25 April 2009

Malacca, a Mini Post.

The founding of Malacca is seen as the beginning of the Malaysian nation-state. Malacca was not on our list of Malaysian destinations originally, but after we found out about its historical significance to the founding of the country, we decided to check it out. A 4 hour bus ride south of KL lead us to this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Malacca used to be one of the most important ports in all of Asia; it was founded by an exiled Sumatran prince back in 1400. Any ship trying to travel from Eastern Asia to India or beyond has to pass through the straights of Malacca, or make a several thousand kilometer detour around Indonesia. Although other cities along the straights had been trading with distant nations for many years, Malacca quickly gained the monopoly due to its low or lack of import tax and highly organized port administration. Four high level government officials were assigned to take care of foreign traders while they were in the port. Malacca came under successive colonial eras when it was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511, followed by Dutch rule in 1641 before the British took over in 1824.Because of this, Malacca has unique colonial architecture and a population of mixed decent. We stayed for a couple of days, not giving the city true justice. Even though the city was filled with museums and cultural relics, we felt that we had gotten the idea after about 48 hours. Also although there are volumes of information and warehouses filled with historical relics from the colonial era, all buildings, writings, and pre-colonial information about Malacca had been destroyed by the Portuguese and other imperialists. We weren't really interested in learning more about Portuguese gun models and the meticulous record keeping of the British.

The city is flooded with tourists and flamboyantly decorated bicycle rickshaws. We're not sure which heritage this comes from.

The main canal running through the city. This used to transport goods inland from the port. It now transports tourists through Malacca for about $20 for a half day ride.

St. Francis Xavier Church. Gutted out and filled with tombs of old colonialists. St. Francis body was buried here for a few years before being exhumed and moved to Goa, another colony of the Portuguese located in South India.

Kara in front of the former gravesite.

View of the port from St. Francis Xavier Church. The large pole in the foreground was built last year for tourists to get a panoramic view of the city.

Walking towards Jonker Street, Malacca's Chinatown. This area was designated for Chinese sailors to stay while their ships were in port back in the 1400s. It is a charming part of the city that boasts quiet streets and nice lighting.

Old City Center. This Church was founded in the late 1700s and its architecture is typical of other colonial buildings in the area.

There are more Malaysian tourists who come to visit Malacca than foreign. It's kind of like Philadelphia in America.

Malacca museum: smiling colonial dudes. Max really likes this picture for some reason. "They're just all so happy to be colonialists, I don't know..."

Being enticed by the Beyonce blasting (yes they sport radios) bicycle rickshaw driver. We did not get in. Our walks through the historic district were filled with the sounds of American top 40, Euro techno, and Bollywood music. The rickshaw drivers seemed really excited to be playing this music as part of an entertainment service, but we thought it was tacky, so fucking loud, and definitely out of place.

On the "Eye on Malacca." This ferris wheel used to be in Kuala Lumpur but was moved to Malacca to boost tourism. Gave a nice view of the city.

We enjoyed our ride.

Apparently Malacca's desire for tall vantage points was not satisfied by the "Eye," so they built this revolving tower (shown at beginning of post).

View of Malacca from this revolving thing.

We felt like this was kind of a boring post, and maybe a boring place, but we went there, and we wanted to share it with you. We'll try to get crazier next time.
Max wants to say that he is glad we went there.
History is important.

Also, it was a good stop over to Singapore, our next destination.

K and M

18 April 2009

KL in a Nutshell.

Though this was technically our third time in Kuala Lumpur (KL), this was the first time chance we got to explore the city. Our first experience with KL was a 24-hour layover in the low-cost airport en route to Indonesia. The second experience with KL was just spending the night before meeting our friends Soon Kit and Chin en route to Taiping (see last post.) This time we meant business, and we spent almost two weeks here. What is there to say? We love cities after all.

