The Land of Lah

Malaysia, while beautiful and full of culture, will be forever remembered by me for the plethora of Lahs, straws and bags. Lah is sort of a Malaysian catchphrase-- added after many sentences with little meaning. Or, in the case of one man who spent his days standing on the same corner, Lah was what he screamed endlessly all day. While I have always been a fan of a good straw, Malaysians take straw use to a whole new level. Buy a drink in a restaurant? Straw. On the street? Straw. Hot? Cold? Straw. Impossible to drink using a straw? Straw. Clearly this is because of santation purposes, but it still thought it was funny. However, what I still don't really understand are the use of bags. When I bought a soy milk drink in singapore I was given my cup in a plastic bag carrier, but Malaysians skip the cup altogether. Drinks are all put in a small plastic drinking bag, if there isn't a handle a rubber band is attached.

Source: Paper Planes

After my latest experiences with buses I was very pleased for the metro in Kuala Lumpur. I was even more pleased to find something that I lacked in Singapore-- friends. I spent my first day alone exploring and getting a bit lost. That night I invited my australian roommate to dinner. We went down the street to Petaling Market. We decided to share and I ordered shrimp and she got frog. Now that I have tried it twice, I can say it's not my favorite.

The next day with friends in tow we went back to Batu Caves. (If you ever go take the train-- it's cheap at about 60 cents and fast!) The pictures can speak for themselves--

but so can I.

There were three caves-- one filled with statues, the main one, and the dark cave. The first one didn't make all that much sense to us as we didn't know any of the stories.

 

With the second cave came the stairs.

 

On my way up, I of course made friends with an older man. He explained to me the significance of the caves and why so many people were dressed up. His village had come to honor the god and pay homage to the monkeys. The monkeys were a bit like wildly misbehaving toddlers on steroids. Cute in theory but rather scary. I thought they were cute until one lept on a young girl and tore the flowers from her hair for a snack.

Finally, we went to the dark cave with a guided tour. We got to see cave creatures and explore. The Austrialian and I both thought our guide was hilarious, and he appreciated someone laughing at his jokes.

(For obvious reasons there are no pictures.)

Before we left we got some lunch and some coconut milk. But it was not from a bag, it was straight out of the fruit. Delicious.