12 Day Malaysian Driving Tour

My husband and I had the pleasure of touring Malaysia with our daughter and son-in-law for the past two weeks. Each location offered a different type of experience but gave us the flavor of this beautiful peninsula. Here are some highlights:

An afternoon pitcher of Singapore Slings

Singapore - (3 days) - Although Singapore declared it's independence from Malaysia in 1965, this modern, well-organized city makes a good starting point for a Malaysia tour for the following reasons: 1) United flies its new luxurious Dreamliner from Denver to Changi. The cup holders, the large windows with dimmers, and the charging devices at each seat make the 30 plus hour flight from Denver almost a "dream." 2) The city is well-organized and clean. Until you cross the border into Malaysia, you don't really appreciate the significance of the "no spitting" laws and the clean bathrooms. 3) The botanical gardens with world class orchids, the tasty dim sum in Chinatown, and the photogenic Merlion in Marina Bay are worthwhile stops. Finally,  no trip to Singapore would be complete without drinking a Singapore Sling, a lovely concoction of cherry brandy, orange, pineapple and lemon juice - a refreshing cure for jet lag,.

A typical fishing village near Lumut

Lumut (2 days) - After an all night bus ride on a 1980s style bus with reclining seats that don't quite recline, spongy shocks that don't quite absorb, and roads that are paved but not really flat or smooth, we arrived in the industrial town of Lumut that includes an industrial sized shipping port and a ferry to the local tourist destination of Pangkor Island. Our short visit was punctuated by an early morning bike ride through small fishing villages and palm oil plantations famous in Perak State  ending at a fancy Chinese temple located on the shores of the Straits of Malacca. A highlight for our guests was renting motor scooters (cash and go - no paperwork or licenses required) on Pangkor Island.

A view of the houses built on the pier (quay)

Canopy walk in Penang National Park

Very tame butterflies

Monkey eating the remains of our coconut

Penang (3 days) - Penang is a "must see" on any Malaysian tour. It's got delicious hawker (street vendor) food, "World Heritage class" historical sights, tropical nature and  the sandy beaches of Batu Ferringhi. We enjoyed seeing old fishing houses (still inhabited by original clan members) built right on the pier  called Clark Quay. We trekked though the jungle in Penang National Park where we enjoyed intermittent views of the sea, felt like members of Swiss Family Robinson on the canopy walk strung between gigantic Banyan trees, and laughed at the antics of monkeys scraping the coconut meat out of the shells after we enjoyed the interesting (but not my favorite) coconut water. A final stop at the beautiful, colorful, peaceful Butterfly Garden capped off a great visit.

Taiping (Lunch stop) - After 8 days of exotic food and questionable bathrooms, many of us were ready for some Western comfort. I highly recommend the McDonald's located near the Lake Gardens for a cup of coffee and a bathroom. The hamburgers are predictable but that, too, was a welcome respite for several of us from this  taste bud challenge of Malaysia. A short walk to the Lake Gardens provided beautiful photos and some well-needed tranquility from the bumpy roads and impatient, bumper-to-bumper traffic on the E1.

Afternoon tea

Cameron Highlands (Overnight) - A drive to Cameron Highlands would not be complete without a stop at a hut on the side of the road to purchase honey collected from the tops of the trees from the Orang Asli - indigenous people. This honey is almost better than pure maple syrup on our traditional Western pancakes. Continuing on our journey, we arrived to Brinchang just in time for 5:00 tea which we sipped on the upper terrace of one of the local tea plantations. A few miles further down the road and we arrived at the Equatorial Hotel.

Steamboat meal

Hike up Trail #1

 Our rooms on the top floor (yes, I noticed it was floor number 13) provided beautiful views of the surrounding lush green mountains shrouded in a misty fog. As long we didn't look down to see all the strawberry and vegetable farms carved out of the mountains and covered with ugly plastic tarps, we could almost imagine being in Paradise. One of our favorite meals this trip was "Steamboat" (or Chinese fondue) in Brinchang. The fresh vegetables, spicy broth and tasty food was even more delicious because we got to cook it ourselves. After a good night's rest, we again explored the jungle by hiking up Trail # 1 to Gunung Brinchang. Although the start of the trail was tricky to find and we'd been warned to get a guide, and then told "but there are no guides available", we managed to both find the trail and find our way home with only a few minor scrapes from the saw-like blades of the jungle flora. The drive south out of Cameron Highlands is one the most beautiful I've seen anywhere in the world. It was like living in scenes from the movie Avatar.  Definitely a "must-see."

Petronas Towers

Kuala Lumpur (2 nights) - Warning! KL is not a driving friendly city. The last 3 kilometers to our hotel took almost as long as the rest of the drive from Cameron Highlands. (OK, I'm exaggerating a little but 40 minutes to drive a mile and a half is not pleasant). But after we parked our car at the Trader's Hotel it was time to relax. Our first stop was the Sky Bar on the top of our hotel for spectacular nighttime views of Petronas Towers. The next couple of days were spent walking around the city, taking in the Christmas sights and decorations, and taking advantage of things a city offers: going to a movie, eating food in air-conditioned restaurants and enjoying the cleanliness and functionality of modern plumbing. The thing that impressed me the most about this stop in KL was the energy and effort every service person put forth to make sure our Christmas was merry. Their gestures were greatly appreciated.

Trishaw rides in Melaka

Istana - Sultan's Palace

Melaka aka Malacca ( 1 night) - A fairly quick 2 1/2 hour drive south on the expressway brought us to one of the oldest trade ports in Malaysia and Asia for that matter. Settled first by the Portuguese, then followed by the Dutch, and later the British, modern Melaka is a mix of food, cultures, religions and languages. We walked along the Melaka River (described as the Venice of the East) and took a "super cheesy, super touristy and totally worth it" trishaw ride in a colorful, pink Hello Kitty trishaw with the hit song, "I'm Gonna Pop Some Tag" blaring and the sub-woofers in the back of the cart giving us a nice back message. We ate Chinese food with some Portuguese spices and we hiked to the top of A'Famosa where we snapped a photo of St. Francis Xavier (the father of the Jesuits) who actually preached in Malacca. We visited an Istana which is the Malay word for a Sultan's Palace and walked through a garden where the Sultan's daughters and wives would have played. Visiting Malacca is important for getting a part of the picture of Malaysian history and it's a short bus ride from Singapore, but be prepared for the crowds.

Our tour of Malaysia centering mostly on the west coast and central peninsula was wonderful but by no means complete.  We'll need another month to cover the east coast noted for its pristine beaches and world class diving and the states of Sarawak and Sebah. However, for a good flavor of the nation, I recommend this itinerary.

My New Digital Piano

There has been a slow down in blogging but for good reason...I've been playing with my new toy, a Kurtzweil digital piano. I've missed playing the piano for the last couple of years and thought I wanted to buy a Yamaha Clavinova but just couldn't justify the expense and weight (in case we want to bring it back to the States) for an instrument that might only be played for several years here in Malaysia. Then, I started looking at digital pianos but was afraid they would feel something like the keyboard I purchased in Turkey that never gave much enjoyment:sticky touch,  lack of octaves, no sustain pedal, electronic sound, etc.

Relunctanly, I "test drove" several digital pianos a couple of weeks ago. After only a few minutes of playing, I was pretty sure I would enjoy having one in our Lumut home. Both the Yamaha and Kurzweil had similar feels and sounds but I actually liked the touch a bit better on the Kurzweil. The deciding factor, however, was the price.  In Malaysia, the Yamahas were $300 - $600 more than the same model listed on Amazon in the US. (This makes no sense to me because the shipping from Japan (or China) would be less I would think but it might just be the Yamaha name.-I could write an entire blog about the love for brand names: Coach purses, Mercedes cars, Yamaha pianos, etc...) However, the Kurzweils were within dollars of the Amazon price so at least I knew I wasn't getting ripped off. Besides, I think it's kind of cool that the original Kurzweil pianos were inspired by a bet between Stevie Wonder and Ray Kurzweil to see if a synthesizer could be made to sound like a piano. The short answer is "yes". I love the sound of this piano.

Now...to the reasons why a post about a digital piano is on my pjinmalaysia blog...First, it's to illustrate how I entertain myself when there is both a shortage of local activities besides shopping, and an abundance of time while my husband is at work. This extra time is turning out to be a real blessing because I can spend time learning things that I never would have had the patience for before. This new piano is a perfect example. I'm learning how to be a one-man band complete with drums,a bass, saxophone interludes, vocals, and piano accompaniment all in the comfort and solitude of our little Lumut home.

Before living in Malaysia, I never would have had the patience to learn how to use all the bells and whistles on anything electronic besides the transposer or the metronome. I would have been too busy practicing for the next choir rehearsal or school music class to learn anything more than the basic piano notes. Now, I have time to listen to Avicii, try to mimic the sounds on his hit single "Wake Me Up" and pretend like I'm a rock star belting out the words on stage. I can welcome my husband home from work with my seductive (I wish) Nora Jones-like voice singing "Come Away with Me." And, I can always switch on the organ stop with full diapasons and give us an uplifting Sunday postlude experience.

