Richard Halverstadt: June 30, 2011: Malaysia Day 4 - Batu Caves, Genting Highlands, Chin Swee Temple

Thursday, June 30, 2011

June 30, 2011: Malaysia Day 4 - Batu Caves, Genting Highlands, Chin Swee Temple

June 30, 2011: Breakfast today was a real treat -- nasi lemat (rice with spicy 1/2 inch anchovies fried whole in soy sauce and sugar, chicken, and peanuts -- I know it sounds "different" for Westerners but it really is good), deep fried gooey yams coated in crispy flour, tea and papaya. This is the way to have breakfast! Shortly after that, Edmund, Albert, and Angie arrived to pick me up for a day of sightseeing.

We started by driving to Batu Caves, a Hindu cave that sits at the top of a mountain that requires climbing up 270 steps. Here are pictures of that temple.

Batu Caves

over 270 steps to the top!

Batu Caves

our tour guide

Batu Caves

After Batu Caves, we continued our drive to Genting Highlands, a gambling resort situated in the mountains. The drive up the mountain was very beautiful. We stopped at a Chinese restaurant for a "simple" lunch that turned out to be yet another several course meal of mostly seafood (frogs, fish, vegetables, pork, etc.) First we had a coconut and then the other courses.

The restaurant reminded me of the kedais I frequented in the 70's:

Another table at the restaurant

As usual I gorged myself with the very tasty food not knowing that Edmund had purchased durian for dessert.

Durian is a very filling fruit that grows in a shell that hangs in a tree. Should a durian fall on someone, he/she could be subject to considerable injury because of the thorns that grow out of its pod. The seeds inside are caked with the gooey yellow substance that is eaten. Many claim that durian smells like sewage, but to those of us who like it, it smells mouth watering -- it definitely is something one loves or hates -- no in between. I'm on the side that loves it, but it is so "heaty" (as Malaysians say) that it can cause one to break out in a rash. In fact, that is what happened to me. By the end of our dessert, I found two itchy bubbles that had formed on two of my knuckles. But never mind, the taste of the fruit was worth every itch I had to endure.

After lunch, we drove to the top of the mountain where the Genting Highlands casinos are and walked through the casinos which were very populated.

Edmund tried his luck in baccarat and roulette but didn't fare so well, losing money. We also walked through the amusement park that was adjoining the casino.

Genting Highlands Amusement Park

After we had toured Genting Highlands, we went down the mountain stopping at the Chin Swee Temple on the way.

Chin Swee Temple

After the Chin Swee Temple, we stopped at the Awana Hotel:

Awana Hotel

After that we returned to the city to attend another Chinese feast attended by many of the people I had visited with the past few days. Another excellent meal (shark fins soup, curried prawn, fresh fish, sweet sour crab, vegetables, etc. with dragon fruit and pineapple for dessert). Again I was stuffed. My hosts seem to have made true their prophecy that I gain weight during my stay in Malaysia! During the feast, I received a telephone call from another colleague I hadn't yet spoken with in years, Zilfalila who taught Bahasa Malaysia at Cochrane. It was great to talk with her after so many years.

This dinner marked the last time I'll be seeing many of my friends for this trip. I certainly will miss them and will definitely have to make arrangements to visit them again sooner than this time, a 27 year lapse.