Under My Belt

One year in Southeast Asia and Malaysia has flown by. I feel like I have both traveled a lot and not at all; learned much about the history, culture, and language, and know nothing at the same time.

After a year I can celebrate a few things, reflecting back on one of my first posts:

• I have a dedicated running route and the monkeys that plagued a part of it earlier this year have been either disposed of and/or there is more enforcement of the "not feeding the monkeys" thing. 
• I feel comfortable saying "thank you" (terima kasih) and "good morning" (selamat pagi) in Bahasa Malaya without it feeling contrived, and can recognize a slew of other words when written out. Important ones like "danger" (awas), "stop" (berhenti), and "restroom" (tanda).
• I have found a great group of new friends to go hiking and exploring with, finding hidden waterfalls and mountaintops to venture to on weekends or even after school.
• Despite a rocky culinary start with a few nasty bouts of true heartburn, I have grown more tolerant to the level of spice and heat in the local cuisines. I've found a favorite "stalls" place in my neighborhood that serves amazing, authentic Thai dishes (except when they are suddenly closed for a "boarder run"). My developing palate can handle a moderate bowl of laksa (Malaysian soup) and I will never turn down some roti kanai (twisted flatbread) or teh tarik (pulled black tea with milk).  Being located centrally in Southeast Asia has its perks, food-wise, and with the diverse styles of Indian, Chinese, and Malay cooking, the choices are sometimes overwhelming!

In flipping through the pictures on my phone from the last nearly twelve months, I rediscovered some that I imagine I had intended to write about. Others were just oddities that are now not so odd, and others will have to speak for themselves...

Behold the ping-pong ball-sized pulasan, not to be confused with the rambutan,
though they (and the lychee) both look like slippery eye balls once peeled.

Then, there's always new, regional flavors of Kit Kats to try...?

Hashtag you know you live in a Muslim country when...
Something tells me this won't be appearing on any airline in-seat monitors in the
western world anytime soon. Standard on Malaysian Air flights.

One day I was brave and took my phone out on the walk to work, risking it being
stolen...by monkeys.  The trick is to not make eye contact and keep moving.

Malaysia, you are truly Asia, and I look forward to knowing you better!