Malaysia Chronicles Three: Best Experiences

Abroad is the place where we stay up late, follow impulse and find ourselves as wide open as when we are in love. We live without a past or future, for a moment at least, and are ourselves up for grabs and open to interpretation. We even may become mysterious—to others, at first, and sometimes to ourselves—and, as no less a dignitary than Oliver Cromwell once noted, “A man never goes so far as when he doesn’t know where he is going.” - Pico Iyer, Why We Travel

Hitting the road from Kuala Lumpur to Selangor to Pahang and all the way to Penang, I got to experience a lot of wonderful things.  Here are the best of them:

1. The trek to Bukit Teresek in Taman Negara

2. Traipsing along the shores of Batu Ferringhi after a huge lunch of peppered crabs

3. Savoring a bowl of hokkien me at the Red Garden Food Paradise in George Town, Penang

4. Riding bareback on a newly bathed elephant

5. The two-hour boat ride along the Tembeling River amidst soaring rain forest trees

  

6. The climb up the hill to the Kek Lok Si Temple

7. The delectable taste of those freshly cooked curry puffs sold along Kuala Lumpur’s Petaling Street

8. Racing with my man up the 342 stairs that lead to Batu Caves

9. Relishing a banana split at Bayview Hotel George Town’s revolving restaurant, which gave us a 360-degree view of the entire city

10. Shopping for  bargain-priced dresses at Berjaya Times Square KL without trying them on (and later finding out that they fit me perfectly)