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Introducing Malaysia
Malaysia is really like two countries in one, cleaved in half by the South China Sea. The peninsula is a multicultural buffet of Malay, Chinese and Indian flavours while Borneo hosts a wild jungle smorgasbord of orang-utans, granite peaks and remote tribes. Within and throughout these two very different regions are an impressive variety of microcosms ranging from the space-age high-rises of Kuala Lumpur to the smiling longhouse villages of Sarawak and the calm, powdery beaches of the Perhentian Islands. And did we mention the food? Malaysia (particularly along the peninsular west coast) has one of the best assortments of delicious cuisines in the world.
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Start with Chinese–Malay 'Nonya' fare, move on to Indian banana leaf curries, Chinese buffets, spicy Malay food stalls and even some impressive Western food. Yet despite all the pockets of ethnicities, religions, landscapes and the sometimes-great distances between them, the beauty of Malaysia lies in the fusion of it all, into a country that is one of the safest, most stable and easiest to manage in Southeast Asia.
Last updated: Dec 31, 2009
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Malaysia
Our Top Picks For Malaysia
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1 Pulau Langkawi
Splash out on the luxury resorts of this gorgeous island group
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2 Penang
Relive the colonial days in Georgetown taking tiffin at the E&O
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3 Kota Bharu
Meet traditional kite and shadow puppet makers and feast at Malaysia's best night market
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4 Cameron Highlands
Visit tea plantations and take pleasant walks in the cool highlands
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5 Pulau Perhentian
Relax and revive on these two blissful white-sand fringed islands
Fast Facts about Malaysia
- Capital Kuala Lumpur
- International telephone code 60
- Languages Bahasa Melayu (official), Chinese (Hakka and Hokkien dialects), Tamil, English
- Currency Malaysian ringgit (RM)
- Phrases selamat pagi (good morning), terima kasi (thank you)
- Population 24,821,300
- Time GMT + eight hours
Related Groups
Our favourite Malaysia Blogs (beta)
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Scooting Around
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 28 December 2009
12/14/09: Penang, Malaysia Periodically throughout this trip, I’ve had some brilliant ideas. After I wrote that sentence, I tried to think of some examples to share with you but had trouble coming up with any except renting bikes in Taiwan. But you have to admit that idea was pretty brilliant. Anyway, today I had another one of my [...]
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From Northeast Ohio to Southeast Asia
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 27 December 2009
12/12/09 – 12/13/09: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Wait, did we ever actually leave the States? After talking to my parents on Skype yesterday morning, we caught the second half of another Cavs victory on ESPN. We then walked around a park where we enjoyed a Coke and saw a bunch of deer. Two games of bowling were next [...]
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ZZ’s Top Cheap Sunglasses
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 26 December 2009
12/11/09: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia When you think of Kuala Lumpur, what do you picture? Before yesterday I pictured a city full of koalas. I suppose this was by default, as I really had no idea what to expect upon coming here. Let’s just say the city has shattered my non-existent expectations. KL, as the lazy people call [...]
