Welcome to Malaysia

Our post-work travels have begun!


We made it safely into Malaysia via Malaysian Airlines. Malaysian Airlines was FANTASTIC. We especially loved their rainbow seats and beautiful stewardesses wearing bright dresses with busy patterns. The airline food was surprisingly delicious. We had fish curry with a salad and butter (for the first time in a while!) on our hot rolls. Overall it was a terrific flight and experience. We hope it's the first of many good flights!

When we arrived in Malaysia, there were dense forests with many short, fat palm trees. The rain followed us from Korea, and we got rained on big time during the hour long drive into Kuala Lumpur. Along the way we saw many tract homes that all looked exactly the same, in identical rows that stretched as far as we could see over the hills. The highways were clean and well kept. We got into the city and checked into our hotel in Chinatown, on Petaling Street. It was full of vendors selling all sorts of wares. It was pretty much a bombardment of purses, jeans, watches, and other trinkets. We even saw live frogs in a glass case on the street - for cooking, not for pets. The pet store does sells chipmunks, though, for 30 ringgits "a head."


After dropping off our bags, we excitedly started to explore our new area. The streets are busy and there is construction all over the place. Buildings in our immediate area are older and dirty, but full of life, and they are often juxtaposed with gorgeous streamlined glass high rises. It makes for quite the eclectic mix. The air smells of bus fumes and cooking food. The roads are made of bricks and there are lots of crowded streets, uneven surfaces, steps, and grates.


We went to a curry house for dinner that served a tantalizing buffet. We were handed a HUGE plate of rice and then piled on a bunch of random, spicy meats - beef, lamb, orange fried chicken. We also had great stewed tomatoes in a rich, soupy orange sauce and tasty green beans. We were the only people not eating with our hands. We also had this milky, hot tea drink that the server practically threw from cup to cup to mix. It was around $8 for all our food, tea, and a few bottles of water. We could get used to this.