Selamat Datang from Malaysia!

Wow. I apologize, I have been completely off the grid for the last three months!

I’m still living in Luang Prabang, still teaching at Souphanouvong University, and still having the time of my life! So, what on Earth have I been doing? Well, first semester actually ended at the end of January and second semester didn’t start until the second week of March, leaving me with an awesome break to travel and even host my parents! I’ll start back at the beginning of February and my amazing trip to Malaysia.

Since I have yet to receive my work visa from the government, I’m required to leave the country every 90 days. My 90 days were up at the beginning of February, so Lauren (one of my Fulbright friends) and I booked some flights to Malaysia for a short, six-day trip. We spent the first night in Georgetown, a small UNESCO city in the Malaysian state of Penang. It’s famous for its street art – which you need a map to find all of!

Me with the various street art located throughout the city – thank goodness for Lauren, she was so patient and willing to try to find them all with me!

We wandered around that adorable city for the day, relaxed poolside at our hotel, and watched a movie before deciding what to do for dinner. It didn’t take long until Lauren and I found a Mexican restaurant called Holy Guacamole! We immediately agreed and went straight there for dinner. By crazy coincidence, a friend from Coe, Ben, was actually in Georgetown during the few days we were there! He’s currently a Fulbright in Malaysia and some of their Fulbright English teachers were on vacation in Georgetown, so we met up with them and went out for the night together.

Top row: Our finds while wandering – Chinese shaved ice, coffee, henna, and popsicles! Bottom left: the Batik museum in Georgetown (so cool!), Bottom middle: my friend from Coe, Ben, and Bottom right: the Georgetown streets at night

The next day, Lauren and I had booked a beach-front hotel in the same Malaysian state of Penang, but about 40 minutes away in an area called Batu Ferringhi. We were determined to spoil ourselves after working our butts off for the past six months. And of course, there’s no better way to do that than with a day at the pool, drinks at a swim-up bar, and dinner on the beach.

The beach (top) and the hotel pool (bottom), both almost totally empty despite the beautiful weather! Bottom right: me, enjoying the sun and sand

We went for dinner at a little restaurant that had good reviews just a five minute walk from our hotel, but when we arrived, we were taken aback at how rowdy it was. We had totally forgotten about Chinese New Year! It had taken place just a few days before we arrived so naturally, people were still celebrating. We saw a few dancing lions and they even let us wear the heads and try them out for ourselves. There were fireworks everywhere (a little too close for comfort to be honest lol) and people were dancing and hooping and hollering all throughout dinner. It was such a surreal experience.

Left: a small version of the lion head at Holy Guacamole, Right: Lauren gives it a try!

We spent the entire next day at our hotel pool and on the beach. Ben came to join us and Joe, one of our Fulbright friends from Vientiane was able to join us as well! Lauren and I even got to ride horses on the beach!! It was on Lauren’s bucket list and I’m a huge fan of The Bachelor, so of course we had to do it! We went for dinner at Holy Guacamole again that night and said goodbye to the Malaysia Fulbrights.

Completely and totally, AWESOME.

The next morning, Lauren and I left for Kuala Lumpur (the capitol of Malaysia and where our flight to Vientiane would leave from). We had the entire day in KL and spent it swimming in the hotel’s infinity pool and exploring the city. We went up in the KL tower, had an amazing sushi dinner (thanks to Lauren’s dad!), and went to see the Petronas Towers at night. It was such a treat and a perfect ending to our Malaysian vacation.