Welcome to Malaysia

The past week I have made it to the final country of this trip, Malaysia. It has surprised me so much in the best way. People don't often mention Malaysia as an absolute must, but I am so happy that I did, because for the first time this trip I actually had a moment of thinking, "I "think I could live here."

Penang

Penang is probably one of my favorite places I've visited so far this whole trip. It is a fairly large island off the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula and is pretty developed - I stayed in a neighborhood called Georgetown which is definitely a place I found myself not wanting to leave. The greatest standouts of this place were the amazing arts and the food. Oh my god the food...

Street Art

The street art in Penang is some of the most amazing street art I have ever seen. I was also lucky enough to arrive in Penang, Malaysia during the month of the Georgetown Arts Festival where there just so happens to be tons of art exhibitions sprinkled across the entire area. I spent two of my three days here doing exactly that - going on a scavenger hunt to find the best of the best street art. It disappoints me that something like this will never be found in New York City, a city that was once so lively with art in every neighborhood but that is now rapidly turning into characterless glass high rises. It's inspired me to do some sort of mural art with my own students...

Georgetown Arts Festival & Museums

This was amazing - I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have made it into Penang, Malaysia when this Festival started. There were so many incredible art exhibitions and it took an entire day for me to travel to every restaurant, shop and cafe to visit all of the different types of local art exhibitions attached to them. Two standouts were photography showcasing "Penang: Then and Now" and mixed media paintings of Humans vs. Animals - one in particular that was so gripping to me in its symbolism - I related to it so much with a similar painting I had done about grief.

Titled "Dragging Past"

Another exciting aspect about Penang is all of the different museums that there are. I couldn't even make it to all of them. There was one that was so ridiculous though - very touristy but so funny and absurd that I had to try it. It was called the Upside Down Museum (very literally, entering a house where every room is completely upside down...). One that I really enjoyed though was the camera museum. I instantly thought of papa. As soon as I walked in I thought, "Wow papa, look at all of these! Lead me to your favorites..." I had truly wished he was there with me to tell me all about his favorites, which ones were the best, and which ones he wished he had... I could not stop thinking about him.

Being a tourist... You wouldn't believe the poses they told us to try and do

China Jetties

I also visited a very cool Jetty Village that dates back to the early 19th century - all houses on wooden stilts above the water. But my god it smelled terrible. The whole place smelled of rotting satay fish balls. I couldn't stand it my body was reluctant to breathe in - I hurried further into the village until I found myself at this spot where the smell changed to garlic being skinned. Every single local I passed was taking turns doing this, with giant bamboo bins carrying hundreds of garlic cloves. There was so much garlic being cut everywhere that my eyes watered just passing by.

walking through the jetties...

THE FOOD

Penang had, hands down, some of the best food I have ever eaten in my life. To even say that some of the food I had on the street in a nightmarket was exquisite might still be an understatement. There was one night where I went to a chinese street market and found a stand making wonton soup - it was the best wonton soup I have ever had. Minutes later I found a pork bun I really wanted to try at another stand - that was the best pork bun I have ever had. Then I thought, how could I not try for some dessert as well. I gave myself low expectations, thinking that 3/3 meals being absolutely superb would be too unlikely. I went to a place that made one of my favorite chinese desserts of all time (the boiled dough balls filled with black sesame) and they made it with a ginger broth - THAT was also the best of that dessert I have ever had. I couldn't believe it. I was on a food high the rest of my time in Penang...

OH MY GODDDD the wonton soup!!

The following day I also checked out this dim sum place that wasn't even recommended in the guidebook. I definitely ordered enough for 4 people and overindulged, but it was so worth it. And again, I ordered one of my favorite dim sum dishes - turnip cake. This was the most amazing turnip cake I have EVER had!!!! Amazingly crispy on the outside, hot and softer on the inside. It was so amazing that it didn't even need and oyster sauce - it was that good all on its own.

OH MY GODDD the turnip cake!! Didn't even need oyster sauce!

delicious... Everything all together (it was a portion for probably 4 people) was $8 USD

I ended my time in Penang with a great group of people (the hostel I stayed at was absolutely amazing!!), and we always wound up ending the night at Reggae Mansion Bar. I kept in touch with several of these people. It is amazing to meet so many people from different parts of the world and hear their stories - what brought them here, where they are going to next, when it ends for them and why. Getting to know all of these travelers on such personal levels and spending so much time with them while doing adventurous exploring makes time run so fast. This particularly relates to my time in the Perhentian Islands. Took a very long night bus over to the east coast pier...

At Reggae Mansion Bar

Perhentian Islands (AKA. The Little Prince Island)

The days following Penang, I decided to go to a place that was recommended to me by many other travelers. The Perhentian Islands on the East coast of the Malaysian peninsula. The island I stayed at was Kecil, though I actually decided to personally call it the Little Prince island - in leading up to it on a bumpy speedboat at dawn, I couldn't help but look at its silhouette and only see the visual in The Little Prince where he describes what a snake would look like if he ate an elephant. That was the exact shape and form of the island when approaching it from afar...

half of our group arriving at dawn...

From Le Petit Prince, just for reference...

The three days spent here were filled with beautiful beach time, lounging, amazing snorkeling, and best of all, incredible company! The people who I befriended and spent time with on this island became an amazing group of friends for the next three days. We became a group of 10 made up of one Irish, one Scottish, two Americans, two Turks, and four Brits. I have never laughed harder, danced harder or felt such a great sense of camaraderie since my time in Pai, Thailand or in Bamboo Island, Cambodia those four years ago... this was the most solid group of my whole trip.

One of the days, we wound up going snorkeling and had a hilarious time trying to haggle the price for the 10 of us - through an intense arm-wrestling match with the local who would take us around! Sadly we didn't win so we had no discount. It was still amazing. We saw baby sharks(!!!), HUGE turtles (the biggest I have ever seen swimming along the shallow sea bed!), incredible fish and some gorgeous clams and coral, I could not stop taking pictures.

Can't see it very well but that is the giant turtle he's swimming to, with a stripe on its back. It was HUGE!

pretty spiral corals...

By the end of our snorkeling, there was a spur of the moment decision to do some cool stunts in the water where two of the guys would LAUNCH a girl into the water like a cannon. So every girl in our group had a go at it. It was such a fun moment!!!

I thought the evenings here would be quiet - but they were intense nights of wild music and fire shows that you simply could not look away from. There were even times where locals surrounded the dance floor with a ring of fire. This was crazy! Not as crazy as the fire shows I saw while in Thailand, but certainly not something I would expect on this tiny island... Ahh, two nights in a row here dancing and dancing until 3AM...

Where I Am Now

I have made it to my final destination, Kuala Lumpur. I actually like Kuala Lumpur much more than Singapore, and even more than Bangkok... This is yet another place where I can picture myself living comfortably. It's a lively city that still feels clean, but has so much that I love about southeast Asia with the street food and a strong appreciation for the arts that simply feels unmatched anywhere else in Asia. I don't want this trip to end, although I do feel as though this was exactly the soothing type of trip that I needed. For me, my soul, heart and mind. I will write one more (short) entry on the day that my flight takes off with my closing words...