Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report: Malaysia

After a long hiatus, I’m ready to finish my trip report. I’ll try and make this shorter as I’m beginning to bore even myself!

The following morning, after breakfast I called my sister. My brother-in-law was trying to figure out what I did know and what I didn’t know and was dancing around telling me anything but finally had to tell me my sister flew to NY. At that point, I guessed that my uncle had passed away. I called my cousin in NY since my sister and mother were both there. It turns out that he had passed away several days earlier but nobody wanted to tell me when I had spoken to them. My mother told me she didn’t see any point in upsetting me while I was away since there was nothing I could do anyway. After hanging up and realizing they were right, we went out to explore Georgetown. It did put a damper on the morning but when we reach a certain age, we have to expect such things will happen. I felt terrible for my mother and my aunt since he was the only brother left. Out of six siblings, they are the only two still alive.

We walked over to Fort Cornwallis, one of the oldest sights in Penang. This is where Captain Francis Light set shore in 1786. Not much of the original fort is still here but the outer walls are original. There isn’t much to do here, just walk around, but they do have some displays and provide a bit of a history lesson.

After the fort, we negotiated with a trishaw driver to take us around Georgetown. I assumed he would show us a lot of the colonial buildings but he brought us to Chinatown and we spent most of the time there. It was interesting and I enjoyed it but I would have liked to have seen more of the old colonial buildings. We did a quick ride through Little India and I was drooling at all the gold shops. We didn’t stop however so I figured that we could hit some of them later.

We went back to the hotel for a bite to eat at the bar, knowing that we were going to be going to the E&O’s English tea a little later. The tea was at the E&O’s main restaurant, 1885. The tea was good and a great value (RM35++) but the surroundings were so refined and elegant that I felt out of place. I don’t like being so formal in the afternoon. I preferred the MO’s tea, which was every bit as good and was included in the price of our room.

After a short rest, we set out to walk around and do some shopping. I was hoping to get to Little India but it was much farther than I anticipated so we never got there. We just spent a couple of hours walking and looking at shops. I bought a piece of luggage for about $10. It’s a replacement for a piece that I have that I always bring empty and fill with purchases. It expands several times from the bottom. I could no longer find one like it in the US and mine was starting to fall apart.

For dinner, I was dying to try some of the famous hawker food I’ve heard so much about. We decided to get a taxi to Gurney Drive as I heard they have the best selection. I was hoping to first go to Little India first to buy some gold but I was told the shops close at 6pm. Oh well, I would have to get my gold in KL.

The Gurney Drive hawkers were moved a few blocks away, something about fixing the streets. The cab driver dropped us off at the new temporary location, which was a dim parking lot. Only about half the stalls were open. We walked around and looked at them all, twice, but to tell you the truth, nothing looked very appetizing. In fact, it looked downright horrible. The surroundings were depressing and it wasn’t someplace we wanted to have dinner. We decided to go to a seafood restaurant called Ocean Green. We got a taxi to Ocean Green, a huge open air restaurant on Jln Sultan Ahmad Shah, near the Paramount Hotel. The place was packed, mainly with locals, so we felt it was a good choice. We ordered a whole snapper flavored with Thai spices (although Eric said it wasn’t a snapper, he thinks it was a sea bass because of the shape of the mouth and the amount of bones in it), and garlic shrimp, rice and beers. The food was excellent but the service was atrocious. The waiter kept forgetting to bring us our food and beers and we had to keep calling him over to remind him. It was an enjoyable dinner however, even with the rotten service.

