Scott Barronton (00:00)
One of our favorite parts of travel isn't just going somewhere new, it's learning about it before we go. Every destination has its own story and sometimes the best way to understand it is through the people who know it best. Our upcoming cruise from Tasmania to Southeast Asia, one of the places we're most excited to explore is Malaysia, a country where cultures, cuisines, and traditions all blend together in the most fascinating way.
Today we're joined by two friends whose wanderlust is absolutely contagious. Colin and Meg from Colinandmeg.com. have an insatiable passion for adventure and storytelling, and we always love sitting down to talk travel with them. But this time we're getting to benefit from Colin's firsthand experience. He was born and raised in Malaysia and Meg's perspective as someone who's visited several times with their family.
Together they'll help us uncover what makes this country so special and what we should be sure to experience as we plan our own visit in the weeks ahead.
Speaker 2 (01:10)
We're Scott and Melissa, The Sunshine Travelers.
Speaker 1 (01:12)
We're all about exploring the world and sharing the journey with you. Whether you're a seasoned traveler, dreaming of your next adventure, or just here for the stories.
Speaker 2 (01:20)
No matter where you are on your travel journey, we've got first-hand experiences, tips, and plenty of inspiration from some of the most amazing places on Earth.
Speaker 1 (01:29)
So buckle up and get ready to travel with us.
Scott Barronton (01:37)
Scott, know Malaysia is one of those places that keeps popping up in conversations with other travelers about the cities, the food, the culture, the incredible diversity. And it's really not a destination though that gets as much attention as some of its neighbors. No, we're more likely to hear about Thailand or Vietnam or one of those places. And that's part of why we're excited to learn about it. We'll be visiting two parts.
Kuala Lumpur and Penang during our upcoming cruise through Southeast Asia. So before we go, we wanted to sit down with Colin and Meg and learn what to expect, what to eat, and how to experience Malaysia like a local. And I think this conversation is going to give us and hopefully our listeners a whole new appreciation for Malaysia and what to look forward to. So I say that we skip straight to the interview. Let's do it.
Scott (03:35)
Colin and Meg, welcome back to the show. We're glad to have you guys rejoin us.
Meg (03:40)
Thank you, glad to be here.
Scott (03:42)
It's been a while since we last spoke, but you know, we've been keeping up with you guys and seeing everything that's going on. And we're just happy to have you join us and talk about Malaysia.
Colin (03:53)
Yes and yeah thanks for having us back first of all I feel like our our lives have changed so much since but yeah you reached out about Malaysia which is where I was born and raised for 19 years so yeah I will I will talk about Malaysia all day to anyone who will listen
Scott (04:10)
Well, good. We're going to be traveling through Malaysia as a part of our upcoming trip. And so we just want to give our listeners a little bit of inspiration about visiting Malaysia. You you can do it like we're doing either on a cruise or like you guys are going to be going there and staying for a longer period of time.
Colin (04:33)
Yes, we are. We just had our third child. And so it is time to take him back to the motherland to meet his cousins, to meet my parents. And so, yeah, we're going from Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve. Yeah. And so when you're going across the world with three children, you might as well go for a while. So we'll be doing what kind of you're doing. We're going to spend some time with family.
course from Borneo East Malaysia side so a whole other island a three hour flight away but we're gonna land in Kuala Lumpur like most people and we're gonna spend some time there we're gonna spend some time in Penang which which I think you guys are hitting up to and so yeah we're kind of getting the tour of Malaysia kind of like you guys are
Melissa (05:20)
And we actually found out before we hit record that you guys will be there on the same day or you'll be arriving the day that we are there on the cruise, which is completely crazy. So.
Meg (05:29)
So we fully expect you to pick us up from the airport, snacks in hand. I'm just kidding. That is...
Scott (05:36)
This is something we might do.
Colin (05:38)
Well,
here you need a crying baby too.
Melissa (05:39)
Yeah.
now I'm good with that. So.
Meg (05:42)
No, but that is
Scott (05:43)
That
was a threat. don't think you'll listen to that as a threat.
Melissa (05:46)
Any of those things are a threat you guys.
Colin (05:48)
That's great. I'm going to be really sad when you guys are not there then. I'll be thinking about y'all.
Meg (05:53)
That is just crazy to have to overlap on the same day. Like, yeah, that feels wild.
