mag3 wrote:
The people were wonderful. I felt absolutely safe and did not feel at all
uneasy as an American. I did see a good many Eurpoean/Australian tourists
as well. Most of the hotel staff were Malay and some Indian and were
extremely friendly, but I would expect that of a good hotel/tourist staff.
My metric is how the "local people/merchants" treat you and here again, I
had absolutely no problems in Kuala Lumpur.

Islam Yes, one does see the Islamic orientation of this country
but it's not "in your face" at all. in There is very little Arabic script
as the national language is "Bahasa Malaysia" (which uses Malays.
Romanized alphabet) and not Arabic. While you do see a great many women
wearing scarves, they're also likely wearing a t-shirt and jeans with it!
Little girls (ie. pre-adolecents) did not have to wear scarves at all but
just regular kid clothes. I did see some women in full burkas but not as
many as one would think. Most I saw were in the hotel restaurant at
breakfast time. They all sat in the far corner of the restaurant with
their children in tow (no male adults) seemingly segregating themselves.

Those women were probably tourists from the middle east. There are a LOT of
them in the summer; as it's cooler here than in the Gulf, and since Malaysia
is a majority-Muslim country, they may feel more comfortable being here and
telling their neighbors where they went.

I don't think I've seen any Malaysian women who fully covered their faces,
at least not in KL. Granted, I haven't lifted any veils to check, but based
on their husbands I'm pretty confident.

One also sees the Islamic influence in the choices offered for breakfast
foods as well (ie. chicken" sausage, "turkey" ham) and "beef" bacon). The
"Other White Meat" definitely not permitted here!

Depends on where you are. In hotels - especially at the breakfast buffet -
they will usually avoid all pork products just to avoid any potential
misunderstanding (given language difficulties, etc.). But I just had some
delightful crispy pork for lunch at the Thai restaurant across the street.
At Chinese places, the first time I eat there, they will warn me if I have
ordered something that has pork in it (unless it's obvious from the name)
but after that it's business as usual - they seem to have very good memories
for pork tolerance. Sometimes there is a separation between the halal
(no-pork) and non-halal (yes-pork) vendors in food courts - opposite sides
of the aisle and so on. You can sometimes see that in Singapore too.

Supermarkets in Chinese and expat areas (like anywhere in central KL)
usually have a separate section (sometimes even a different room) labeled
"non-halal foods" in huge letters where you can stock up on bacon bits and
pork rinds.

I still don't completely understand the alcohol thing. Far as I can tell, I
can walk into 7-Eleven and buy a beer any time I want (is there a cutoff
time here? I haven't run into it yet but I really don't know); far more
easily than in the USA where I'd have to deal with ID checks and complicated
blue laws. On the other hand there are a few "dry" states in Malaysia where
7-Eleven wouldn't sell beer at all.

I have heard that they are not supposed to sell alcohol to Muslims but I
sure haven't seen anyone get turned away no matter how Malay they looked.
I am probably missing the subtleties of that rule (or it may not exist).

But other than that, it's just a country like any other. A little too much
air pollution due to all the mopeds (which didn't sit well with my cold),
but I couldn't do much about that.

Agreed, the moped pollution sucks. Much better after a rain or on a clear,
windy day. Much worse on Sunday evening on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman when
they're all racing around!

Anyway, it sure is nice to get a good old-fashioned trip report in this
newsgroup instead of off-topic political bickering (and I know I've been as
guilty as anyone in the past).

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu