We've all seen those "Malaysia, truly Asia" commercials. My family saw them so much on T.V. a few years back that we decided to actually visit the country to get a taste of a completely different part of the world. We'd seen Europe, America and the Middle East, but Southeast Asia was a place we'd never really had exposure to.
So we whisked ourselves off to Malaysia for about a week to see what it was all about. We stayed mostly in Kwala Lumpur ("KL" for us cool people who know the local lingo), so we didn't get to see as much of the country as we wanted. But even though the capital city is nothing like the rest of the country according to my lovely Malaysian-American friend, even being in the most globalized part of the country was a shockingly "Asian" experience for us.
For one thing, it rained almost every hour or two. It was really weird having to carry an umbrella around in the summer - tropical weather was something completely alien to us. But that's probably why the country was so green. After years of living in deserts (LA and Dubai), seeing all that foliage made us dizzy. In a good, I'm-drunk-on-nature, type of way. Then there was the food. Sweet and savoury - together?! That was completely bizarre to my family's Arab palate. But delicious. Then of course, there were the people, effortlessly friendly and speaking the most interesting language. Their words bounced around like little rubber balls - nothing like the rhythm of English or Arabic. Or French. Or Spanish. Or any other language I'd been exposed to, for that matter. I loved it.
So, I spent a week in Malaysia - I mean KL. That means I now officially knew all about the region. Right?
Gwahaha, I laugh at such foolish thoughts.
Over the last few weeks, I've been getting more "Asian" exposure than I've ever had in my American- and Middle Eastern-dominated world. Just speaking to some friends, attending a lecture, and flicking through random websites - nothing too intense. But even doing that revealed a whole other world operating outside my realm of consciousness. I mean, I know there's a lot I don't know about. But to be almost completely ignorant about a whole region? Wow. Thank god I have a whole lifetime to learn. I'm pretty excited to get to know that part of the world.
Wanna join me? Here's a map to get you started.
And here are some links!
So we whisked ourselves off to Malaysia for about a week to see what it was all about. We stayed mostly in Kwala Lumpur ("KL" for us cool people who know the local lingo), so we didn't get to see as much of the country as we wanted. But even though the capital city is nothing like the rest of the country according to my lovely Malaysian-American friend, even being in the most globalized part of the country was a shockingly "Asian" experience for us.
For one thing, it rained almost every hour or two. It was really weird having to carry an umbrella around in the summer - tropical weather was something completely alien to us. But that's probably why the country was so green. After years of living in deserts (LA and Dubai), seeing all that foliage made us dizzy. In a good, I'm-drunk-on-nature, type of way. Then there was the food. Sweet and savoury - together?! That was completely bizarre to my family's Arab palate. But delicious. Then of course, there were the people, effortlessly friendly and speaking the most interesting language. Their words bounced around like little rubber balls - nothing like the rhythm of English or Arabic. Or French. Or Spanish. Or any other language I'd been exposed to, for that matter. I loved it.
So, I spent a week in Malaysia - I mean KL. That means I now officially knew all about the region. Right?
Gwahaha, I laugh at such foolish thoughts.
Over the last few weeks, I've been getting more "Asian" exposure than I've ever had in my American- and Middle Eastern-dominated world. Just speaking to some friends, attending a lecture, and flicking through random websites - nothing too intense. But even doing that revealed a whole other world operating outside my realm of consciousness. I mean, I know there's a lot I don't know about. But to be almost completely ignorant about a whole region? Wow. Thank god I have a whole lifetime to learn. I'm pretty excited to get to know that part of the world.
Wanna join me? Here's a map to get you started.
And here are some links!
- Southeast Asia on Wikipedia (The not-so-original, but easiest, place to start.)
- The Southeast Asia section of Asia Times
- The Malaysian Insider (Since this post featured Malaysia, a Malaysian newspaper would be good to mention. Check out the Opinion page, it's seriously cool!)
5 comments:
The next time you visit Malaysia, choose a different destination....Penang, the East Coast...or the small towns along the North-South Expressway....
You'll experience more of the Malaysian life that way....
Apai Mosses Comment,
Having been teaching at a college here in Abu Dhabi, I have received enquiries and feedbacks from students about studying opportunities in malaysia for their first degree and may be higher, if they so wish.. malaysia had so much to offer in term of resources( expertise)in all aspects of the learning and development process. And it is value for money too, as the cost of education, food and lodging comparatively cheaper. What is most important is that students coming from far away lands have so much to see how malaysians live their life after 52 years of independence. As I am from the East, visitors will have many exotic places to visit and learn new cultures (sarawak and sabah) and may be a word or two interm of the local dialects. Welcome to malaysia.
K.L. is ok, but Bangkok is much better. Vietnam is also wonderful, but make sure you go to Hanoi, not HCMC. Actually, all of Indochina is good.
One thing I have noticed while travelling around is that I just visited the touristy area. We go to a hotel in the city center or a resort in the suburbs, visit few monuments or natural attractions and spend most of our time in the city center. Of course this is good and gives you some general information but it doesn’t give to you a real taste of the country and its people. You are somehow isolated from the real city and only see fake places. At the end, we can hardly claim that we have visited the country and its people.
Based on my personal experience, taxi drivers are a good source of social information. It has been always interesting to me to talk to the drivers; listening to the jokes they may say or general comments about life. They give you a good indication about the people. Using the public transport is another good way of experiencing a city. Finally, I like to visit the universities to see how the people who will build the future of the country are thinking.
It is always good to travel around!
nice... i hear KL its the cleanest city in the world... i want to visit there but im torn between Thailand and Malaysia.
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