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia and is home to 10% of the country's population. It is the melting pot for the three main ethnic groups who live in Malaysia: Malays (mostly Muslim,) South Indians (mostly Hindu,) and Chinese (mostly Taoist and Buddhist.) Though these communities have their own neighborhoods, community organizations, and languages, you can find all of them shopping at the same malls, frequenting the same clubs, and eating at the same food stalls. Well, up to a point. When we first arrived, it was refreshing to be in a city with sizable minorities making a visible impact on the culture. Seeing different ethnic groups with very different histories eating, working, and walking with one another was in stark contrast to the countries we had previously visited. However, as we learned more about the culture and politics of Malaysia, we found that while on the surface things might look integrated, Malaysia is still a very sectarian and racist society. Relationships have improved in the last few years with the various ethnic groups of the country, for example there is seldom violence between the groups, but some basic inequalities still define Malaysia. Chinese rule the business world, Malays are heavily favored by government economic and education policies, and Indians are viewed as the lower class. The Chinese population's business success has a foundation in their historic role as merchants and traders. Long before the Portuguese, Dutch, or British colonized Malaysia, the Chinese had set up profitable mining and trade operations throughout the country. The Malays, the native people of the land, remained mainly in agricultural and traditional industries until recently. The Indians initially came to Malaysia as cheap labor; the main Indian neighborhood in KL is called the Brickfields. Many other Southasians, such as Nepalis, Pakistanis, and Sri Lankans still emigrate to Malaysia on 3-year work contracts, with the intention of returning to their home countries with a wad of relatively high Malaysian currency. (Which by the way, is called the Ringgit, and at the time of writing is approximately 3.59 RM to the USD. Compare that to the Indonesia, which is around 10,000 Rupiah to the USD.) In conclusion, Malaysia is a complex society and we just scratched the surface. On to the pictures....


Queueing up at KL Sentral Bas Station. No, those aren't typos.

"East" meets "West." Malaysia attracts many Middle Eastern tourists, especially from Dubai, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. The tourism department makes an effort to attract such guests who feel comfortable in a familiar Islamic setting. Most tourist maps and signs are in both English and Arabic. You can walk around the street in a burqua without attracting much attention. You can also walk around in a mini skirt without much attention as well. Malaysia, interesting.

Israelis are not allowed in Malaysia. Period. Clearly anti-Semitism persists. We saw a lot of these "Think Local" stencils combined with the "no Jew" sign around KL. This was disturbing an a little scary for us. We never felt personally threatened by this, but then again, people always assume we are Christians because we are White. However, as Max's beard continues to grow to astronomical proportions, his ethnicity is often questioned. Beards are generally associated with devout Muslim men, so many Malays began to ask if Max was an Arab. Considering this stencil, and the anti-Israeli propaganda on television, he always said he was "American" and left it at that.

A canal near our guesthouse. The dome is Masjid Jamek, one of the most popular mosques in KL.
The street in front of Masjid Jamek on a Friday afternoon. Friday afternoon prayers are similar to Sunday Mass in that they are the most popularly attended service of the week.
The Brickfields, KL. Here you can find garlands of marigolds and jasmine. In Indian Hindu culture, flowers have many different uses. Many similar stands dot the streets of little India.
Sarees, Salwar Kameezes, and Indian Threading Salons. Kara was so pumped. In fact, it was the main reason she wanted to come down to little India on the first day. Eyebrow upkeep! Max really wanted to watch as Kara did a little self-maintenance after 6 months of traveling, however, Indian beauty parlors are usually off limits to men. Max is concerned that no one knows what threading is, so we will explain. Threading is an ancient Indian hair removal technique in which two twisted threads are used to grasp individual hairs and pluck them from their root. Threading has become extremely popular in New York, as it creates cleaner and more specific eyebrow shaping than waxing. Kara suggests you all try it. Kara wishes she was in India right now so she could get it again.