The next morning, we had an early flight to KL and I was really looking forward to getting back there and to the MO, by far my favorite hotel on this trip. We got to the MO at about 11am and checked into our room, this time on the 30th floor, which is the highest floor with guestrooms. The room was almost exactly the same as our earlier room, with pretty much the same spectacular view. After lunch at a place called Dome, which is an outdoor restaurant at Suria KLCC, we took a taxi to go to Masjid Jamek, a lovely mosque near Chinatown and Little India. I forgot to bring a head covering though so we couldn’t go in. We walked over to Little India just wandering the streets and alleys. I really enjoyed this. KL didn’t seem so sterile anymore. People were setting up food stalls and I have to say, the food there looked and smelled great, not like the hawkers in Penang. I was on a mission to buy some 22k gold so we walked until we found a jewelry store. As usual, Eric refused to go in and waited outside. He doesn’t really like shopping for jewelry, probably because he knows it’s going to cost him.

I saw a really nice necklace of 22k, and some red and blue enamel. It was a little on the fancy side but I fell in love with it so the negotiations began. I managed to get the price down some, to a place I felt I could live with. Shopping for gold here is much different than in Chinatown in BK, the place to buy pure gold there. In BKK, the merchants will not negotiate on pure gold. The price depends on the weight of the gold and what the price for gold is that day, period. Most of it is cast and there is no real workmanship involved so labor cost is minimal. I think if I found a shop in Bangkok’s Chinatown that was willing to come down, I would walk out thinking it’s not what it’s advertised to be. In KL’s Little India, since there is workmanship involved in the making of the jewelry, there is wiggle room on the price. I also found two pair of earrings, a pair of wire hoops with some enamel on gold balls, to go with the necklace, and a pair of hanging gold earrings on posts for my sister. After settling on a price for everything, I whipped out my credit card and the salesman told me there would be a charge for the card, the price he gave me was for cash. I said no way, I use the card for the price agreed upon and that this was non-negotiable. When he started to hem and haw, I told him I didn’t have time for this and began to walk out. Of course he immediately said the agreed upon price was for the credit card. I paid and walked out, afraid Eric would be angry since I had spent so much time in there. He wasn’t, he was watching all the activity going on and managed to stay amused. He also said he would buy the necklace for me for my birthday. What a good husband 

It was getting late, and not wanting to miss any of the cocktail hour, we headed back to the MO, deciding to save Chinatown and the Central Market for the next day. After showers, I decided to dress up for the cocktail hour and wear my new jewelry. Since we were dressed nicely, we decided to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner and chose Fragipani, which Kathie had said she liked. We had the hotel make a reservation for us. It turned out, we hardly needed a reservation, there was only one other couple in the entire place and no one came in while we were there. I don’t understand why as the restaurant is gorgeous and the food fabulous.

The restaurant has a large sunken pool in the center with columns around it. It really reminded me of Yerebatan Saray (the Cistern) in Istanbul. Eric said it reminded him of the Roman baths in Bath. Either one is apt. There is a lot of chrome and white and the lighting is low. Very elegant. We ordered some sort of prawn dish for an appetizer. I had duck confit and Eric had haddock for mains. We also had wine, mineral water, and banana mousse for desert. The food was presented beautifully and tasted wonderful. The bill was RM293, the most expensive meal we had in Malaysia and worth every ringgit. I’m sure a comparable meal in a comparable restaurant in NYC would cost at least twice as much.

The following morning, we wanted to get an early start as it was our last day in Malaysia. After breakfast, we got a taxi and went to the Central Market. The CM is a collection of stalls and shops selling handicrafts under one roof. I still had shopping to do and CM seemed the best place to get it all done. I bought some nice, small framed watercolor paintings; some carved wood pieces, also framed, and two beautiful tea sets, one for me and one for my sister. I made sure everything I bought was made in Malaysia. Malaysia has a large middle class and as a result, their handicraft production is suffering and much of what is for sale is made in other parts of Southeast Asia. After I finished shopping for gifts and for myself, we walked around Chinatown. Chinatown has a large market with stalls selling what I consider junk: knock off clothing and watches and the like. No real crafts seem to be sold there. Although we didn’t buy anything there, walking around and soaking up the flavor was fun. We stopped at an outdoor café for some spring rolls and beer and relaxed there for a while. After walking around some more, we decided to go back to the MO and get one last bit of pool time in.

