Malaysia was a country of many travels firsts for me. It was the first country that I visited in Asia, the first country where I did not speak the language, and where I ate frog for the first time.

Mind your manners and make an effort

The best advice that I ever received from another traveler is that you should at least learn ‘hello’, ‘please’, and ‘thank you’ in the local language of wherever you travel, and be a good guest. In Malaysia, saying ‘sila’ and ‘terima kasih’ were magic words in Malaysia that elicited smiles from all, and being able to understand that I was being greeted whenever someone said ‘selamat datang’ made me feel more welcome. Speaking these few phrases in Malay opened a lot of doors to interesting conversations with the people that I met and I wouldn’t have learned half as much about them had I not made this small effort.

Since Malaysia is a Muslim country, I started out in a long sleeved shirt and pants while I gauged the general dress code, I went back to my general ‘cover the shoulders to knees overseas’ rule. It was not uncommon to see a burka, a sari, and a miniskirt all on the same city block in Kuala Lumpur.

Dress was more conservative outside the capital, as you might expect, with both men and women being dressed head to toe even in the heat. I saw other travellers in tank tops and shorts or wandering around in their bathing suits in the beach villages getting a lot of stares.

In Malaysia, as in many parts of the world, shoes are never to be worn indoors. While I do usually take my shoes off at home, there was a lot more formal protocols about it here. More importantly, it taught me more about being observant in a new place. You can pick up a lot just from watching other people.

Making these efforts, and engaging with the places and people and chatting with shopkeepers, cooks, internet cafe owners, and pedestrians, I learned all sorts of things about Malaysia.

I learned that the big yellow restaurant in Chinatown makes a great satay and a green onion and chili frog stir-fry. That the ‘Friday’ is part of the weekend in many areas. That the Batu Caves were an easy bus ride away on public transit. That according to my horoscope, Tuesdays are my least lucky day. That many of the restaurants do sell alcohol even if it’s not on the menu. That Malaysia may be officially multicultural (Malay, Indian, and Chinese), but there are places where it is a problem for a mosque and a temple to be built on the same city block.

Terima kasih, Malaysia.