Catching you up on Malaysia!!

Merry Belated Christmas!! I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday- I had a very nice Christmas- and have lots to catch you up on as far as what I’ve been up to! The last week I have been busy traveling through Malaysia, a very interesting country. We started in Georgetown, Penang a small island located just off the coast of the country near Thailand. Georgetown has a rich Dutch and British history, with lots of English influence. My favorite sight was the Jetty’s, located at the waterfront- literally it was homes built on piers. There are seven jetties’ all with different surname’s living on each jetty. Each jetty had two temples to protect it- one on the waterfront, and the other at the beginning of it. These Chinese temples were different than the Thai temples we visited - there was much more color used-especially red, wood carving was found in panels, and there was much more incense burning. The homes on the jetties were side by side- very narrow and about 100 meters long. There could be up to 3 - 4 generations living in one home, and a new wife would move to her husband’s family’s home. We spent about a day & half in Penang and our next stop was the Cameron Highlands, were we spent about one day. The highlands consist of 3 main small towns and are known for their excellent growing conditions. There is literally no seasons here, the weather about 70-75 degrees with light rain off and on. This makes it perfect for growing vegetables, strawberries and tea! We visited a strawberry farm and tea plantation, which was really interesting. The tea plantation was absolutely beautiful- rolling hills with tea trees all around small winding roads and all shades of green. After the highlands we went to Kuala Lumpur, our “short” bus trip included a stop along the way when they had to weld to repair our bus so we could continue on the way… pretty interesting! KL was a busy but nice city- and our one free day was spent seeing every corner of the city. We started with the Batu Caves; a temple located in caves that are over 400 year’s old- and has 267 steps to reach it. Along the way we saw more monkeys- these trained to be pick-pockets and camera snatchers… again kind of creepy. Our tour of KL also include a Pewter Factory (5th largest industry of Malaysia), the Menara Tower (4th largest telecommunications tower), the Petronas Towers (88 stories tall- 2nd Tallest building in the world) and the National Mosque. On Christmas, we attended mass in a small church near our hotel- it was in both English & Malay, there would be pews with only men in them, and some Indian women were there- wearing sari’s. It was interesting to learn the they still wore them for cultural reasons, not religious… and that there were more men meaning the women we probably at home- cooking or preparing meals instead of attending mass as a family. Around lunch we traveled to Melaka, another smaller city with a rich history. Melaka was nice; we did our best to celebrate by doing a secret Santa exchange and nice Christmas meal in the evening. Our week ended with our last stop - Singapore. After spending the last week in Malaysia we found Singapore such a great ending. Malaysia was nice to see, but it seems like we were often not getting straight answers, and I didn’t enjoy the time there as much as Thailand. It could be something to with the culture of how women are treated since it a predominately Muslim nation-at least that is one assumption. Our time in Singapore was short, but I really loved it. It is such a clean, beautiful city especially at night, and I have never been in such a clean- extremely friendly Chinatown. Sights included Raffles Hotel (built in the 1920’s… home of the “Singapore Sling” & so incredibly chic), Mt. Faber (a lookout of the city, went at dusk for some great views), shopping on Orchard Road, and supper along the Singapore river. Yesterday we arrived in Hong Kong, and last night we explored a bit of Central Hong Kong- and watched the harbor light show… where the skyscrapers have all different lights that flash and change according to music- pretty incredible. I am so excited to explore the city- and will keep you updated as I do! Hope you are all well!

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