Malaysia was a big surprise. I think I called it a sleeper port earlier in the voyage, and that prediction turned out to be very true. We didn’t know what to expect from Malaysia, and a lot of folks weren’t too excited for this port. I mean, it was sandwiched between India and Vietnam, and just not a place you hear much about. But, everyone’s impressions were very positive. We had our usual crash course about the country in the days leading up to our arrival, but I don’t think we got an accurate perception of Malaysia before we anchored in the harbor. Malaysia is another example of a rainbow culture. India and Brazil, and China are all countries with distinct cultures and traditions but Malaysia wouldn’t fall in that same category. The people are ethnically a mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian, with a healthy dose of many other southeast Asian heritages. It was an English territory for so long, and that has also really affected the culture that exists there as well. It’s also a very young nation. Throughout our time there the papers discussed the ongoing 50th Anniversary celebrations commemorating Malaysian independence from the British Empire. Imagine that! They’ve only been a sovereign state for 50 years. And during that time Singapore and Brunei seceded from the country to become their own independent states. We learned that the country was hard hit in the tsunami a couple of years back, though not as badly as their Indonesian neighbors. The people in Malaysia are very conservative as one might expect from a predominantly Muslim nation. While Islam is officially the state religion, there is generally great religious tolerance in Malaysia. This came as a big surprise to me. Also, while Malaysia is not a country of great wealth, I didn’t experience the poverty that was so evident in India, and also in South Africa and Brazil. There seemed to be a very strong infrastructure in place in Malaysia.
One thing I discovered is that it was hard to identify anything as distinctly Malaysian. The cuisines were specifically Chinese, Thai, or Indian… as were the clothes. The artwork and temples were always reminiscent of those found in China or India, or other parts of the world. The people I met discussed where their family originated from. It started out as frustrating, but later it was clear that Malaysia really exists at that intersection of Asian cultures. Only the language seemed truly unique to me. The language, Malay, is written using our same alphabet, but the words look like gibberish. I would look up at advertisements and often think to myself that they had made up words or used anagrams because it wasn’t written in a different alphabet so it didn’t really seem all that foreign. That took some getting used to as well. In truth, we weren’t forced to pick up much Malay because almost everyone I spoke with spoke English pretty well. I did manage to learn my requisite phrases. “Terima Kasih” means thank you, and “Sama Sama” is you’re welcome, etc. They were useful around Penang.
Our port of call has always been listed as Penang, and I assumed that was the name of the city we would arrive to in Malaysia, but was surprised to learn that Penang is really the name of an island off the Malay peninsula. The port city was the city of George Town, on the island of Penang. Penang itself is only about 70 square miles, and I actually never left it. During our say in Malaysia, many of our students traveled to Kuala Lumpur. I thought about getting one of the cheap flights myself, but the more I learned about Penang, the more I learned that it was a good microcosm of Malaysia, so I stuck around. In the end, I feel like that was a good decision b/c the students who visited KL (as it is universally known) reported that they visited mosques, did some great shopping, saw some Buddhist temples, and enjoyed the expensive hotels and Starbucks coffee. In Penang, I got to see a few mosques, including the huge state mosque, Buddhist temple complexes (including the largest one in Southeast Asia), I shopped and dined, and really wanted nothing to do with deluxe hotels and Starbucks. So I felt like I didn’t miss anything but a view of the famed Petronas Towers.
In Malaysia, we all got the wonderful experience of tendering from the ship. What this means is that the ship cannot dock at the port, so instead we weigh anchor out in the harbor and then use small ferries to shuttle back and forth to the dock. The ferries we used were actually the life boats for the MV Explorer. In theory this sounds like it would be somewhat romantic. I know I initially pictured gondolas gliding up next to the ship and then casually bringing us ashore. In practice, it was really a pain in the posterior. Each tender boat can hold about 75 people, and they really only ran a couple at a time. This meant that when you wanted to go ashore, you inevitably had to sit and wait for the tender to arrive, or wait for it to fill up enough to warrant making the trip across the water to the ship or the pier. To make matters worse, Malaysia was frickin’ humid! Humidity is something I have just come to accept on this trip. Sweating doesn’t bother me in the context of visiting an exciting new city, or hiking in an amazing place. But when you’re just sitting and waiting for the tender to go and forming a puddle around you… the fun just seems to elude you. But, I tried to remain positive about it, especially for the students who had endless complaints about the process. The good thing about it, was that once the tender arrived at the pier, we were pretty much in the downtown area. We didn’t have to make a hike or schlep ourselves in from some industrial pier, like we’ve had to do in some of our other ports.
