Malaysia & Thailand Vacation

Time really flies. I can’t believe it’s September. I can’t believe I’m going home in five weeks. I can’t believe that in 2 weeks I will have been in Korea for an entire year.

I promised a blog entry about my vacation to Malaysia and Thailand, so here it is. Oddly, I f

eel it was not Southeast Asia that I learned the most about. For me, this trip ended up being about Korea- what it means to me, what I appreciate about it, what I hate about it, what it has given me as a person and a traveler.

Firstly, here’s a map for reference.

Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok are marked. Here's another map so you can see where Phuket is.

Our first stop was Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. KL is considered a Muslim city, and it dawned on me on the airport shuttle-tran ride that that would actually influence our stay there because at the time, it was Ramadan. As we made our way to the airport exit, I worried about that we wouldn’t be able to find anything to eat during the day. We arrived really late at night so as soon as we made it to our hostel we crashed. We ended up being fine.

I could tell you about all the things we did when we were in KL- saw the Patronus Towers, went shopping, went to the top of the KL tower, but what I took away the most from KL was a sentiment.

It wasn’t until the next morning that I discovered how diverse KL is. I think it came as a shock after having lived in Korea for nearly a year. Every face that passed you on the street was different. Every tongue you heard from the conversations of passer-bys was different. I was in heaven!! Such a feast for the eyes, the ears, and the soul. As we walked around I learned that the population of KL consists of three main groups: native Malays, Indians, and Mandarin Chinese. The cuisine reflected those three ethnicities which mix and match in this beautiful city. (That was why we didn’t have any trouble finding food during the day). Eating in KL and Thailand was a re-introduction to flavors. As you now know from previous posts, Korean food consists of one flavor- hot chili pepper. Malay food, aside from being so diverse, was so flavorful. Garlic, ginger, basil, savory meat- where have you been?!?

The thing that struck me the most about KL was how similar it felt to Cape Town. I kept saying how similar they were but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. I don’t think it was anything tangible- the two cities do not look the same in terms of architecture or anything. “This place reminds me of Cape Town” was one of the first comments I made about KL. I don’t know…there was something about flying down the highway in the airport taxi (on the other side of the road) staring at the palm-treed lined highway and feeling invincible and vulnerable at the same time. KL was the first stop on our trip, the beginning of a trip to foreign places. Beyond accommodation, we hadn’t made any solid itineraries, so anything could happen. The last time I felt that paradox of emotions was on the bus from the Cape Town airport when I first arrived. I felt so excited—a beginning of something unknown and exciting—yet also vulnerability. I didn’t know much about life in Cape Town, and now I didn’t know anything about life in KL.

Besides that, I think the striking diversity of KL made me think of Cape Town. Cape Town was the most diverse place I’d ever been to, and that was one of the things I loved about it. I think being in such a diverse place again reminded of that feeling again. Not to mention, when I calmed myself down enough to order a Savannah Dry (a South African hard cider that was my drink of choice in CT) at a nearby bar, that familiar subtle apple flavor mixed with the bitterness of beer brought back so many memories and emotions. People always talk about how smells can bring back memories and emotions. They never say anything about taste. Whenever I have the occasional craving to recreate my favorite childhood meal—acini de pepi pasta with butter and parmesan cheese accompanied by a glass of chocolate milk— memories and “feelings” of my childhood come flooding back. It’s really incredible, that brain of ours.

Another part I loved about KL was the pleasantness of the population. Folks were smiling, or at least looked content, as they went about their daily lives. You have to understand that this is NOT how it is at all in Korea, which is probably why it felt so refreshing to me. In KL, when I met a stranger’s eyes on the street, they gave me a smile or a polite nod. In Korea, I receive an open-mouthed gape then a quick, embarrassed look away once I stare back at them long enough. In general, Koreans aren’t happy people (not a shocker if you examine their lives, cultural mentalities and expectations). I had forgotten what a difference it makes when people are actually content with their lives. They carry themselves differently-with more ease and a lightness of character. They do not have their faces glued to their Smartphone or Galaxy Tab or iPad. The woman working behind the desk at 7-11—certainly not the most exciting or glamorous job—smiles at you and giggles when you make a face or joke to your friend. She says hello and smiles again when you go in a half-hour later, seemingly happy to see you again. When children see you they do not point; instead, they wave. AAAHHHHHHHHH (sign of relief). What a nice reminder.

