Travel in Malaysia –Things you need to know

      1)          Language

a.    Malaysia is  among fast developing nations and gives priority to its education system. Most of Malaysian able to understand and speak basic English (at least Manglish –mix of English with local Malay Language). Therefore, a visitor who able to speak and understand English won’t find them difficult while travelling in Malaysia.b.    Seems Malaysia is a multiracial country, travelers from China and India will find themselves easier to communicate with local Chinese and India community. Most of them are able to communicate in their mother tongue.

2)          Currency

a.    All trades in Malaysia use Malaysian Ringgit  / Ringgit Malaysia (common symbol as MYR or RM). Travelers will find it’s easy to do transactions using Debit Cards/ Cash Card or Credit Card here at Malaysia. Most shops, hotels, restaurants, petrol stations accept VISA and MASTERCARD, and very few accept American Express. As a traveler, I will advise you to use this cash card/debit card or credit card facility while traveling in Malaysia. It’s much safer, and you may keep your cash to be used while travel to native area and islands in Malaysia.

b.    The traveler will find most of the ATM machine here accepts PLUS, MEPS, MASTER CARD, VISA, CIRRUS / MAESTRO. Please activate your card to be used in Malaysia from your home country to make sure your cards are accepted here.

3)          Traffic rules

a.    Malaysia is former British colonies and its uses most common traffic rules with other commonwealth countries. Here we drive in left and overtake on the right.b.    All vehicles must have valid road tax and it’s should be displayed visibly in front windscreen.c.    Drivers and passengers must wear seat belts all the time or you will be summoned RM300.00 per cased.    The driver must have a valid driving license before he/she can drive in Malaysia. Travelers should have international driving license or  its English translation to allow them to drive in Malaysia. Anyway, for those who like travel here I will strongly recommend to use available public transport (depending the state you are visiting), as it seems you will need to go trough long procedure before able to obtain your driving license here.e.    Bear in mind that the speed limit in normal road will be 90 km/h and 110 km/h on highways, unless stated otherwise.f.    I will advise travelers  strictly follow speed limits even though you will find out some of ‘reckless local drivers’ drive faster than the speed limits on the road to avoid a summons.

4)          Food

a.    This is  the most fascinating things to write about Malaysia. Malaysian like to eat and we eat a lot, I mean A LOT. There are varieties of options when we talk about foods in Malaysia as the foods here are assimilated with multi-racial cultures. Almost most of main cities here have restaurants operating for 24 hours / 7day a week. Even it’s easy to find foreign food franchises like KFC, Mc Donalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dominos and etc. and most of them operate for  24 hours.b.    As a Malaysian, I can recommend you a long list of must try food in Malaysia. Anyway, here I list it top 10 of favorite Malaysian delights that you should not miss while traveling in Malaysia.      
 i.    Roti Canai (ideal combination with ‘tea tarik’)

   

     ii.    Nasi Lemak

         iii.    Nasi Kandar

          iv.    Mee Curry         
v.    Char kuey teow

      vi.    Rojak / Pasembur
     vii.    Mee goreng mamak / Mamak fried mee


    viii.    Satey

   ix.    Lemang with rendang                                        
x.    Ais Kacang / Cendol


c.    Traveler will  find out that Malaysian foods are sweeter, especially if you traveling in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. Therefore, if you don’t like to eat sweet things, better mention it when you make your order.

5)          Phone Calls

a.    It’s something unavoidable from make calls back to your home countries while travelling. In Malaysia competition among telcos provider is very high and that’s good news as a consumer because, we are  able to get better and cheaper call rates.  Travelers may buy SIM cards with passport verification and able to use their new numbers in the first few hours after activation.

b.    There are varieties of options when you want to choose a telcos provider. I will recommend you to choose among Celcom, Maxis or Digi seems these are the top three companies here in Malaysia and their phone call rates are reasonable. Wide coverage and good customer care are some other reasons to choose among these companies.c.    Due to high competition, their international rates frequently been revived and therefore I don’t want to elaborate about that here. For more information about their product, you may visit their home page 
i.    www.celcom.com.my                                   
ii.    www.maxis.com.my                               
iii.    www.digi.com.my

d.  It’s a must to know whom you can call while in emergency when traveling aboard. Here are some Emergency contacts that you should register in mind while travelling in Malaysia. Since 2010, Malaysia has been using the integrated emergency call service (something like 911 in America). You only need to dial 999 from any land line or cell phone (hand phone) to get help from Police, Fire Emergency Services or for an  Ambulance.

6. Weather 

 The whole of Malaysia has an equatorial climate with moderately high temperatures and wet months throughout the year.  Temperatures at sea level range from 20°C to 34°C. Highlands area, however cooler with temperatures range from 10°C to 25°C.The weather in Malaysia can be divided into two monsoons, namely the Southwest  Monsoon from  May to September and Northeast Monsoon from November to March.  The Northeast monsoon  brings heavy rainfall, especially to the east coast of  Peninsular and Western Sabah & Sarawak. During this season, most of beach resorts and islands on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia are closed. The states like, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang can be flooded during this monsoon. Therefore, these areas are best avoided during the monsoon. Southwest monsoon relatively dry weather.  The annual mean rainfall on the cape of Malaysia ranges at 2000-2500mm. 

Malaysia is one of the country that receives rain throughout the year. Maxwell Hill, Perak is known as the rainiest area in Malaysia  that receives 5000mm per year.The humidity in Malaysia is relatively very high, with an average of 80-84%  throughout the country. However, Malaysia can be visited throughout the year and the best way to decide when to come to Malaysia is to consider the timing of various events to be held. Check on this page for latest info about Malaysia weather http://www.met.gov.my/

                                      

 to be continued....