Memories from Malaysia

Only three more weeks until I’m done with studying, and then I get to focus on just traveling and enjoying myself (as if I’ve been studying much anyway). On Monday, Val, Audrey, and I went into Bangkok and went ice skating. It was fabulous to put on a sweater and be cold for a while! Not to brag, but I have to say I was pretty skilled at ice skating, demonstrated in my spectacular “tricks” and the fact that I didn’t fall once. We ate dinner at Central World (a very large mall) and tried Korean shaved ice for dessert.

Korean shaved ice with Oreos: this was the small size!

Korean shaved ice was life changing—we never had anything like that in our lives. We already plan on getting it the last day in Bangkok before we go home.

I actually had an English assignment due this week at school. I had to give an hour and 40 minute presentation on a movie that was absolutely horrendous. I just got up there and winged it, and my teacher was very impressed. To celebrate being done with the presentation, Val and I went to the mall to see Beauty and the Beast. We loved the movie and ended up buying the soundtrack and listening to it on our flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the next night.

Malaysia—here we come!

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur (just south of Thailand) ready to relax on Friday night. By the time we got to our hotel, it was 2 a.m. and all we did was fall asleep—but not before staring at amazement of the view from our hotel room.

On Saturday, we headed to Batu Caves, which are temples inside caves.

They were very interesting and I got a nice calf workout by climbing over 300 stairs. I would have loved climbing the stairs, but there were monkeys all over the place, jumping, running, and staring at us as we walked (more like ran) up the stairs. The monkeys were fun to look at, but I felt like they were going to attack me at any moment.

We rode the train back to our hotel afterward and took advantage of the rooftop pool that was on the 37th story of our hotel. We had so much fun in the pool, taking pictures and swimming (my burnt body was proof)!

It began to thunderstorm later in the afternoon, but Val and I decided to head out to China town anyways (we heard the shopping was the best). Our Uber driver dropped us off in the pouring rain, and we jumped puddles and rushing rivers in the street to get to the market. Thank God there was a roof covering the stalls. We then spent two hours and too much money buying everything! The sellers loved me, constantly calling me beautiful. If you ever feel bad about yourself, go to Kuala Lumpur and get some compliments from the vendors. Ha ha! We enjoyed talking with them… one of the guys I bought a purse from wanted to take us disco dancing and we could not stop laughing at the idea of disco dancing.

Now we were starving due to all that shopping. We went in search of the “best Indian restaurant” in the city, according to a local we talked to at the pool. He was right—Nagasari Curry House was absolutely heavenly.

We tried four different types of naan along with two delicious chicken dishes. Fat and happy, we decided to walk to the Twin Towers, but not before stopping to take my picture with the Jim Morrison mural (since he has been in my dreams lately—malaria pills give you weird dreams alright).

What are the odds of seeing Jim Morrison in Malaysia?

The towers could be seen from our hotel room, and up close, they were even cooler! We attempted to take pictures that showed all of the towers, but since they were so tall, it proved to be a little difficult. It was also a hassle to weave through the crowd, taking pictures with all of our big shopping bags. (It is a good thing I brought my duffle bag with me to get everything back to Bangkok!)

On Sunday, we got up to watch the sunrise at the pool. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, but it was still very beautiful. We then went to a Chinese temple. The temple was incredible! The detailing was impeccable and so intricate. Poor Val ended up having to take so many pictures of me (at least at this point, she has come to expect it)!

Sadly, we had to get to the airport to catch our flight. I wish I could have spent more time in Kuala Lumpur because I felt like I barely scratched the surface of all the fun things to do there. Hopefully, one day I will be back!