When I first came to visit Southeast Asia in June, we landed in Singapore and spent about a week there. I loved Singapore! It was very modern and offered everything we had in the states. We spent that week being tourists--going to Chinatown, Little India, the Merlion, the Singapore Flyer, etc.
The next week we came over to Malaysia and my husband told me it would be VERY different over here than in Singapore, and he was correct. Although we are just five miles from Singapore here in Malaysia, life is much more rural and underdeveloped than just across the border in Singapore. Johor Bahru is the capital of the state of Johor, one of thirteen states in the country of Malaysia. The country is separated into two regions by the South China Sea, and we live in the west side of the country outside of Johor Bahru. Being so close to the equator, days over here are very predictable. The sun comes up around 7 a.m. and sets around 7 p.m. The weather is between 85-95 F most days and because of our location to water, it often rains some each day and is ALWAYS humid.
My initial impression was that we had just entered the jungle! Palm oil is a major resource for the country, so you will see rows and rows of huge palm trees, along with just random jungle growth in other areas. When Jeff came over here ahead of me last year I kept asking him what it looked like and he would say "very green". Now I know what he means--just lush and green everywhere.
Even though we have lived in Malaysia for several months now, I still enjoy the beauty of this area, partly because of all the massive old trees! We live directly outside of a little town called Gelang Patah. It is VERY "real" in that it has a few stores, restaurants, a school, etc., but it is a town for the working man and reminds me of visits to Mexico once you are out of the tourist areas.
In case I have left the impression that ALL of Malaysia is jungle, let me clear that up! It just takes a visit to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, and you see an extremely modern, beautiful metropolis (along with the Petronas Twin Towers--incredible). Malaysia is a very young country, just celebrating 50 years of independence in 2007. They are working towards making this area a tourist and business center of southeast Asia, developing their education system and commerce, while still hanging onto their heritage. Come visit and I'll show you!