The first morning of our arrival, almost everyone on the Student Life and Admin Team were on overnight trips or were sick in bed, so that left a very small skeleton crew of us to handle immigration and clearing the ship, while also facilitating the tender process with 800 people who didn’t really “get it” at first. That was pretty interesting. I became a Student Life team of one, and had to recruit dependent spouses and faculty to help hand out passports I even got to act as “the voice” for a little while, and called student seas to come collect their documents and then meet their tender groups. It was hectic, but fun. Once the ship was cleared, and most of the students had tendered off, I went ashore with a few fellow staff members. We walked around George Town for awhile and got a feel for the city. My initial impressions were that it was so clean. This was true everywhere I went on the island. There was not the filth or trash hat I experienced in the last few ports. Even in the most industrial parts of the city, things were clean and orderly. This came as a surprise to me because whenever I had something I wanted to throw away, I couldn’t find a dumpster. Other observations: Malaysians are some of the nicest and most genuine people I have ever met. Everywhere we went they would engage us in conversation. They really wanted to know who we were, and where we were from. They wanted to hear stories about our travels, and welcome us to Malaysia. Just walking down the street, people were constantly stopping us just to say hello and shake our hands to welcome us. Now, Malaysians are also very quiet people. We were warned that, as Americans, we would be perceived as loud and abrasive. I definitely saw many of our students being loud and I also saw the reactions that brought out in the people in Penang. Sometimes it was humorous, and other times, not so much. Being very conscious of how loud and extroverted I can sometimes be myself, I had to keep myself in check and not be so loud and boisterous. That first afternoon, we walked around the port city and ate some great Chinese food, shopped in Little India for all those items we didn’t get in Chennai, and ate samosas. We also checked out the Kompleks Komtar. In the middle of George Town a tower, the Komtower, stands at 65 stories tall. Not big by NYC, or even KL standards, but far taller than anything else in GTown where buildings usually top out at about 4 stories or so. The Komtower is referred to as the Pearl of Asia, but I am as a loss as to why. It didn’t really strike me as all that impressive. The mall attached was huge, and full of boutiques where young Malaysians could buy urban hipster type of clothing. Eventually, we walked back to the ship and did some souvenir shopping along the way. I had to be back early b/c I was on call that first night, but also because it was the first official night of Passover, and I was organizing the seder for our Jewish community. Penang, being predominantly Muslim did not offer much in the way of Jewish services, so we took care of their needs on board. More about the seder in my next long overdue “ship life” blog entry… which at this point will have to wait till after Vietnam (sorry). 
The second day, I was on my own. Most of the staff were away on trips by that point, and I wanted to get out of George Town and see more of the island. I decided not to waste too much time traveling, so I opted to grab a taxi and drive out to the beach town of Batu Ferringhi. Batu Ferringhi turned out to be a quaint and sleepy little village with a couple little resorts and a bunch of cheap guest houses. The beach itself was less than paradise. I did manage to take a dip in the waters of the Bay of Bengal but didn’t stay in very long because; a) the water wasn’t very clean, b) the water was too warm to be soothing, and c) there were jellyfish everywhere… and not the fun kind either. One of our Professors got stung so badly she sustained jellyfish poisoning and was bedridden for almost 3 days with horrible shock. I did, however, go parasailing, and treated myself to a reflexology massage right there on the beach. My masseur was a man named Edwin, who was of Indian descent, but was born on Penang. He seemed to know what he was doing, but he was the most chatty masseur I have ever met. He talked incessantly. At first, I was frustrated because I really just wanted to relax and listen to the waves while I enjoyed the massage, but eventually I just gave up and engaged him in conversation. This turned out to be a good option because he taught me a lot about the culture in Malaysia, and its relations with her neighbors, and about growing up there. He even told me about the economy of the area. During the massage, Edwin did reflexology on my hands and feet. He explained that different places on the hands and feet correlate with different parts of the body. I don’t know if my innards really “woke up,” as Edwin described, but it felt interesting nonetheless. Nutmeg is a big export from that area in Malaysia. I ate natural dried candied nutmeg (tasted strong and weird) and drank something that was flavored with nutmeg, but the most interesting thing was the nutmeg oil that Edwin used when giving the massage. It was just like Icy Hot, and both burned and was cool at the same time, but also had a sweet smell to it. I left it on all day.
Batu Ferrenghi also had a tourist-trap thing going for it. There was a restaurant shaped like a huge pirate ship, and fake pagoda garden stores selling knick-knacks. I am sure this catered to the Holiday Inn & resort crowd. I did take advantage of the resorts when I snuck into the nicer one and took a dip in their pool. The security guard assumed I was a guest since there was an empty fruity drink sitting on the table next to my chaise lounge. I didn’t think it was my place to correct him. The best part of the day was all the great food I got to eat. Lunch was some awesome chicken satay and a smoothie made with lychee and sour fruit. At dinner time, I found a food center. Food centers are like food courts, but so much better. There are different little stalls that ring an area with picnic tables. Each stall specializes in a different dish or item. This food center had about 30 stalls, each with different India, Thai, Malay, and Chinese dishes. I sampled a bunch of different things and enjoyed all of them. In the end, my favorites were the fried tofu, and the Char Koay Teow (rice noodles, egg, veggies, fish, and sausage cooked in a fishy dark soy sauce… mmm). I finished the day by purchasing a couple souvenirs including the first Buddha, in what has since become a large collection. I took the public bus back after I spent a little time catching up with some fellow S@S staffers who came down to Batu Ferrenghi for an overnight.