As soon as we got to the pool, it began to pour so we had lunch instead, next to the pool, which is covered. After lunch, I went over to Suria KLCC to make sure there was nothing there I wanted to buy. Actually there was a lot there I would have liked to have bought but everything I liked was way too expensive.

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. The tea in late afternoon and cocktails at 5:00. We decided we were in the mood for some Vietnamese food for dinner but couldn’t get a reservation at any of the restaurants we wanted. It was Friday night and I should have known to do this in advance but didn’t think of it. We ended up eating at Wasabi, the MO’s Japanese restaurant. I think it was the best Japanese food I ever had, and that includes in Japan! We ordered a sampler dish which had about 6 different things in it and I think we also had soft shelled crab. For some reason, I drank beer instead of sake, probably because I didn’t think of it. I was pretty tired. By the time we finished dinner, it was late so we went back to the room for some last minute packing.

The following morning was very rushed. I mistakenly thought our flight was an hour later than it was. We barely had time for breakfast. Luckily, when we got to Sentral, we were able to check in for our flight there, including our luggage. Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Royal Brunei Air have check in facilities at Sentral.

We got to the airport and I decided to see if perhaps Cathay had my jacket, the one I left on the plane from HK to KL. After finding the Cathay office, we went in and I told the woman there about the jacket and guess what? They had it!! I was really happy since it was a new jacket and I liked it. This would be the high point of the trip home. The rest was miserable and rushed. We had no time at the airport for any duty free shopping. The flight from KL to HK went okay but the flight from HK to Vancouver was horrid. After we took off, the flight attendants came around with drinks. I ordered a red wine and the FA filled the cup to the top, which was nice. I then spilled the entire thing all over my legs, which was not nice. My pants were soaked. All I could think of was sitting there for 16 hours soaked with red wine and I just started to cry. It was more than I could take. The FA’s couldn’t be nicer, coming over with wash clothes to help. They asked if there was anything they could do and I said no, that I wanted to get out of the pants but had nothing to change into. One of the FAs said she would see what she could do and a few minutes later, came back with an amenity kit from first class: Shanghai Tang pajamas, in a pouch, with slippers and eye shades! The airline instantly won my eternal gratitude. The service on Cathay is really top notch, even in coach. It’s such a refreshing change from airlines such as United and American, where surly FAs practically throw food at you (if they even serve food, a rarity these days) and act like they’re doing you a big favor.

The rest of the trip home was long, with that layover in Vancouver. At least they let us off the plane this time but wouldn’t allow us to leave the gate.

We got to JFK after 10pm, later than scheduled and were greeted with pouring rain, which lasted an entire week. Welcome home. At least the cat was happy to see us. She’s been following me around non-stop (she’s on my lap as I type this).

Impressions:

I enjoyed Malaysia, though not quite as much as other places in SEA. This is mainly my fault though. We ran around too much and tried to pack too much into two weeks. I won’t make this mistake again. When we go to Java in the Spring, we’re not going to East Java like I originally planned. I refuse to have a repeat of airports and not settling in one place.

Batang Ai was a waste of time. I had such high hopes for it and was very disappointed.
I loved KL, Kuching and Bako, and Penang and would return to them. I would also like to go back and explore more of the Peninsular and some of the islands. I always say I’m not a beach person but maybe a few days at a beautiful island beach resort would have been nice and relaxing.

The people, whether they were Muslim, Chinese, Indian, or Malay, were lovely and gracious and friendly. We felt welcomed everywhere we went and were very impressed with the warmth extended to us. I have yet to visit a country in SEA where the people have not been wonderful. They are the real reason to go to this part of the world.

I hope you enjoyed my LONG trip report. If anyone has any questions, I’ll be happy to try and answer them. And I promise to try and make my next report shorter. Don’t worry, you won’t have to suffer through that one until the Spring!