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What. I am an alien now? Actually, I was thinking something catchy for the header. Thus, I came up with the title. And it's true. I AM an alien... in terms of a foreigner in a country outside my home country.
So, the past few days I spent in Kota Kinabalu and Luang Prabang Kota Kinabalu (KK) is located in northern part of Borneo Island. For your background information, there are 3 countries share Borneo Island: Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia. The latter was our destination. All 3 abovementioned countries share similar language. And, I have to emphasize that it is similar NOT the same. So, in a way, Indonesians can speak to Malayans in local language with little problems. Some words may need clarity, but overall, there shouldn't be any problem. Though, sometimes we use English in order to avoid misconception or misunderstanding.
I was in Malaysia last year, but only in KL and the nearby city, Shah Alam.
There was another market that you might want to visit: Tamu Gaya. See, this is an example of interesting misconception between Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Melayu (fyi, Bahasa means language, so do NOT ever ask, "do you speak Bahasa?" because that would mean you ask "do you speak Language?", anyway...) because Tamu in Bahasa Indonesia means guest, while in Malay, it means, market. We spent quite some time in this place. There are many things to buy as an alternative to the Filipino Market I mentioned earlier. I guess, because we don't have much time we only spent time in markets instead of places of interest. But, the city itself is already quiet and nice. Located nearby the beach, you can enjoy the magnificent scene of sunset. But, because we stayed in a bay, there wasn't any wave. The beach was quiet, not much of happening there.
The school we visited was SMK Tamparuli. Since English is the second language in Malaysia, there was hardly barrier of communication between us and the local students. Well, of course we have to take into account that we are from the same root and speak similar language. The event went smooth and well. We had nice chat with local student and they seemed to be happy with us visiting their school. There were also 3 schools participating. After the event, we were like instant celebs. They asked for our autograph and we were taken picture with them. They were very nice and knowledgeable. Having been to Vientiane, Lao PDR last year, I had the opportunity to visit another city in the country which is further to the north, almost near China, Luang Prabang (LP). LP is most likely the famous tourist destination by Europeans. And why not? Everything here is cheap. Due to similarity in language with Thailand (probably the same case as Indonesian and Malaysian), I think there are also people who would like to getaway from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok to LP. That's why when you do transaction here, you can use Thailand Baht, US Dollar, Euro or Kip. LP is a small and quiet city. The local people are very friendly, helpful and polite. Like I have mentioned in my previous article about Lao, the ladies wear the typical Lao skirt. And they look graceful in that skirt. They have probably been using it since high school like the school we visited in LP.
Getting around LP is easy. We had the fortune of staying nearby Mekong River, the famous and the greatest river in Indochina region. Now, I don't usually like promoting the place where I stay. But, I have to make an exception with this one. Firstly, the owner himself greeted us on the day we arrived at the hotel and it was, like, 8 or 9 P.M. There were only 7 seven rooms, but we were fortuntate to be able to occupy 4 of them for each of us. Everything in the fridge was free (no beer or chocolate, mind you). The bed was imported from Sweden, it can be adjusted to any position we like. There were bicycles which you can borrow from the hotel to be used to go to the nearby market. Oh yeah, have I mentioned that the hotel is nearby the Night Market? So, what is the name of the hotel? Mekong River View Hotel, Mekong Riverside Road.
As in any other market, don't forget to bargain. But again, as I have mentioned time and time again, if you are from Europe or any other advanced country, don't be cheapskate with your money. Do spend your money. Support local market and local people. They are friendly and nice. English is foreign language. The driver who took us everywhere couldn't speak English, he didn't even understand simple words like, school. So when go shopping, how do we communicate with the seller? Usually, they are prepared with calculator. So, when you are interested in something, you ask, "How much?" If their English is good, they may say what the price is. If not, they type in the calculator and show what the price is. I think the key to speak to local people is not using full sentence. Just say, like, "Hotel? How much?" instead of "Could you get me to the Hotel? How much would that be?" So, at the school we visited, the same case happened. When we spoke in English there was a translator translating our sentences. Put that aside, we felt that the students were eager to be there and they were also eager to find out more about the organisation I work for. We knew that because there were questions thrown by the students in the Q&A session. Since French colonized Laos, French is also spoken here. So, it could be that local people speak fluent French than English. The name of the venue of our school visiting was also in French, Ecole Normale Superriore, if my memory serves me correct. Nevertheless, LP is another great getaway. I was very fortunate to be assigned to the mission of reaching out our youngsters of the same region. I felt the bond of the people though we may not speak the same language, we don't even look alike, but we have the same objective, to be one ASEAN community. We have a vision that all member countries under our organisation to be walked hand in hand, and no one left out. Not even Laos or any other country in Southeast Asia. Ah, yes, Southeast Asia. How proud I am to be a citizen of Asia. Exotic places in this reigon never stops astonish me. So there, go to KK or LP. Whichever you choose, respect local value, dress properly and spend your money. Bon voyage! | | Permalink |
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