Kicking It in Kuala Lumpur

Back from abroad, yet again! I love Southeast Asia, it’s the only place where you can take a cheap weekend jaunt to another country.

This weekend I went to Kuala Lumpur with my co-worker, in an attempt to see a bit of Malaysia since it can’t fit into my massive post-semester travel itinerary (which already includes, China, Indonesia and Cambodia).

On a scale from sleek to grungy, I’d place Kuala Lumpur between Singapore and Bangkok; it was relatively clean and had several incredible feats of engineering that reminded me of buildings in Singapore, but it was still a little rough around the edges, and the steaming street food reminded me a little of Bangkok.

That being said, everyone I met in Malaysia spoke English, and the culture was much more Westernized due to its legacy of British imperialism. Kuala Lumpur had a persistent backdrop of old-style colonial buildings, overlayed with Asian markets and Chinese lanterns. In this way it reminded me somewhat of Vietnam, which had plenty of beautiful but worn French architecture, gathering dust beneath the layers of modern life.

The population in Malaysia is split between Malays, Chinese and Indians, and the ethnic divide is staunch. As our host explained, companies market to each race separately, and the groups are very deeply divided in their religious and physical distinctions. However, as far as I could discern, these multifarious parties managed to operate separately and harmoniously, albeit a different way of approaching “diversity” than in America.

Our host, Vern, grew up in Kuala Lumpur and was our gateway into Malaysian life. He took us everywhere, beginning with the Batu Caves, which is a massive cavern with an Indian temple built inside of it. There were several temples outside the cave, as well as a massive golden statue daring you to climb the inordinate amount of stairs to the mouth of the cave. The stairs were lined with several feisty monkeys, which I’ve had more than enough of in Asia, thank you. Monkeys in Southeast Asia are always hopped up on sugar and they can be rather aggressive. Human influence at its worst, I suppose.

The three of us spent a fair amount of time relaxing, perusing malls and shopping, and the majority of our time eating. Vern took us out for pork noodles for breakfast and to Chinatown for stingray and “rat tail” noodles… no actual rats involved. We also spent a fair amount of time tasting Moon Cakes, which were being sold in celebration of the Chinese Lantern Festival during the full moon. I’ve had moon cakes in Thailand and was unimpressed, but there were a greater variety of flavors to sample in Malaysia, like Sweet Potato and Chocolate Cream.

Vern also took us on a walk through Kuala Lumpur City Centre Park, to several great views of the Petronas Towers. In order to see the view from the top of the towers, you need to A) pay money and B) arrive at 6:00am, so we decided a view from below would suffice. Kuala Lumpur was a rather magical city to wander through at night, with its clean streets, blend of colonial and modern architecture, and the smell of food from three different Asian cuisines, along with plenty of trees (which I miss when in Bangkok).

We went to an orchid garden Sunday morning, and then Vern took us for some roast duck before our departure. Like most of the eateries Vern brought us to, the roast duck joint was packed to the brim with locals, and the food was greasy and delicious. I really wish I could give Malaysia more time, but I can’t bite off more than I can chew at this point.

On that note, this is officially my last week teaching, and yesterday I announced my departure to my students. Their initial reaction was sheer confusion.

“When you coming back, teacher?”

“Why do you go?”

“Aren’t you happy?”

I didn’t really have answers for them. I’m not sure if and when I’ll come back to Thailand. I’m not leaving because I’m dissatisfied with my kids, in fact I appreciate them more and more as time goes on. However, as the end of my contract approaches, so does my sense of finality. It’s like college, I loved it and gained a lot from it, but eventually it’s time to move on. Granted, there are some aspects of this job that really stuck with me. I enjoy educating and helping people understand things, but I know that working in a classroom with a bunch of kids for the next fifty years isn’t the right path for me. Besides, if I’m going to teach abroad again, I’d like to see another part of the world. Still, this year was a priceless, and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. How do I explain this to them?

Teacher Rochelle may be leaving them, but she has made one concession; I will finally add them all back on facbeook.