Scott (05:59)
Yeah. I mean, we're both East coasters and we're going to go to Kuala Lumpur to meet up again. The funny story is, traveling for work the last time and I didn't actually get to meet you guys when you came and actually stayed at our house. It's a pair of our dogs while we were traveling one time.
Meg (06:05)
Yeah. Yeah, it's the most convenient thing.
Colin (06:17)
Yeah
Now we met your dogs but not you.
Scott (06:22)
So we're definitely going to have to try to make that happen that you know, even if it's just to meet you guys with a little bag of snacks and Yes, hello That we would do that. Yeah. Well Colin you grew up in Malaysia and Meg you've had the opportunity to experience it with your travels there as a family What do you think stands out to each of you when you think about Malaysia?
Meg (06:33)
We love it.
Colin (06:50)
Megan answer this one first.
Meg (06:52)
a unique experience because my very first time visiting, we had just gotten married. And since Colin's family, still lives in Malaysia, we decided to have two separate weddings. So we had a stateside wedding with my family and our friends here. And then 30 days later, we flew across the world. And my first time meeting his mom, his dad, anyone in his family, or even experiencing the Malaysian culture was as newlyweds.
it was an overwhelm of culture and tradition. And, I think we'll talk about this a little bit later, but Malaysia is a melting pot of many cultures. And Colin has that in his own immediate family. And so for our wedding, we did a Chinese, tea ceremony and we honored his mom's heritage, like through that. And then we had a wedding reception and I would say most of the food at the wedding reception was. Chinese food. Yeah. And so.
Colin (07:40)
Yeah, we did change
Meg (07:43)
It was my first experience was like kind of whiplash, you know, all these beautiful traditions, this amazing food, but then interwoven to that was like meeting my mother-in-law for the first time. And so that
Colin (07:55)
like hey you married into this
Melissa (07:58)
Yeah
Meg (07:58)
Yeah. so all of that, my experience of Malaysia is, was all of that at the same time, which was overwhelming, but also really wonderful too, to get to know that part of him because I'd only heard about it in stories up until that point.
Colin (08:12)
Yeah, but what would you say that like stuck out to you that you like, like Malaysia equals XYZ?
Meg (08:19)
I mean, I think it was a lot more diverse than I was expecting, not only in means of culture and food. You know, there are different restaurants that people go to because they want different kinds of cuisine, which sounds silly because that's how it is in the States and probably most countries. But I think I was thinking like it was one type of food, but it's many kinds of food or it's one type of culture, but there's a big, it's a melting pot of culture. And so that was interesting to learn. then also my experience on mainland Malaysia,
Like Kuala Lumpur or Penang feels those are major, well, not Penang, KL is a major city and where Colin is from is not that. So he's from a more rural part of Malaysia.
Colin (09:00)
I like to call it the wild side of Malaysia.
Meg (09:02)
the
wild side. I mean, the island of Borneo is known for wildlife and people go there to adventure and, experience different kinds of safaris and climb mountains. But yeah, I think the stark contrast between the major cities and then where he actually was from was also overwhelming on that trip because I was like, wow, like we're there's yeah, you know, it was it was a lot. Yeah.
Colin (09:23)
Yeah.
Yeah, but I think whether or not you end up in Borneo or you end up in the peninsula side, either way, like Meg said, you're going to get hit with all different cultures at once. I mean, even when we have a conversation, Scott, in one sentence, we'll use vocabulary from three or four different languages certain things you just use a certain language to describe and everyone kind of...
nods and understands. And people ask me all the time, know, what is food like? And I'll say, I'll wake up and I'll go eat noodles with some roasted pork for breakfast or some dim sum. And then I'll go to like maybe an Indian restaurant for lunch. And then at night it could just be any kind of street food. You know, we'll have something familiar like a chicken satay.
and we'll eat that and we'll watch. love football, AKA soccer. So we'll put the watch that on a big screen and drink tea and all that stuff, late through the night. And we also eat a lot. We're like hobbits. We eat five or six times a day. All day. And the culture is so synonymous with food. Like every everything is done over meals and over food. And so to get to know Malaysia is to get to know it through what's on your plate. Yeah.
That was such a long answer.
Scott (10:46)
No.
