Malaysia: The Melting Pot of Asia

Ok….I am soooo sorry it has taken me this long to catch up….but better late than never right? Ok…so I was in Malaysia like a year ago…haha no a couple weeks ago and it was fabulous! So much has happened and I hope I remember it all…ok here we go…

The first day we got to Penang and it was an absolute downpour outside, which kind of put a damper on things…I had an FDP for my marketing class that day and it was probably the worst trip ever haha! We first drove for an hour or so to the palm oil factory…now listen up people, I thought I smelled some of the worst smells in India, but I have never ever ever smelled anything so rank in my life until I went to the palm oil plant haha…it was horrible…It was cool to see how they made the palm oil by squeezing the nut and everything but I honestly have no idea how those people worked there…we then drove 2 hours to the rice paddy museum….which was one of the weirdest places I have ever been to haha….The rain outside was frightfully loud and made it impossible to actually go out in to the flooded rice paddy fields so we had to stay inside…we walked upstairs through this fake tree thing which was the coolest part….and sat in a rotating 360 degree room showing the paddy fields…super weird haha…then we walked around and stared at the mannequins working in the fake paddy fields and then stared at each other thinking what the hell we were doing haha…then we got in the bus and drove 3 and a half hours back to the ship, while thinking why we just wasted a day….on the up side it was absolutely breathtaking outside….the rain had made everything so lush and green….once we got back to the ship we had to take the tenders back because there was no port…so we stood there in line for an hour to get back on the ship, in the rain….a not so exciting day but the beauty of Penang helped a lot…

The next day I went on a trip to Kuala Lumpur which I completely adored…we stopped at a Chinese restaurant on the way and ate some great chicken head haha…this was one of the many examples of how diverse Malaysia was…it was a really cool mixture of Indian and Asian cultures….it was incredible to see the peaceful harmony of Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian lifestyles live together…it was very refreshing….we got Kuala Lumpur after a 5 hour bus ride to a lovely hotel….It was splendidly lit up with lights because we were there during Diwali…That night we went to a beautiful restaurant right beneath the Petronas Towers with a cultural show…which I definitely danced in haha…the food was amazing and another tasty example of the melding of cultures…some of us then went out on the town to the great aray of bars and clubs….the do it a little differently in Malaysia…instead of a DJ it is a band or group and they sing all American songs haha it was kind of funny…we finally found this stunning club on top of a hotel….it was incredible! It had a perfect view of both the Petronas Towers and the KL tower and there was a gorgeous pool in the middle of it…the music was very chill/lounge and definitely a dad/wilden place haha…my friends thought it was weird how I knew all the music…it was so much fun…

The next day was a typical touristy day…we saw the palace, a Malaysian history museum, discovered that corn in a cup is as readily available as bottle water haha…., a mosque, a memorial, the tallest flagpole in the world haha, a pewter factory, the largest beer mug in the world (Malaysia likes big things apparently), then the coolest thing of all was the Hindu temple build inside a mountain that we had to hike up…it was out of this world! Simply remarkable! We enjoyed the hundreds of monkeys on the hike back down too haha…that night we went out on the town…we felt compelled to go to the Planet Hollywood Kuala Lumpur and then find some clubs…after a lot of looking we finally found this amazing club which was two stories…down stairs was American music and upstairs was techno…we somehow got bottle service and had our own little booth upstairs…definitely an unforgettable night and yet another club with a pool in the middle haha…

The next morning Jamie and I went out to Starbucks and found Malaysia’s famous doughnut place….they had the coolest gourmet doughnuts ever! We got a couple to try…if I can remember right we got an Oreo one, one filled with peanut butter, one with white chocolate and jack cheese, and a couple others…they were amazing haha…then we drove back to Penang and sailed that night...I thought Malaysia was beautiful and I would love to go back again…KL was so much fun and I cant wait to go back!