Culinary (and other) Adventures in South-East Asia - Part 3 - Malaysia

Malaysia was a study in opposites that I am not sure that I appreciated as much as I should have.  I visited two vastly different areas of the country during my stay there and had some of the strangest experiences of my entire trip while traveling through this country.  This posting is long, a bit light on photos, and a bit heavy on my strong dissatisfaction with this portion of my journey, but hey, I am just trying to be honest.

I first flew to the island of Langkawi in order to get to Koh Lipe.  My Air Asia flight was delayed by a mechanical breakdown of the plane, which for someone  like myself that doesn't particularly like flying is hardly something that breeds confidence in an airline.  So, I ended up arriving in Langkawi about 6 and one half hours later than my scheduled landing.  Since Air Asia is a "budget airline" they also do not offer any food during short flights (this flight was only about 75 minutes).  Bottom line, I was starving when I arrived to the island.

When I arrived at my hostel I was mildly shocked to find that it was really a number of shacks somewhat near a beach and I was the only person staying there.  In addition it proclaimed itself to be a "Hotel and Dialysis Retreat" which is not my idea of a good time as bi-weekly blood cleanings for people with kidney failure and the word "resort" are not often found in the same sentence.

I then went searching for any open restaurant, street food stand or really anything that resembled food.  Unfortunately, by this time literally all of the restaurants were closed.  In fact, the island seemed to be populated by a few types of people: young Muslim women wearing veils and riding motorcycles in large groups, sunburned drunk German Tourists and Malaysian Rastas.  Mull those images over in your mind and you may be able to understand the utter bizarre feeling I got from this island.

I found one bar open that was, of all things, a Bolton Wanderers themed bar (a smaller soccer team that plays in the English Premier League) with two people located inside: a tattooed slightly crazy Canadian traveler and a local Langkawi woman.  As I had nothing better to do that evening I decided to accompany them to what she described as a "totally local experience".  We arrived shortly thereafter at a beach bar full of dread-locked Malaysian Rastafarians swaying back and forth to reggae music around campfires burning on the beach.  Of course, scattered throughout these Rastas were some rather obvious Ladyboys (local term for transgender men).  Everyone seemed to be having a great time and made a sharp contrast to the Fundamentalist Muslim culture that this area of Malaysia is also home to.

From there, we went to another bar that was full of locals dancing to of all things, a Malaysian Cover Band singing pitch-perfect renditions of American Top 40 Hits.  Quite honestly, they sang them better than some of the original artists.  However, one does not usually go to a relatively obscure Malaysian Island and expect to hear Cover Bands who most likely don't speak much English singing "Airplanes" and rapping with such flow that any real rapper would have felt a bit threatened.  What a strange night that will not be soon forgotten.  I left for Thailand the next morning.

The second time I visited Malaysia was by bus from Satun, Thailand to Kuala Lumpur, a long and tedious trip made much less of both by good company provided by some Swedish and Australian travelers.  Best meal eaten on this bus trip was provided by an extremely shady bus stop Indian Stand selling Roti Canai and small amounts of spicy vegetarian lentil dishes for 30 cents American.

Let me say that again.  A delicious meal for 30 CENTS.  I must admit I was slightly concerned that this 30 cents might turn into a horrible, bathroom-less,  LONG bus ride and a possible need for the Cipro Antibiotics kindly provided by my healthcare practitioner.  It turned out just fine however, and I admit I regretted not eating something more while I was there.

When we finely arrived in Kuala Lumpur, my trip and feelings for Malaysia and specifically KL went south. The bus pulled into the center of town at about 430 AM and I took a taxi thinking my hostel would be a little more distant from the bus stop.  He charged me 3 dollars and took me exactly 4 blocks.  So much for Malaysian niceties.

Once I was in the Hostel, the first thing the man at the front desk told me was "you can not sleep on the couch".  So I was forced to find a book and prop myself up, pretending to be reading while catching up on my lack of rest.

I finally got up and took advantage of their free instant coffee (oh how nice of them) and made my way out into the city.  If there exists in Asia a LESS pedestrian friendly city, I challenge people to tell me.  I got lost more times than I though was possible.

My impression of KL was that it was trying to be like Singapore but had neither the resources, the planning ability or the real desire to make it shiny and new.  Basically it seemed piecemealed together and artificial while keeping the horrific tropical humidity and building decay intact.  A vast majority of the older parts of the city had been demolished, and it seemed to have been left that way, disturbing what was most likely an interesting and beautiful Colonial city in the misguided desire to be the next new thing. 

As in all of the other cities I had been in, there was a large area filled with street stalls, food courts and restaurants, many with the local specialties that I was saving for later in the day.  As I was staying in Chinatown and I was in Asia, I had breakfast in the Asian way with a noodle soup dish that I asked specifically if it did not have fish, when I received the negative response I asked for a dish of the beef noodle soup.  When it came out with grey balls floating in it, I again asked if if had fish, and the owner no said "yes, fish balls".  As I am allergic to fish, I asked if they could remove the balls, and they made me another soup.  I then sat down to eat, took one sip and realized that the BROTH was also Fish broth.  I left the soup on the table and walked away with swelling lips and a strong dislike welling in my chest for this city.  I grabbed some bread in an attempt to fill my stomach with something that was guaranteed not to have fish and give me more of a reaction and continued to explore.

After much wandering, I found the large central Mosque and sat listening to the Muezzin call for one of the five daily prayers, something that if you have not heard a live version of in a Muslim City is really a beautiful and haunting experience that makes you want to sit and listen to the prayer.

My wandering found in the best kept colonial area of the city, about 5 more minutes by foot from the Mosque and pretty much the only area of the city that seemed to be well preserved and beautified.  KL would be a much more interesting city had more buildings been preserved like these.





I went to the iconic Petronus Towers, which while beautiful seemed really out of place, dropped in in an attempt to showcase the economic power of Malaysia.  To me they seemed beautiful and alien, not at all part of the surrounding environment, which was surrounded by a man-made lake and more modern buildings that could have been anywhere in the world. The stores inside were the same as found in any mall in the United States.  Again, disappointment.

I must say, I was looking forwards to leaving this city.  My next stop was Phnom Phen, Cambodia.  A place I enjoyed much more.