Melissa (10:47)
It was great. What struck me as you were talking about that though, is that is a Malaysia that it's not like touristy, right? You can experience some of those things, but Meg, you got to experience it for the first time as an insider. Sometimes we've gotten to go travel to places where we've been with people either through a habitat trip or I'm just trying to think of some examples, but it's different or sometimes on your work trips even when you're with work people and they take you
to a hockey game and it's a different experience of just being there by yourself and hitting these touristy sites. And I just love that.
Colin (11:23)
Nothing beats knowing someone from that culture. Any country we go to, once you have a connection, it changes the whole game. And in Megan's case, she's never getting out of this connection.
Scott (11:34)
So it sounds to me then that one of the things we should probably try to prioritize while we're there is doing some type of food tour to experience all of those different cultures.
Colin (11:46)
Yeah. Yes. Yes. I don't know why I didn't even think of that. And you know what the funny thing is Scott, like every day is a food tour because if you are friends with a Malaysian, you'll likely meet up somewhere where there's food and then you'll go somewhere on the way. You have to stop at this place and then you have to go eat this at that place. And so it's an ever-revolving food tour. It's our daily life.
A food tour is it?
Meg (12:15)
I mean, we have friends that actually just moved to Malaysia. Like they moved their whole family there and they were just in the arrivals part of the airport and Collins texting them, you've got to eat here and you've got to grab this snack from this bakery. Like at the air.
Colin (12:30)
Yeah,
our airports are like filled with restaurants. Yes.
Meg (12:35)
Experience starts upon landing though. Like you just got to get meals in.
Colin (12:39)
Yeah, what goes through a Malaysian's head is like, if I'm going to be here for an hour, there better be some food options.
Melissa (12:45)
you
Colin (12:46)
So yeah, you'll experience a lot of that.
Melissa (12:48)
Well, that's good because we always worry about are we going to go hungry at this place? are we going to be able to find anything to eat? that's good.
Colin (12:54)
Yeah, you won't have to pack anything. It'll be there for you.
Scott (12:58)
Well, what, are some of the things that we prioritize to try to find? Seek out to eat while we're there.
Colin (13:04)
Man that's such a loaded
Scott (13:06)
Sounds like there's nothing that's uniquely Malaysian.
The Indian and Malay and Chinese and-
Colin (13:13)
Well, there's certain, it gets so layered, right? So they may be classified as Indian or Malay or Chinese, but then they become like a Malaysian version of it. There are only a certain amount of dishes that we have classified like, hey, these are our cultural treasures. But a lot of what you'll find, you have so many people coming in and out of the country throughout history.
that it's got its own twist of things. So, I mean, the basic things you have to look out for. You want me to do this? Yeah. List out.
Meg (13:51)
People want to know. I want to know. Maybe stop yourself at like, don't go beyond 10.
Melissa (13:57)
Ha ha ha!
Colin (13:58)
talking about my love language here, just food. And I generally think I still say to myself sometimes when I grow up, I want to be a food vlogger. So whether or not that happens, we'll see TBD. But I think any one visiting Malaysia, they will tell you to try nasi lemak. Nasi means rice. So you'll see all kinds of dishes that start with the word nasi. So I think and people to me, it's a little jarring.
people recommend this as a breakfast, but it's like rice that's cooked in a banana leaf. So you got all that aroma in it. And it comes with some sort of curry and then another flavor curry and all these kinds of spices that go on it. And people eat this for breakfast. You can buy the one dollar version or the five dollar version. Doesn't matter. So you can go that route.
And then there's like a million versions of noodles. You want noodles in broths, noodles and curry broths, noodles with all kinds of sauces. There's when you are in Penang, that's a whole other food. That's actually the food capital of Malaysia. So you're going to want, and I think you'll see this in restaurants, even in America, but char kway teow. It's kind of like our vision of
Meg (15:08)
world.
Colin (15:19)
Pad-see-ew but they fry it, these rice noodles and they'll put some oysters in it and then you'll try, they have curry mee. Mee is another word for noodles. So you'll see a lot of nasi and a lot of mee, which is rice and noodles, which is comfort food everywhere you go. And don't worry about spice. Some things can be really spicy, but you can always ask first. And so.
Yeah, I mean you just asked me like you just brought me into a toy shop and I don't know which aisle to walk down
Meg (15:51)
Tell him about just chicken rice.
