Tonight Mitch and I ventured into the original town of Seremban, known as Old Seremban, Old Town, or sometimes just Seremban. It gets a little confusing when you consider that there’s also Seremban 2 and the outskirts of both towns, all of which are known as either Seremban or S2. Right now, we’re living in one of the Old Seremban outskirts (called Seremban) and school is close to Seremban 2, though still within Seremban city limits. Go figure.
We wandered around for a while before finding somewhere to eat. Here are some photos I took along the way.
Tree roots growing out of the groundReally neat Hindu temple smack in the middle of the cityHindu temple from the front entranceThe detail is so amazing and beautifulChristmas lights on plastic trees . . . in SeptemberChristmas tree in the Chinese restaurant where we ate dinner . . . in September
Anyway, welcome to Seremban, where apparently it’s Christmas all the time.
Yesterday afternoon along with two friends, Mitch and I took the train from Seremban to KL Sentral, the main train station in Kuala Lumpur. From there we transferred to the subway and headed to KL City Centre (KLCC), the main shopping and entertainment district of KL. We wandered around the massive mall, visited a few stores, tried and failed to get tickets to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) because none of us knew there was a pretty strict dress code, wandered through a lovely park, and had an excellent meal with our Scottish friends in an Irish bar. Some highlights are below. Enjoy!
So many books!
The store in which we spent the longest was a two-story Japanese bookstore with zillions of titles in English. It was very exciting. Both interestingly and frustratingly, the books were wrapped in plastic so patrons couldn’t flip through them. To me, that almost defeats the purpose of a bookstore; I don’t like buying books electronically because I can’t look through them. Same story here. I was very glad, however, to find a section of Jewish history books and a section on Judaism in general.
Books about Judaism – note that “science and religion” are together in this section
This bookstore was inside a huge mall that was inside and underneath the Petronas Towers. We didn’t go up to the skybridge, but we did gaze up at them from the park outside.
The Petronas Towers are actually the same size. I guess I took the picture from a strange angle.
The towers were cool but I thought the park was cooler.
Nifty fountainsKL is pretty cool – it has dolphins that magically jump out of shallow water!
There were also some awesome trees in this park in the center of KL. The mere fact that there is a park in the center of KL is pretty cool, too. It also has a 1300m track!
It was a really fun afternoon and the Irish bar for dinner was great. It was nice to recognize every item on the menu for a change. The Gaelic football game that was on in the bar was enjoyable to watch, as well. We’ll definitely be back in KL. I want to explore Chinatown and see the MPO for sure!
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.
Port DicksonI live in a place with palm trees!
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.
My first comment what, “Do people really think it’s cold here?”
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.
If finance doesn’t work out, Mitch can always consider a career as a model for Winter Time
Wherever you are, whatever your weather – here’s to travel and adventure!
Photos, travels, musings, and ideas on education by someone trying to make the world a better and more peaceful place
By Rebecca Michelle 