David's Big Adventure in China

I spent 3 days in Kuala Lampur (KL) which is the capital of Malaysia and the largest city with a population over 1.5 million. I visited the national museum and the national mosque (both not that exciting), went to see a cultural show, visited an 11 story shopping mall with an amusement park inside (see pics) and went to the dentist and got a cavity filled. A fellow student from the class I took to get my teaching certificate lives in KL and he recommended the dentist for me. I went a couple months ago in China and the dentist told me I needed 3 fillings replaced. I didn’t trust her diagnosis so I wanted to get another opinion and I heard the dental care here was good. Thanks Ken and nice to get together for beers! When Ken first saw me the first thing he said was “you’ve lost weight”. I have lost 14 pounds since I left America and am now down to a weight I haven’t seen in over 20 years. Maybe I’ll write a diet book and call it “The Chinese Food Diet”….lol. KL was much cheaper than Singapore. It cost me about $11 per night for a private room (community bathrooms) in a nice hostel. One nice feature was that they had washers and dryers to use. (It’s rare to be able to use a dryer in SE Asia.) It was so nice not to have to hand wash my clothes. I packed 6 clothes pins to bring along and they come in handy for drying clothes after hand washing.

After KL, I went to Tanah Rata which is in the Cameron Highlands. It is a mountainous area with cooler weather. The hostel there was quite basic (see pics) and it felt more like camping since it was just outside a small town (cost was about $9 per night). It has a nice community room with movies every evening. I played golf at a local course and it was the first time in over a year that I’ve played. The next day I went for a strenuous 5 hour hike in the jungle but the trails were not well defined or well marked so I never did make it to my intended destination. I am now in Penang, which is a fairly big island off the west coast in the northern part of the country. I have visited a few sites and seen a couple movies here while hanging out with a Taiwanese/American couple that I met on the ferry. Tomorrow (Friday), I will take a ferry for almost 3 hours to a resort island very near the Thailand border called Langkawi.

Malaysia has 23 million people of which about 70% are ethnic Malay with Chinese and Indians representing most of the rest. The Malays are Muslim so you normally hear the calls to prayers early in the mornings. Most of the Muslim ladies here wear simple head scarves. I have seen many ladies in burkas but I think most of them were tourists from other countries. There are many native ethnic groups included in the Malay population. In 1511 the Portuguese took control, followed by the Dutch in 1641. The British established a thriving port in Penang in 1786 and took over most of the rest of the country in 1795. Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. Malay is the official language here but most people can speak some English and most of the non-Malay also speak the language of their ethnic group. I have found most of the people here to be friendly and honest except for the taxi drivers in KL. I didn’t need a visa for Malaysia or Singapore and the border crossing into Malaysia was the easiest I’ve had in the last 20 years.

I arrived in Singapore on Thursday afternoon (7-10) and spent the next few days seeing the sights such as the National Museum, Asian Civilizations Museum, Chinatown Heritage Museum, Singapore Zoo, Riverwalk area and some of the ethnic neighborhoods (Chinatown and Little India). Singapore is very clean, orderly and tightly controlled. Opposition to the government is not allowed. It has a bit of a science fiction movie “big brother is watching” kind of feel to it. Punishments for crimes are severe, chewing gum is outlawed and it seems it would be easier if they put up signs in the subway saying what’s allowed rather than what’s not allowed because so many things are prohibited. If you’re a rule follower it seems a very livable place; modern and very westernized. Many western food chains can be found here including Hooters. English is the official language but most people also speak the language of their heritage. Singapore is a city/state of only 228 square miles and has a population of 4.4 million people of which Chinese make up the largest group followed by Indians and Malay. It became part of the British empire early in the 1800’s and became an independent state in the mid 1960’s. Pushed by a strong leader the country became somewhat of an economic miracle.

It’s pretty expensive here (I’m paying more than $40 U.S. a night for a very small room in a hostel without a private bath) with prices for many things being about the same as in the U.S. My first night here I sat at an outdoor cafe overlooking the Singapore River sipping on a Singapore Sling. The zoo here is very nice and they have a “Night Safari” which highlights some of the nocturnal animals and brings in a lot of revenue for them. It was a bit creepy walking through the exhibit with the large fruit bats close enough to reach out and touch while they were hanging upside down eating their fruit. The taxi’s here are all very clean and well maintained and the subway system is a great way to get around. The people here are very friendly, polite and helpful……sometimes when you ask for directions or information it seems they respond like they know big brother is watching…. .lol. I haven’t taken many pictures here so I’ll wait to post pictures until later. On Monday morning I will be taking a bus north for about 6 hours to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I am writing this on the train that’s taking me from Kunming to Nanning. I opted for the “soft sleeper” cabin with 4 beds. The trip will take 13 hours and will arrive ... [Continue reading this entry]