Revelations in KL

I normally wouldn't dedicate an entire blog post to the experience of only two days of events, but our trip to Kuala Lumpur this weekend deserves it I think. Not because we did anything that spectacular, but because it gave Ez and I a chance to reflect on Terengganu and appreciate our experiences so far.

We got into KL last Friday at 4:30am. After finding the monorail station about 15 minutes away and waiting until 6am for it to open, we hopped the first train to Bukit Bintang. The deserted streets of KL's "fashion district" seemed almost surreal as we made our way, in the dark, past the neon lights boasting "BeBe" and "Chanel," and of course a 7-Eleven on every corner. We had been there only 7 weeks earlier, yet our first home in Malaysia seemed like some strange abandoned amusement park. When we got to our hostel, of course it was closed, so we sat down on the steps and waited until 7am, when we were able to leave our bags there and head out on the town.

First stop: the Petronas Twin Towers. They are currently the second largest building(s) in the world, but soon-to-be third once Dubai finishes construction. Strangely enough, they don't look that tall to me, but they definitely are beautiful. We were able to get up to the sky bridge that connects the two towers, on floor 41 of 88. Floor 41 seemed fairly high, so I'm sure the top would be pretty ridiculous.

Us on the Sky Bridge- 41st Floor

Next stop: Lunch in Little India. Lonely Planet told us about this great Indian place, so we set off to find it, our mouths watering at the thought of non-Malay food. Unfortunately, not only did it not exist, but apparently Little India didn't really have any Indian food restaurants we could see, and we got too hungry to look any further. So, we settled for Malay food, which was very good and very familiar. We also got to see the Masjid Jamek (the Jamek Mosque) which was absolutely gorgeous. Ez took this fabulous picture:

Jamek Mosque

Next stop: Mid-Valley Mall to see a movie. Most of the movies they were playing at this 18-screen cinema looked awful, but they happened to be playing "Paris, Je T'aime," which I had heard was good, so we bought our tickets. Long story short: GO SEE THIS MOVIE.

That night: Food, food and more food.

The next day: Kenko Reflexology and Fish Spa. What is a fish spa, you might ask? Well, just watch this video:

Yes, that's correct, we paid 38 ringgit each to have hundreds of little fish suction the dead skin off of our legs for 30 minutes. At first, I didn't think I could last 2 minutes, as you can see above, but after about 5 minutes you kind of get used to it, and it's actually pretty zen. Anna had done it in Korea and was the first person to tell us it even existed, so when we saw it we had to do it. Overall, I recommend it. Thanks Anna!

The first few unbearable minutes

Then I got used to it

That night: KLCC shopping center to see another movie. This time, we saw "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." Long story short: DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE.

All of these experiences, even simply the fact that we were able to see movies that were rated R, made Ez and I think about just how big the culture clash just between KL and Terengganu really is. Do we really know Malaysia? If the capital city felt this different, and often times scandalous (I wore a short-sleeved shirt!), was Terengganu representative at all of Malaysia as a whole? Probably not. Granted, we do not yet know what they rest of Malaysia is like, but my suspicion is that it is more like KL. What we have here in Terengganu, we realize, is unfortunately an endangered species. The culture, the norms, the values, the beliefs are all more intense and concentrated here, if not entirely different from the rest of the country, and most likely, they are not going to last much longer.

On the one hand, I feel relieved that things might become a little more open here, but mostly it makes me sad. I can't help feeling that what we are experiencing here and now, might never be the same again. It also made us wonder... what is our role in this change? Personally, my intentions here are humble I think-- experience a new culture for myself, teach English, and represent the good and peaceful side of America to Malaysians. But, it does make you think... are we just paving the way for more outside influences to flood in? Will this affect Terengganu positively, or wipe out all that makes it unique? I don't know. Ez's post on this is really good if you want to check it out.

That's all for me for now... Ez and I have a 10-day break starting this Friday, and we will be traveling to Vietnam! We're meeting Fay and Peter in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and are super excited to travel with them. I probably won't post before then, but hopefully I can do it from there, and definitely as soon as we get back.

Check out the new photos!

Love,

Sarah