After a short 2.5 days in KL, we traveled to our second destination- Phuket, Thailand (pronounced poo-ket…don’t get any ideas). Despite the name, Phuket is, simply put, paradise. It’s where people go for an exotic tropical vacation. I don’t blame them. Never have I seen water so blue. Phuket is definitely a tourist town. Normally, that would bother me, but this was the actually “vacation” part of our trip, so I didn’t mind. Everyone spoke English very well and there were tons of other tourists around (especially German and French). One of my favorite parts of Phuket (and one of the top experiences of the whole trip) was snorkeling. Our hostel helped book us a ferry trip to Ko Phi Phi Island, a famous group of islands about an hour boat ride away from main land Phuket. The ferry ride included snorkeling, views of all the gorgeous islands of Ko Phi Phi (including Maya Bay where the famous Leonardo DiCaprio movie “The Beach” was filmed) and time to explore and shop on the main island. Shopping on the main island was fun, but the snorkeling was definitely the highlight of the day. I mentioned the color of the water before- it was uninhibited, full out, no B.S. turquoise. I seriously didn’t know it was possible for water to look like that. It was in every sense of the word bright blue, as if there was a flood light under the surface shining light on it. I never expected to be surrounded by a turquoise oasis when I put my head into the water to snorkel. Purple and yellow-striped fish swam all around me. Beneath the fish was coral of every shape. If I was to paint what I saw on a canvas, I would use all bright and pastel colors.

I was surprised the fish never touched me because there were so many that seemed to inches from my flailing limbs trying to simultaneously balance in the life jacket and avoid other passengers snorkeling around me. (Funny side note about that. Sending a ferry-full of passengers into the same small section for snorkeling is a recipe for swimming-traffic disaster. I had several head-on collisions into other snorkelers, who were, like me, swimming forward face and eyes down watching fish instead of paying attention to the legs and arms coming towards them at the surface. Everyone was in such wonder that we didn’t even apologize to one another, just turned our bodies and went on our ways. Thinking about it now it was probably very comical for the crew and passengers onboard to watch us all swim into each other.)

Besides the congested traffic situation, it was really a wonderful experience. No really, wonderful. Full of wonder. I don’t think I’ve ever been in such awe of anything before. I was just as fascinated with the fish and coral as I was with the color of the water. At one point I turned around and swam away from the fish and instead into the clear, uninterrupted turquoise. If there was ever a time for music to accompany my life, this was probably it. In my head, Arial the Little Mermaid’s voice ahhh-ing to “Part of Your World” was in my head: “ahh ahh ahhh, ahh ahh ahh, ahh ah ah ah ah ahh ahh ahh AAAHHHHHH!” (You know what I’m talking about right?). I was in such awe of the blue and so deep into my musical daydream that I didn’t even realize that someone from the ferry crew was blowing his whistle at me because I was swimming out of bounds. Oops.

The nightlife in Phuket was really something else-“wonderful” in a completely different way. Thailand has quite an active sex industry, and it’s not tucked away and hidden from tourists. In fact, I think a lot of people, men especially, come to Thailand for that reason. Both nights at Patong Beach we found ourselves at the strip of bars and clubs down the road from our hostel, where advertisers where constantly asking us if we wanted to attend a “Ping Pong Show” which has NOTHING to do with playing ping pong, I’ll tell you that. We also encountered many “ladyboys” – men who (very convincingly) dress like women or have had sex-change procedures. These “ladyboys” (the Thai word for them translates into English as that term) are considered a third gender in Thailand, which I find fascinating. There were everywhere.

