I haven’t been back to Malaysia to visit family in over 8 years. And I feel as if I’ve come back a different person, someone who is more mature, more experienced and not the same embarrassed teenager who didn’t like to hang with family.
The first thing we did was settle into a hotel! This was different from previous times when we would stay at our relative’s house. But surprisingly this has been good. I get my own bed, breakfast, cleaning services… a true start to a proper relaxing holiday.
But we are still staying close by to family in the suburb of Klang, about an hour out from Kuala Lumpur. So there’s also not a lot to do out here except catch up with family.
One part of catching up was paying our respects to my grandfather, uncle and other passed away relatives. I never understood the significance of this in previous years, which I count as my blissful ignorance when I was younger. But this time around, I did feel an immense sadness and understanding. I suddenly felt like I could feel my dad’s love for his own father. And I made a realisation that life is kind of fleeting. So we need to make the most of it (cliche but true). And most importantly spend time with family. So I am glad that before I head off for 6 months away from family that I decided to spend a week with them in Malaysia (plus it doesn’t hurt to have everything paid for haha)
We were also fighting the looming thunderclouds and my dad joked that his father held off the rain for us because as soon as we got back into the car, it started pouring!
Later in the day, I fully indulged in having a holiday where I could rest. This definitely meant I was going to get a massage! I highly recommend getting a massage if you can because I felt a lot more relaxed and had time to reflect and sleep haha I was so tired from my flight the day before that relaxing the muscles was great.
Another thing I have noted is that pedestrian is not king here! Beware of cars not driving in their lanes, or not using signals.
The temperature is also more mild than I thought it would be. Not as hot as I remember it that I can actually wear longer pants, which is good. But that also means I’m cold when I go into air conditioned places. It’s not ideal.
So next up on the table is Melaka, Batu Caves and exploring KL!
