Skip to main content

Things we noticed about Malaysia

By
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!!

Comments

  1. EvaMarch 5, 2020 at 11:01 AM

    I want to hear about when the car was towed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CherylMarch 7, 2020 at 10:58 PM

      Before 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!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introducing the Family

By Nathan
This is my first post.  My name is Nathan and I am a 9 year-old boy (almost 10) and can't wait for this trip.  My older sister Chelsea is 12 years old and my younger brother Parker is 7 years old.   I am looking forward to sharing pictures and stories with you over the adventurous year ahead! This picture was taken a couple of years ago so we are all a bit bigger now!
6 comments
Read more

Tongariro Crossing - New Zealand North Island

By
Sorry for the brief hiatus folks - limited wifi slowed me down!  We did the Tongariro crossing 15yrs ago and fell in love with it then - we knew our kids had to experience it too. Ummm... can anyone say AMAZING! For those unfamiliar, the Tongariro Crossing is a 20km hike/tramp that takes you into the caldera(s)  of Mt. Ngauruhoe (more famously known as Mt. Doom in Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings trilogy). The mountain lies above Lake Taupo - New Zealand's biggest lake - which makes for a fitting backdrop throughout the 2nd half of the hike. Turangi - not far from Tongariro National Park We holed-up in VRBO/HomeAway a little town called Turangi, close to Tongariro National Park.  Cheryl's wrote a post about Turangi - check it out ! The hike route This hike is, very debatably, the best day hike in the world - certainly the best we've ever done.   If you like the outdoors, you're fit, and you can do only one thing in NZ - hike the Tongariro Crossi...
11 comments
Read more

Lanterns and Rice Paddies- Hoi An, Vietnam

By Cheryl
When we were in the planning phase of this trip, I wasn't sure I wanted to go to Vietnam.  I was nervous about stories I had heard about crime, health and safety, crowded buses, etc. and I wasn't really sure how comfortable I would be taking the kids to this country.  After doing some research, I came across some information about a small town called Hoi An and  decided this might be a great place to spend some stationary time- soaking up the culture, enjoying cheap food and doing some school work.  So that's just what we did.  We spent 10 lovely, low key days in Hoi An, Vietnam. One of many flower displays along the river A calm town in the morning The famous Japanese covered bridge Hoi An is a town of about 120 000 people.  It used to be a major port- for the Champa kingdom from the 2nd to the 10th centuries and then, after the 15th century, it was one of South East Asia's major ports. The Old Town of Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritag...
4 comments
Read more