Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I've been acclimating to Malaysia at the gorgeous Shangri-La Hotel. It is taking a bit of getting used to -- things here are so different from China.

There seem to be fewer people around; it is much quieter than China. The people are less friendly even though they all speak English. The fact that Malaysia is a Muslim country is palpable -- many women fully covered, beautiful mosques, the newspaper content. The weather is sultry... tropical and humid, making KL very lush with lots of greenery and trees. You can also find an amazing selection of fruits.

My favorite thing so far is the Petronas Tower at night. I went there my first morning in KL to pick up a Malaysia guidebook (there's a huge shopping mall at its base) and for some reason I was under whelmed by the world's tallest building. But I went back on a whim after dinner and the lighting on the twin towers is magnificent!

Next I plan to head for Penang, Kota Bharu (beach), and Taman Negara (national park and hiking) on Peninsular Malaysia (the part just south of Thailand). Then I will fly over to Kota Kinabalu on Malaysian Borneo (a large island to the east shared with Indonesia) for some more serious hiking and beach-lounging.