In addition to the fun with the piano, here are some other new things I've learned thanks to WiFi and the digital age.

1) I can  find most sheet music at www.sheetmusic.com and download it instantly. (I can also find lots of music for free but I'm trying not to stoop to the low level of cheating/copying and blatant disregard of copyright laws that is so prevalent here. Hopefully, I'm keeping some musicians and music companies employed and keeping a clean conscience.)

2) I installed an app on my notebook that allows me to view my purchased sheet music right on notebook. (I might need to get some super magnifier cheater glasses to read it, but it's still pretty cool that all my music is in one little place...)

3) I can purchase (although I haven't yet) an electronic page turner so, with a touch of my foot, I can have my digital pages turned. This could come in really handy on the 13 page long  Beyonce's" Halo". (No, I'm too old to memorize and no, I don't play by ear.)

It's been out of necessity that I upgraded/updated/ and learned some new skills. It's been thanks to this opportunity to live in Malaysia that I've had the time. Gotta go practice.....

Cooking Lesson #2 - White Tom Yum Soup - Seafood

Saturday afternoons are turning out to be great times for cooking lessons. My husband is at work and my cooking teacher and her assistant finish their regular job at 1:15 which leaves us just enough time to shop for ingredients and make a Saturday night feast before they need to head back to their village to join their families.

Today I wanted to learn to make Tom Yum Soup - a spicy favorite of both my husband and me. I also wanted to make it with seafood- shrimp, squid, and crab - to be specific, because that seafood is plentiful here and I needed to learn how to clean a squid. Although Tom Yum Soup is a Thai dish, it is quite popular here in Malaysia. It's a nice, spicy bowl of delicious flavors.

Our first stop was the grocery store. Last cooking lesson, my teacher brought all the ingredients but today wanted to help with the shopping because many of the ingredients have English titles next to the UPC codes which helps me identify some of the ingredients.

Here are the foods that were new to me today:

Lemon tree leaves - We removed the stems and the spines of the leaves and used them for flavoring.

Lemon grass - We smashed the hard stalks with the flat edge of a meat cleaver and then sliced into 2" lengths.

Fish Balls - I don't know what these are but they are located with the fresh noodles and tofu. We washed the balls and added them to the soup.

Big, flat mushrooms - I just tried to Google them to get a name and they were kind of like a Chanterelle or a large Oyster mushroom but not exactly like either.

Baby Corn - We sliced the corn in half lengthwise and then sliced the halves diagonally including the bits of stalk.


Here's the cooking technique that was new to me... cleaning a squid.

First Rin pulled the head off. Then she pulled the black ink pouch from inside the head and discarded it. She cut off the eyeballs and snipped the head in half. She snipped the body into 1/2" wide rings. The she washed all the pieces really well.


Here are the added benefits to Saturday afternoon cooking lessons:
My house smells great. Dinner is ready. The dishes are done. I have time to blog. Life is good....

Here's the recipe

Seafood White Tom Yum Soup (By Rin)

1 packet of White Tom Yam Soup Mix

2-4 TBSP of evaporated skim milk

3 stalks of celery plus the heart - sliced

1 bunch cilantro (celery parsley) - chopped

5 or 6 lemon tree leaves - spines and stems removed

8-10 small/hot chilies - stems removed and sliced open lengthwise

2 stalks of lemon grass - smashed with a cleaver and sliced into 2" lengths

1 lemon - quartered

1 yellow onion - sliced

big flat mushrooms, torn in half or thirds

1 carrot sliced into 1/4" x 1" pieces

1/4 cauliflower - broken into small flowers

2 tomatoes - quartered

5 baby corns wit partial stalks at the bottom - slice in half and then into diagonal pieces

Assorted fish balls

Choice of seafood  ( I used shrimp, crab, and squid)

1. Prepare the seafood. Cut the tails and eyeballs off the shrimp. Pull off the heads from the squid and remove the ink packets. Cut the head in half. Cut the body into 1/2' rings. Pull the legs off the crab and cut the bodies in half. Walk all the seafood very well. Set aside.

2. Wash the fish balls. Set aside.

3. Fill a large soup pot about 3/4 full. Bring to a boil.

4. All the lemon grass. Boil for several minutes.

5. Add the crab, cauliflower, carrots, lemon tree leaves, baby corns, tomatoes, chilies, Tom Yam Soup mix, fish balls.

7. Squeeze in several quarters of lemon juice.

8. Boil the above mixture for several minutes.

9. Add mushrooms, squid and shrimp.

10. Add evaporated skim milk 1 tbsp at a time and mix in well.

12. Add onions and celery.

13. Let soup mixture cook for 10 minutes

14. Finish with cilantro on top.