Today is Wednesday, March 11, 2026, my birthday. This is not a big birthday but it is the start of the last year of my 50s. When did I get this old? Most days I don't feel that old. Some days it feels like just yesterday I was dancing to Bizarre Love Triangle wearing my Units. If you are too young to know what this means, Google will tell you. But some of you know EXACTLY what I am talking about.
But today I am so very lucky to be traveling the world with the person who has been by my side through every single up and every single down in the past nearly 33 years.
This trip we have celebrated Blaise's birthday, today mine, and then we will celebrate our 29th anniversary in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on Azamara Pursuit. We hop on the cruise ship in two months on May 9. This time has flown by on this trip.
It has been lovely to see all the amazing places we have been and not constantly thinking about or talking about politics. Maybe some say we should be home dealing with all of this. I don't know. But life is short. I can only make so much of a difference. I have spent my whole life doing for others in one way or another. Maybe I am selfish to want to do this and to actually do it, but I think if I can't be a bit selfish now, when can I? Or maybe I never should be. Just thinking.
For those wondering, we are safe. We are smart travelers, checking on a regular basis about where we are going and what we need to look out for. When things went down in Iran, we did do some research to make sure the place we were and the places we were going were still safe. We will keep doing so. We are not in so much of a travel bubble that we aren't keeping an eye on things.
Leaving Cambodia
We left Cambodia March 2. I feel like we did not get the true Cambodia experience since we both spent that time recovering from colds. We are still not 100% but we are getting close. I still have a lingering cough. Surprise, Surprise. Blaise still has an ear that has not popped back. This is causing him some balance and hearing issues. I hope it pops soon; it's driving him nuts.
We found the people of Cambodia to be lovely people, kind and welcoming. You can get used to the no tipping culture very quickly. We still ended up tipping most of the time since things were crazy cheap there and I suspect the person serving our meal could make use of a bit extra - an "extra" that would not change our lives if we kept it but maybe improve their lives in some small way.
Arriving in Malaysia
Our flight to Kuala Lumpur (in Journalism school, we learned to write "Kuala Lumpur (KL)" to indicate in parentheses how the writer was going to refer to something for the rest of the story rather than write the whole thing every time. I will say it the attorney way - "Kuala Lumpur, hereinafter KL.") was event-less, just like you want a flight to be. We de-boarded the plane around 7 PM. Customs was smooth and quick since we filled out the entry paperwork online two days before the flight. This was the smoothest entry into a country yet on this trip. Malaysia gives U.S. citizens an automatic 90-day tourist visa upon entry. It is not a physical visa; it is just 90 day you get to visit upon entry. The online form is the customs form like you fill out from time to time when you are on a flight to a new country. In Malaysia, that form is tied automatically to your passport so when you get off the plane and go through customs, you merely scan your passport and they take your picture. You don't even see an actual customs person if you are a U.S. citizen and have nothing to declare. Easy peasy.
Quick Country Entry Preparation Sidebar
I am glad I put all of our customs and entry requirements for each country in a spreadsheet so I don't have to start from scratch every time we are heading to a new country. I can just look at the spreadsheet and know exactly when to fill out whatever online forms we need to fill out. For some that require a visa, you have to start a couple of weeks in advance. For others, like Malaysia, it is just a quick form a couple of days before arrival. For other places, like Japan, you don't have to do anything - just show up. I put the link to each country's website in the spreadsheet so all I have to do is click it and go straight to whatever form I need to complete. I also have a link to the US State Department website for each country so I can check for new safety concerns or entry requirements from the last time I checked. It has been very handy. In hindsight, I could have taken it one step further and put calendar entries in our calendar so we would have been notified when it was time to complete the paperwork/website forms.
Back to Malaysia Entry
We were through customs and had our luggage by about 7:30 PM and decided to take the train to the city center for a couple of reasons: 1) the express train was right there; and 2) the express train dumps you out 30 minutes later at KL Sentral train station, which is a short walk from where we are staying.
The cost was $8 each which we found out later was slightly more expensive than merely taking a Grab (Uber in Asia) right to the entry of our AirBnB. This actually becomes important because we wandered around with luggage, in the dark, in an unknown area, for about 30 minutes. How did this happen? Because stupid Google maps took us to the wrong place. It took us to a gas station. We had to rectify this by going into the AirBnB app to get directions that way. THAT took us exactly where we needed to go, which was only about 5 minutes from where we were. But when you are in the dark, it all seems more confusing than it should be since you are in an unfamiliar place.
