Malaysia!!

Malaysia is definitely up there with Cape Town! Interesting Fact: Did you know that drug use is punishable by death in Malaysia? And we didn’t get to go to Singapore, but there it is illegal to chew gum! We arrived in Penang on Wednesday and Jess and I went on an all-day tour of the famous temples and mosques. I had no idea how heavily influenced Malaysia was by other cultures, especially when it came to food! We saw the largest lying down Buddha and the famous snake temple, where snakes are slithering around. But they say not to be afraid because the overwhelming smell of incense makes them groggy.
Jess, Tessa, and I, along with pretty much the rest of the ship planned an independent trip to Kuala Lumpur (the capital) for Thursday. We booked the flights about two days in advance and the hotel the morning we arrived in Penang. We flew Air Asia, roundtrip for $80… what a deal! The flight was a short 35 minutes and then about a 45-minute drive to our hotel. We stayed at the Hilton, which was by far the nicest one I’ve seen in a really long time. When we arrived they were rolling out the red carpet, come to find the King was coming for the evening. Our room and view was simply fabulous. We even had a flat screen in our enormous bathroom! All we had heard about Malaysia was how great the food was so that’s pretty much the first thing we did. Not knowing our way around, we didn’t get too adventurous and ate dinner at one of the ten restaurants the Hilton had to choose from. We had by far one of the greatest meals I’ve had in a long time! For a decent price we had an all-you-can-eat buffet of appetizers, an entrée, dessert buffet, and never-ending wine! And it was waaaaayy less than you’d pay in the States! After dinner, completely stuffed, we met up with some friends also staying in our hotel to go out. The next day Jess, Tessa and I went to the Times Square Mall that came highly recommended by our friends. It was 10 stories tall, with an IMAX theater and an amusement park, complete with a roller coaster! And you better believe we went on it, too! We spent all day Friday there and only covered about half the mall. We even saw 10,000 BC at the IMAX (in English, of course!). Unfortunately we couldn’t fit the amusement park in on the first day so we knew we had to come back! So Saturday after checking out of our hotel, we headed back to finish our rounds in the mall and got to ride the roller coaster. We each bought some shoes that I don’t think anyone paid over $15 for… we loved this country!! We headed back to the airport for out 9:30 p.m. flight to find that it had been delayed about an hour, so I didn’t get back to the ship until about midnight.
This was the first port we had to tender to shore, so we had two lifeboats running back and forth from ship to shore until about 1 a.m. I guess if you didn’t make it back on the ship by 1 then you’d have to sleep on the dock… or find a hotel/hostel. I wouldn’t be surprised if this actually happened to people. I woke Easter Sunday feeling like it wasn’t Easter at all… I didn’t get up in time for breakfast, so I think that was the main deal breaker! I met some friends at a nearby mall and we ate lunch and bought more cheap shoes. It was really difficult shoe shopping because a) they don’t speak great English and b) I have really large feet compared to most of them. I figured out I’m a 40… no idea what that translates to in U.S. sizes, but lucky for me that was the biggest they had! I actually had better luck than some because unlike in the U.S. when the 8s and 9s are ALWAYS gone, the 40s were usually still there (if they came that big) because no one there has that big of feet. It was great! Clothing, on the other hand, was a different story. Maybe had I been 5 inches shorter I would have found some good deals, but after a few trips into clothing stores we all pretty much agreed that it probably wasn’t going to fit right. We actually felt like we stood out more at some points than in India, because here more women are Muslim and completely cover themselves, as opposed to the Hindu women who typically wore the Indian Sari. We felt a lot of stares on the monorail in KL, especially when we wore shorts. I rounded off my Malaysian experience with a taste of the street food that we were told to try. I have concluded from my meat-eating experiences, that people don’t have as high of standards regarding their meat than we don in the U.S. That is definitely something I’ve taken for granted at home! It is very rare that you are served meat without bones in it, or a significant amount of fat, or just plain questionable things you just don’t see on American meats. We had to be back on the ship by 9 p.m. Sunday evening; another port that flew by so fast!
We are arriving in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam on Thursday morning, and I immediately leave for my SAS trip to Cambodia. I was really lucky to get this trip because practically the entire ship signed up for it and there was a very limited amount of spots. SAS has a rule, a good one at that, that you cannot leave the country we dock in, so unfortunately Jess and Tessa can’t go to Cambodia independently. From talking to previous SASers, Cambodia was their favorite place they visited, so I’m really looking forward to it. My friend Emily is also on my trip, so it’s good I know someone, but I am really looking forward to meeting new people, too!
Around 3:30 a.m. we stopped in Singapore to refuel. Unfortunately we can’t get off the ship. We are just kinda sitting here in the middle of the water with a boat attached to us. We have seen so many ships the last few days when looking out our window. Apparently this is one of the busiest shipping waters, as well as the worst spot for pirates! No joke! There are crew on guard all night long that sit out on our decks with large pressure hoses… I don’t know why they think this might deter pirates if they really wanted to attack our ship, but I guess it’s necessary??!! Anyway, pray for no pirate attacks!!
I had two papers due today and I have a group presentation that is a big part of my grade in my Women’s Studies class tomorrow, so I’ve been really busy getting all of that done. I miss all of you and really enjoy reading your comments! These next three ports (Vietnam, China, and Japan) are going to fly by since we only have a few days between each port. After Japan we have eight days at sea until we get to Hawaii, for only one day, and then it’s ten days until we get to Costa Rica!! I am amazed at how fast the time is flying!! Until next time! Xoxo Marissa