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The Great Hornbill is among the most impressive birds that we saw in Kuala Lumpur’s giant bird park, located in the ‘green lung of the city,’ a series of parks and a giant mosque. Strolling down lanes under a huge green canopy, there were all manner of birds, from owls […]

Tonight about nine I took a stroll down the big boulevard in the Golden Triangle to get a bite. I wanted to get something simple, and continue my tradition of eating native, (cheap). So I strolled down past about four dozen men and some sexy young women waving laminated placards […]

We learned about the patterns that bring different nationalities to Kuala Lumpur from our guide, Sara. Each country seems to prefer their own type of relaxation. Each comes at different times–July and August are Arab times, and February is when Iranian visitors come to KL. The Indian visitors, she said, […]

We’ve just arrived in the Portuguese explorer city of Melaka, on Malaysia’s west coast. This city is famous for the Straits of Mallaca, where pirates lurk, and for being a UNESCO World Heritage Sight. I remember being here in 2006; we even stayed in the same hotel, which is called […]

Sony and I find the women behind these abayas to be both mysterious and frustrating. Mysterious because I keep wondering how they sneeze and how they drink coffee with that thing on…and how do their sunglasses not fall off their noses? At the buffet this morning a woman wearing an […]

You can judge a country by the way they eat…and Malaysia certainly tops my list of culinary wonderlands. It’s just that there are so many choices…and everything, almost, is really good. Ok, last night I did sample a ‘national dessert’ of shaved ice with three different syrups that I left […]

In a drenching rain we’ve arrived in Kuala Lumpur, a city of 4.5 million with a pulsing, oil-fueled heart. What’s new since I was last here in 2006? More shopping. The names that rich Asians love, like Hugo Boss, Cartier, and Juicy Couture, all lined up here in the famous […]

This stunning building is almost finished on the banks of the muddy Sarawak River in downtown Kuching. It’s the new parliament building, as grand as a palace and something unlike anything you’d see in the US. We prefer our edifi to be blocky, and big, this one is grand, tall […]

The streets are crowded with cars, small trucks and motorbikes. The sidewalks are porticos, stuffed with vendors, sellers of all manner of goods. The interiors of the shops are dark, inhabited by Chinese men and young girls, silently waiting there for customers. You walk beneath the ceilings of the stores […]