No Comments// Posted in Trips & Holidays by Wytze on 12.10.08.

Just got back from another Holiday. This time I visited the realms of South East Asia. This was my first time to Asia actually, and I never expected it to be like this..

The holiday was a gift for my mom’s Birthday and kind of a thank you for the good raising she did of me, even though I still have horrible table manners. But I managed to find a period in which we could all free up our schedules and spend some quality time in a foreign country. Well foreign for me, my mother was actually born in Java, Indonesia and this was the first time she’d gone back.

We flew in from Amsterdam, and spend the first two days in Kuala Lumpur, where I understand MindValley moved their business last year. I can’t blame them; Kuala Lumpur seems like a great place to run a company in. And with the Asian economy rapidly growing, even while the rest of the world is in ‘recession’ it seems like they will be doing some great business there over the next couple of years.

I was amazed by the incredible difference between rich and poor there. On the one hand you could spend less than a dollar and have a complete rice dinner in the evening markets of the city, on the other hand you could easily find a restaurant that allowed you to spend a couple of hundred bucks for sort of the same food, only in a fancier environment.

Christine made me try the rambutan fruits, which she bought somewhere on the street for a couple of cents. The same fruit here in Amsterdam costs over two dollars. I didn’t like it, as you can see.

The morning after my heroic fruit eating experience we took a flight to Bali for the rest of our trip. If you’ve been there you know what I’m talking about; Traffic is crazy there! They have no idea how to steer, clutch or use the breaks! I’m just going to say it out load. Bali people cannot drive. Period. – No offense.

After a couple of days of well deserved relaxations we took a trip to the monkey forest, some temples, and the holy springs. I was really blown away by how different our cultures are. Our guide was married to a western man, so she totally understood the culture shock and told us that her husband still feels like this every day. It’s a hard time adjusting – I’ll bet.

Anyway it was a great insight, to see how our cultures connect and how we differ. There’s without a doubt a lot we can learn from each other. With both Kuala Lumpur and Bali somehow sparked some of my interest in Asia, I wonder what I should visit next.

What do you think ?

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