We really do like taking public transport when it makes sense, but perhaps this was not the time.
Our AirBnB
Our AirBnB is different from most AirBnBs we stay in. We try to get a true authentic local experience whenever possible - so long as it has the majority of creature comforts we prefer. While we are in a very central location, this place we are staying in is a 53-55 story building that is set up for extended stay travelers.
I say 53-55 stories because the numbering is funky. Some floor numbers are missing and there are some that have an A behind the number. For example, there is no floor 44 but there is a 43 and a 43A. I am wondering if some numbers are unlucky and that is why they skip them.
Since originally writing this, I looked more closely and in each set of 10, there is no 4 floor. No 14th floor, no 24th, 34th, 44th, or 54th floors. There are floors 3A, 13A, 23A, 33A, 44A, and 53A.
We are on floor 45. I did not take pictures of the unit before we unpacked but the place is clean with a comfortable bed, hot shower, great air conditioning, and a kitchenette. There is a toilet room and shower with frosted glass walls. A bit odd but once you get used to it, it is no big deal. It is not the smallest place we have stayed in, but it is smaller than most of our other accommodations on this trip. We also get a free weekly apartment cleaning.
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| Night time view from our AirBnB |
The smallness of the apartment is made up for by rooftop pool, a gym, a co-workspace, and a nice "garden" area on the 30th floor.
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| View from the rooftop pool. Note the glass bottom strip at the bottom of the pool. The co-workplace is directly below the pool. |
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| If you look carefully, you can see the co-working area through the non-frosted glass. If you look at the ceiling in the room, you can see that the pool is directly above this area with a strip of glass bottom so you can be in the workroom, look up, and see the pool above and the people doing whatever they are doing in the pool. |
There is a wide variety of people staying here. The people are from all over the world. You hear all kinds of accents and languages on the elevators. There are older couples like ourselves and some even older. There are younger couples, families, younger backpackers, and people traveling solo of all ages. This building was opened in 2024 and is a magnet for all kinds of people.
So far I like it. The building (called Riveria City or The Riv - they are both on the signage) is a 5 minute walk to the monorail station, about an 8 minute walk to a mall and then maybe a 12 minute walk, including through the mall, to the KL Sentral train station where you can catch a train heading to various places within the city and to various places outside the city. It is equivalent to their Grand Central Station or Rome's Termini station.
What is KL Like?
This is such a cosmopolitan city. It is very clean with a sophisticated public transportation system, plenty of shopping, and food from around the world.
I had someone mention to me that when they had been to Malaysia, it was impoverished and dirty. This is the cleanest place we have been to in months and we have seen very little poverty, not that either of those has stopped us from visiting many of the places we have been. KL is actually cleaner than many places in the D/FW metroplex. Just look at the highways as you are driving around. They might need to revive the "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign.
Public Transportation
The public transportation is rather comprehensive here with monorails, trains, and buses. We have taken a train but usually take the monorail - it seems to go most places we want. No buses yet. Everything is very clean and inexpensive. For example, we took the monorail last night to dinner. It was 7 stops and cost us 5.40 ringgits (Malaysia currency) for both of us one way, that is approximately $1.37.
The monorail has several "don't do" signs on them - things like you can't eat or drink on the monorail, nor can you take pets on them. But one of the unusual things is no kissing.
Westerners
We have noticed the make-up of the Western visitors here are different than others. By Western, I mean mostly white people from North America or Europe. Always lots of young backpackers, here and everywhere. But in Thailand and Vietnam, we saw lots of older single white men. Some of these older men, were with much younger local-looking women but the majority were just older men all by themselves. Way more single older men than older retired couples. Here, in Malaysia, the older western folks seemed to be coupled up more so, like they traveled here together from North America or Europe. Here in KL we see very few single older men. I am not saying anything about this other than this is what we have observed. What can I say, we are observers of the world.
Stinky People
I hate to say this, but it bears noting that there are more stinky people here than any place else we have been on this trip. I am not sure why this is but we come across people in elevators, on the street, and in the mall, that stink of body odor. We have not encountered that elsewhere on this trip.
