​By Adelynn Kindenski and Sylvie Orabelle, Ma Belle Vie team



Sylvie and I love to travel and visiting exotic places around the world.  We decided to visit Malaysia, Tek's former country. He suggested
us to visit Kuala Lumpur which the locals simply called "KL", the federal capital and the largest city in Malaysia. Translating from Malay,
it literally means "muddy river confluence". KL has grown from a small sleepy Chinese tin-mining village to a bustling  
metropolis of around 6.5 million (city-proper population of 1.8 million) in just 150 years. It is a cultural melting pot
with some of the world's cheapest 5-star hotels, pictured above is the Skybar and swimming pool at Traders Hotel,
great shopping around the city. On the left of the photo is the towering Petronas Twin Tower made famous with its 
climatic hair-raising scene of the 1999 film,"Entrapment" was filmed at the skybridge starring former and the original,

James Bond star, Sean Connery and gorgeous actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones.



We love visiting the Old City Centre/Old Town - the core of KL with colonial centre, the Merdeka Square, Sultan Abdul
Samad Building and Selangor Club. The Chinese commercial centre where the locals called Chinatown. A bubbling,
bustling melting pot of Malays, Indians, Chinese and many other ethnic groups living together in peace and harmony.

Multiculturalism has not only made Malaysia a gastronomical paradise and exotic food where Anthony Bourdain and
Andrew Zimmern would love to hang out with the locals. The "satay" and curries were so aromatic and delicious. We

enjoyed many local abundance of tropical fruits and we especially love a thorny fruit as big as our head which they

called "durians". The rich succulent fruit is sweet, creamy and to a certain extend "bitter" after taste.  We enjoyed so

many diverse and colorful festivals during our stay. It's no wonder that we love celebrating and socializing with the

locals. The Malaysians are very laid back, warm and friendly in general - just ask Tek, a former Malaysian. The local

called us "Cantik Wanita" and they love our fair skin and blonde hair. Speaking of the heat and humidity of the equatorial

climate, where "friendly yet ferocious" mosquitoes and flies are at their abundance - just remember to bring repellent.

There is no seasonal changes  and heavy downpour usually at late afternoons resulting from convection evaporation,

but we love to hang out for a cool weekend getaway resort in Cameron Highlands, about 3 to 4 hours hilly winding drive from KL.



Geographically, Malaysia is as diverse as its culture. Malaysia is divided into 13 states and 3 federal territories, separated by the South China Sea with 11 states and 2 federal territories (Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya) in Peninsular Malaysia and two states, Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia. The 13,400-foot Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, is the highest mountain in the S.E. Asia region.



One of Malaysia's key attractions is its extreme contrasts. From towering skyscrapers to wooden houses built on stilts, and "attap" palm tree roof. From a five-star hotel situated several feet away from ancient reefs and a cool hideaways  in the highlands that roll down to warm, sandy beaches and rich, humid mangroves. Although there is no seasonal change, the rubber trees actually shed their leaves in the early months of the year and remind us of fall season in the United States. Tek actually tapped the rubber tree for its latex. Every time when you go visit Les Schwab Tires, "think Malaysia's rubber" tires 



For the perfect holiday, full of surprises and fascinations, the time is now, the place is Malaysia. We would definitely love to visit Malaysia again and are fortunate to visit Tek's hometown at the southern tip of Peninsula Malaysia, in the state of Johor, where we visited Singapore,
The Garden City - to board our plane home to Bellevue, WA.



For more information about Malaysia, we have selected a few books and material on the right. Please check them out.

We enjoyed our trip to Malaysia and we are sure you too will enjoy the rich cultural diversities and gastronomical paradise ~ Malaysia.

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