Lord of the Ring(git)s, the Two Towers

The best way to travel is with a group of friends. Countless times throughout the trip we leaned on one another to help facilitate the traveling process. One significant drawback however, is trying to keep everyone happy. After a weeks worth of travel it became evident that there was a difference of opinion in how to travel. Some wanted to pay extra and travel in comfort and I wanted to hop trains and hitch rides. Through a democrazy vote, it was decided that we would take an unexpected flight to Malaysia on our way back to Thailand.

Kuala Lumphur, Malaysia

As I stood in line waiting to get my visa stamped I realized that the only thing I know about Malaysia, is that their Olympic team was not quite as good as China's in Badminton. I had no idea what the country's flag looks like, what language they speak, what the capital is, what kind of central government they have, how to spell Malaysia, if their people are called Malaysians, or the geographical shape of their country (for those of you who haven't studied Geography in the last 10 years I would suggest looking it up, the country has two huge parts divided by about a hundred miles of the China Sea). For the day and a half I was there, I wouldn't say I learned a tremendous deal about their history or culture, but here are a few fun tidbits.



Patronas towers in background.

The currency in Malaysia is called Ringgit which we obviously called gringotts. Malaysia is a Muslim country and has the call to prayer five times a day. Kuala Lumpur is mostly famous for the Patronas towers, the tallest twin towers in the world. The city also has the world's largest bird reservation.

What was most surprising in Kuala Lumpur, a city of 8 millionish, was how quiet it was. The city was also tremendously clean. The city had the same kind of feel to it as Salt Lake City, the people were polite and straightforward, but the city seemed sterile. I will say it was a nice break to feel invisible as we went about our day. In China, I am a gaping anomaly that is constantly gawked at. In Thailand and Cambodia, I was seen as a regular foreign tourist with fat stacks of money in my wallet.

The best part of our short stay was the food. I love Chinese food but now and then I get a big old hunkering for a good old hamburger, which to my delight, is somewhat of a Malaysian specialty. What is different about a Malaysian hamburger is that it is cooked on top of beaten egg yoke which gets folded up once its done cooking to make sort of an omelet burger. The real kicker is the sauce (it doesn't taste anything like, but is equally delicious as arby's red sauce or my family's sweet vidallia onion dressing.) The best meal I had there was a mixed seafood soup, a flavorful combination of oysters, squid, claims, and shrimp. It was the best seafood I've had since the salmon at my sister's wedding.