The following day I had the pleasure of leading the “Religions of Malaysia” trip, which I mistakenly assumed was going to be pretty boring. We visited a number of temples all over Penang. We began with the oldest Anglican Church on the island, and were told it was on a street that is mystically important in Penang b/c every major religion found in Malaysia has a building on the street. We moved from the Church (which was a big yawn) to the Temple of the Guan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. This Buddhist temple was not very large, but it is the oldest on the island, and right in the heart of the city. Our guide explained to us that the Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, is an important deity in Buddhism and that people will come and say prayers to the goddess to intercede on their behalf. He taught us about the major Buddhist gods and the other figures often found in Buddhist temples, like the God of War & Literature (great combo, huh?) and the 18 fighting monks, etc. Outside the temple, there were huge sticks of incense burning smoldering around the complex. There were also big Hindu altars in the trees outside the Buddhist temple. The guide explained that many of the concepts and gods in Hinduism and Buddhism overlap. Even the concept of a Goddess of Mercy is found in both religions. Therefore many times you will find distinctly Hindu items or representations inside Buddhist temples, or vice versa. Near the burning incense and Hindu alters there were also huge cauldrons type things. They were full of ashes and had some burning items in them. We learned that the Buddhist equivalent of All Soul’s Day was a couple days off. Evidently, Buddhists believe that all people go to a Hell-like place if not reincarnated. So for that reason, they will make gifts to their dead ancestors of items that might ease their time in hell. The way the gifts are given is by burning them in these huge blessed cauldrons so they can then be sent to Hell and to the family in the beyond. There were stands all around the temple where people would purchase items to then burn for their loved ones who had passed on. You could purchase hundreds of millions of dollars in “Hell Bank” currency, or first class Hell Airline tickets. I even saw a Hell Bank credit card (with no limits & dividend miles, no lie!). A couple people purchased whole suits and dresses made out of crepe paper to bless and then burn to send to their loved ones in Hell. It was pretty surreal and interesting. I bought some Hell Bank money, just in case. So if I’m cremated, they better go with me… But I hear that inflation in Hell is pretty bad, so I don’t imagine I’ll be buying any ocean front property when I get there.After the Buddhist temple, we walked through a Hindu temple, which felt uninspiring after my experiences in India. We also saw a Buddhist clan house which is where a large extended Chinese family worships and maintains family traditions and educates their youth. It seemed like a very ornate, but serene temple all on its own, and had many of the same Buddhist pantheon we saw in the Temple to Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, Good Fortune, Peace, & Fertility. After the clan house, we moved on to the oldest mosque in Malaysia. The mosque was beautiful and we were given a walking tour inside the mosque, and a cleric from the mosque explained some of the traditions we were witnessing, and also about how Islam is different than other religions and how it has received a bum rap in the Western World. A lot of what he said seemed like propaganda, but it certainly made many of us think… me included. But it was neat to learn about how Islam is practiced in Malaysia. We learned that while Malaysia is predominately a Muslim nation, Penang is much more religiously diverse. Only about 40% of Penang is Muslim, 45% are Buddhist, and about 10% are Christian. The remaining 5% come from all different faith backgrounds. The guides were quick to point out that even though Malaysia is officially an Islamic nation, there is great religious freedom written into its constitution and practiced among the people. That was pretty refreshing, and somewhat unexpected. Once we left the oldest mosque we encountered a Buddhist funeral procession. It was nothing like anything I’ve seen before. The family of the deceased marched behind the cremated remains, which were paraded down the street. The remains are in an elaborate portable temple that’s decked out for the deceased’s spirit to enjoy. The grieving family is dressed all in white, and throws papers of incense and fake money into the air, to confuse and ward of evil spirits that might hinder the journey of the deceased to their resting place. Also, there was some creepy, yet lively chanting music that is played as they march along down the street with a police escort.
After following the funeral procession for a bit, we drove past the State Mosque. It’s the largest mosque in Malaysia, and is so big that it can hold over 5000 people in it for Friday prayers. Evidently, most people pray at home or their office during the week, only on Fridays do large groups of people get together to pray. So the State Mosque has moveable walls to shrink it down during the week. Our final stop on the religious tour d’force was by far the best. We went to the Temple of Kek Lok Si. Kek Lok Si is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, and one of the largest in all of Asia. It stands on a hilltop overlooking George Town and is opulent and beautiful and totally indescribably breath taking. The views from the temple were amazing, and I felt truly transported to a different world. It was so brightly colorful, and serene and like every mental expectation of a happy Buddhist temple magically brought to life right there on the side of the hill. Every single detail was exquisite and the symbols and meaning were overwhelming. Joe, the voyage videographer was along on this trip, and I think I managed to successfully plant myself into half of his shots. It was/is my mission to get into the voyage video so I will feel vindicated for buying it. I think I moved one step closer to my goal when Joe has me stand on a balcony looking out over the city. He said he got a good shot with George Town in the background, me looking pensive, and the temple framing me in a dramatic fashion. Score one for Drew, the egomaniac!