Colin (15:54)
⁓ my God, I'm so glad you brought this up. I don't know why I didn't even tell you my favorite Malaysian meal. Okay. I mean, it's the safest thing. It is like chicken tenders and fries for an American kid. But chicken rice is just rice that has been cooked with all kinds of aromas and they use the flavors from the chicken, either the chicken broth or they steam or roast the chicken. They use all all that delicious juice and cook the rice. ⁓
And then, you'll have a plate of rice and a bed of chicken. You always want to go with the chicken thighs. It has more flavor. And they'll have a delicious light soy sauce on it, but the flavor of the rice and the chicken together, sounds so so good. And I make it almost every Saturday morning.
Meg (16:37)
It's very, it's delicious.
Scott (16:42)
Are these street food or is this in like little small cafes, restaurants? What is this?
Colin (16:49)
I'm so glad you asked. So the gateway to Malaysia will be through hawker centers. And so, or they, or you'll see this everywhere, food courts and it's basically an open air place. Yeah. And everyone there has just perfected their one dish. And this family has been making this since for generations. My grandma actually started was also.
Meg (17:04)
It's a little kitchen.
Colin (17:17)
you know, had a food court and she would fry noodles every morning. That was my mom's first job. And so you go to any food court. Now, not all food courts are created equal. You got to ask the locals like, hey, what to get at this food court. But it's really easy to spot because if it's good, there's, there's a line.
Meg (17:37)
⁓ And I'll say as a tourist, you're lot of times, you know, if your malls are like the center, especially in a big city like KL, a lot of people end up in malls and you'll see a food court at like ground level and it's maybe got the McDonald's or the Popeyes. That's not the food court. There's always another food court. the what am I trying to say? The floor underneath like. There won't be it be mixed in with like the Western restaurants. It'll be like their own.
Colin (17:58)
There's always like a mezzanine
Burger King and the TGIFs will be a standalone rush. And then the court is where you'll find the crowds of people.
Meg (18:09)
It's gonna be a level down.
Scott (19:20)
I what we've seen recently is we'll definitely see a five guys. Those things are popping up all over the world. Everywhere we go now, there's five guys. I don't get that because in some of these countries, five guys would be a year's salary. ⁓
Meg (19:30)
Bye guys.
Colin (19:36)
Yeah,
I mean it doesn't even come with fries So, yeah.
Meg (19:40)
And a lot of these meals that he mentioned, you can also find in Singapore, like the
Colin (19:46)
Singapore Penang. Yeah, it's a very South East. Yeah, so I would say like if you are not sure what to even try, I know I just spouted so many different things, go to a food court, you pick your table and you can just walk around and you order a little bit of this, a little bit of that and you can have your own little, they'll bring it to you to your table. There will be a drink station, you order your drinks.
Meg (19:49)
that you're visiting.
not
committing to like one meal. Like you could probably share three or four between the two of you and get to taste.
Colin (20:18)
very family style and this is every food court. But also a lot of great restaurants as well, also try those.
Scott (20:26)
One of the tips that I read about is do we need to have cash to go to these food courts?
Colin (20:34)
Yeah, really varies. It's Malaysia's sort of a 50-50 situation. And I know that if you're a resident and you're a local, you have more options to use cards, and use phones to pay for things.
Meg (20:47)
I would say probably cash is the better bet.
Colin (20:50)
Yeah, but as a tourist, like I know that like even when I'm taking a Grab, which is like an Uber, I use cash because unless I have a Malaysian phone number, things kind of unlock electronically. but I think you can, you know, going through any airport, any rest stop, any mall, you can use your card, but yeah, always carry cash too.
Meg (21:09)
Especially for food court.
Melissa (21:10)
Yeah. And I just wanted to say real quick is that you have passed that love of the rice and the noodles and those things for breakfast onto your daughters. Cause I remember y'all sharing one time she's fixing her breakfast every day and that's what she's, that's what she's cooking. So.
Colin (21:26)
it's still that way.
Meg (21:27)
Yeah, we actually had to just implement a rule because they were making their own packets of noodles like every morning for breakfast and they won't finish the entire portion. And I was like, guys, we're going to have to take a noodle break because
Colin (21:41)
Russian noodle break.
