People are generally wonderful, really helpful and lovely. And in a genuine kind of way, not the ‘customer service’ kind of way. It’s also amazing how well pretty much everybody knows English. This, plus what I heard from various backpackers, suggests that Malaysia is really easy to travel around – South Asian tourism easy mode.
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I’m confused about gender norms. In Miri, the tea place had a mixed young staff. At airports security is mixed. In Mulu, all guides, boat drivers and security are male, all kitchen staff and market vendors female. In the park office, I saw a guy pretty openly slapping another guy’s ass.
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Most people in Mulu work 6 day weeks and don’t particularly like it. Most of them say they love the job though.
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There are flags everywhere. Sometimes it seems like every other shop does the Malaysian flag. In Sarawak they fly their flag a lot as well, in Sabah a bit less so. Reminds me of the US, especially since the Malaysian flag actually looks quite similar.
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Most tourists here are Chinese and the Malaysians don’t like them. They say they prefer white tourists who are less noisy and more respectful – but they say this to me, a white guy, so hard to know for sure. Chinese tourists have interesting mannerisms, especially when it comes to taking pictures – they really pose, with at last one person doing a V with their fingers, and seem to arrange themselves in competition to create the best Happy Family composition.
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Being tall is difficult. Most places have quite low ceilings and low doorways. This was particularly difficult in KK markets, where a lot of stuff is hanging from the ceilings, too.
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