Beach bum

Ah, the life of a beach bum is pretty good, and very lazy. So in between all the sun-worshipping i will update my blog for all you lucky people with snow back home (i am very jealous, i love the snow!)



I am in Langkawi, a small island off northwestern Malaysia, and very close to Thailand. It is just beautiful, and i think my favourite tropical island so far. White sand, blue skies, warm blue sea, just like a postcard. And now that Chinese new year holidays are over it is fairly quiet too.



After leaving Borneo i flew to Singapore and got the bus up to Malacca in the south west coast of Malaysia. This was an important town in the days of the British empire, and has been Portuguese, then Dutch, then British. And all these influences make it a truly fascinating place. Ruined churches, old forts, palaces, Chinatown. The European influence is everywhere, large imposing colonial buildings and old statues of former glory. I fell in love with the town. Walking around the old streets of china town and along Harmony Street, where there are old Chinese temples, mosques and churches. And all the residents are so friendly - i met a guy who makes old Chinese shoes for bound feet. He only makes them now to sell to tourists but his father and grandfather were shoe makers and made shoes for women with bound feet. The shoes were tiny! Baby sized! No bigger than a childs size 12.

Malacca was a great intro to Malaysia, to get a sense of the history here. The country has been independent (form Britain) for 50 years, and they are all very proud to be Malaysian. But the British have had a big impact here, not just that everyone speaks English. For the British, Malaysia had many resources and to make the most of them they needed workers, so they encouraged people who wanted to work to move here, (i think some time in the 19th century) and so thousands of Chinese and Indians moved here to work. The population is now a mixture of these 3 cultures, and there is much talk about the racial/cultural differences between them. But to tourists, the government wants us to know that everyone lives in harmony, and happily together. Sometimes this seems true, sometimes not. I was chatting to a guy staying in my hostel in KL about it - he is Malaysian, half chinese/half malay and he had a hard time growing up as neither community would truly accept him. He speaks only Malay, but has given up his Islamic faith and become a Christian.

Kuala Lumpur (KL) is the capital of Malaysia, and the most western place i have been, apart from Singapore. It is a really fun, young lively city. I went to see the Petronas twin towers and manages to get a ticket to go up to the skybridge which connects them and gives spectacular views over the city. And of course, this being Malaysia, at the bottom of the towers is a shopping mall - but no ordinary mall. This is where Jimmy Choo, Gucci, LV, Channel etc all have their shops in KL, so i window shopped for a few hours.

When I was in Brunei, I met an Italian guy who now lives and works in KL. He was having a party on the Saturday after i arrived for Chinese new year and he invited me along. It was like the UN, people from every where at this party! We went out to a club after and i am pleased to report that they play the same old music here that they play in the clubs back home - some things never change.

I met a lovely Iranian girl called Maryim at the party, and she invited me to a Saudi friends birthday party the next night. It was so much fun - i was pretty much the only European there, and they were all doing Persian/Arabic dancing and having a great time (all alcohol free of course - but making as much noise and having as much fun as we do!) They made me feel so welcome, and two Saudi girls (friends of Maryims) invited us to their flat for tea after the party, so at 3am we wondered across the hallway to theirs for a cup of tea.

Maryim invited me to stay at hers until i left KL so i moved into her beautiful condo(!) the next day, and I mentioned i was going to go to the Cameron Highlands for a couple of days, and she had never been so she wanted to come along. We invited her Saudi friend who drove us there the next day. We had such a fun time. Went for a long walk in the forest and in the hills, looked around a tea plantation, strawberry farm, bee farm, sat in Starbucks from11pm until 3am discussing religion/politics and our different cultures. It was amazing.

I like to think of myself as someone who knows about different religions and ideas, but really i only know about the western interpretation of these different ideas (if i know anything at all!)

But really, the things that came out, are that we are all the same. We are all just people searching for happiness, and meaning in our lives, and all religions try to offer this in different ways. But they all teach the fundamental things in life - like peace, compassion, love and they all try to instill in their followers some ethics and morals.

Also, the differences came out - they had never heard of Buddhism, Tibet and the Dalai Lama but they had a good understanding of Christianity and the fact that the 3 major religions all pray to the same God. They were not aware that in Europe and the west a woman can be granted a divorce as easily as a man. He has never felt the need to question his religion, but she has, but for me coming from the UK the right to question and openly discuss, criticise and comment on religion is a basic fundamental freedom and a basic human right.

They also both view the US as the most free country in the world, and a place where opportunity in life is possible. Where everyone can find success. Both of my new friends are very well educated and very intelligent young people and have lived and studied outside their own countries and it was fascinating for me, and i hope for them also, to be able to talk about all these fascinating things and for me i feel like i have such a greater understanding of Islam and middle-eastern culture, just from talking to them and listening to them, and from being free to ask them all my questions without either side taking offence to questions or answers.

For me, this is why i am traveling. Not just to see to world, but to experience it. To meet people who i may never have the chance to come into contact with in my own country and culture. And each of these wonderful people can teach me so much. They all show me the beauty of their own culture and they are shaping and forming my thoughts and opinions and helping me realise that there is no they, because there is no us, because there are only people, and we are all the same. And that if only we could all do this - meet and talk, laugh and discuss, wouldn't we all find a connection with each other. Wouldn't we all just get along in this world - or am i being too idealistic? I hope not.