Our guide did a great job explaining Kek Lok Si as we walked through the complex. I was just blown away the entire time. The temple complex includes the seven tiered Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda, and a HUGE statue of Guan Yin (the Goddess of Mercy again). The statue is enormous. It is a bronze statue and was cast in Shanghai and later brought to Penang, but her height rivals that of Christ the Redeemer in Rio. Plus, the site is still under construction. The Malaysians are building a huge ornate roof over the statue, that will almost double the height. Picture the US government building the Lincoln Memorial around the Statue of Liberty and you’ll begin the get a sense of the magnitude of this project. One of the highlights of Kek Lok Si was a special pond in the middle that was full of small turtles. Legend has it that if you buy special greens and feed them to the turtles, you will be granted long life, luck, and happiness. It was the best 2 Ringgit investment I’ve ever made (Ringgit is Malaysian currency). Another highlight was a garden which had statues of all the Chinese year animals. I took a picture next to the dragon, which is my animal. I learned that I am a dragon, and not a snake like I had thought, because the Chinese New Year didn’t happen in 1977 until after my b-day on Jan 23. The guide did inform me that it meant I was a “weak dragon.” But I’m thinking it’s better to be a weak dragon, than a strong snake. Right? I was really surprised at the richness of the religious diversity of Malaysians, and in Penang specifically. Seeing all these faiths practiced in the same place reminded me of how many similarities exist across these religious boundaries. My head was spinning that night trying to take in everything I had seen.
The rest of the evening was nice and low-key. I went for a dip in the shipboard pool and then played some cards with RD’s Dan, Matt, & Mindy. Later that night Matt and I went into Georgetown and ate some amazingly good Indian food at a hole in the wall in Little India. It was one of those places where there’s a menu, but they tell you what the chef has cooked up best that day, and we ate all sorts of great curries. Also, I finally tried a lassi, which is a flavored yogurt drink, that resembles a milkshake, but with a more yogurty taste to it. I ended up having three mango lassis during dinner. Hey, I needed something to soak up all the curry and the dosas we ordered.
My final day began with a choice I could have really regretted. After my harrowing experience on Table Mountain, where I was certain I was going to die a horrible death, I somehow got talked into leading a trip to hike up Penang Hill. When I heard the name, I figured Penang Hill would be a nice tropical mound, and that the hike would be a stroll through lush gardens. I was wrong. Penang Hill should really be called Penang Mountain. I heard stories from a bunch of different students who did the hike earlier in the week about how the hike up all 2650 feet of Penang Hill was muuuch worse than hiking Table Mountain. I was worried. They said that it was just as steep, all stairs, the entire way up, and because you were hiking through the jungle the entire time, you never stopped sweating. These were some pretty athletic students, and I didn’t think they were exaggerating, so … I was very very worried. The morning of the hike, I went to the Union to meet the group of 13 hikers, and one of them was Professor Vladi Steffel. When I saw him (old guy, not in the best shape) all the fear I had for myself transferred to him. In the official description of the hike, it said that only athletic and experienced hikers should select this program, and when I asked Vladi about that, he seemed surprised to hear it, since he was neither of those things. We all got sunscreened up, collected our water and headed out to the bus where we met Yap, our guide for the day. We drove out to the Botanical Gardens for our warm-up and to see all the tropical plants. In my experience, any experience that needs a “warm-up” is not going to later be described as a relaxing stroll. Plus, the warm-up around the Botanical Gardens was pretty strenuous. The loop around the garden had a hill of its own, and Yap set a brisk pace. Eventually, we found the trail head, which was really just a place where the jungle opened for a section and a set of old, mangled wooden stairs cut through it. And off we went. The stairs were incredibly steep, and in the jungle it was very hot and extremely humid. I was drenched in sweat pretty immediately.
We climbed the stairs for about 45 minutes until we got to the first rest station. I should say we all eventually got to the rest station. The first set of ambitious students got there about 20 minutes ahead of me, and I arrived about 20 minutes ahead of Vladi, and Yap. No one was upset about waiting though, because they were well entertained. Just as we popped out of the jungle at the first rest stop, we were surrounded by little monkeys each the size of a kindergartener. There were dozens of them and they were chatty and social, and not at all afraid of us. It was so much fun watching them interact, and play with one another. There were little baby monkeys, and older female, and it was easy to pick out the alpha males from each set. They almost looked like stuffed animals. A couple of them decided they didn’t like me because they barred their teeth and slapped at the tree branches in my direction. At first I thought the teeth barring was something cute so I barred my teeth back at them. Yes, I realize that was not a smart decision and luckily, they never charged at me, or leapt from the trees to attack me, but I think I made some monkey enemies. The rest station also had some hot coffee and tea set out for us. Evidently each morning, retirees hike up to the first rest station and boil the jungle river water to make it potable and then brew coffee and hot tea for the hikers to enjoy as they rest. The coffee was gone, but I did enjoy the tea. I now realize that in Asia, Sweet & Low and Equal are not provided to sweeten your tea. As a guy who spent years enjoying the benefits of Sweet Tea in the South, this has been tough to get used to… but I shall prevail. Yap showed us an acupressure track that was created for hikers use to help relax their feet. Basically, it was a circular cement path with stones laid into it. You would remove your shoes and walk on the stones to help heal your insides. I strip off my shoes and sweaty socks and gave it a go, and let me tell you… it was one of the most painful things I have ever done. The stones were not as smooth they looked, and they stuck up far enough from the cement that it felt like walking on a bed of dull nails. It took me about 10 minutes to walk the 15 ft. circle. Some of the students had no problem, though I have no idea how they did it. Whether or not it made a difference, I don’t know… but I didn’t mind starting the hike again.
