3. Side trip continued: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (part 1 of 2)

Malay architecture

It was time to leave Yan Yee and her wonderful family in Kowloon, HONG KONG and head over to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, my second home. You may be wondering, "How did I ever find out about Malaysia?" 

Most Americans are not familiar with her either, and to be honest, until about 14 or 15 years ago, neither was I. It was not until I volunteered or rather my college professor volunteered our anthropology class, to help-out with the international student orientation, that I had ever even really heard of Malaysia. I had to be shown her location on a map by one of the students. During the orientation, I was just bowled-over by the energy, courage, desire and discipline displayed by the in-coming students. While many of the international students had sponsors in St. Louis, it was the Malaysian students who seemed to be so much more on their own to find the likes of apartments, furniture, jobs, cars...everything. 

After one week of duty, a couple of us from the anthropology department decided to continue helping the Malay students by shuttling folks to shopping centers, license bureaus, apartments...wherever. Eventually, many of the Malay students become more like family to me and I continued to volunteer for the orientation for another 5 years. I am very happy to admit that I still have connections (thanks to old letters and new emails) with some of those very first Malay students with whom I worked. It was because of these early experiences at UMSL and befriending so many wonderful people, that I eventually took my first trip to Malaysia for one month, back in 1992. 

Petronas Twin Towers

I went there again in 1994 for a brief 5-day visit too. On my first visit I was fortunate enough to experience both the dense jungles and the magnificent beaches while living in the quiet "kampungs" (small villages). Village life was absolutely lovely to behold; everything so green and lush. Unfortunately, I was unable to travel much out of K.L. this time. However, I shall never forget my past adventures... the crystal waterfalls cascading through the dense, green foliage in Langkawi and Terrenganu; the truly, white sandy beaches meeting the turquoise-colored water at Tioman Island; the large-leafed banana trees shading the front porches of Kelantan and Ipoh; and the children, with sugar canes grasped in their hands, giggling and waving excitedly, everywhere I went.

However, the most recent trip was purely social, just catching-up with ever-growing families in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, this trip did not start off too well since I was nursing a rather nasty cold I had picked up during a rainy day walking through temples in Hong Kong. But I was just starting to feel a bit better and I ventured out on my own one day, crossing a dangerously-busy street, only to find a greater danger awaiting me...a K.L. pothole masked in the cobblestone sidewalk. Well I fell and fell hard. If ever there was a time to use the word "splat", it was then. I won't go into details, nor will I show the photos of the mishap, but let us just say it was not pretty. 

24 Hour cafe with friends...Amir, Ameng, Tobey, Sharil and friend

I remember very clearly that after some initial prodding my friends convinced me to go to a doctor and upon examining my foot, the doctor looked up and me and said "Pothole? - Welcome to Malaysia". Apparently this is quite a common occurrence. But you know what was really terrific? I walked right into the office, off the street, no appointment, waited all of 10 minutes, was in and out with medication for less than US$10! This little injury had me hobbling about for nearly four weeks but that did not stop me from enjoying K.L. and visiting my dear college friends.

(to be continued...)

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