041 Malaysia Trip

In this episode, we'll be talking about my recent trip to Malaysia. We'll talk about coconut water, English in Malaysia, and random little stories as always.

Bookmark Chapters:

0:00 Start
3:17 Malaysia Trip Start
7:56 Coconut water
12:15 English in Malaysia
18:04 Someone dropped chicken on me

Chapters

• 0:00 Start
• 3:17 Malaysia Trip Start
• 7:56 Coconut water
• 12:15 English in Malaysia
• 18:04 Someone dropped chicken on me

Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Kuli English Podcast. It's me, your host, Chris. So this episode is episode 41, and I want to talk a little bit about the previous episode, episode 40, which was the Three Little Pigs. 

And so that episode, like, I thought it was a pretty fun episode. And in case you haven't listened to it, basically what I did was there's a really famous story called the Three Little Pigs, and I basically read that in the podcast. And by reading it, I'm not actually reading it from a book. 

I just kind of read it from the top of my head. So the top of my head, meaning, like, I'm just thinking about it. I don't actually have anything written. 

I don't have a book. I don't have any notes. I don't have any pages in front of me.

And so I did that. And then later on, actually, that episode got taken down. So taken down, meaning, like, you can't post it publicly. 

Like, this is illegal, is what I was told by Spotify. So Spotify sent me an email and said, you can't have this episode up because the Three Little Pigs belongs to someone else. And then there's, like, some other podcast episode called, like, Three Little Pigs. 

And then, like, some other person, that's not me. So it's not Kuli English Podcast. It's not Chris. 

Like, someone else put up an episode. And then so what I had to do is I had to appeal this. So appeal means to, like, you know, like, if someone tells you, you did this wrong, and you say, no, actually, can you please look at it one more time? Or you say, like, no, actually, that might be a mistake. 

And that's called appealing. So I had to send an appeal email to try to appeal the decision and say, no, please, like, I didn't steal anything. And that's the truth. 

Like, in that episode, I basically, you know, just spoke and talked about the story. And I didn't actually have, like, any hard copy, anything that was, like, I was reading off of. So there are no pages. 

There's no, like, notes. There's no, like, actual book or anything. I just, like, talked about it. 

And then for some reason, the automatic detection system said, oh, this is stealing. You stole this from someone else. And then I had to appeal it. 

And then Spotify, I think, like, within a couple hours, they sent back another email that was like, okay, fine. Actually, you're right. You didn't steal anything. 

And so then that episode actually probably wasn't available for, like, 24 hours. Like, I always upload episodes at the same time. So they all go up on Tuesday at 7 a.m. in Japan time. 

But that episode, like, it might have taken, like, another day or so because Spotify was like, you're a bad person. I have to say, no, I'm not a bad person. Again, that's called appealing. 

So I try to appeal the decision. So anyways, in this podcast episode, I want to tell you about my Malaysia trip. So I went to Malaysia just this past week. 

And then in Malaysia is actually where I uploaded the Three Little Pigs episode. And then I had to deal with appealing of the decision in Malaysia. But I want to tell you about my Malaysia trip. 

And so I'm going to be talking about that. And then, of course, I'll also be mixing a couple, like, random other stories and a couple other random English explanations as well. But with that, let's go and take a short little music break, and then we'll come back and continue. 

Okay, so let's go ahead and get started and talk about Malaysia. So Malaysia, number one, if you don't know where Malaysia is, let me go ahead and explain that to you. So Malaysia is south of Thailand, and Thailand is next to Vietnam. 

The whole section of that part of Asia is called Southeast Asia. So Malaysia is close to the Philippines, Malaysia is right next to Singapore. So if you're going to fly from Singapore to Malaysia or Malaysia to Singapore, like that flight's probably just less than two hours. 

So it's really close. And Malaysia, actually, one of the most wonderful things about Malaysia is it's really inexpensive. So you know, I am born and raised in the US, and then I live in Japan now. 

And compared to these two countries, like, Malaysia costs less to do everything. So the way that I say this is, Malaysia is inexpensive. So inexpensive means not expensive. 

And the way that I guess you can kind of explain that if you don't know what that means is, if you want to go out to eat something in Malaysia, let's say we're hungry, we want to go out to eat dinner, then in Malaysia, if you go to eat dinner, it'll cost probably less than if I wanted to go eat the same thing in, like, Japan or the US or something. And you know, this is, like, a general thing. So it doesn't mean it's always true. 