The section between the first and second rest stations was a nice hike. We were walking through the jungle, and there were no stairs, and the slope was slow but steady. This part felt like a true hike, where we could appreciate the smells of the jungle, and the sounds of the jungle cicadas birds, and see all the vegetation growing around. I joked with Yap and the students that I had hoped to see a tiger, but he said the closest we’d come to a tiger was the famed tiger squirrel, which we later saw was a huge squirrel black with a bushy tail and orange stripes on its belly. After that, I decided everything was tiger related, so I was on the look out for tiger spiders, and tiger cicadas, and tiger monkeys. As I blog about it now, it seems pretty stupid, but trust me… at the time it had everyone in stitches; Hunting the dangerous wild tiger cicadas of Malaysia. At any rate, this part of the hike had us clamoring up boulders and using rope line to get up a few small hilly areas. Also, it started to get a little cooler the higher we climbed. We got a nice rest at the second rest stop, and realized we had been climbing about 2 hours. Starting at the second rest station we began to see groups of Malaysian hikers who were making the trek themselves, though they were using the road to hike. Once we left the station we hiked along the road for a while, and I realized why we weren’t doing that. The road was just a series of switchbacks set at about 70 degrees. It was back to a tough part of the climb, and again I worried about Vladi. Yap was worried about him too and told him that it was common for people to hitchhike to the top once they were in the middle of the hike. Vladi was certain that he would be fine, and that slow and steady would get him to the top just fine. Along the road, a few of the students and I stopped when we saw another pack of the little monkeys. One of the students was eating some Raisin Bran and Yap said we could feed the monkeys out of our hands if we wanted. Red lights and alarms went off for me b/c Dr. Matt, our voyage doctor, was clear about not petting monkeys and stray animals because they could have rabies or other nasty bugs. But it was tough to resist when the monkeys literally walked right up to you and snatched the cereal out of your hand. They surrounded Paul, the student with the Raisin Bran and were eating his cereal and even managed to snatch things out of his backpack. He had to chase after one monkey in order to get his Old Spice Deodorant back. I’m not sure what use the monkeys would have had for the deodorant. I ended up joining in on the fun and was feeding the alpha male out of my hand as well. Some of the students got pictures, and I’m going to have to hunt them down, because it’s not everyday you feed wild monkeys in a Malaysian jungle.
Our group got separated and a few of the women went on ahead and took the direct route along the road to the top. The rest of us went with Yap along the more scenic meandering route off the road. Once we left the road, the trek became much more enjoyable again, and there were a few spots where the vegetation opened up and we had some amazing views of George Town and the Penang Channel and even of the mountains on mainland Malaysia in the distance. The views really rivaled those from Table Mountain in South Africa and Pão de Açucar in Brazil. We popped out of the jungle at the top and walked along the mountain ridge road for about 30 minutes and passed some amazing homes that had been there since the 1920s and 30s. These little homes were inhabited by the rich elite during the British colonial times on the island. Some of them looked like they right out of a storybook fairy tale with their little shutters and flowering bushes growing all over them. The views in the distance were incredible as well. A few of us mused that these homes would be worth many millions each back in the US, but that here one could be purchased for about $100K. Maybe moving to Malaysia isn’t a bad idea. Hmmm. After over three hours of hiking, we came to the end of our hike at a little hotel perched on the top of the hill and enjoyed lunch overlooking George Town. The lunch was mainly Shrimp Fried Rice and Fish Ball Soup, so it left a little to be desired, but we were huuungry after the jungle trek. I for one appreciated the many glasses of Tang I drank to refuel. At the top we ran into a bunch of S@S folks, and a ton of other tourists. A few of them looked at us funny since we were looking pretty haggard. But once they heard we hiked all the way up the hill they had respect for us. Seeing us actually dissuaded a few of them from attempting to climb down the hill. After lunch we descended the hill on a funicular railway… the only one of its kind in Asia (and the way that all the tourists took to get to the top). It was essentially a series of rail cars that are shaped at a diagonal because the track is set at a dangerously steep slope. The decline is done in two sets, and as one car ascends, the other descends. The whole rail trip took about 30 minutes, so you can tell we covered a lot of ground on the hike. Once back to the bottom, we took the bus back over to Kek Lok Si for a quick photo stop, and to let a few students sign-out of the trip so they could check out the temple.
As I enjoyed the A/C on the bus, my leg and booty muscles started complaining to me about the punishment I put them through. I had a feeling it would be a tough afternoon as a result. So, with a few hours to spare before I needed to be back and work the line, I headed over to the Kompleks Komtar Mall and got myself a nice hour long reflexology foot massage. It was the best 30 Ringgit I could have spent. The massage was divine and took away so much of the pain. Plus I even got a 15 minute neck and shoulder massage as well. That part was nice, but when the woman giving me the massage was pushing on the pressure points of my back, which was fine, but as she went lower, she got a little invasive. She even reached into my shorts and massaged my tail bone. Mind you, I was fully clothed and sitting in a chair, in a room full of people, so I didn’t expect to the tail bone massage. It didn’t feel X-rated, and as I watched, the masseurs did the same maneuver on other people, but it was definitely an unexpected ending to the massage. After my massage, and meandered back towards the ship, but stopped and had some street food before returning to the ship. I decided for a repeat of the Char Koay Teow in China Town and the yummy samosas in Little India. It was the most filling 5 Ringgit I could have spent. That was less that a $1.75. Can you believe it? Sheesh! So I returned to the dock where the tenders carry people back to the ship and then my evening took a turn for the worse.
