Malaysia - The Last Post

As you have probably already read Heather last post stating that we are now finishing our holiday in KL. Tomorrow we travel to KL International Airport for an overnight stay and then off to AUS on Tuesday. Today five of us travelled to the old city of Malacca and toured the old Portuguese and Dutch remnants. Anne and I have not been to this historic place before however Kay has on one of her cruise trips. It was very hot and humid and walking through the city was extremely uncomfortable. Nevertheless what we experienced made the journey worthwhile.

My reflections of Malaysia and our holiday in a nutshell. As everyone may know that we have lived in Malaysia for nearly six years and visited this country in 1998, 2007 and 2009. What I have seen of Malaysia is a modern society. Malaysians are very friendly, they smile at most people and their hospitality is almost second to none. We as Australians could take some lessons on how their society works and we could perhaps may go back to of how Australian's once lived back in those old days. They respect their elders, try to help those in need and more importantly they work with each other as a team. There is one impediment within their nature which requires some work - they are aggressive drivers on the road - this has not changed over the years we have lived withn them. I heard yesterday that 200.000 new cars were registered in 2010. With that high number no wonder that KL has gridlock problems and traffic snarls are a constant nuisance.

The holiday as a whole, some of the group had some difficulty with the heat. Not saying 32 deg is hot but the humidity does zap the energy out quickly. All ladies had one mission in mind, that is, shop shop and shop. The exchange rate is so good for us and the urge to buy items is so compelling. For those menfolk back in Oz waiting for your ladies just wait until you see overloaded suitcases. For stories of our trip, well just wait until we return.

Before I sign off last night we were contacted by Tenny and Jenny and invited to go to the Lakes Garden in KL's Botanical Gardens.  This is an exclusive club and we met Tenny's cousin Anthony.  A very interesting person we found out. However, what we did was danced. To prove this there are several photos attached to this post. Many thanks to T & J and Anthony for their true Malaysian hospitality.

As this is my last post we all hope that all readers of this blog found our journey interesting. Please continue to place any comments as we would like to reflect on these when we hit our mother soil. Terima Kaseh - Neil

1. The Pavilion - one of the many Plaza's in KL - also has expensive Gucchi shops.

2. Anne and Anthony doing the Jive.

3. Tenny and Heather.

4. Tenny again with Myrtle.

5. Our good hosts - Tenny and Jenny

6. Old Portuguese fort, Malacca

7. Dawn, Anne and Myrtle in Malacca.

8. In Malacca

9. This is the only shop that makes Chinese "bounded" shoes in the world. Women who wear these 3" long shoes need to bound their feet in conjunction with bending and breaking their foot bones to enable their feet to fit into these shoes.

10. The dreaded and smelly durian - now in season across Malaysia. They are banned in hotels and public vehicles.