Meg (21:42)
We're on a little bit of a noodle break, he definitely, know, the curry flavors and rice and even that was actually one of the things I mentioned to him was a first impression of Malaysia is being in his small town. A lot of the restaurants are open air. like, you know, just whatever it feels like outside, which is hot is how it feels inside. And we'd walk into these restaurants on the corner of neighborhoods and everyone around me is ordering like hot tea to drink and ordering hot
noodles like soup for breakfast and it's so hot and I just thought
Colin (22:15)
Here's Megan with the Ice Everything.
Meg (22:17)
I'm like, can I get that on ice? I'm just so hot. yeah, that has definitely passed down to our kids, just those more traditional, like they aren't cereal kids, they're rice and noodle kids, which is definitely fun.
Scott (22:30)
So to assume that I can get my chai there then.
Meg (22:32)
Yeah.
Colin (22:33)
Yes. mean, you can get, well, you can get chai definitely in Indian places, but you it's what we drink a lot, Scott, is just really strong tea, but we counter balance that with a lot of cream, condensed milk and sugar. Yeah. So you're getting sweet. Yeah. You're getting just sweet. Lots of tea. Yeah.
Melissa (22:52)
So.
Scott (22:58)
So we're going to Kuala Lumpur first, which is where we're going to overlap. Would you say then, because you've talked about Penang as being kind of the food capital of Malaysia, so should we maybe focus on doing the temples and things like that in Kuala Lumpur and then maybe err more on the food side in Penang?
Melissa (23:09)
Mm-hmm.
Colin (23:20)
think that's been the general advice that a Malaysian would give you. you know, think times, my algorithm tells me that KL is what we call it, KL, Kuala Lumpur. I think the balances have kind of scaled, you know, kind of in a lot, there's a lot of good chefs and restaurants now, a lot of good food in the city too. And so I wouldn't spare yourselves. I would just dive right in and enjoy every meal.
Meg (23:49)
But given their itinerary, yes, find a great meal in KL, but there's less of the temples and things to see in Penang. You see what I'm saying? You're kind of balancing. So I think he would be right. Yeah. Like you could lean that way.
Colin (24:03)
are
some sites that you want to see in KL. When you get to Penang, I think you'll likely be docking in Georgetown, which is a UNESCO heritage site. And it's the older side of Penang, but it's so charming. My mom is actually from a neighborhood that is right on the beach. And so every time we visited as kids, we would always just stay there.
and skip the whole local, you know, cultural things. And it's only now that I'm in my thirties and like, mom, this has been here this whole time. And all of these charming cafes and boutiques and there's Michelin star restaurants and all these colonial era buildings with great Michelin guide street food. So it's all there. want to, you want to be walking around tasting different things.
Melissa (24:40)
You
Meg (24:59)
Yeah, just buying. mean, that was one of my memories when we were walking around that part of Penang and your dad was like, he's selling samosas, you know, like a little food stand. Just walk up and that's why you need cash because the samosa man is not going to take your card. But they were delicious. just having, think that's the most fun part about being in a place like that is
Just seeing something delicious on the street and going for it and tasting it and then finding something else a few blocks down makes it just fun.
Colin (25:29)
Yeah. And then if you have a, and then if you just want to hit pause and get yourself a really nice latte, you can do that too.
Scott (25:36)
So I think now I've got to go because we haven't booked anything for Malaysia yet. So Penang, we're doing a food tour. I'll go for a food tour and then we'll do all the temples and stuff in Kuala Lumpur.
Colin (25:51)
Yes.
Meg (25:52)
I approve that plan as the tourist and the non-Malaysian. Yeah.
Melissa (25:56)
Sounds great.
Colin (25:57)
Yeah, and shopping you can't not do shopping like it's I don't know. I just love shopping
Melissa (26:02)
Okay. Yeah. Tell us.
Colin (26:03)
What are we shopping for?
Everything I love I mean I grew I grew up in like I said the wild side of Borneo So any Asian mall is exciting to me and in Malaysia, that's where you'll find everyone escaping the heat So that is where you get your entertainment. That's where you get your food That's where you just if you wanting to walk around hang out with someone you go to the many many amazing malls
Meg (26:28)
Yeah, because I'll say like in KL for instance, or even Penang, you might think, if I am going to the mall to eat at one of the hawker food courts, that's going to be a less, a lesser experience than if I ate at one of these places that I saw on social media, some restaurant that someone was highlighting. And I would disagree because malls are the center of culture. And so there is great food there. It's not maybe what the experience would be like we have here where we're going to go to a mall to eat.