RD Dan and I were the only ones set to work the lines to get folks back on board for On-Ship time and our next leg to Vietnam. The Student Life Tea only opted to have 2 RDs working the line because it wasn’t outside the ship, but rather at the docks. When I got to the line at 6:30, a full 2 ½ hours before on-ship time, the line was already at least 150 people long, and each of those people had huge backpacks or shopping bags that had to be searched before they could get on the tender boats back to the ship. It seems that 4 different S@S travel groups all arrived from different parts of Malaysia at the same time. And when you add to that all the people who had been shopping or at the beach, the line just kept growing, and people got more and more upset about having to wait. The line also seemed to move at a snail’s pace because we only had 2 people who were authorized to check bags. As we got closer and closer to 9pm (On-ship time) the people in line got more and more angry and abusive and demanding. Dan and I took a lot of grief, and I won’t lie and say I wasn’t upset about it. We warned people that they needed to be back to the docks by 7:30pm in order to ensure they would be on the ship by 9pm. People shouted at us when we made them go to the back of the line for cutting, they shouted at us when we didn’t notice other people cutting, they shouted at us when they realized they wouldn’t be making it on board in time. To make matters worse, there were vendors selling beer to the crowd in line right outside the bag search area. We asked the port authority, and the police to have them stop, or at least move away, but both said they didn’t have the ability to do that. Most of the students were fine but a couple really took advantage of the vendor and their time in line to tie-one-on. And then they becamse some of the most verbal people in line. In the end, it was just the perfect storm of circumstances to make things yucky. When 9pm rolled around, there were sill almost 80 people who hadn’t gotten onto the ship. That number almost doubled, but the final pre-on ship time tender arrived just prior to 9pm and people were able to swipe in. There was a lot of fall out from that evening, but I thin a lot of it is about the tendering process, and barring some unforeseen weirdness, we won’t have to tender anymore. I didn’t let it bother me too much. I didn’t want a couple difficult hours to ruin my entire Malaysian experience. After a couple hours playing hearts with fellow RD’s in the Faculty/Staff Lounge, I felt a lot better.
In talking to everyone about their time in Malaysia, I think everyone was surprised at how wonderful a time they had, and how welcoming the Malaysian people were to us. People really felt like this would be the boring port that served as a placeholder between India and Vietnam, but people described it as their favorite yet. When I think back to the views from Penang Hill, the night market in Batu Ferrenghi, and the Kek Lok Si Temple, I can understand what they’re talking about. Sure, Burma would have been a fun place to visit, but Malaysia certainly was no let down.
And now on to Vietnam & Cambodia! Love to all back in the states.
XOXO
-Drew
The rest of the evening was nice and low-key. I went for a dip in the shipboard pool and then played some cards with RD’s Dan, Matt, & Mindy. Later that night Matt and I went into Georgetown and ate some amazingly good Indian food at a hole in the wall in Little India. It was one of those places where there’s a menu, but they tell you what the chef has cooked up best that day, and we ate all sorts of great curries. Also, I finally tried a lassi, which is a flavored yogurt drink, that resembles a milkshake, but with a more yogurty taste to it. I ended up having three mango lassis during dinner. Hey, I needed something to soak up all the curry and the dosas we ordered.My final day began with a choice I could have really regretted. After my harrowing experience on Table Mountain, where I was certain I was going to die a horrible death, I somehow got talked into leading a trip to hike up Penang Hill. When I heard the name, I figured Penang Hill would be a nice tropical mound, and that the hike would be a stroll through lush gardens. I was wrong. Penang Hill should really be called Penang Mountain. I heard stories from a bunch of different students who did the hike earlier in the week about how the hike up all 2650 feet of Penang Hill was muuuch worse than hiking Table Mountain. I was worried. They said that it was just as steep, all stairs, the entire way up, and because you were hiking through the jungle the entire time, you never stopped sweating. These were some pretty athletic students, and I didn’t think they were exaggerating, so … I was very very worried. The morning of the hike, I went to the Union to meet the group of 13 hikers, and one of them was Professor Vladi Steffel. When I saw him (old guy, not in the best shape) all the fear I had for myself transferred to him. In the official description of the hike, it said that only athletic and experienced hikers should select this program, and when I asked Vladi about that, he seemed surprised to hear it, since he was neither of those things. We all got sunscreened up, collected our water and headed out to the bus where we met Yap, our guide for the day. We drove out to the Botanical Gardens for our warm-up and to see all the tropical plants. In my experience, any experience that needs a “warm-up” is not going to later be described as a relaxing stroll. Plus, the warm-up around the Botanical Gardens was pretty strenuous. The loop around the garden had a hill of its own, and Yap set a brisk pace. Eventually, we found the trail head, which was really just a place where the jungle opened for a section and a set of old, mangled wooden stairs cut through it. And off we went. The stairs were incredibly steep, and in the jungle it was very hot and extremely humid. I was drenched in sweat pretty immediately.