Enter Linda, our fabulous host in KL. Before we came to KL we tried to arrange to stay with a couchsurfer. He was unable to host us, but invited us out to a food night, which was a bit like "couchsurfing show and tell," with hosts bringing their wards to meet and eat. Linda was there that night and after hitting it off, told us to pack our bags and come stay with her. We were delighted. This picture was taken before Linda took us out to a club, something we hadn't done in months. Linda dressed Kara up in hot pants, high heels, and encouraged her to wear makeup. Thank you Linda, Kara says. Linda is both down to earth and knows how to have a good time. We really loved staying with her.

View from Linda's apartment. She lived on the outskirts of town, where the city is vastly expanding.

Linda adopted a kitten in the week we stayed with her. It was refreshing to join her on such familiar errands as picking up cat food.

Kara got a haircut, with Linda's encouragement.
Walking to the National Museum. The official route takes you on a twisting path that as you can see is right on the freeway. The walk was well worth it; KL's National Museum is informative, cheap, and interesting. The museum is inside the Lake Garden, an all-in-one tourist destination which includes the National Islamic Arts Museum, the National Mosque, the Bird Park, the Planetarium, a Museum dedicated to Malaysia's first president, the Butterfly Park, and of course, the Lake.

At the Butterfly Park. Over 5,000 species of butterflies are free to fly around this large netted area. We learned that the butterflies kept here have a much longer life than the ones in the wild, mostly because there are no predators here. The average lifespan of a butterfly from conception is about 5 days! Inside the butterfly park, some butterflies live up to 14. We were concerned that it would be an underwhelming experience, but luckily we were proved wrong. The air is teeming with exotic butterflies and it was very magical.
Butterfly face!

Inside the educational exhibit, Kara asks Max to take pictures of her with various butterflies for her sister, who loves butterflies more than anyone she knows. Michal, this is for you.
The exhibit included not just butterflies but other weird and wonderful insects. This beetle, is very large, as you can see.

Kara's childlike wonder makes this one of Max's favorite pictures.

Rush hour in KL. This is the morning we went to the world famous Petronas Towers.

They are massive. They used to be the tallest towers in the world. Since Taiwan now holds that title, the Petronas Towers now claim they are the tallest twin towers in the world, a title not likely to be challenged anytime soon.

WHOAAAAAAAAAAAA. So big, right?

You can only ascend as far as the sky bridge, which connects the two towers together. At 47 stories tall, it is still less than halfway up the towers. You may remember this sky bridge from the movie, "Entrapment," starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Although the movie reveals nothing about Malaysian culture, it was many people's first introduction to these towers.
Inside the towers is a giant mall. UGH.

Linda threw a pot luck party in our honor. Did we mention she is great? Many couchsurfers from KL came, as well as Linda's other friends. She told everyone we were vegetarians so we were well fed. We made guacamole again. Kara tried to make a key lime pie but after 2 days of attempted coagulation, the pie was abandoned in triage. Apparently Linda had boasted that Kara was going to make this pie, and when it didn't show up at the potluck, Kara was ashamed. Max blames this on the lack of familiar ingredients and Kara's inability to taste the dish due to her wheat allergy.

The National Mosque. It was closed for us non-Muslim tourists when we arrived. There are non- Muslim visiting hours, but with a 5X/day prayer schedule, the hours were fairly limited.

So we just walked around the outside. It was big, it was beautiful, and it was a Mosque. In the background is the building that used to be the tallest before the Petronas were built. After learning this, we realized what a huge impact the towers had on the skyline. Though more skyscrapers now crowd downtown KL, the Petronas towers are still by far the biggest tourist draw to the city.

Club night! We never made it to the island of Borneo, however we made it to this club that bore the same name. This cover band was really good. Linda pushed us out on the dance floor and we had a great night. She was a very good influence on us and made us feel at home. We're trying to get Linda to come to Burning Man next year. Linda, thank you for everything, we can't wait to see you in the States!

