selamat tinggal malaysia!

oh the moment has nearly arrived when i will bid ole malaya farewell. after a night spent in nearby taiping at my newest 'yesterday we were strangers today we are bff' homie justins house, we headed into historic palau pinang for a busy day.

(i guess penang with an 'e' is the ole spelling, 'i' is the new. ill alternate to show deference to the past while trying my damndest not to seem obsolete) i had heard that pinang is a foodies paradise and i must say i had only phenomenal meals today. oh lawd the laksa assam for lunch was yummy... a special pinang fish n noodle soup seasoned with something vaguely cilantro-y and made a bit sour with tamarind. on the tourist front, we started at the huge kek lok si buddhist temple and kuan yin teng statue, a haphazardly arranged complex with perky gold tile roofs and what i imagine to be millions of effigies of the big man adorning its walls and halls. there was also a huge bronze statue of yuan lin, the goddess of mercy as well as the ladyfriend air travelers pay homage to. there was considerable construction on the site, including several new buildings and the re-tiling of old ones. it was interesting to understand the complex as a constantly evolving work in progress rather than just as a maintained ancient wonder.

next we took a very slow 30-min tram up the side of penang hill to see... well, im not sure. but at least it was delightfully cool respite from what was a truly oppressive 'theres always the threat of a dam break of sweat above my brow' kind of heat. no, really, i want you to think about bearing for hours a heavy and thick layer of liquid that clogs each pore and fuses your clothing to your body. now think about entering hyper air conditioned spaces which freeze-dry your body soup until youre outside again minutes later and its simmering yet again. as anyone with a food handlers permit will tell ya, hot, cold, hot, cold = bacteria.

back to the program. other highlights included the whimsical butterfly garden (where i learned that scientists estimate the world has 6 million species of insect with only 1.5 discovered thus far... eww), a quick putz around the pricey (read: expat hangout) batu ferringhi neighborhood, and we ended the day with fabulous indian food and a wander through georgetowns charming streets- oldskool colonial buildings with new school chinese and indian signage. kinda wish i had another half day for urban cruising. cruising of another sort was on the minds of some tranny hookers near my hotel, who hissed at me while cat calling 'papi' on my way back from the 7-11. wait, where am i?

anyhow, i cant remember why i chose to start my trip here... but so glad i did. i leave malaysia a big fan. lets hope the fragile peace between all yall malay muslims, buddhist/christian chinese and hindu indians is maintained. i think a compare and contrast between usa-style affirmative action and malaysia for malays bumiputra would be interesting. anyhow, a huge heartfelt terima kasih to all of the beautiful hosts and folks ive met here- faisal, junn, omar, jaime, shaan, andrew, mark and vincent- (screw all you bougie study abroad freaks... ive got my own international homies now!) ;) ok, one nation-state down, nine more to go.