Malaysia

This past weekend Kailea and I went to Penang, an island in northern Malaysia. We stayed in Georgetown, which is the city on the island and is a UNESCO world heritage site. Georgetown is a culturally concentrated city- maybe because of the space limitation of being on an island. There are many places of worship, clan houses, and cultural centers and despite the proximity these things all retain their own identity, making Georgetown a place of great variety. On our hostel’s corner there was a Hindu shrine, a Chinese temple, and we were right down the street from the Masjid Kapitan Keling mosque.

It was a great reminder of the strong cultural groups in Malaysia. My family is Chinese so I don’t experience much besides Chinese Malaysian culture and Kuala Lumpur, which is a truly modern and globalized city that resembles any number of modern cities around the globe. It certainly has its distinctly Malaysian characteristics, but Penang was a good reminder that the rest of Malaysia does not have the same frozen yogurt chain that I can find here in KL and in Los Angles.

Georgetown has atmosphere, which is made more tangible because of the constant activity. The buildings contribute to the feel of Georgetown, but the people shopping, eating, talking, walking shopping, or just sitting, give the city life and warmth. It was really strange being herded with the tourists for the first time in Malaysia during my stay here. I’m used to doing things with locals or doing things that tourists don’t do, like riding the bus to work, so I don’t associate myself with the crowd on vacation even though I look more like them than Malaysians. Being a part of the camera crowd made me feel more like an outsider than I usually do, but it was fun watching people’s expressions change when they realized I was not a normal tourist, but had a little more understanding of the culture and the general lifestyle. A waiter at an Indian restaurant in Little India obviously assumed that we were tourists and that he was going to have to explain everything to us, and did not look excited about it. When we ordered our drinks like Malaysians he looked a little dumbfounded and then laughed before going to get our order, so that was pretty entertaining. But for the occasions when I didn’t know what was going on, I was able to ask dumb tourist questions without being embarrassed because everyone’s expectations of me were so low.

One of the best parts of the trip was meeting and spending time with some people in our hostel. We met a girl from Holland the first night and spent the next morning traveling around with her and ate lunch with a couple we met in the common room. I have met some really interesting and genuinely great people in hostels because they attract a certain clientele and because I’ve been lucky, and this time was not an exception.


Kek Lok Si temple, the largest buddhist temple in South East Asia


A Hindu festival in Little India


Making spring roll wrappers at the Kuala Kangsar Market


Eating a peanut pancake in the million degree heat


Sunset at Batu Ferringhi