stalls are common
- We didn't see a single strawberry outside of the Cameron Highlands
- Hanging out in the mall appears to be the 'thing' to do...is it because of the AC?
- Malls in Penang and KL are huge (7 floors tall) and feel like mazes
- Safety is not a priority
- Most of the tea plantation labourers are from Bangladesh
- Navigating KL elevated highways is challenging
- Whats App is widely used for communication
- There were dozens of stray dogs
- There is a temple in Penang that has resident snakes coiled in the corners
- There are many semi-conductor fabs in Penang
- Cars drive on the left side of the road
- Our best meal in Malaysia was at a Sri Lankan restaurant owned by a Canadian!!
I want to hear about when the car was towed!
ReplyDeleteBefore our cooking class, we parked on the street with dozens of cars and no signs. We came out of the class 4 hours later and there was not a single car to be found! With our trusty SIM cards and google, we were able to make a couple of calls and find out that our car was towed. Thankfully it was only a 1 km walk (albeit in the scorching midday heat) to the lot. $35 CAD later we were all set!
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