Malaysia

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You know that Corona Beer commercial where you only see the backs of two people sitting on deck chairs watching the waves roll on to the beach? Change that to Tiger Beer and you pretty much know what it's been like for us on our last week in Malaysia before coming back to L.A. We rented a chalet on the beach on Tioman Island and Cherating Beach for a few days. Chalet being a fancy name for a hut on the beach with air conditioning and a bathroom. Although we went snorkeling and Peter did a jungle trek, we really just hung out and took a dip in the ocean in between chapters of our books. It was the perfect vacation from the chaos of Vietnam.

Alright, before you start sending us hate-mail, you can take some satisfaction in knowing that my ass is completely sunburned. Literally. You know how only your backside faces the sun when you're snorkeling and the water tends to wash away any sunscreen you put on if you're in the water over a couple of hours? Well, you get the idea. It's been hard for me to sit down lately. I was really concerned about the 11 hour flight back to LA, but the worst was over by the time we got on the plane. Thank God.

Malaysia is nice, but I can't say that Peter or I will be back soon though. I think we will go to Thailand again before Malaysia. The water is better in the East Coast of Malaysia. It's crystal clear and the snorkeling/diving is fantastic. We could see all the way to the bottom and about 30 - 50 feet away. I can't even count the different fish/animals/coral we saw. On the whole, it was almost as good as the Great Barrier Reef, especially when you take into account the fact that we had actual life jackets and weren't in danger of drowning.

The people in Malaysia are really cool and laid back. It was a shock to both of us that no one was trying to rip us off here and taxi drivers actually obey the traffic laws.

However, Malaysia is a Muslim country (60% Muslim, I think) so alcohol is pretty expensive and there is no pork to speak of. Peter got tired of paying first world prices for alcohol ($8 USD for a pint of Guinness) and I missed my pork chops, bacon, ham, etc.

I was happy I went, especially when I discovered we went to the same port city, Mersing, that we lived in when my parents and I landed in Malaysia after leaving Vietnam. We were in a Mersing refugee camp for a few months and then they shipped us off to a nearby island for another few months. I guess it's not a bad place to be a refugee, with the clear waters, sunshine and sandy beaches.

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