Of course, if I go to Malaysia and I want to eat, like, some really fancy lobster, then it's going to cost more than if I go to, like, a Japanese McDonald's or something like that. But in general, food is actually great in Malaysia, and it's also pretty cheap. And I should also mention that I said Malaysia is inexpensive. 

I didn't say Malaysia is cheap. And cheap kind of means inexpensive, but cheap can also have a negative meaning. But inexpensive usually, it always is positive. 

So that's why I said Malaysia is inexpensive. If I say Malaysia is cheap, then I might be saying something kind of mean. But of course, probably I don't. 

And you know, the real feeling is what counts. And the real feeling is I had a great time and it's nice. But I should also mention that some of the stuff I didn't really have a great time, and that was I got sick. 

So on the flight to Malaysia, I was kind of feeling like, maybe I'm getting sick, I'm not sure. And then on the flight, like, what I'm really scared of is getting sick on, like, flights. I think that's what I'm the most scared of. 

So when I hear lots of noises on the plane, for example, if babies are crying, like, I don't really care. Okay, so babies can cry, they can prevent me from sleeping, that's okay. I don't really sleep that much on planes anyways.

But what I'm scared of is, like, people coughing and, like, people, like, getting germs on me. And then I get sick. And then my trip, my one week trip, I'm supposed to be, like, you know, enjoying it. 

But actually, there were a lot of sick people around me, like, to my front and to my back, like, I was just surrounded by sick people. So there's people like, like, nasty coughs. So it's not like little coughs, you know, like sometimes people have little coughs that are just like, ahem or something like that. 

But they were like, really, like, wet, strong coughs. So there's a phrase that people call, it's called a productive cough. And a productive, productive means, like, you are producing a result, like, it's good, it moves you forward.

And so, like, the way that a lot of medicine and doctors will say is that when you take this medicine, it'll make your coughs more productive. So more things will come out. And that's like a good thing, it, like, feels better to do that. 

But, you know, the people on the plane, while I was flying from Japan to Malaysia, like, they were having super productive coughs, which is good for them, because they're probably getting something out of their system. But it's, like, bad for me, because then the germs are going to come to me. And yeah, and then I was sick every single day in Malaysia. 

So I was already sick when I went to Malaysia. And then when I was leaving Malaysia is when I was starting to actually feel better. So, you know, I ate a bunch of food and stuff, and I experienced a lot of things. 

But I was actually pretty tired and a little bit sad about that. But, you know, it's good to get better. And these kinds of things, you can't really control it. 

So I'm not really sure if I could have really done anything better to avoid getting sick. Sometimes you just get sick, and that's just how it is. And it's wild, because I haven't been sick in, like, over a year, I think. 

And then it just so happened that right as I went to this trip, then that's when I got sick. But let me tell you some more about Malaysia. But let's take a short little break here. 

All right, so let's go ahead and talk about the most important part of Malaysia. The absolutely most important part of Malaysia is coconut water. So if you don't know already, I love coconut water. 

And Malaysia is in Southeast Asia, and Southeast Asia almost always has fantastic coconut water. So let me get right to it and tell you about coconut water. So there was this shop that I went to, and this shop only sells, like, coconut water. 

And they have, like, plain coconut water, and then they have, like, fancy coconut water, and then they have, like, super fancy coconut water. And they, like, make stuff, and it turns into, like, shakes, and they add, like, these special, like, pistachio cream or something like that. But so this restaurant, not a restaurant, it's, like, a store. 

It's, like, a boba store. They, like, sell coconut water drinks, and that's their specialty. It was called YEE3. 

So, like, Y-E-E-3. I don't even know if that's how you pronounce it. And it doesn't mean anything in English, by the way. 

It might, maybe, comes from some other language. I'm not sure. But I went there, and I tried some coconut water. 

You know, remember, I'm, like, sick, so I'm, like, trying to drink more stuff. So I go there, I order some coconut water, and then I drink it. And then, you know, me, I'm, like, a coconut water expert, right? So I drink it, and I'm, like, oh, okay, this is good. 

So, like, I approve. I think it's great. And then I got the coconut water, and I drank it, and I was, like, oh, this is good. 

And so later on, I came back, and then I ordered, like, the large, which is just the bigger version. And, you know, the medium or the large, like, because Malaysia is inexpensive, it was great. And every time I bought the coconut water, I was thinking, oh, this is, like, not expensive. 

I got to buy more. So then I drank a lot of coconut water. And then, actually, I think there wasn't... I think, basically, every single day, I, like, drank coconut water. 

And there was actually one day where I didn't go to that shop and buy coconut water. But the day before that, I went to that shop, and I bought two. So, like, basically, I think it's fine to say I drank coconut water every single day in Malaysia.