International KL
We are staying in the Brickfields area in KL, which is known as Little India. KL has a large Indian population. We have noticed this not only around Brickfields but also around other areas of KL we have visited.
There are so many people here from all over the world. It is actually pretty cool. It is a reminder that the way we live and how we do things is a small microcosm of the world. From time to time, we run across something that is so much better than what we have or how we do things at home.
For example, here in KL it is HOT. We are very close to the equator so it is hot and muggy. In some of the places that have more pedestrians than others, they have covered walkways or elevated air conditioned walkways. Can you imagine having something like that in Fort Worth, Texas? That would be a game-changer.
They also do more of the stopping of the escalators if no one is on them. If the escalator has stopped, you just hop on and it starts moving again. Why don't we do this more in the US?
KL, the Las Vegas of Asia?
I ask this question not because there is a bunch of gambling here or it seems "sin cityish." You know how on the strip everything seems like it is just right there - an easy walk but it's not? It is actually very far away. That's the way it is here. You see a building or other site and think "Oh, it's right here." Guess what? It is not.
Yesterday, we got up early and walked to the Botanical Garden. Beautiful place by the way. When we got back to the AirBnB and were looking out the window, one of the buildings we walked by looks so very close but it is really a 30-minute walk away. We noticed this last night as well. We went to eat at a place 7 monorail stops from us, looked up and saw the Petronas towers. They looked like they were right there but we knew from visiting them earlier in the week, there was no way that was a short walk. Maybe it's because everything here is so big.
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| Beautiful street art on the way to dinner the other night |
What Have we Visited While in KL
While we have spent some time doing some personal maintenance things: haircuts, root touch-up, manicure, pedicure, etc., we have visited some varied sites: the Petronas towers, the park behind the Petronas towers, an Aquarium, and the Botanic Garden.
Petronas Towers
The Petronas towers are really aesthetically beautiful and interesting up close and from a distance. We have not been up them yet but we did go see them. You have to schedule your date/time to go up the towers. I will be doing this but Blaise will not - he has a fear of heights.
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| Us at the Petronas towers |
Aquarium
We decided the aquarium was a bust. It was a fun little trip with a fun tunnel through an aquarium with sharks and large fish swimming all around and other aquariums with cool fishes and rather randomly, they also had some meerkats. But the entrance fee was $20 and we were done seeing everything in 30 minutes. It was one of the smallest aquariums I've been to.
What was handy, which we didn't figure out until we got to the aquarium (which oddly, was in the convention center) was that there was an elevated air-conditioned walkway from just outside the monorail stop all the way to the aquarium/convention center.
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| One of the aquariums at the aquarium |
Botanic Garden
As comprehensive as the trains and buses are here, there was no easy way to get to the Botanic Garden from our AirBnB: Multiple bus or train transfers and then you still had to walk 25-30 minutes to the garden. So we got up early Sunday and walked all the way there. It was 45 minutes, about the same time or less than if we had taken public transportation. I suppose we could have taken a Grab but we both wanted to walk and get our exercise in. We got up early to avoid the heat, which is very difficult to do here.
The Botanic Garden was more like a beautiful no-charge park. There were runners, people doing Bollywood dancing for exercise, people doing Tai Chi, and a group of women there for International Women's Day doing a "Sari Walk." There was a rather large contingent of Indian women there dressed in beautiful saris. As we passed a few of them who were picking up hand fans that were provided to them (I think those saris are really hot because there is so much cloth), one lovely woman wished me a Happy Women's Day.
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| Botanic Garden |
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| Botanic Garden |
Blind People
We have been here a week and we have seen more blind people here than we have the entire time prior to KL during this trip.
I've been thinking maybe for some reason, Malaysian people are more prone to some disease that causes blindness than others. Blaise and I talked about how unusual this has been. Around a dozen in a week and zero the whole 5 months prior to now.
As we were walking to the Botanic Garden the other day, not far from the KL Sentral train station and mall, we walked right past the Malaysia Association for the Blind. NOW it makes sense. But I had to laugh because I was going to Google why there are so many blind people in KL. I don't have to do that anymore.
