Malaysia kinda kicks ass so far.

So this is my first post from Malaysia. It will probably be my only one too, since I am only here until Saturday. I am currently sitting on the porch of the hostel I am staying at in Kuching as the rain is pouring down. This porch is a common area and kitchen as well. The layouts of the buildings here are very different. Everything is laid out with the temperature in mind. We are pretty much right on the equator and air conditioning is a luxury. This is the “cool” spot in the house. It seems like everyone is out here now. Each person is doing their own thing: writing postcards, reading, smoking… I am away in my own little corner typing up this blog post on my iPhone, unable to hear anything but the pouring rain…

I am very comfortable. I feel like I am in the right place right now. I have had an awesome time here so far, and the main focus of my trip has still yet to commence.

This week went by very quickly at school. I think everyone was excited about having a week off, including the students. Most of the conversations around school were focused around everyone’s plans for their vacations. Everyone also seemed to have some bit of advice or cautionary titbit for me when they heard I would be making a trip to Malaysia. Most were wondering which airline I was taking (I took AirAsiaX btw). Some told me what i should or should not eat, not to drink the water, bring bug spray, luckily there were also some who just told me to have a blast and bring back some stories and pictures. Some were a bit over bearing, while some told me they were jealous… Much like my family..

Anyway, Typhoon Halong was making me really nervous about whether or not my flight would be delayed or cancelled. Luckily it cleared out of town just as I was going through Check-In. Our take-off from Japan was only delayed by about 20 minutes. The flight was definitely the roughest flight I have ever taken though. It was the first flight I had been on where the flight attendants were told to get in their seats and buckle up. There were a few times the plane kind of dropped a little and some little kids screamed. It was not the most relaxed flight for me, but it wasn’t too bad. It just added to the adventure.

I finally landed in Kuala Lumpur around 1050 local time. I thought customs would be another long wait but they just let me right in. My bag went through a scanner and that was it, no questions asked.

I did have to endure an hour and a half long cab ride from the airport though. The cab driver was a really old man and he had all the makings for karaoke in his cab. Lights, microphones, TV screens. He asked me if I wanted to sing but I told him I was too tired. I couldn’t manage to sleep at all during the ride though. The driver kept honking his horn at other cars and fiddling with a blinking model of the Eiffel tower he had on his dash. I felt like I was paying attention to where he was going more than he was. It was a fitting follow up to my turbulent flight. I made it though. Safe and sound. Met my host Edwin, who is a really nice guy. He showed me around Kuala Lumpur during the day and showed me some really good restaurants. We made it to the Batu Caves, the national Mosque (Malaysia has one of, if not THE biggest populations of Muslims in Asia), the coolest place we went was the Petronas Twin Towers it was awesome.

…..So I was on a roll with this post. I thought I would be able to fill you all in on all the details up until now…. The owner of the hostel just came up to me and sat down for a while. We ended up having about an hour long discussion. He is a hell of a nice guy. I couldn’t understand every word he said but I got most of it. He told me all about the current situation in Malaysia with politics and the economy and all that good stuff. He talked about himself some and shared some stories. Basically, we shot the shit for an hour and now I am tired. Malaysian people have a really cool way of speaking though. Everyone knows English here, but they have their own dialect. It reminds me of a stereotypical Hawaiian accent but thicker and with a lot of extra words. So yea, I am gonna go to bed now and catch up with you guys later this week or when I get back to Japan next week. I just wanted to confirm that I made it to Malaysia and I am alive and well.

I made it to Kuching this morning around 830 and walked around the city all day. I am headed into the National Park tomorrow morning to hike and camp for a night. Should be exciting.

Also. I cant add photos to my posts with my phone so those will come later. Have a nice week