I hardly knew anything about the country before we visited. I had absolutely no time to research before the trip....I even forgot to look up suggested vaccinations, etc. on the CDC website! Hope I didn't get malaria or anything else that can be transmitted through mosquitoes--I got bit 10 times!
Anyways, I thought I would make a list of some things I observed. Keep in mind that Malaysia's official religion is Islam.
We got our fill of chicken ham, chicken sausage, chicken....
There were a couple of radio stations that played pop songs from the States (for the expats there). We were listening to Katy Perry sing "I kissed...................I like it"
Jon's sister-in-law never saw Baby Mama so we were watching it one night on satellite TV. Many scenes were cut out, such as Amy Poehler peeing in Tina Fey's sink. Cleavage was also blurred out on certain shows.
They drive on the left side of the road. I freaked out for a while there until I got used to it.
The currency used is the ringgit. The exchange rate we got was about 3.34.
The drivers there are crazy! Lots of scooters weaving through traffic, people going extremely slow/fast, cutting people off. But strangely, very few accidents. They are just very attentive and not aggressive.
Clean bathrooms are a rare find there. Toilet paper in the bathrooms even more so. I might have used the squatter toilets a time or two when I couldn't hold it anymore (I did not use that gross hose!) It grossed me out because the floors in all the bathrooms were always wet! I will never complain about the bathrooms here ever again. Except I probably eventually will...
The official language is Malay. I didn't know they used the Latin alphabet and was expecting not to be able to read anything.
I did learn some words in Malay. Keluar (exit), selamat datang (welcome), dilarang (prohibited), anda (you), tanda (toilet), jalan (street), pulau (island)...
There are also some words in the language that sound like the English translation: teksi, farmasi, polis, bas, restoran, sens, basikal...
And that's your lesson for the day! Hope you all have a good day!
3 comments:
"tanda" would be useful, I'm sure!
Enjoyable and informative post.
Blessings,
Kristie
Actually, "tanda" = sign (as in signpost, sign of doom, etc). You're probably looking for "tandas". Especially "tandas wanita" = female toilet.
As for the couple of radio stations playng pop songs for expats, nothing doing. American culture is pretty much absorbed into the urban culture here.
And considering that keeping kosher means no pork anyways... ;)
As for the loan words, well, they're loan words - no wonder they sound like the original.
But I'm glad you enjoyed my country. Do pay a return visit or two - as long as you stuck to the hotel toilets, you'll be fine!
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