OK, OK, I'll write a bit. And, provide some background.
Gang, apologies. I did not warn y'all how I planned this trip.
Some context. My trip in May was the 1st step in offshoring myself. It sought to answer the question: Could I live in Malaysia?
Answer: It's fucking hot as hell here but that is the only flaw. And at the end of 2 weeks in May I began to feel as if I was acclimating. Good.
Now, you dear and hopefully sane reader, have a different question: Jim, why the fuck would you move more than 1/3rd around the globe as the giant albatross flies? From a climate you generally find suitable to one that is similar to walking on Venus or Mercury, no less?!?
😉
1) I am different - hopefully in the good crazy way. The difference is a certainty.
In July '22 (at 57 y.o.) a doc told me I'm autistic. That was the most perfect mix of "What the fuck!" + "Oh, hell yes that dude is on the spectrum." It's all true and all still mixing in the granola bowl of my mind.
You can use the phase "Asperger's Syndrome" if helps for you to understand. Neither Rain Man or Christian Wolfe (Ben AFLAC's [HONK!] role in "The Accountant" not the historic mathematician.) But if you wish to learn more, please start with looking into why the phrase Asperger's Syndrome was folded into Austism Spectrum Disorder*
And, half a century of "masking" (desperately trying to be normal and fit in....HA!) burnt me out beyond belief. Not for the first time. Cf 2002-2005. If you have reasons to fear you may be in the same place, I'll help however I can. Tell me if you need to be heard, helped, or hugged. I'll do what I can.
I will not pretend to be what I am not anymore. On the other hand, living an autistic life in the USA is cruel, sucky, insufferable, demanding, demeaning, and more.
2) One of the things my travel has taught me is that the world loves a friendly, earnest**, polite, learning, willing traveler.
If you learned just one thing from Anthony Bourdain and it was not "The willingness of a traveler to genuinely meet, greet, and eat the new is what opens up the world," you were watching something else. Disagree? Read his books, then re-watch his shows. Then come have Laksa or Chicken Rice with me. Yes, even his biography of Typhoid Mary. Miss that dude, so much.
Learn "Thank You" ('terimah kasih' in the Indo-Malay world), "You're Welcome" (Sama Sama), and "Good + Morn/Afternoon/Eve" (Selamat + Pagi/Petang/Siore) then open your eyes, ears, lips, mind, and heart in your actions. I assure you, you will be welcome almost anywhere. Well, anywhere but the USA, UK, and other places where by virtue of English being the lingua franca of transit, commerce, and much more we have closed ourselves to guests. We ain't really friendly. Especially 'Mericans.
Overseas, do this and people will literally invite you into their homes and cook for you.
The Bahasa Malaya phrases above are the only words I know here basically. (Beginning to put things together "ice", "water", are starting to pop up visually - to be spoken as the next opp arises.) In spite of that, people here are kind and helpful. If they see I'm lost, they offer help. If I say Terimah Kasih they smile from ear to ear and tap their heart (with right hand only!) because so few do. Faces light up.
I have dived with a pair of friend since 1997. They always wonder why I get better service, bigger portions, and preferred treatment at the dining table, etc. Literally: Please, Thank You, Good+day part. My most recent long term partner even noticed on our first trip to Asia. She caught on. She got good treatment too.
Treat another well, and they will hopefully reciprocate. If not, move along. "Tit for Tat" remains the optimal game theory for relationships and diplomacy usually. Go where you are treated best. Full stop
3) Food. Just Google it. Picture Singapore as a full scale country (it was part of Malaysia in '63-65.) The confluence on Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Arab cultures and cuisines is just as inherent to Malaysia. Why settle for a city-state with great food when you can have a country the size of New Mexico with all that and much more. And, actually there is significant Thai influe in the food here too.
Seriously. This place is the best place to eat I have ever been. Yes, far better than Spain. (That is a fighting phase, I know. But, I love Spain too.) And, the food of Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam is so close one could do a day trip for lunch. Manila is probably an overnight dinner trip.
4) The MYR spends like a buck. Cold can of soda = 3 RM. Light breakfast = 10-20 RM. But it's only $0.23 to buy one.
Basically the place cost 1/4th - 1/5th of things in the USA. And, I'm on a budget. Permanently***
Tell me why I wouldn't want to move here! Oh, the weather. We'll whine about that pretty steadily for the next two weeks. Stay tuned.
I'll proof and edit this later. Tired.
___________________________________________________________________________________
* Turns out the being a child murdering NAZI is bad for your reputation.
** Oh, we gonna talk about being earnest some day rant. It'll be epic I fear.
*** Me and a job ain't ever gonna be acquainted again - masking destroys one. Not again. Poor and Happy is better than rich and dead.
Comments