McStomach Ache

Just gonna throw down a few lines about how things are going for those of you who actually read this... Malaysia is COOL. Man it's great to be back in the developed world again. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved India, but many things were really starting to get on my nerves in the last few weeks. For instance: the honking, man I swear I was ready to throw a brick at every car who honked their horn in India. It's incessant, you cant escape it no matter where you go. Even when you're the only person on the road and a car is driving towards you as soon as they're about a meter from you they honk their horn (I can't recall hearing a single horn here in Malaysia yet). But it was more than that... in India you can't ever just do something on your own. If I wanted to sit by a lake or a river and just enjoy the view within minutes I would have several people sitting next to me asking me the same BS questions: "where you from? you want something? just look sir." And if it's not the street hawkers harassing you then it's the Indian tourists who want to take a picture of you with them in it and practice their English with you. The Indian obsession with the West is really messed up. They want to be like us so badly, completely willing to abandon their own culture and yet I haven't seen anything that tells me they've got the slightest clue where to start.

And the garbage. Man the garbage problem is truly an epidemic. It is by far the most common conversation among travelers. India is dirty. Plain and simple. Sure there are many beautiful places you can go where they seem to have or are starting to get their act together but in general it's a really dirty place. One day I met a young Indian guy from Bombay traveling around Amritsar. We had just finished eating some corn on the cob from a street vendor and I was carrying the wasted cob in my hand for several minutes (you will never find a garbage can in India but it's really hard to just chuck these things on the side of the road even though it's often full of garbage). When he saw that I wasn't going to just toss it aside he took it from me and did it himself. I explained to him that in my country, this is highly illegal and can result in a fine if the police were to see you, and more than that, the people around you would most likely get upset because it's just not acceptable. His reply to me, and I swear this is word for word: "then my country is better because we can throw anything on the ground anywhere we want." Keep in mind this is a college student with a good paying job in one of India's most developed cities. The thing is, they just don't freaking get it. And it's more than the garbage and the honking; it's the paan chewing and the wild dogs on the street and the hawking spit that everyone (including children as young as 6 or 7) has no problem doing anywhere they go.

Bah, I love India! It is beautiful, and I really do miss it. I just needed to rant. haha.

So Malaysia...WOW. Tioman Island was beautiful. It was ranked in the top 10 most beautiful islands in the world (I have to say, I think the Andaman's were better) but it was stunning as you can imagine. I got 3 dives in there including one night dive which was stellar.

I am in a city called Melaka right now and it feels like I'm in any other city back home. Taking the bus across the country was no problem. They drive like normal humans here; no tearing ass around every corner and nearly side swiping any slow moving vehicles off the road. They stay between the lines and obey the traffic signals. This was a pleasant change.

As for culture, boy does Malaysia ever have alot of it. I know we like to think of Canada as a very multicultural place but walking down the street here makes our western wear look like uniforms. Most people are very well dressed. In one short block you will walk past Chinese people dressed in designer jeans or short shorts and then maybe pass a group of Muslim women all wearing head scarves. Turn the corner and you'll see an Indian mother adorned in a beautiful sari with her daughter walking beside her in jeans and a tank top, both women wearing bindi's.

And the food. Hell ya! It's SOOOO good. And it sure is great to be able to eat meat again. I think they put chicken in every meal here and it's always safe to eat (I had meat maybe 3 times in my 4 months in India). Oh, and you can drink the local water too. Sweet.

So today I had a Western day... There is a massive 6 story mall here, by far the biggest mall I've ever seen in my life filled with every brand I've ever heard of and hundreds more I haven't. I did some shopping, drank at Starbucks and ate at McDonald's. I definitely broke my $25-30/day budget but it was so nice to just feel like I was at home again. Oh, I ate at McDonald's in India, I forgot to mention that before, Jess and I decided we had to at least try it so on our last night there we checked one out. Now obviously they don't serve beef there so I grabbed a 'Chicken Maharajah Burger' which didn't taste at all like chicken and the sauce was pretty weird but the fries were normal so that was cool. But here in Malaysia it's stellar. Not quite European McDonnald's quality but better than North American. And my Starbucks was fantastic!

OK, that's all I've got for now. I hope for those of you who read this that it's enjoyable. I am completely in love with Malaysia as you can tell. No one has called me into a single shop, everyone who has approached me when I looked lost has helped me with no ill intent to lead me to their guesthouse or ask for money for assisting me. Malaysians are incredibly friendly.

Oh, I forgot to mention the only really really shitty thing that's happened to me here. Bed Bugs. Holy freaking crap this is not cool. Last night I slept in a dorm room and woke up scratching all over, when I looked around the 2 other people I was sharing a room with were doing the same thing. This morning I saw that I am covered head to toe in the most itchy rash I have ever had in my life. It is so unnerving it makes me sick to my stomach, literally (much much worse than those itchy sand flies, Jess, which I am still dealing with as well). It's crazy that in 4 months in India/Nepal I never slept in a bed with those creepy little suckers and man am I ever thankful for that. Now I have definitely learned my lesson: check every bed before you sleep in it.

I think I'm going to head to Kuala Lumpur in the next day or two, definitely excited to check out this modern city, who knows, maybe I can score a job with Petronas! haha.

Cheers,
Steve