A bon voyage to Malaysia

I never thought that my first international flight would happen in 2010. It happened all of a sudden as my friend invited us to visit Malaysia during Christmas vacation. We had only three weeks left to get the Visa and other formalities done. When the trip was confirmed I informed all of my friends about my trip. The flight was scheduled at midnight on 25th December. We reached Bangalore airport well in advance and the immigration clearance was done without any problems. I had a delicious coffee at the airport though it was expensive. Malaysian airways, I felt was overcrowded as all the seats were occupied. I thanked God for a moment for giving this opportunity while the plane was ready to take off. Later, it was announced that we were going to cover a distance of 3200 kilometers at a speed of 800 km/hour. The journey would take four hours. Malaysian standard time is two and a half hours ahead of Indian Standard Time.

We landed in Malaysia at around 6.45 am. The weather was cloudy. I couldn’t see the sun until 9 am. From the airport, we took a bus to go to KLCC. From there, got another bus to reach the destination. The bus journey was very convenient and was quite smooth The roads were very nicely tarred that the bus was going at full speed most of the time Since it was Sunday there were no traffic blocks either My first impression about Malaysia was that it was full of greenery and thought that it would rain most of the times as there was a lot of greenery everywhere.

I felt like it was a hillside as I could see adjacent roads either upward or downward but the roads were kept horizontal. I couldn’t see a house within the first 2 kilometers of our bus journey and I wondered if the population would be less compared to India. Small houses were here and there which looked like a typical old house in South India. 30 to 40 story flats seemed to be very common in Malaysia but residential areas were not overpopulated as in Bangalore where you could see some buildings or houses within 100 meters.

We met our friend and reached his flat which was fully furnished with 3 rooms and had all amenities. My friend works in one of the multinational companies in Malaysia and is working on a contract basis as contract workers are paid a hefty salary compared to permanent employees. In one of his adjacent rooms, a Pakistani was staying and some Chinese girls were staying in another one. There are no stringent rules as followed in some other countries. You could stay with any one of your choices. You could see a family sharing the adjacent rooms with someone else and they would share the kitchens and utensils too.

Malaysia welcomes different cultures. 50 percent of the population are Malays; 25 percent Chinese; 10 percent Indians (Tamilians they would say), Iranians, and other foreigners. One peculiar thing that I noticed was that it was quite easy to identify the nationality of a person just by looking at them. Chinese people were short and had distinctive eyes. Malays were typical local Muslims. Iranians were stout and well built. We spent most of the day chatting and discussing cultural differences. Drug trafficking is eligible for a death sentence in Malaysia so we were warned to verify the luggage carefully before boarding the flight. We went shopping in the evening.

Shopping malls were one of the places to go out in the evenings and shopping in most of the malls was quite expensive. Most of the shopping malls were fully decorated to welcome Christmas and New Year.

We decided to visit Genting highlands the next day. Genting was on a mountain peak connecting two Malaysian states Selangor and Pahang. It was a remote mountain that was transformed into a premier holiday destination. By traveling 2 to 3 kilometers over the rope in a cab car we could see tropical Malaysian rain forests. Genting highland provides different adventures and there are water theme parks, casinos, and resorts at the highland. I was quite shocked to see the number of people gambling in the Casinos; both young and old. Most of the people use Cigars and you could see them smoking almost everywhere. After spending much of the time in the resort we decided to call it a day.

We started early the next day and went to visit China town which was an old town wherein you could get Chinese products and you could bargain to get the products for a cheap price. I was quite surprised to see people getting tattoos done everywhere. I thought of getting one on my left hand but finally couldn’t make it as I was worried about getting infected by using the needle. We decided to hire a taxi to visit the rest of the places. The taxi driver, Lau Youn Kong was an old Chinese man. He was honest and spoke English fluently. He first took us to Menara tower wherein you get a glimpse of the whole Kuala Lampur.

Then, we went to visit Petronas or Twin towers. It is one of the tallest buildings in the world. The towers were designed to symbolize the strength and grace using geometric principles simplified in Islamic architecture. There was a bridge that joins both the towers. The towers were part of Kuala Lumpur’s conventional center.

We went to visit King Palace which is the official residence of the Malaysian King who is the supreme head of Malaysia. Though the entry to the palace was prohibited, visitors could have a look from the outside of the palace. The royal guards dressed in typical white dresses were guarding the front gate.

Then, he took us to one of the chocolate factories. We bought some chocolates, to be distributed in the office and the driver got some commission for making the sale which he honestly told us. He took us for lunch at the nearest Indian restaurant. We had a delicious lunch in the evening and then we decided to go shopping. The day ended as we described the places that visited with our friend.

We didn’t go to visit Malaysian beaches as we had already visited a few beaches in India and he said that there wouldn’t be much fun if we had already been to some beaches here in India.

On the final day, we went shopping and took some rest. The return journey from Selangor to Kualalampur was horrible as we were stuck in traffic. I felt like Bangalore was much better as we were stuck in traffic for hours. Though the vehicles were stuck in the traffic, I could hardly hear anyone honking which you could never expect in Bangalore as commuters here don’t follow any specific traffic rules.

I had expected much more from my Malaysian trip but it ended up to be quite a disappointment as I couldn’t find many adventures but I would like to relish on the unique feelings that

Malaysia provided me and some valuable time that I spent with my friend.

Author's Note

Appreciate a thorough review