Oh yeah, so at some point before we went to Taiping, our friends Soon Kit and Chin (see last post) brought us to the Sultan's palace. We found out that just a couple of hours after we left, this site erupted into a mass protest against the expansion of English language subjects in public schools. Soon Kit told us about this and said that we were lucky to have just avoided the madness. Max and Kara were bummed to have missed it.

Our last night in KL, we met up with Soon Kit and Chin for a vegetarian meal. The fish looked and tasted so fishy that we questioned its vegetarian credentials. The rest of the meal was awesome, and the company was even better. It was our send off to Soon Kit and Chin, as they were also headed on a journey on their own journey...to Australia. It was fun to make friends with another traveling couple. Travel to America, guys!

Batu Caves. After walking up around 300 steps, you arrive at the mouth of a giant cave. There are three in total, but the main cave is free and is always open to Hindu worshipers and tourists alike. We had just missed the festival of Thaipusam, which is celebrated by mostly the Tamil community. (Tamil Nadu is a state in Southern India. Most of the Indians in Malaysia and Singapore are Tamil.) During this festival, devotees perform various acts of self-mortification. From carrying milk ontop of the head, to dragging carts attached by chains to hooks in the skin. This festival is dedicated to Murugan, the youngest son of the Hindu deities Shiva and Parvati. This gold statue is the largest Murugan statue in the world.
The Petronas Towers reflected in a near by office building.
We left KL, thinking we wouldn't be back...

Until next time,
K and M

10 April 2009

Malaysia, Truly Asia.

Some background: All throughout our trip, we had seen advertisements from the tourist department of Malaysia. They had montages of jungle, beautiful beaches, and of course, the world famous Petronas Towers. All of them boasted: "Malaysia, Truly Asia." We laughed it off, thinking it was just a clever and ridiculous rhyme. Also, while planning our trip to Malaysia, we initially thought we would make our way through as quickly as possible. Little did we know how right that jingle was, and we were enchanted by Malaysia. It really is, truly Asia. If you want you can you tube the ads, then you will know what we are talking about. As we soon discovered, Malaysia is a melting pot of Asian cultures, with sizable Indian and Chinese populations, as well as the "native" Malay. There are many other smaller pockets of South east and South Asian immigrant groups, however these three: Indian, Chinese, and Malay, make up the bulk. More on this later.

So, we arrive in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia which is simply referred to as "KL," by locals and foreigners alike. We had no particular plan, however we were excited to meet up with our Malaysian friends that we had met while they were on vacation in Halong Bay, Vietnam. Kara had kept up with them on email and were looking forward to seeing some familiar faces, a rare treat on this trip. Their names are Soon Kit and Chin, and they are Awesome. We hadn't the chance of getting to know them well in Vietnam, however after hanging out with them in Malaysia, we are now truly friends.

We called Soon Kit and Chin when we got to KL, thinking they might have some time to meet up for a drink. Instead, they took us along on their three-day holiday weekend to Taiping, Soon Kit's hometown in Northern Malaysia. Taiping has long been a majority Chinese city. It is the only city in Malaysia that has a Chinese name. This is because Chinese tin miners have been living in this area for hundreds of years. Taiping is also home to the "first" of many things in Malaysia: the first railway station, the first jail, and the first museum (which was unfortunately under construction when we came.) We were fortunate to be brought there and expertly toured around this historic city as we would have not chosen to come here otherwise. Taiping surprised us by being a perfect tourist destination, on top of the pleasure of meeting Soon Kit's lovely family. (Which was not surprising. The family is very sweet, we expected that.)

En route to Taiping from KL. Soon Kit and Chin both work in KL, though they met in Japan!

After we arrived in KL, we hit the ground running, "Asian tour style" as Soon Kit later joked with us. An hour after eating and briefly meeting Soon Kit's mother, father, and two sisters, we were off to a local swimming hole. Not before picking up lots of fried yummy stuff. So fried, but so good.

Can you spot Max in the crowd? Walking to the "Burmese Swimming Pool." We don't really know why it is called that. Taiping is still a long way from Myanmar.

