First, in my posts, I have been very flattering to this part of the world. We enjoyed its combination of grit and beauty, and the chance to see people from different cultures living side by side. We marveled at the proximity of the jungle and the city. But of its amazing qualities, there is one thing that is annoying, irritating, and driving me crazy . . . paper napkins. Maybe restaurants here are in a money-saving mode; if so, it’s not working because at every meal I find myself using 10 or 12 “napkins” and still needing to visit a hand-washing station to clean my fingers.
Let me describe them. Cut a store-brand Kleenex tissue into quarters. Like those awful bathroom tissues in a metal dispenser that pull out one sheet at a time, each sheet would be a napkin here. They don’t clean. They don’t absorb. They litter the table and fall onto the floor, all smudged up with chicken grease, chili sauce, and oil.
These “napkins” are not specific to Malaysia; paper napkins in cellophane wrappers, cute plastic cartoon-character or wooden Kleenex dispenser boxes are the norm on home and restaurant tables in this entire part of the world. And since much of the food here is finger food, it’s a mess. These folks need a roll of paper towels like the ones on tables at Captain D’s.
I know, what thing to complain about! We had burgers at the Hard Rock Cafe a few days ago when Stan went to buy yet another Hard Rock guitar pin — he probably has collected 50 or so over the years. Anyway, we were excited to see the restaurant had real, high-quality paper napkins. Real ones! We brought some home.
Geographically speaking, this part of Asia is the most scrambled I have ever encountered. Theoretically, Malaysia is in the Indonesian area, but is not part of Indonesia. A few days ago we were in Borneo, which is part of Malaysia, but Borneo is an island. It is the third largest in the world, and the home to land belonging to three countries: the tiny sovereign country of Brunei (Stan and I will be there soon), Malaysia, and Indonesia. Though the island is called Borneo Island, its greater area, however, belongs to Indonesia. Not all of Malaysia is on the island of Borneo. Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan, towns we visited recently, are the two major cities in the Malay state of Sabah. Kuching, which we will visit later on, is in the state of Sarawak, also on Borneo. Here’s the confusing part: Kuala Lumpur, the city where we are now, is not on Borneo, but is on the Malaysian Peninsula, which is part of the greater Chinese landmass. Kuala Lumpur is in no state; it is officially a Federal Territory but is the capital of Malaysia. I simply cannot wrap my head around this. I find myself studying and restudying a map.
We are heading to Sumatra for the next 12 days, and it’s going to be a whirlwind trip. From Medan, we will be on an 8-day tour of the country, hiking, rafting, and doing jungle safaris. The thrill for me, however, will be a brief 3-day trip to the city of Padang, where we hope to watch farmers riding on wooden skids pulled by their bulls race through their harvested rice fields. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, we wrapped up our time in the amazing city of KL with more tours of the city, a visit to the 86th floor of the fabulous Petronas Twin Towers, and the Skywalk between the two towers. The highlight of all our tours here was the 4-hour bike tour we took Sunday morning. Riding great big bikes from the Netherlands, we meandered through the old Malay village, Kampung Baru, and through the KL city center. Since I am on a bike only about once a year, if that, I am not a confident cyclist. During the first leg of the trip in the village, we turned off the road down onto a dirt driveway. I guess I made the turn too sharply. My bike slid out from under me, and I took a spill. I received only a few small scratches to my knee, but my pride was severely injured. Grrr! I felt a little like an old lady who should be watched carefully and who probably shouldn’t be doing such things. But I’m a stubborn old biddy; I’ll do it again.
Interesting, entertaining and educational. Now who can do that in one post. Loved it!!!
Careful on those bikes – I’m glad you got up and showed them your “grit”!
Love you’ll.
I’m not sure why you received the error, but your sweet comment arrived safe and sound. It made me happy! Please hang in there with me and don’t give up. Stan read my blog and suggested an edit more descriptive of the Sumatran bull race. These guys race through their harvested rice fields mounted on a wooden sled pulled by their bulls. It should be dirty, fast, and a once-in-a-lifetime event for us! Spectators are advised to wear old clothes. No problem for us. Every stitch in our suitcases is old!!!
Love traveling with you and Stan to parts of the world I’ll never see. Keep riding that bike! And keep the blog entries coming.
Thanks so much, Janet. We are having a time of our lives, but it’s also a lot of work. We have a spreadsheet showing our hotels, Airbnb‘s, tours and flights and it looks horrendous, but it’s the only way to get it done. We love seeing your travels too. You are kicking it!
Thank you for the education about a part of the world we know nothing about. How confusing the geography is, but it is interesting and encouraging that so many faiths live successfully together. Safe travels for the next leg!
Thank you, Sharyl, it’s always wonderful to hear from you. So far so good we are still enjoying this part of the world and look forward to a visit to Sumatra —if we ever get there. Our flight was to have left at 2:50 this afternoon. It was canceled and now we will leave after 9 PM tonight. Thank goodness for the time change because we’ll arrive there just after 9 PM there. We start a big mountain/jungle tour tomorrow. Should be rainy but great fun. You guys do take care, and thank you for staying in touch!