As I’ve mentioned, Malaysia is hot and humid all the time. Indoors is always air conditioned, though, so you actually do need to walk around with a sweater (or just be okay being cold). I didn’t expect to move to a tropical climate and miss my cardigans, but that’s what’s happened.

Because Malaysia is a tropical climate, it has some really beautiful beaches. Yesterday the primary staff went on an outing to Port Dickson after work, which is about a 30 minute drive through palm oil plantations from Seremban.

We had a really lovely time walking in the water because it’s so warm! The sand was warm and soft, too. And, of course, being around saltwater means that appetites wake up. Since the palm trees are so plentiful, the cure for that is to literally eat from nature’s fruits.

The sun starts to set much earlier here than it does at home because we’re so much closer to the equator. It’s dark by about 7:30. We left the beach shortly after 6 and the late afternoon/early evening sun was really beautiful.

In complete contrast to summer, people in Malaysia have to actually think about other types of weather because there are certain items of clothing they don’t need in their regular lives. Mitch and I could not stop laughing when we spotted a store called Winter Time in the mall where our hotel is located.

Of course we had to go take a look around. A closer examination of the store revealed complete sets of outdoor winter attire – coats, boots, scarves, mitts, gloves, etc. – and luggage. And that’s when we figured out, “Oh, people must travel to places where it’s winter.” My second thought was, “Why?” but people like to go on vacations that are different from their real lives and winter is different from real life here.

Wherever you are, whatever your weather – here’s to travel and adventure!