Selamat Siang from Malaysia

Selamat Siang from Malaysia
Nov 2008

Our first stop in Malaysia was Georgetown, Penang. We traveled by bus from Trang, Thailand to the island of Penang. The border crossing was interesting…out of Thailand (where we had a 30 day visa) and into Malaysia (where you get a 90 day visa on entry for free) which is perfect for Malaysia Holiday Packages. We took the local bus and talked to so many school children. On Friday, they go home early for prayers. The Kek Lok Si (Buddhist) Temple is also called the temple of 1000 buddahs…dont count they are there!! It was incredible and they are building a new section with a HUGE statue. We also went to the Penang Museum and learned about the culture of Malaysia, a melting pot of Indians, Chinese and Malays.

Cameron Highlands and the BOH tea plantation

The Cameron Highlands are the largest hill resort among several hillstations in the country where they grow tea, flowers, vegetables, and bee farms. It is 6000 ft above sea level. It was beautiful and green. They have beautiful plantations. We went to the BOH Tea Estate called Sungei Palas. They have 1200 hectares of TEA PLANTS!! It was incredible to see them trimming the plants and then to go into the factory and see all the stages in making tea. Leaves are plucked, withered, rolled, fermented and dried. The “made tea” is sorted by vibrating sieves by size. It is also sorted by density. LOTS OF SCIENCE!!

Kuala Lumpur and Petronas Twin Towers

We loved the Petronas Towers. They are ENORMOUS and there is a huge shopping mall inside. George thought it looked like Beverly Hills. The Petronas Towers were the world’s tallest buildings, before being surpassed by the Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings and office building in the world. We only had one night in KL before flying to INDONESIA!!!

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BY THE WAY: we just found out…our CAT, Bob Dylan, went on vacation with Dr. Jim. We are impressed that Bobby D is at a 5 star resort without us!
Thanks Dr. Jim!!!