And the cashier lady, so the person who, like, basically takes my money and, like, sells me the drink, she also, like, started to recognize me after, like, the third or fourth time. Because at one point, I remember I was ordering, and she was, like, hi. And then, you know, there's kind of, like, two hi's. 

There's, like, the first version of hi is just, like, hi, which doesn't really have much meaning behind it. And then there's, like, the hi, like, the awkward hi. And so the awkward hi is the hi that you give when, like, two people, like, you know, they see each other, like, I remember you. 

And the other person is, like, I remember you, too. So, it was, like, hi. And then I think she gave that kind of awkward hi. 

And afterwards, she was, like, hi, you're allergic to nuts. And I was, like, what? And she's, like, yeah, I remember you said you're allergic to nuts. I was, like, yeah, that's true. 

But it was, like, so kind of random that I wasn't ready for it. And it's because I ordered, like, coconut water. And then I ordered this one special version that has, like, some kind of special, I don't know, cheese cream or something on top. 

And there were also nuts on it. And I'm allergic to nuts. So then I asked, I was, like, oh, I'm sorry, like, can you remove this nuts part? And then that's fine. And you don't have to make the whole thing new. 

And then she's, like, that's no problem. I'll just make the whole thing new. 

Because I guess restaurants, you know, they do that a lot. So then they she made the new drink for me. And then she was, like, okay, so I didn't put nuts. 

But since there were no nuts, I put extra cream in it for you. And I was, like, oh, wow, thank you. And that's how I remember her. 

Because, like, oh, she hooked me up. She gave me some great coconut water. And then I saw her again. 

And she's, like, hi, you're allergic to nuts. And I was, like, what? And then she was just remembering stuff about me and trying to, she's probably trying to say, like, oh, hey, it's me. And I remember you or something like that.

But that was a pretty pleasant experience. I was happy about that. And because of that, I wanted to go more. 

But then I had to, you know, leave Malaysia. So I couldn't go recently, because I already came back to Japan. And also, so actually, in Malaysia, I drank a lot of coconut water and also ate some, like, local food and stuff like that. 

But I should talk about English. So this is also something that I thought a lot about when I went to Malaysia as well. So, for example, in the US, you know, English is very common. 

And in Japan, like, Japanese is very common. So what about Malaysia? What is the most common language in Malaysia? And, you know, there is a language that is, like, native to Malaysia, and that's Malay. But in Malaysia, there's such a big mix of cultures. 

There's, like, Chinese culture. There's, like, Malaysian culture. And there's, like, you know, culture from the nearby countries. 

So there's also, like, Vietnam, Thailand. And then there's also, like, a lot of Arabic culture as well. And, like, in terms of religions, there's also a variety of religions as well. 

It's just a really big mixture of different groups of people. And so, like, the most common language in Malaysia is probably going to be English. Now, I'm not saying everyone speaks only English. 

I'm just saying the safest language that someone else probably also speaks is English. So, you know, maybe I speak Chinese, or I speak Malay, and then I go talk to someone else. But that person, I don't know if they also speak Chinese or Malay. 

They probably speak one or the other. I'm not sure. But they definitely speak English, because English is, like, the most common language there. 

So then a lot of people speak English. And the English has different accents, too. There's, like, the Chinese accent English.

There's, like, the Malaysian accent English. There's, like, kind of, like, the Singaporean accent for English. And it's, I think it's actually really cool. 

And I actually struggled to understand, like, some English as well. So, you know, I am a native English speaker. I was born and raised in the US. And I've taught English for over two years. 

So I've heard a lot of different accents. But at the same time, like, I still couldn't understand a lot of English. And that's because a lot of my teaching experience, I usually had Japanese students, or in some cases, like, you know, Chinese-speaking students or students from other countries. 

But the vast majority of my students were Japanese. So, like, the Japanese accent, I'm, like, really used to it. And, like, Japanese grammar mistakes. 

So what I mean by that is, like, English, English, but then, like, the grammar is kind of, like, in a Japanese shape. So it doesn't really sound native. And that's totally fine. 

Like, I still understand it, because I'm used to it. But in Malaysia, it's a different accent. It's, like, a Malaysian accent, which is pretty similar to a Singaporean accent. 

And sometimes I just couldn't hear it. And also, I was sick. So I was kind of, like, a little bit dumber than I usually am, because I'm kind of like, oh, I'm sick. 

And so I'm, like, you know, not doing a great job listening. 