The strip of bars also featured girls dancing on ables in outdoor bars. Not drunk party girls dancing on tables, I mean hired scantily clad Thai girls dancing on tables (some of whom didn’t tlook like they could have been much older than my students). I wasn’t shocked to see hired girls dancing on tables, but I was shocked to see it outside for all to see. If I was shocked I can’t imagine how the other family tourists felt. While I was surprised to see the sex industry so blatantly open in a tourist area, I was previously aware of the sex industry in Thailand and how vital it is to their economy because of my HIV/AIDS research papers in college. I knew I was going to be exposed to it in some fashion when I was there. The vacationing families who were there with their 10-year old children clearly were not prepared for that. Parents walked a few paces in front of their children, wide-eyed and terrified while their children looked in awe and confusion all around them. I was disappointed in these people- they should have done their research before they brought their children there. That is, unless they did do their research and had prepared an appropriate discussion to have with their children.

In amongst all of this craziness we managed to find a really awesome bar where there was an awesome live band playing. There, we met a couple Australian guys who were in Phuket for their buddy’s bachelor party. Apparently, they were the only single ones out of the whole group of guys, so they were out. We jammed to the live band for a while and then we all went to a pool hall and played pool. They were genuinely nice guys so it was fun to hang out with them. We played a couple games of pool then went dancing at a club, where we found LOTS of tourist men with Thai women whom they had clearly bought for the night. Although the music and company were really great, I was really uncomfortable with all of that going on, so we left.

The next day, we left for our fancy beach resort at a different beach. The pictures speak for themselves there. It was AWESOME, especially the pool. We enjoyed our evening there a lot, especially watching the sunset from our private balcony.

The pool, from the pool (yes I brought my camera in)

Before I go on, a word about Thai food. Every Thai dish (done well) is said to have all 4 flavors in one- sweet, spicy, sour, and salty. Sadly, a lot of Thai food did not agree with my stomach (I was actually out of commission for one day in Bangkok due to a bout of food poisoning. Mleh), however what I did eat I enjoyed a lot. As I mentioned earlier, it was so nice to well…. not eat Korean food. I can’t say I ever got used to Korean food or enjoy it at all. I certainly won’t miss it when I come home. Someone get me an actually delicious pasta dish please!! Despite my, erm, traveler’s problems, the food was one of the highlights of the entire trip. I looked forward to every meal.

After our relaxing stay at the Karon beach resort, we were off to the airport again for Bangkok. My feelings about Bangkok are like my feelings for NYC- it was fun for a few days, but I could never live there. I honestly didn’t have a fantastic time in Bangkok. By the time we got there I was starting to feel ready to go back to Korea, where I know my way around and how things go, and to see Val. Our first day wasn’t great- we got lost and ended up doing a lot of walking on a very hot day. We did get to see the flower market, though, which I was happy about. The vendors for tuk-tuks (those little open three-tire cars), taxis, restaurants, souvenirs, EVERYTHING, were so aggressive. We were constantly declining offers for everything imaginable, and it got old quick. Not to mention, at the beginning of the day we (almost) got scammed by this guy who at first was being helpful and showing us things to do near our hostel, but then we realized it was a scam later on- the tuk tuk he got for us would supposedly take us to a few places then back to the area our hostel was in, but instead it would take us to a store where we are expected to buy things. We had read about scams like these in our guide book, so once we realized it we got out of it. That was not a pleasant experience, and not a positive introduction to Bangkok.

The next day I was sick in bed the whole day. Our last day there, though, was definitely the best one. We went to Wat Pho, which houses an enormous gold reclining Buddha in addition to many other temples and Buddhist structures. It was really beautiful and I had a field day with my camera. At Wat Pho alone I took almost 200 pictures. Then we went to the Museum of Siam which was one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to. If I ever go back to Bangkok again, I would want to go with someone who speaks Thai and knows their way around.

Despite those negative experiences, I still really did enjoy my trip. I got to do and see so much and check off yet another region of the world that I’ve been to. I also really liked spending time with my friends Blythe and Michelle. I think one of the best parts of the trip were all of the inside jokes we came out of it with. Those are sometimes the best part of vacations!

When we finally arrived back in Korea, Valery was at the airport with a sign that said “I miss you baby.” So sweet :)

I sort of missed Korea, which surprised me. Although as soon as I was back on Korean soil it was back to being stared at and being surrounded by grumpy people, it felt familiar. Huh. Who’da thought?

If you haven’t heard already, my flight back to the states is booked. October 10^th I will be back on American soil. Here goes my last month of teaching…

Love,

Mel