Live, Learn, and Love Malaysia :) : TOWERS, TOWERS, and BATU CAVES !!

HOLA :)

JUST WOW!! What an AMAZING weekend spent in the beautiful state of Malacca and Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia!

Early Friday morning, the 12 of us headed for Malacca, about 8 hours north of Penang. Dubbed the "The Historic State," Malacca is the third smallest state in Malaysia. Upon arrival, we headed to our hotel the Seri-Costa! The hotel was beautiful, possessed air conditioning (a commodity we don't have at USM) hot showers and beautiful luscious beds - It was completely different than the hostel living we had became accustomed to at USM! As we started our day, we first headed to the Malacca mall where we came across many local vendors selling traditional Malaysian clothing, antiques and accessories and additionally, we saw many vendors selling extremely western attire such as hats and brand shirts. In one of the local vendors shops, I picked a beautiful t-shirt for my adorable nephew back home - I'm sure he will love it!

Next, we ventured through the Malacca about a mile away to the infamous Jonker Street! Jonker Street is comparable to a small chinatown - there is an abundance of clothing, crafts, accessory and restaurant outlets. As we approached Jonker street you could see an abundance of people and shops sprawled all along. We even saw many trishaw's (bike taxi's) decked out with lights, colors and stuffed animals/ action heroes such as Hello Kitty and Superman! Additionally, the trishaws had even had stereo systems connected to them where they played all the best tunes and horns to honk at oncoming traffic - AN AMAZING SIGHT TO SEE! As nightfall approached, the best part of Jonker Street came alive: the night market! On Fridays and Saturdays, these night markets sell literally everything, which usually tends to be cheap. We spent a solid 4 hours traveled down the street buying many cheap accessories and clothing items! The best part of the night had to be when I went on stage with elder Chinese women during Karaoke - we danced and laughed and had a great time!

The following day, we had time to explore some of Malacca's infamous attractions such as St. Paul's Church built in 1521 by the portuguese, the Melaka Sultanate Replica built in 1984 from information and data obtained from the Malay Annals - both of which were located amidst St. Paul's hill.

Following our exploration, we boarded the bus and traveled 2 hours to the neighboring state of Kuala Lumpor (KL) - we would stay in KL for 3 days and 2 nights. In KL we spent our first night exploring Jalan Alor: a street in KL with all sorts of delicious foods and stores. Later in the evening, the street transformed into a night market! The night market was filled with much more traditional clothing, accessories and gadgets than the Jonker Street Market ( this market was not intended for tourists). Additionally, the market was a bit more expensive than the one in Malacca, but I believe that is because KL is a huge city in retrospect. Later that night, a group of us traveled by "rapid KL" to Bukit Bitan, a shopping and entertainment district of KL - THIS PLACE WAS LIKE TIMES-SQAURE, NY! There were literally so many malls including Berjaya Times Square, Bukit Bintang Plaza, Imbi Plaza, Fahrenheit 88, Low Yat Plaza, Starhill Gallery, Sungei Wang Plaza, Lot 10 and Pavilion KL. There were street performers like everywhere and I even came across men dressed up in suits with one of the primary colors from head to toe (including their faces).

On Sunday morning, I awoke to the BEST BREAKFAST EVER!! Our hotel had the most phenomenal options which included traditional Malaysian food such as Nasi, Mee, etc, but also had western foods such as eggs, omelets, cereal, bread, peanut butter (I missed peanut butter!), muffins, brownies! Our Sunday included a few historic and infamous attraction such as the Petronas Twin Towers, Menara KL Towers, the Islamic Museum and Central Market.

The Petronas Twin Towers were absolutely beautiful - I am so glad I visited and took lots of selfies! Although we were not able to go up (they were shooting a commercial), the view from the outside was magnificent!

The Menara Kuala Lumpor Tower was next on our list. Upon arrival, we received a complimentary 20 minute informational video because we attend USM! This is what I learned.. Considered the "jewel in the sky" is the tallest communications tower in Southeast Asia and 4th tallest in the world as it stands at 421 meters. The tower had a lot of offer, including many facilities such as the observation deck, XD theater, F1 Simulators, a revolving restaurant and an animal zone. The towers were completed in May 1966 and opened in October 1996. Surrounding the tower is the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, the nature surroundings were uniquely cared for during the time of construction and continue to be preserved. There are 5 levels of the tower, with more than 2058 steps from the bottom to the top. Fun Fact: the menara KL Towers is home to the International Jump Malaysia where skydivers form all around the world come seeking adventure and adrenaline-rushes. They thrill-seekers jump from the observation deck, and have about 10 seconds after jumping to pull their parachutes or it could be ugly!

Central Market was located in the heart of KL and had many shopping options with local vendors seeking to sell their products. I wasn't much of a fan of the market because much of the stuff was overpriced ( in comparison to other areas of Malaysia) and many of the vendors were too stubborn to bargain. I did however obtain some amazing rainbow Aladdin pants that I ADORE!!

On Monday morning we made our final stop in KL when we headed to the Batu Caves! I would have to say that this was the BEST but also the SCARIEST part of my time in KL! The Batu Caves is comprised of a limestone hill (said to be more than 400 million years old) that has a series of caves and cave temples and is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. Every year, it is the focal point Thaipusam, a Hindu Festival. This historical attraction was a great way to end our long weekend in KL. We climbed the massive steps to the temple within the confides of the caves. The real struggled seemed to stem from the climb as Monkeys descended on us - they were everywhere. These monkeys meant business too; they were out for food. On our way up, one of USM staff had her flowers stolen by a monkey who began to eat them. Another girl had her flower ripped from her head and eaten by a monkey, while another was corned and forced to give a monkey her water bottle (immediately following the monkey opened, yes OPENED the water bottle and drank from it). Liz also got jumped on by a monkey on her way up to the caves AND down from the caves - it was crazy! Yet, even though I was incredibly petrified, I captured some AMAZING pictures of the infamous Batu Caves and loved everything single minute of it!

Thank you for reading! Sending so much love back home to my family, friends and loved ones!

- Hales