But I do remember at some point, like, I would talk to people. And then the people would have, like, different intonations and different accents. 

And for the most part, I understand what's going on. But I remember once, like, I was asking the hotel, like, reception staff. So at the front desk is where you ask for stuff, that's where you check in, that's where you check out. And I wanted a phone charger, because the plugs in Malaysia are a little bit different than, like, the plugs in Japan and the US, and so I was, like, oh, I want a phone charger. 

Can you put, like, a phone charger in my room? And the guy was, like, sure, no problem. We can do that for you. Do you also want blblbl? And I was, like, what? And he's, like, do you also want, and he said something that I didn't really understand. 

And I was, like, wait a minute. Is that English? I don't really know. And then so I had to ask, I'm sorry, what? I'm sorry, what? And I said that so many times that I started to feel bad. 

Because, like, you know, if I say what too many times, I feel like I'm being mean or something. And it's not true. Like, I just didn't really understand. 

And they probably also know that, too. But then, like, you know, two more hotel staff came. And, you know, they're, like, they're saying, like, yeah, do you want lblblb? Like, do you want lblblb? And they started making these hand motions where they, like, rub their hands together. 

And I was, like, what is that? And it turns out what they meant was, like, a little bit of a room cleaning, like a touch-up or something. But I don't really know what they said. And they had to explain. 

They were, like, oh, so, you know, we'll, like, take out the trash. And, like, we'll kind of clean a little bit. And we'll switch the towels and stuff like that. 

And I was, like, okay. So, yeah, it's, like, a touch-up or a cleaning. Yeah, sure, no problem. 

Of course, that's fine. And in this moment, I was thinking, oh, so in Malaysia, you know, they have, like, different pronunciations, different accents and stuff. But it's actually really good because almost all people in Malaysia have had exposure to, like, talking to people with different accents. 

And that in itself... So let me say that again. In Malaysia, like, you know, they have different accents and stuff. But it's really good that they have the experience of talking to someone else that has a different accent than them. 

Because what happens is then you get used to the, like, there's this really big part of communication, which is when you don't understand, you say, wait, I don't understand. And then the other person, like, explains more. Or the short version of that is I say, what? And then you have to explain it again. 

And if I still don't understand, then I say, wait, what? What do you mean, what? And then you have to explain it again or, like, third time or something. And so in Malaysia, I think it's just a really common thing for people to meet other people from other cultures. And then your common language is English. 

So they may not be, like, super familiar with English, but they were used to using English for these situations. And so sometimes if something doesn't make it across, like, I say, you know, like, I want to drink coconut water. And the other person's like, what? Then I have to say, you know, coconuts? You know, the coconut juice? I want to drink this. 

And then, like, you can say it in and then it'll kind of make it across. So these are really good experiences, I think, for practicing English communication or just communication in general, not even English. So that was fantastic. 

And let's take a short little break here, and then I'll come back and tell you some more stuff.

All right. So let's make our way into this last section here where I'm talking about Malaysia stuff. 

And first off, I should apologize because, you know, people might, people who are listening to this, some people might be expecting, oh, like, Chris is going to tell me a bunch of stuff about Malaysia, and then, like, it'll be really useful information, and then I can go to Malaysia, and I can, like, do the same stuff. But I actually haven't been really talking about, like, you know, like, what I did in Malaysia as much as I'm really talking more about, like, my experience. So, like, I went there, and I was sick, and I felt tired, and then I drank coconut water, and I was happy. 

So it's a really, like, personal, like, a really subjective point of view. So subjective meaning, like, it's from the point of view of one person, and it's not necessarily true for everybody. So let me continue with that. 

And let me tell you about this one experience that I think was really good for me, or, well, I thought it was nice. And that was when someone dropped chicken on me. So on the flight from Japan to Malaysia, like, I was, like, feeling kind of sick, right? And then there's, like, sick people in front of me and behind me. 

So I'm just surrounded by, like, you know, oh, this is a pretty tough situation. And at some point, like, something fell on my foot. And it's not something heavy. 

It's not something hard, but it was kind of light and a little bit wet. And then, you know, I had my shoes on. So, like, it hit my shoe, but you could hear, like, a wet, like, shwack, like, you know, like, wet stuff hit. 

And, like, a chicken hit me. So a small piece of chicken with, like, some curry or, like, some wet sauce on it, hit my shoe. And then I was thinking, like, what is this? And then, like, I see in front of me, like, someone, like, moving, like, more as if they're looking for something, like, oh, oh, where's, where's my chicken? And then, and then the guy noticed that his chicken, like, fell down the crack. 