It's not like that. There's exceptional food because that's where everyone is.
Colin (27:00)
Yeah, amazing restaurants too. Great restaurants from Hong Kong, from Taiwan, from Japan. They have their own locations in all over KL. so, yeah, good food everywhere.
Melissa (27:11)
That's so good to know.
Scott (27:12)
So
we've talked about KL, we've talked about Penang, but are there other places in Malaysia? Like for example, you're from Borneo. So what are some other places if someone was going to say, I'm going to Malaysia and I'm going to camp there, for a couple of weeks, where are some other places that they should try to visit as well?
Colin (27:34)
Yeah, well, that's a great question. And I'm just, I'm just biased. And so on the Island of Borneo, there's, there's three countries. There's Malaysia, there's Indonesia, and then there's a little country called Brunei. But at the tip of Borneo, at the top part is a state called Sabah, which is where I'm from. and we are home to the orangutan.
We are home to the Rafflesia flower, which is one of the largest flowers in the world. And we have the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia, Mount Kinabalu. And then you can also go to where I'm from, where the coast is, and you can be staying in overwater bungalows and you can go dive in Sipadan, which is at its peak was the world's number two dive site in the world.
We would go on family vacation and people from National Geographic would have already been there for weeks diving every day. And so yeah, there's a lot to do on the nature side.
Meg (28:36)
One of our favorite experiences as a family, our girls at the time were three and five or four and six, somewhere in that age range. They were a lot younger. But we went to Saba and we did a river safari on the mountain. You have to say the name of the river.
Colin (28:51)
The river is called Kinabatangan. It's the longest river in Borneo.
Meg (28:56)
Okay, that's why I let him say it. But it was such a cool experience because you can stay at these, I mean, they're all different kinds, but you can stay at these like riverside resorts and then you're getting in a boat.
Colin (29:06)
Resorts
is a little stretch Megan well lodges
Meg (29:10)
Lodge, yes, and there are varying kinds. We stayed at the smaller lodge, but every day we'd load up in the boat and you'd go on basically river safaris. And so you're looking for the things in the water, alligators, crocodiles, you're looking for monkeys in the trees, all the different very birds. You have the proboscis monkey.
Colin (29:29)
Roboscus Monkey
Meg (29:31)
⁓ and then we got really lucky and were able to see a wild herd of pygmy elephants, which was a hunt in and of itself. And one of our favorite family memories, because obviously wildlife is unpredictable. And so you don't know if you'll get to see those kinds of things, but yeah, it's a core memory even for our girls being having the guy on the boat, talk to the villagers and the villagers saw the herd at such and such time. And so we're going in that direction.
And there were heard of maybe 40 of them trying to get to the river to drink and they're the smallest elephants in the world, but they're still quite large. that was so beautiful. there are also, you know, he mentioned the, say orangutans. I got made fun of for saying that because they're orangutans.
Colin (30:14)
Orang Utan, Which
means person of the forest literally.
Meg (30:18)
Much
more eloquently, but getting to see them, we saw them at like a nature reserve. So not quite in the wild. I mean, they are wild, but they come here to eat and get. Right. Rehab center, but then they also have sunburst bears. I think that Borneo is exceptional because of the wildlife that it offers. And then you can have an experience like that. And like he said, end up in those overwater bungalows that people think are only in the Maldives and they're not.
Colin (30:28)
Yeah, like a rehab center.
Meg (30:47)
and they're really beautiful and you can pair your vacation or your experience with like, let's head to the jungles and sweat and see a bunch of wildlife. And then we're gonna end our trip at this incredible, you know, go out with a bang and really relax and get to like scuba dive and have one of these like romantic getaways. And so I think it's really unique that you can do both there. Yeah. Yeah.
Colin (31:10)
I've dragged you to Malaysia quite a few times to where you can now brag about it with confidence.
Meg (31:16)
Yes.
Scott (31:17)
And now I'm conflicted. we stay in extra months?
Colin (31:23)
No, you have to go there when we're there. Yeah.
Meg (31:26)
That
is true. We'll have to overlap because Colin's a great tour guide.
Colin (31:29)
Yeah.
Scott (31:30)
Yes,
yes, yes, yes.