It was clearly lots of fun. Soon Kit is in the back.

Earlier that day, Soon Kit told us about his grandfather who is a spiritual leader and healer. Soon Kit explained that he goes into trance almost every night to communicate with the spirits on behalf of members of the community who come for help. Some people come for physical ailments or illness, others for advice. We felt honored to be able to watch this process. His grandfather is well known not only in Taiping, but throughout the country. People have come from other countries to this small temple in the front of their house with this renowned healer. Soon Kit's grandfather practices Taoism, as do many Chinese Malaysians.

Here is the grandfather in the center. He goes into trance and speaks a language that most can not understand. Sitting to his right is his interpreter of sorts, who deciphers his spoken and written instructions. Many people were lined up to see him the night we came.

GIGANTIC fish. Soon Kit's grandfather is a lover of fish, especially large ones. In the house behind the temple swims the largest fish we have ever seen; in fact this species is the largest freshwater fish in the world. It was very difficult to get a good picture of it because it is so f**?!ng huge.

Soon Kit and Chin know all the best food spots. They introduced us to many new foods that we were previously scared of eating because we had no idea if they were veggie safe or not. Here is breakfast the next morning, at a local food court. Max had a delicious peanut pancake here that he says was "really good." Like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in pancake form. Kara can't eat wheat.

We had woken up super early to summit Maxwell Hill, another main attraction of Taiping, however only a certain amount of people can be up on the mountain at a time, and as it was a 3-day weekend, we were too late. We ended up going to another gorgeous spot instead-The Lake Garden. The Lake Garden's official sign claims it is the "most beautiful lake garden in Malaysia." We don't doubt it.

Here are some standard park regulations. The second from the top means no hanky panky. That includes different gender hand holding. Certain rules in Malaysia apply only to Muslims, most of whom are Malay. Essentially, conservative Muslim politicians can legislate religious regulations (restrictions) for their community without facing the political struggle of enforcing them on people of other religions (Taoist/Hindu/etc.) This results in some interesting policies; for instance, you can convert to Islam, however, you can never leave it. The rules that apply mostly to Malays seemed to be a dividing force in race relations throughout the country. Also contributing to the tension between races is the preferential treatment for Malays in school. We learned that Malays receive heavy handicaps on their exams and university admissions. We wanted to learn about how Malays felt in defense of these programs, however, we weren't able to make any personal friendships with any Malay people.

We saw some love birds looking comfy on the bench anyways. We're not sure if "close sitting" is covered by the sign. The garden was gorgeous, we really loved being there. The trees are unique and romantic, even in the sweatiest of days. Their long branches swoop down almost touching the surface of the water, creating a lush and shady park to wander through. Also good for wedding photos; we saw a couple taking theirs as we left.

Later Soon Kit and Chin took us to another temple. This one is the oldest in Taiping. It was so useful and wonderful to finally have answers to our questions about Chinese temples. The white papers on the purple above are donations to the temple. Soon Kit never tired of our questions, and always answered us with a smile on his face. Thank you Soon Kit. Seriously.

This is an incense stick: joss stick. This one, as you can see is as big as Kara. It is still not the biggest that this temple has created.

Turtle in a bowl. In the temple. Turtles are auspicious creatures in Chinese culture. This turtle was showered with love and money. That is Chin's hand.

Round two, same day. After stopping at home for a brief nap, we picked up the rest of the family and went to the charcoal factories on the edge of town. Charcoal has long been produced in Taiping. Previously it was used for fuel, mostly for cooking. Now it is exported to Japan for cosmetics. There are also certain water filters that employ charcoal. Its a pretty smoky and hot place. Giant kilns about three stories high are packed filled with split logs, manually chopped outside of the factory. The kilns are set on fire and their doors are sealed shut in stages to control the charcoal-ification. Eventually they are completely sealed and left to smolder for a really long time. We don't remember but we think its about a month.