We climbed the stairs for about 45 minutes until we got to the first rest station. I should say we all eventually got to the rest station. The first set of ambitious students got there about 20 minutes ahead of me, and I arrived about 20 minutes ahead of Vladi, and Yap. No one was upset about waiting though, because they were well entertained. Just as we popped out of the jungle at the first rest stop, we were surrounded by little monkeys each the size of a kindergartener. There were dozens of them and they were chatty and social, and not at all afraid of us. It was so much fun watching them interact, and play with one another. There were little baby monkeys, and older female, and it was easy to pick out the alpha males from each set. They almost looked like stuffed animals. A couple of them decided they didn’t like me because they barred their teeth and slapped at the tree branches in my direction. At first I thought the teeth barring was something cute so I barred my teeth back at them. Yes, I realize that was not a smart decision and luckily, they never charged at me, or leapt from the trees to attack me, but I think I made some monkey enemies. The rest station also had some hot coffee and tea set out for us. Evidently each morning, retirees hike up to the first rest station and boil the jungle river water to make it potable and then brew coffee and hot tea for the hikers to enjoy as they rest. The coffee was gone, but I did enjoy the tea. I now realize that in Asia, Sweet & Low and Equal are not provided to sweeten your tea. As a guy who spent years enjoying the benefits of Sweet Tea in the South, this has been tough to get used to… but I shall prevail. Yap showed us an acupressure track that was created for hikers use to help relax their feet. Basically, it was a circular cement path with stones laid into it. You would remove your shoes and walk on the stones to help heal your insides. I strip off my shoes and sweaty socks and gave it a go, and let me tell you… it was one of the most painful things I have ever done. The stones were not as smooth they looked, and they stuck up far enough from the cement that it felt like walking on a bed of dull nails. It took me about 10 minutes to walk the 15 ft. circle. Some of the students had no problem, though I have no idea how they did it. Whether or not it made a difference, I don’t know… but I didn’t mind starting the hike again.
The section between the first and second rest stations was a nice hike. We were walking through the jungle, and there were no stairs, and the slope was slow but steady. This part felt like a true hike, where we could appreciate the smells of the jungle, and the sounds of the jungle cicadas birds, and see all the vegetation growing around. I joked with Yap and the students that I had hoped to see a tiger, but he said the closest we’d come to a tiger was the famed tiger squirrel, which we later saw was a huge squirrel black with a bushy tail and orange stripes on its belly. After that, I decided everything was tiger related, so I was on the look out for tiger spiders, and tiger cicadas, and tiger monkeys. As I blog about it now, it seems pretty stupid, but trust me… at the time it had everyone in stitches; Hunting the dangerous wild tiger cicadas of Malaysia. At any rate, this part of the hike had us clamoring up boulders and using rope line to get up a few small hilly areas. Also, it started to get a little cooler the higher we climbed. We got a nice rest at the second rest stop, and realized we had been climbing about 2 hours. Starting at the second rest station we began to see groups of Malaysian hikers who were making the trek themselves, though they were using the road to hike. Once we left the station we hiked along the road for a while, and I realized why we weren’t doing that. The road was just a series of switchbacks set at about 70 degrees. It was back to a tough part of the climb, and again I worried about Vladi. Yap was worried about him too and told him that it was common for people to hitchhike to the top once they were in the middle of the hike. Vladi was certain that he would be fine, and that slow and steady would get him to the top just fine. Along the road, a few of the students and I stopped when we saw another pack of the little monkeys. One of the students was eating some Raisin Bran and Yap said we could feed the monkeys out of our hands if we wanted. Red lights and alarms went off for me b/c Dr. Matt, our voyage doctor, was clear about not petting monkeys and stray animals because they could have rabies or other nasty bugs. But it was tough to resist when the monkeys literally walked right up to you and snatched the cereal out of your hand. They surrounded Paul, the student with the Raisin Bran and were eating his cereal and even managed to snatch things out of his backpack. He had to chase after one monkey in order to get his Old Spice Deodorant back. I’m not sure what use the monkeys would have had for the deodorant. I ended up joining in on the fun and was feeding the alpha male out of my hand as well. Some of the students got pictures, and I’m going to have to hunt them down, because it’s not everyday you feed wild monkeys in a Malaysian jungle.
Our group got separated and a few of the women went on ahead and took the direct route along the road to the top. The rest of us went with Yap along the more scenic meandering route off the road. Once we left the road, the trek became much more enjoyable again, and there were a few spots where the vegetation opened up and we had some amazing views of George Town and the Penang Channel and even of the mountains on mainland Malaysia in the distance. The views really rivaled those from Table Mountain in South Africa and Pão de Açucar in Brazil. We popped out of the jungle at the top and walked along the mountain ridge road for about 30 minutes and passed some amazing homes that had been there since the 1920s and 30s. These little homes were inhabited by the rich elite during the British colonial times on the island. Some of them looked like they right out of a storybook fairy tale with their little shutters and flowering bushes growing all over them. The views in the distance were incredible as well. A few of us mused that these homes would be worth many millions each back in the US, but that here one could be purchased for about $100K. Maybe moving to Malaysia isn’t a bad idea. Hmmm. After over three hours of hiking, we came to the end of our hike at a little hotel perched on the top of the hill and enjoyed lunch overlooking George Town. The lunch was mainly Shrimp Fried Rice and Fish Ball Soup, so it left a little to be desired, but we were huuungry after the jungle trek. I for one appreciated the many glasses of Tang I drank to refuel. At the top we ran into a bunch of S@S folks, and a ton of other tourists. A few of them looked at us funny since we were looking pretty haggard. But once they heard we hiked all the way up the hill they had respect for us. Seeing us actually dissuaded a few of them from attempting to climb down the hill. After lunch we descended the hill on a funicular railway… the only one of its kind in Asia (and the way that all the tourists took to get to the top). It was essentially a series of rail cars that are shaped at a diagonal because the track is set at a dangerously steep slope. The decline is done in two sets, and as one car ascends, the other descends. The whole rail trip took about 30 minutes, so you can tell we covered a lot of ground on the hike. Once back to the bottom, we took the bus back over to Kek Lok Si for a quick photo stop, and to let a few students sign-out of the trip so they could check out the temple. 
