10 Things I learned about Malaysia and its wonderful people (Part 2) :)

A Malaysian woman sells her goods along the road, just like in the Philippines

Unlike Kuala Lumpur, Kota Bharu is a predominantly Muslim district. From the capital, it takes an hour by plane to get there. For the second time, I was able to Malaysia last week for the "Kelantan Food Trail" event spearheaded by Tourism Malaysia and partner hotels.

Yesterday, I listed down the first half of my entry "10 Things I learned about Malaysia and its wonderful people." Here's the second half:

Who would have thought this isn't just a shot of the thousands of sari-sari stores here in the country

6. A new trend is biking at ungodly hours 
          Once, a local friend picked me up from the hotel where we were staying and we went for a little cruise around town. He pointed at a group of bikers and said that's a new trend happening now. It wouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary except that it was past 2:30 in the wee hours then! During our little joyride, we passed by several groups of bikers. Even my friend does not know why these people decide to bike after midnight.

A group of women welcome us to an island
that promotes homestay

7. Kelantan builds its first fly over
          This is why I love having some "me time" away from a big group--it's because you discover certain aspects of the area you won't normally notice when you're in a group of 58 people inside a bus. Again, during my little cruise around the area, my local friend pointed to a construction that Kelentan's first ever fly over--a sign that this place is ready for more modernization. Hopefully, he said, a movie house is next in the offing. :)

8. Many shops are close on Fridays
          Because Kota Bharu is a predominantly Muslim area, many shops are close on Fridays. This is because men, who normally mans the shops in the area, go to their respective Mosques to pray. From what I have deduced, Fridays are like what Sundays are to Christians (where people go to Mass). I was told the businessmen make up for loss of business by opening their shops on weekends, too.

9. You can call for "private taxis"
          While almost everyone has their own cars (most deals offer zero downpayment and up to 9 years to pay), people in Kelantan can also call for "private taxis." These are private vehicles that offer to ferry you from point A to point B at lower costs (because they're not "real" cabs).

10. Many words are the same or are similar
          Many Malay words are similar or are exactly the same to the Filipino language. For example, their word for men is "lelaki," which in Filipino is "lalaki." Their local term for the Filipino word "tulak" (for "push") is "tolak." And their local term for Filipino word "hangin" (for "air") is "angin." I could go on but you get the point. :)

*** To read the first half of this list, please click here ("10 Things I learned about Malaysia and its wonderful people") ***