A New Year Trip in Malaysia
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Around new year’s eve 2018, my parents, brother, grandmother, and I went to Malaysia to escape from the noisy celebration in our hometown. The purpose of this trip was not anything much but the desire to explore our neighbor country. Malaysia is right below Thailand, and we had a direct flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, so it was easy enough for my grandmother. We spent around 3-4 days in Malaysia just to see what the country was like. To my surprise, Malaysia was such a good blend of nature and people’s faith.
We noticed a lot of mosques as the bus passed by, but we went down the bus and visited only two of them. I don’t remember the exact names of these two mosques, but the guide told us that these are the blue mosque and the pink mosque, which was not surprising. For the blue one, we did have a chance to change our cloth to the one you see in the picture (that was my grandma, and she looked just like the Casper ghost). We went inside to see the architecture of the mosque. It was pretty breezy and serene inside.
The next one that we went to is the Batu caves which are 12 km to the north of Kuala Lumpur. We were excited to climb up the stairs and see what was inside the caves. I knew that Hindus constructed the place, but I didn’t know much about the religion, so that I couldn’t tell you much of the story of the caves. However, the caves were stunning, and it was perfectly blended with the nature inside the caves. When we reached the heart of the caves where all the crucial statues are, we could see the sunlight shining on the figures through the natural hole of the caves. The enormous golden statue that you see in the picture is Lord Murugan. Well, I wish my grandmother could go inside with us, but she didn’t want to risk her knees and was sitting outside enjoying fresh coconut water.
There were actually many places in the capital that we went to, but all I could recall were these two places: the Royal Palace Istana Negara and the Petronas Towers. We didn’t go inside the palace (more like we couldn’t go inside for some security reason), but it was surely huge. We could observe a couple of soldiers marching and riding a horse which was interesting! Then, we went to the Petronas tower, the twin towers that I had seen for so long on the documentary and news. I wasn’t quite elegant as I thought, and partly because it was already 2018 when there were thousands of skyscrapers much taller than it.
The buildings/town aspects of Malaysia were not as touching as their nature. I actually enjoyed the beautiful sceneries of Malaysia’s highlands much more. There were two highlands that we went to, the Cameron Highlands and the Genting Highlands. The Cameron Highlands are famous for their tea and flowers. We were fortunate enough that it wasn’t pouring when we went to see the tea plantation on the hills and the lavender gardens. My Brother, P, seemed to enjoy taking pictures of the flowers and tea field so much!
The second highlands we went to is the Genting highlands which we had to ride on the cable car up to the hills. We stayed in the huge hotel on the hills and had dinner at Din Tai Fung, a Chinese dim sum restaurant. There were many entertainments up there, including casinos and movie theaters. We didn’t do any of those, but we kind of enjoyed ourselves in our comfortable rooms.
Well, I would say Malaysia is not the best place I have been to, but it did give me a refreshing moment from the school. I love the nature of Malaysia. Although the climate there is a lot like that of Thailand, all the highlands did give a different vibe. I would recommend you to visit Malaysia once. It’s very affordable and beautiful.
From July 1st to 6th, we embarked on a trip from Sacramento, driving over 2600 miles to explore five incredible National Parks across Nevada, California, and Oregon. Our adventure took us from the ancient bristlecone pines of Great Basin and the volcanic landscapes of Lassen to the brilliant blue waters of Crater Lake and the towering giants of the Redwoods. Along the way, we balanced raw wilderness hikes with unforgettable stops for local donuts in Portland, a coastal drive down the Pacific shoreline, and a wine tasting at a Tuscan castle in Napa Valley.
The Canadian Rockies had never truly been on our radar, not for lack of awareness, but simply because we never imagined we’d have the opportunity to visit Canada. That changed entirely when I was invited to the prestigious Women in Numbers workshop at the Banff International Research Station. Seizing the moment, we decided to turn this milestone trip into a grand adventure, arriving a few days early to explore not just Banff, but a stunning circuit of five neighboring national parks, including, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier, Mount Revelstoke, and Kootenay.
One of the most popular National Park routes that Poy and I hadn’t tackled yet was the Utah ‘Mighty Five.’ We’d heard nothing but non-stop hype from friends, and after checking off several harder-to-reach destinations, we decided it was finally time to go for it! We initially tried to squeeze in Great Basin National Park in Nevada, but a car shortage at the Las Vegas airport left us with an electric vehicle. As it turns out, there are no non-Tesla charging stations near Great Basin (aside from one incredibly slow charger), so we pivoted. We ended up focusing solely on the five Utah gems, which actually made for a much more relaxing, less rushed experience.
There are not many national parks that are ideal to visit in winter, except for those in the desert. For this Christmas trip, we chose three desert national parks, namely, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, and Joshua Tree. In addition to these, we also stopped by some of the most iconic landmarks in Arizona’s desert landscape, including Horseshoe Bend and Monument Valley. It was a dry, sandy, and breathtaking Christmas. One that turned out to be truly memorable for both of us.