As I enjoyed the A/C on the bus, my leg and booty muscles started complaining to me about the punishment I put them through. I had a feeling it would be a tough afternoon as a result. So, with a few hours to spare before I needed to be back and work the line, I headed over to the Kompleks Komtar Mall and got myself a nice hour long reflexology foot massage. It was the best 30 Ringgit I could have spent. The massage was divine and took away so much of the pain. Plus I even got a 15 minute neck and shoulder massage as well. That part was nice, but when the woman giving me the massage was pushing on the pressure points of my back, which was fine, but as she went lower, she got a little invasive. She even reached into my shorts and massaged my tail bone. Mind you, I was fully clothed and sitting in a chair, in a room full of people, so I didn’t expect to the tail bone massage. It didn’t feel X-rated, and as I watched, the masseurs did the same maneuver on other people, but it was definitely an unexpected ending to the massage. After my massage, and meandered back towards the ship, but stopped and had some street food before returning to the ship. I decided for a repeat of the Char Koay Teow in China Town and the yummy samosas in Little India. It was the most filling 5 Ringgit I could have spent. That was less that a $1.75. Can you believe it? Sheesh! So I returned to the dock where the tenders carry people back to the ship and then my evening took a turn for the worse.RD Dan and I were the only ones set to work the lines to get folks back on board for On-Ship time and our next leg to Vietnam. The Student Life Tea only opted to have 2 RDs working the line because it wasn’t outside the ship, but rather at the docks. When I got to the line at 6:30, a full 2 ½ hours before on-ship time, the line was already at least 150 people long, and each of those people had huge backpacks or shopping bags that had to be searched before they could get on the tender boats back to the ship. It seems that 4 different S@S travel groups all arrived from different parts of Malaysia at the same time. And when you add to that all the people who had been shopping or at the beach, the line just kept growing, and people got more and more upset about having to wait. The line also seemed to move at a snail’s pace because we only had 2 people who were authorized to check bags. As we got closer and closer to 9pm (On-ship time) the people in line got more and more angry and abusive and demanding. Dan and I took a lot of grief, and I won’t lie and say I wasn’t upset about it. We warned people that they needed to be back to the docks by 7:30pm in order to ensure they would be on the ship by 9pm. People shouted at us when we made them go to the back of the line for cutting, they shouted at us when we didn’t notice other people cutting, they shouted at us when they realized they wouldn’t be making it on board in time. To make matters worse, there were vendors selling beer to the crowd in line right outside the bag search area. We asked the port authority, and the police to have them stop, or at least move away, but both said they didn’t have the ability to do that. Most of the students were fine but a couple really took advantage of the vendor and their time in line to tie-one-on. And then they becamse some of the most verbal people in line. In the end, it was just the perfect storm of circumstances to make things yucky. When 9pm rolled around, there were sill almost 80 people who hadn’t gotten onto the ship. That number almost doubled, but the final pre-on ship time tender arrived just prior to 9pm and people were able to swipe in. There was a lot of fall out from that evening, but I thin a lot of it is about the tendering process, and barring some unforeseen weirdness, we won’t have to tender anymore. I didn’t let it bother me too much. I didn’t want a couple difficult hours to ruin my entire Malaysian experience. After a couple hours playing hearts with fellow RD’s in the Faculty/Staff Lounge, I felt a lot better.
In talking to everyone about their time in Malaysia, I think everyone was surprised at how wonderful a time they had, and how welcoming the Malaysian people were to us. People really felt like this would be the boring port that served as a placeholder between India and Vietnam, but people described it as their favorite yet. When I think back to the views from Penang Hill, the night market in Batu Ferrenghi, and the Kek Lok Si Temple, I can understand what they’re talking about. Sure, Burma would have been a fun place to visit, but Malaysia certainly was no let down.
And now on to Vietnam & Cambodia! Love to all back in the states.
XOXO
-Drew
2 comments:
hi drew! it's lisa from SB--i have been reading your awesome blog & living & chuckling vicariously from afar. safe travels!
lisa
Drew,
It is clear that you are having an amazing journey. I am jealous, and want to sail again myself. Your blogs are a joy to read, and I can't wait to read more and to sit down and chat with you after your voyage ends. Until, then, enjoy the world and have safe travels!
Le'Trice
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