Eating in KL
While I do like to try new things, contrary to what Blaise believes of me, I have grown weary of Southeast Asian food. Some of it I like and some of it I don't but having it every single day for months on end is getting old.
There is a great deal of Indian food here since there is such a large Indian population here so it is a shame that it is not my favorite cuisine. We did find a place in the mall near our AirBnB that has pretty good Indian food. Of course my favorite is the bread items - the naan, etc.
It is hard to find western breakfast here. In this part of the world, they really don't have the kinds of breakfast items we have in the U.S. They have soup and rice dishes for breakfast and that doesn't appeal to me in the morning.
What do I miss from home? Breakfast sausage and bacon as we eat it in the U.S. You order bacon in this part of the world and it might be bacon and it might be more like ham. And it most likely will not be crispy. I miss iced tea, sandwiches and Mexican food. We have had some places with pretty good burgers and pizza so I don't miss them. There are other things I miss but those are the heavy hitters.
We were very lucky to find a Vietnamese coffee place in the departure area of KL Sentral, the train station. We were really missing Vietnamese coffee which may have ruined all other coffee for us. So each morning, the last three mornings (since we found it), Blaise has ordered his sua da (iced coffee with condensed milk), I have ordered my iced salt coffee, and we sit and watch the trains arrive and depart.
Religion in KL (and Malaysia)
Also different here, is the number of women wearing hijabs. Depending on where you get your numbers, Malaysia is 60-65% Muslim. So far it seems to be a very accepting and tolerant society. No one looks at me oddly because I am not covered up. But you do have stores in the mall selling hijabs and other clothing for Muslim women. I guess it never crossed my mind where you might buy a hijab or other clothing to cover you in that manner. But there has to be a store, right?
We did have an unusual experience in a restaurant in the food court in the mall. I had not decided what I wanted to eat when Blaise made his choice. He told the woman behind the counter what he wanted but she called a guy from the back to come out and help him. He took Blaise's order and that was that. However, when I decided what I wanted, it was from the same place and the guy was the only one out there. When I gave him my order, he called the woman from the back to take my order. Originally we thought it was a language issue - the woman didn't speak English well so she called the man to take Blaise's order. But when the man called the woman out there to take my order, she spoke perfect English. We are wondering, because she was wearing a hijab, thus Muslim, maybe she couldn't talk to Blaise because he was a man and the man could not talk to me because I am a woman? I don't know.
Many of the restaurants here will say on the door if they are Halal or not.
I thought I would feel more out of place in a primarily Muslim country than I do. I do not for the most part. However, the other day, after I got my nails done, I had to go to the bathroom. I was in the mall and went to where the sign says there was a bathroom. I went down the hall to where I thought the bathroom was but all these men were sitting around and looked at me very oddly. A guy that worked at the mall asked if I was looking for the bathroom. When I said "yes" he told me that that was the hallway to the mosque. Oops! He directed me elsewhere and I was on my way but I did feel a bit uncomfortable. I know we are in the middle of Ramadan and I did not want to intrude on their worship or prayer time.
I did notice the sign to the bathroom also had an unusual hat on it. I am not sure what I thought that hat was for. Directing you to the knitting room? Or a hat-making class? But looking at it the next day, I did notice the top of the hat had crescent moon and a star on it. Perhaps that should have been my first clue. In my defense, there really were signs indicating a bathroom was down the hall.
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| These two signs were right next to each other. |
We also get prayers over the loudspeakers here several times a day as we did in Cambodia since it is Ramadan. It makes more sense here since over 50% of the population is Muslim.
Please know I mean no offense with any of this. I am just learning and observing and respect everyone's inalienable right to worship their God.
Here, Islam is the state religion, but they do have and allow freedom of religion. According to the 2020 census, here is the breakdown of Malaysia by religion:
- 63.5% Muslim;
- 18.7% Buddhist;
- 9.1% Christian;
- 6.1% Hindu; and
- the rest practice religions like Sikhism, Taoism, and traditional Chinese religions.
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| The National Mosque of Malaysia |
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| A Catholic Church near our AirBnB |
Religious Make-Up of Countries Visited
How does this stack up to other countries we have visited or will visit on this trip? You can skip this part if you don't care. I find the religious make-up of a country fascinating.