And then, like, he paused for a little bit, right? Probably because he's sad. He's like, oh, no, my chicken, like, fell down the crack. Now I can't have the chicken.

And then after the pause, he, like, looked back and he saw me looking at him. And then he put it together in his head. And he was like, oh, my chicken must have, like, fell on him. 

And he's, like, sorry. And then that's the only thing he said. And I'm not really looking for anything more. 

But I just thought it was kind of cute. And I thought it was actually pretty nice that the sorry was kind of well-spirited. It wasn't like a, ugh, sorry, which I think, like, you might encounter that a lot in life where people say sorry, but they don't really mean it.

But this guy was kind of like, oh, sorry. And it was just kind of funny because, I don't know, I guess I was imagining, you know, a situation where you maybe lose something that you want. And you're like, oh, man, I lost it. 

And then you realize, oh, wait, actually, I might have dropped it on someone. And that is kind of rude. So then he's like, oh, sorry.

But so I thought that was really nice. And I thought, actually, a lot of Malaysia is actually just pretty nice. Like the vibe of everyday people on the street, the vibe in stores, it's actually really friendly. 

And I really like that. So as another example, like I already talked about it, but I drank coconut water every single day. Right. 

And then so the employee like remembered me and then out of nowhere, probably on like, you know, the fourth day and like the fifth time that I was ordering coconut water, she was like, oh, hello, you're allergic to nuts. And it's like, it's just funny, because it's like, it's a really random thing to say to someone that's like, hello, you're allergic to nuts. And I think normally, it's like, hello, like, how was your day? Or like, hello, how are you? Like, hello, nice to see you. 

But it's like, hello, you're allergic to nuts. And then I'm like, yes, it's true. Like I'm allergic to nuts. 

But and I like this, I like this kind of warmth. I'm not sure if everybody in the world likes that, because some people probably prefer some distance, like people, you know, maybe they want the employee to not say anything, or they want people to not interact as much. And I've lived in those kinds of parts of the world as well. 

But for me, personally, I like it when people are kind of like friendly. And like the chicken, it's fine. Like, I'll wipe my shoe and call it an interesting experience that I can talk about in the podcast. 

So actually, let me tell you just like one more thing before we finish up this whole thing. So I do want to at least mention the stuff that I saw. So in Malaysia, there are like these really famous twin towers. 

And so they're like these skyscrapers. So skyscrapers are like really, really, really tall buildings. And they're like famous and cool because they're so tall. 

And then there's like two of them. And they're like next to each other. And there's a bridge connecting them. 

And these are called the Twin Petronas Wowers. And so like I saw that. 

And then there's also like this place called the Pink Mosque, which is like a really, really big pink mosque. 

And a mosque is like a place for worship if you're Muslim. And if you're not Muslim, you can still go and like look at stuff. And they might have like, you know, these special tourist areas and like, you know, because some people want to go there and just like pray.

And then if tourists come and do a lot of stuff, then they don't like that. So they have like employees kind of like telling people, hey, since you look like a tourist, like go to the tourist section. And there's like a small tourist section that says tourist section. 

And just I thought I should, you know, include some general information about Malaysia. But then also for withdrawing cash in Malaysia, I ended up withdrawing a little bit too much cash because in Malaysia, actually card works almost everywhere. And you need cash for like probably like small food stalls. 

But remember, I was sick, so I didn't really go out that much. And usually when I went out, actually card was probably fine. And then also chicken shawarma chicken shawarma was really good. 

I wanted to try beef shawarma, but I, you know, didn't have that many meals and I was too busy drinking coconut water. So anyways, maybe that's fine. And, uh, in the next episode, I'm going to be telling you about some stuff, uh, that's not related to Malaysia, but I wanted to do an episode that's like the life of a podcast episode, like from beginning to end and what I actually do for the podcast episodes. But in this podcast, we're just going to talk about like my experience from Malaysia. And, uh, overall, if there's one thing to say, I'll say Malaysia was great. 

It's great, but I was sick and I wish I could go like when I'm not sick. Uh, so maybe next time. And, uh, yeah, I had some other stories, but I'm not going to tell, uh, tell them because we are almost out of time. 

So with that, let's go ahead and wrap up. So thank you so much for listening until the end of Kuli English podcast. Uh, I was your host, Chris. 

And if you like these kinds of stories, or if you want to like share this podcast episode with someone that you think might enjoy, definitely feel free to do that. You can subscribe or follow if you want, but you don't have to. And, uh, so thank you so much for listening and I hope to see you next Tuesday.