Malaysia

We entered Malaysia via bus from Singapore and were surprised at how fast the trip was. After spending over 24 hours aboard buses and vans in Indonesia it was pleasant to find we could go from one country to the next in a mere 5 hours. The bus company we took made much publicity that Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) took the bus at some point in history, and they had photos to prove it.

Kuala Lumpur is a great city, and out of all of the "big cities" i've visited so far, its right up at the top. It has an even more multi-cultural feel than Singapore and despite being a Muslim nation, there appeared to be no harsh judgement towards any type of behavior or style of dress. On the same street you'd see a woman in a ninja-style black burkha walking a few feet from a Chinese woman in Daisy Dukes, heels and a tight belly shirt, an Indian Siek with a turban and a business suit, followed by an emo kid wearing the latest fashions, sporting a lip ring and hair combed over one eye. Those are merely a few of many customes and styles you could see walking down the street. Also, their Hindu and Buddhist roots were celebrated (as they were in Indonesia as well) , a practice not exactly encouraged by literal Islam. It was refreshing to get a dose of such tolerant Muslim culture.

The food there was fantastic, and we ate at a great restaurant that was close to our hostel nearly every day. It served up huge portions of tasty Malaysian, Indian and Chinese food (we mostly got Indian food) for around 2.50$ a plate. One of my favorite restaurants of all time for sure.

In the city we checked out the butterfly park (very cool, and got to see a praying mantis devour a huge butterfly), the petronas towers (buildings formerly known as the biggest), the Batu Caves (home to Hindu temples and statues), and a couple of very very large shopping malls.

After a few days in KL we set off the the Cameron highlands, an area sporting wonderful natural scenery and freaky insect wildlife. After a swervy high speed bus ride we arrived and checked into our hotel. The climate in the highlands was very different than any other place we had been to in Asia, it was much coller. It was very nice to finally have some cool weather, as I was beggining to regret packing my long sleeve shirt and jeans.

In the highlands we went to a tea plantation and factory. The plantation looked rather breath taking, the rolling hills of the highlands looked tucked in by a gigantic green blanket of tea trees. I have never seen inanimate earth look so cozy. We also went to a strawberry farm and enjoyed some nice tarts and a strawberry lassi. Another fun place was an insect and reptile zoo that displayed some of the local flora and fauna. The highlands have those cool walking-stick and leaf insects that blend in so well, so we spent some enjoyable minutes trying to spot all of them in a glass encased habitat. I also got a cool pic with a snake stretching quite vertically atop my head. We went for a short trek into the jungle as well, but could see any of the giant millipedes or tarantulas, so Anita was happy about that. After a quiet and comfortable few days in the highlands, we set off for Thailand, Bangkok.