Japan
- 48.6% Shintoism (traditional shrine-based)
- 46.2% Buddhist (focus on funeral rites and afterlife)
- 1.5% Christian
- 6% Other/New religions
Many Japanese identify with both of the top two and participate in both Shinto rituals and Buddhist ceremonies.
Thailand
- 92.5% Theravada Buddhist
- 5.4% Muslim
- 1.2% Christianity
- 0.9% Other (including Hindu, Confucianism, Taosim, and animism) or none
- Buddhism;
- Islam;
- Christianity;
- Hinduism; and
- Sikhism.
- 76% Non-religious/Folk Religion, including ancestral worship and atheism
- 13% Buddhism
- 6% Catholicism
- 1% or less Protestantism
- 1% Cao Dai (not sure what that is - I still have to Google it)
- 1.4% Hoa Hao Buddhism
- there are also small communities of Islam, Hinduism, and Baha'i
- 51-60% No religion
- 31-33% Christian (20% Protestant, 11% Catholic - approximately)
- 16-17% Buddhist
- 1-2% Other religions like Won Buddhism, Confucianism, Cheondoism, Daesoon, Jinrihoe, and Islam)
Weather
It is HOT and muggy here. Highs in the mid 90s with humidity in the 80s and above. This will be the last hot place we will visit for the rest of this trip. It will be spring when we are in Japan and South Korea and so the temperatures will be much lower. I just don't do well in all this heat.
Nail Tech from Myanmar
This doesn't fit in any of the other categories. I think the person who did my manicure and pedicure last week was the first person I have met from Myanmar. I have always heard that Myanmar is a very dangerous place to visit due to their repressive government. She seemed to be OK with talking about her home country so I did ask some of my burning questions.
The nail tech is 18 years old and moved to KL at age 16 with her older sister where they lived with their cousin. She has 2 brothers and two sisters. Her other sister lives somewhere in the United States but she didn't know exactly where. One of her brothers lives in India and her other brother and his wife live with her parents. She is the youngest of the five siblings.
I got the impression that her parents sent them away from Myanmar for their safety. She told me in Myanmar as a female she could not go to school or work. And someone had bombed their local school anyway so no one could go to school.
When she arrived in KL, she did not know how to speak English. Two years later, she was able to carry on a conversation with me with minimal struggles. I think it is amazing how well she speaks English when 2 years ago she could not get a job because she could not speak English.
She was very clear that Myanmar is currently NOT safe to visit. She said it is not even safe for her to visit at this time. She and her sister are trying to talk her parents into moving to Malaysia but they will not because they have an established home with a garden where they grow their own food.
She said Myanmar is a beautiful place and hopes it will be safe enough one day for her to return and for me to visit. She misses home but will not go back even to visit due to safety concerns.
Myanmar is about 98% Buddhist but there is a province, Chin, that is about 85% Christian and that is where she is from.
I asked her if they prefer to call Myanmar Burma or Myanmar. She said Myanmar because it is the new name after British rule.
She did say she loves it in Malaysia though. When I asked her what she loves most about Malaysia she said "freedom."
Hotels We Will Never Stay In
During this trip, we have compiled a mental list of hotels we would never stay in based purely on their names:
- Lucky Hotel
- Cozy Hotel
- Easy Hotel
Next Steps
We leave here on March 30 for Osaka where we will spend three weeks. Our flight to Osaka and our Osaka accommodation are booked and paid for. We get there just in time for peak cherry blossoms, according to forecasts. This is the part of the trip I have been looking forward to the most!
We travel to Seoul, South Korea on April 24 and stay there until May 8 when we will fly to Tokyo to catch our Azamara Cruise to Whittier, Alaska which leaves May 9. We have our accommodations booked for Seoul but have not yet purchased our flight from Osaka to Seoul or from Seoul to Tokyo.
Things get a bit fuzzy once we hit Alaska. We have not quite made up our mind exactly how long we will stay in Alaska or where. We will likely head immediately from Whittier to Anchorage and make that our home base for Alaska. I am looking forward to Alaska - I have never been.
We have toyed with the idea of leaving Alaska after spending time there and heading to Lake Louise, a place I have wanted to visit for many years. Then we would head to North Dakota to visit friends and then back to Texas. We have not quite made up our mind about Lake Louise. We may save that for another trip. We don't know yet.
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