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As I finished two and a half years living in Taiwan, I wanted to take one more excursion within Asia before I flew back to America. My roommate and I settled on five days in Malaysia, based out of Kuala Lumpur. We got to see many of the wonders of Malaysia, but missed out on the Petronas Towers.

One of the highlights of our trip was a trip to Kuala Selangor to see the fireflies. Although we probably could have gotten there a lot cheaper on our own, we opted for convenience and booked a package tour through our hotel. We were surprised when the 'tour' actually consistently of a very comfortable sedan for the two of us and our own driver! We drove first to a lighthouse, where we got to see the coast and the dozens of monkeys who were comfortable around humans. We then were taken to dinner at a riverside open-air restaurant, where we ate traditional Malay dishes. While we were there, the sun was going down over the river with a beautiful display of colors. We finally made our way to the

Firefly Park Resort, where we boarded a boat to see the fireflies. What makes these fireflies unique in the world is that they flash in unison every evening for hours. All along the river, in every direction, we could see fireflies flashing in synchronization.

Another great day trip we took was down to the seaside city of Malacca. This historic port town was heavily influenced by traders from around the world, so we had what seemed to be authentic Indian food for lunch, complete with eating with hands only off a banana leaf. We explored the city, had a snack by a stream in a French-influenced cafe while cooling off in the heat of the day, visited the historic Christ Church, and went onboard the ship that serves as a Maritime Museum. We also visited the replica of a Malay palace that houses the Cultural Museum, with historical artifacts and furnishings.

The last outstanding event of our trip was visiting the Forest Reserve Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) to take their rainforest canopy hike. This is a series of rope & plank walkways strung between trees high in the upper reaches of the rainforest. It was fascinating to see the trees and ecology of the rainforest from that high up, but it also was a bit scary to have the walkways sway underneath while looking down at the ground far below.

When I think back on our trip to Malaysia now, an overarching memory is of the food. Malaysia has great food! There was a small snack stand outside our hotel, where we could sit outdoors and enjoy Malay chicken satay, Indian roti bread, and smoothies. There was another day that we went to an outdoor street market and enjoyed local delicacies.

The biggest disappointment of our trip was that we never got to go up the Petronas Towers, which were at the time one of the tallest buildings in the world. Although entry to the Petronas Towers observatory is free, it does require a timed ticket which must be picked up in person. We didn't do enough research ahead of time, and so the first time we went, they were closed (as many attractions are on Mondays), the second time we went too late and the tickets were gone for the day already, and the third time was the day we were leaving, and by the time we got there, the times available were past when we had to go to the airport.

In spite of this disappointment, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Malaysia and heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, English-speaking nation to visit in Asia.

Learn more about this author, Hope Lee.
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