Melaka and KL, Malaysia

It's been almost a week since my last post from Singapore, and as I had predicted, I only stayed one night there. I took a bus ride to Melaka in the southern region of Malaysia, where I spent 4 days hanging out with other backpackers - going to a karaoke bar, watching Sex and the City... Melaka was a fantastic city with a rich history. It used to be a major port city, by far the biggest in Malaysia, and perhaps all of Malaysia, until it was colonized first by the Dutch, then the Portuguese, and finally the British. Just like Singapore, there's a mixture of Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultures, but with a Western taste, like the St. Paul church. Anyways, I was planning on spending only 2 nights there, but when you don't have a plan, it's hard to tear yourself away from a friendly environment with great people.




My next destination was Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, and as the capital, skyscrapers, shopping malls, and glitter donned the city. The famous Petronas Towers, the tallest building before 2003, was quite impressive, especially at night.



I also walked around the city for almost 6 hours on the first day, going from the National Museum to the National Mosque (where I had to wear a pink robe to enter) finally finishing at the Chow Kit, where they sell literally anything. But my biggest reason for coming to KL wasn't for the mosque or the Petronas Towers, but I met up with Zharif!! For those of you that don't know Zharif, he was my best friend from 3rd to 8th great when he moved back to Malaysia, and I haven't seen him since. We hung out for two nights with his local Malay friends along with his brother, smoking hookah, playing counter strike and eating until 4am in the morning. I felt like I got a sense of what some of the locals do at night. Also, Zharif's family took me out to a really nice Thai restaurant and stuffed me with great food. All in all, I had a great time in KL, and it was great to catch up with an old friend of mine.




Tomorrow, I am going on a 2 day, 1 night jungle trip in the Taman Negara national park, which I'm sure will be interesting.


- Ryoji