Outsiders...

[smaku10]

Sounds delicious johnep! I like the chinese stir fried veggies too!

Yes..it's IMU-Strathclyde.
By the way I'm not a guy, and I'm Malay.
We don't 'just hang out with each other'...Honestly I think it's because we can't do some things like drink alcohol or eat pork. A lot of you guys, however, tend to hang out at the bar...
Another problem is the communication barrier. Malays usually use Malay language as the primary language so our English are not that good.
Things are improving though.

Anyway Raoul, are you French?

[johnep]

One last memory of Malaysia was having a Root Beer and detecting distinct odour of methyl salicylate. Seems we have enjoyed this discussion more than original poster!
johnep

[Rafael]

a lot of memories of malaysia, good and bad ones;
to start with, on arrival, after a 16 hours flight, we arrived (entire group of 15 of us) on sunday and had to borrow some toilet papers as there were non and shops were closed on campus.
i stayed in semenyih, a bit out of civilisatio. Initially uni was opened in KL, then after expanding, they moved the campus to semenyih (a small town).
the fact that people do not use a knife when eating shocked me, as i could not get hold of a knife. unless you are in a posh restaurant, you have to get used on using a fork and a SPOON regardless of the dish you are being served (even if it's steak or fillet).


the weather was very hot, very humid and the sun comes out at 4:30 am and sets around 9pm.
you should expect some visitors while at your room, usually small lizards or aunts making it all the way to your room (i guess this is the same in all over south east of asia), was afraid of lizards and never got used on sleeping in my room with a lizard in so always had to fight them out

Batu caves is a major attraction, so is KLCC, KL tower and the aquarium. luna bar is worth a visit if you have a GF, very expensive but very nice view. Zouk club and MOS are on the priority list if going clubbing in KL.

the surrounding malaysian islands are the best bits of my whole experience. Langkawi, Tioman (both duty free islands), Redang, penang...etc you can lways get a 4-5 hours journey by bus then a ferry (1-2 hours) then enjoy a long weekend of snokrling, boat trip, diving if you have a license, bbq at night and small beach parties.

Melacca is a nice historical town, with lots of temples, old churches, and museums.

Rainforest was another experience, i went there to collect some plants for my research project. i had my self all covered with clothes so leeches won't suck my blood i failed terribly as they managed to find a way through the clothes. collected some plants with the help of a french lecturer at uni, he is an expert in isolating polants and identifying them based on the leaves shape and the present of any fruits.

Booze is highly taxed, so you should expect to pay UK prices if not more on a night out (unless you get there almost drunk and buy a drink or 2 only).

where ever you go, you find a massage place there you are told it's a massage place, but then you get offered ANYTHING ypu want in there . the funniest bit is the words that comes out of some of the malaysians there ' can i sex you' , ' hello sexy beast' , ' hello vanilla boy' , and ' hello cho-coooo-late boy'
i was the only 'darky, tanned' and there was one black guy in our group, so whereever we go, we were laughing at all the comments you here.

while in the suburbs, the whites had their portion of the meal; almost everyone stared at them. some people even came to shake hands, speaking in malay, and smiling. communication was a bit hard when you are passing by a small town, but you always manage to find someone who speaks english.

The only malay guy i knew well was the taxi driver. i used to ring him on the nights out. he speaks proper english, and was very tolerant ( we were kicked out of a cab once, driver said you guys are drunk and i am not driving you home' and had to endure a bunch of drunken thugs for 30 mins while driving us home from the club. if he was the one who gave me a ride to the club earlier on, he would give me a call around 3 am to check if i want a cab or no.

If you book in advance, you can get a return flight for 20 pounds to cambodia, singapore. expect to pay 50-80 pounds for return flights to thailand, indonisia, laos, vietnam, hong kong....etc

public transport ain't great, you should never expect the train to arrive/depart on time

between 4-7 pm EVERYDAY, you should expect 1 hour of HEAVY raining. i have never seen in my life such a heavy rain, lightening and thunder storms.

On easter eve, a lovely mass, church was packed and you could feel the joyness of easter. 4 years in england, and i never been to such a joyfull mass. reminded me of the 'family life' i had back home, with dad taking sunday always off, wake up all and go to church in the morning, then have lunch in a nice restaurent or bbq at home.

ah better to stop now, as i can go on and on about my experience over there.

Welcome to the forum samku

Raoul xx

[smaku10]

hahaha.
Very well described. I don't know much about the so-called massage places (I'm a girl, duhh) but the other bits are quite true.
Can't believe you're afraid of the small, harmless house lizards though.

[johnep]

Your English is remarkable. My Malaysian (Chinese) friend left 40 years ago because of the 'troubles'. My understanding is that all schooling has to be in Malay and that English is taught as second language. Apparently used to be English, Malay and Mandarin schools.

It is a fact that because of history, English is the world's language.
johnep

[smaku10]

Thanks! I've always been interested in foreign language (studied a bit of Japanese during high school).

You got it right. Malay language is the national language so English is taught as the second language. However most universities use English as the primary language. According to what i've learned in primary school, Malay language used to be the lingua franca of the world too, but that was ages ago.

A lot of Malaysians speak in English now, though - some of my Malay friends are even more fluent in English than Malay. Especially those who live in big cities like KL.