Robyn and Ally attack Malaysia!

3.19.08
First Day in Malaysia!
I’ve loved my first day in Malaysia, and it’s not even over! The city is so much cleaner than India was too. The port here isn’t very big, so we have to tender back and forth in our lifeboats from the ship to the port terminal, which is a bit of an extra hassle. It’s still not too bad. I did an SAS trip called Temples and Mosques with a friend, Robyn, who I’ve become closer to since our Taj trip. (We originally knew each other from poetry class). We went to a variety of different temples of different religions. Malaysia is mainly an Islamic country, but the island of Penang is mainly Chinese (and therefore mainly Buddhist). First we visited a small Hindu temple. Then we went to the Snake Temple. They have live snakes draped throughout the place, and at first I thought they had to be fake. They didn’t look real at all…until one girl kept poking one enough that it actually moved. They’re really poisonous snakes, but they devenomize and drug them up (so much that they never even move anywhere) so they were pretty harmless. If you wanted, you could pay to have your picture taken with a huge snake around your shoulders, but I passed on that souvenir. No big snakes for me, thanks. After visiting the Snake Temple, we went to a Malaysian restaurant for lunch called the Bananas Café. Malaysian food is good; it’s pretty much a mix of Thai, Indian, and Chinese food. I like it. Everyone kept telling us that the food in Malaysia was going to be amazing, and I’m in agreement thus far. There’s traditional Malay food (what we had), Thai, Indian, Chinese, and some Japanese too. I think Robyn and I are going to get sushi tomorrow evening after another SAS trip we happen to both be doing. I just can’t hold out till Japan before I get sushi; it’s just been too long. After the yummy lunch, we went to the Islamic State Mosque. We had to make sure our arms and head were covered before entering, and before going into the main sanctuary, you had to pretty much be covered from head to foot. Robyn and I had to wear these awesome blue burka-type-thingys to go in because our skirts showed…yes, ladies and gentlemen, the always-way-too-sexy ankle. Of course, I got a picture of us in them. It was a pretty mosque, but I liked the last few temples we visited a LOT more. First we went to a Hindu temple; it was very colorful and pretty. They had statues and flowers everywhere. Then we went to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, which was awesome! The Buddha statue is HUGE; he looked more like the Hindu god Krishna than the big fat bald guy you usually think of as Buddha. They also had 12 individual Buddha statues, one for every Chinese year. By this point, my camera was out of battery (bc I totally forgot to charge it after the Taj trip; I know, I’m a smart one), but Robyn was able to get some more good pictures that I can steal from her. She got a picture of the Buddha for my birth-year, the year of the rabbit. Across from the temple of the Reclining Buddha was a Burmese Buddhist temple, and I got blessed by a real Buddhist monk! It was so cool!!! I kneeled on the floor before a bald guy in a typical red monk shawl-thingy and he used this weird plant to sprinkle water on me from a pretty little bowl while chanting something in Chinese. He then wrapped a Blessed String (a yellow string bracelet that is knotted in a certain way) around my wrist. He was very nice too and asked me if I liked Malaysia. I, of course, said yes, to which he replied that Malaysia was very hot. I let him know that it was nothing I wasn’t used to, and not all of America is cold. It is pretty humid here (we’re only 7 degrees above the equator). The temple was really ornate; it had tons of different worshipping areas (all of which you had to take off your shoes to enter). There were ponds with fish, beautiful flowers and gardens.
I really like Malaysia so far. I’m not sure if I get it from my mom’s love of East Asia and all things Oriental, but this may be my favorite port so far. Capetown was pretty awesome, but depending on the rest of my visit here, Penang could take first place. There’s just something about it, and in a weird way it feels more like home to me [even though it’s so far from home]. It’s definitely westernized, but I would say it’s still pretty Malaysian—not much English, though there is the expected McDonalds and surprising 7 Elevens every few corners, and has a very oriental feel to it. I think I like it so much because 1. It’s very calm and peaceful, and while I do love places like NYC, which are far from calm, it’s not India sensory-overload-crazy with everything and everyone in your face 2. It’s pretty clean here (though I think any port after India would seem clean…) 3. It’s beautiful in an organized way, if that makes sense. Everything seems to be in order 4. I love all of the artwork and architecture that I’ve seen so far. The architecture is a beautiful mix of Victorian (courtesy of the British, who have seemed to have an influence and colonial impact almost every port we’ve been in) and Oriental with a touch of Western. It’s really stunning
In an hour, I am going to the Welcome Reception. It’s at the local university, and we have the opportunity to meet local students and watch a traditional Shadow Puppet Performance. Tomorrow I will be going to hike Penang Hill and visit the Botanical Gardens. It should be another good trip.