After the charcoal factory, we headed to the mangrove forest with the family. Another unexpected surprise. We also went to a museum somewhere in here but don't have many pictures from that. It was an important and well put together museum that described the history of Taiping, which was pivotal in the history of Malaysia. Briefly, after two feuding Chinese tin mining clans got out of hand, the Sultan in charge of Taiping area signed an agreement with the British who were then stationed in Panang (north Malaysia). This was the beginning of the British takeover of all of Malaysia.

Back to fun. At the Mangrove forest, the "Ma" Clan plus Chin, Max and Kara. Soon Kit's surname is "Ma" which means horse in Chinese. There are beautiful photos and drawings (many by Soon Kits father, pictured here and not being silly) of horses in their house. There is an international Ma Clan convention in Toronto this year; we hope our new friends stop to see us in New York when they come. We enjoyed walking through the mangrove forest which was well laid out with informative signs. We saw some monkeys other than Max.

But our day was not yet over. We were later taken to a traditional Chinese fishing village where we ate some street food and drank some ABC (ais-batu-campur) or ice rock mix.

Taking the boat with the entire family and then some over to the other side of the village. Pictured is a very silly Soon Kit and very cute Chin. Also, did we mention that Soon Kit's family had a family hat box, with well over 30 hats? Max forgot to bring one, but luckily was saved by this box. This was also the first time we used umbrellas for shading our bodies from the boiling sun. We are really becoming Asian, if you will.

Mackerel shells. Mackerels are eaten in many dishes in this region and throughout SE Asia. The shells are boiled so the little slimies can come out.

The fishing village was very polluted, which was very sad to us. It is difficult to understand that people who live on the water can have such disregard for it. Or, perhaps they have too much regard for it, thinking it can absorb all toxins and pollutants.

The next and final day of our fabulous vacation, we went to Maxwell Hill. This time we made it up the mountain. Maxwell was a British dude who really liked high places in Malaysia. We made it just in time to catch a sweeping view of Taiping before the fog set in. Even with the fog, it was breathtaking. And also chilly, which was a nice change. The air was clean and crisp, like any proper hill station should be. More on Kara's love for hill stations later.

They are a very cute couple. See?

Max and Soon Kit saving the road from certain destruction.

Back at Soon Kit's grandfather's house before heading back to KL. Max added to his portfolio of other people taking pictures. Usually Kara is his only subject. He was happy to see that Soon Kit uses Chin in his photos just as much as Kara uses Max in hers. Thank you for this delicious ice cream.

These are just some of the prayers, written on red and gold paper, that are ornately folded, then burned, outside of Soon Kit's grandfather's temple/house.

Fascinated by our earlier experience at Soon Kit's grandfather's, we wanted to meet the man when he was not in a trance state. He was so kind to us and we felt honored to have met him. We watched a video with him, of him during a very important ceremony. He then gave us a blessed cloth paper (we don't know the name of this) for protection. Again, we were honored. Max is carrying it with him in his money belt every day until we get home. Thank you for your kindness, grandfather of Soon Kit.

Just before we left Soon Kit's house, his father showed us some moves on the Chinese yo-yo (again we have forgotten the name.) He is really talented and could do all sorts of tricks. Kara tried, then took to the camera as Max attempted to keep up with Soon Kit's dad. Notice the horse drawing in the background.

Leaving Taiping, we were lucky enough to be guarded by these soft, plush, snoopy, seat belt cover thingies. We were laughing a lot. We are still laughing at these. Why is Asia so into "cute?" Would these soft, plush, snoopy, seat belt cover thingies ever sell in America? Perhaps. These are the questions we pondered during our trip back to KL.
Seriously, though, we had such a great time in Taiping--we recommend it to anyone going to Malaysia. We owe our good time to the hospitality and generosity of the Ma family. Thank you Ma Clan! Soon Kit and Chin will be back on the blog...so we won't say goodbye to them, or Malaysia yet.

Coming soon-- Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, and Singapore.

K and M