Colin (31:32)
Another one of my dreams, is one day I'm like, I'm gonna, I want to host these like wild trips to Borneo and take a bunch of people with me and go find animals and eat a bunch of great food. So that's, on my bucket list of things to do.
Meg (31:48)
Yeah, you'd be good at it.
Melissa (31:49)
We would be good at it. Well, maybe we can figure out how to work together to make that happen because we would love that. So that would be amazing.
Meg (31:56)
I the places that you're going to swing back to mainland Malaysia is I remember visiting, so knowing that I spent a lot of my time in the wild part, I remember the first time I went to KL and properly stayed a day or two. told Colin, I don't know if I could live where you're from, but I think I could live here. But then when I got to Penang, I was like, wow, this is also so different. And that's, think,
Maybe just speaks to Malaysia as a culture in general that depending where you are, your experiences are uniquely different and they all have, yeah, they all have such a different feeling to them. But I also loved Penang and told him, you know, if there was a season of life that we lived in Malaysia, move me here. This place is amazing. And you know, that's me speaking of like as a mom with my kids, like I could just see us thriving there. So I'm curious to know when you get back.
what you thought of those places too.
Colin (32:52)
Yeah.
Melissa (32:53)
Real quick, because we're always concerned when you have a place that has the cruise port. it pretty easy for us to quickly get away from just that, the touristy part of the cruise port and then get into the part that Meg, you're saying that you love so much?
Colin (33:09)
Yeah, I would say in Penang, it's not a large island. so from when you get to the cruise, you want to get into Georgetown, it'll probably be a 10 minute taxi ride. Yeah. And then, yeah, once you get further up and you see the mountains and the beach, that's another 10 minutes. so, yeah.
Meg (33:12)
Pretty small, yeah.
Yeah, very doable.
Colin (33:29)
Yeah,
small island. ⁓
Scott (33:31)
One last question for you guys is, for travelers that are coming to Malaysia for the first time, what kind of advice would you give them to help experience it deeply but also respectfully?
We know what impact travel is having and tourism is having on certain parts of the world, It's absolutely changing people's quality of life that live there. So for those wanting to come to Malaysia, what would you say?
Colin (33:58)
Yeah, I would view Malaysia in the lens of we are two things at the same time. Actually, I should say we are multiple things at the same time, but we are both traditional at the same time as we are progressive and trying to be a modern country. And so you'll meet ⁓ Muslims that hold fast to their religion.
you'll meet Chinese people who and Indian people who perform their cultural rituals and practices every single day. Yet they are also like, they also know that, you know, they live in a global economy and they, you know, and they have people like the teenagers nowadays are just as open-minded and to anything as anywhere else. And so I would just be respectful in the sense that like, Hey, we understand
like what the cultural landscape is, but also, you know, don't be afraid to engage in conversation. I think Malaysians are, they may be shy at first and maybe a lot of words are hidden behind those first smiles. But I think once you sit down at a table and you share a meal together, you'll meet.
Like you'll be greeted with a lot of Malaysian hospitality and people are quick to, they want you to try things from their culture. They want you to know things about Malaysia.
Meg (35:28)
The only thing I would add to that is what you said that you're going to receive hospitality regardless. So as a tourist, I think the thing that you can give back to them is to meet them with the same level of kindness that they will either way give back to you. And curiosity, because I just think that sometimes when we're hustling in and out of a place, we can forego that. And I think it would be a delightful surprise for them to receive the warmth.
Colin (35:42)
curiosity.
Meg (35:53)
that a tourist has to bring in whatever interaction that you have. So yeah, I would say, because you're gonna receive it from them either way. Yeah. mindset to also make those little moments of kindness like matter, I think would mean a lot.
Colin (36:06)
Yeah. I mean, nothing says I love Malaysia more than I love your food. Yeah. So. True. You know, so it might not be your favorite thing, but if you and your bite with a smile, hey, you're in your family. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓
Meg (36:12)
compliment their food that's true.
True.
Scott (36:23)
You talk about just being curious of the culture. And when we went to Egypt, we had the opportunity to go into a mosque. Well, we're not Muslim, so we really don't have a lot of knowledge about the Muslim faith and things like that. And I always thought, you know, they took us into the prayer room and I was like, well, I didn't know that we would be able to go into there. Like that was neat. And so I asked questions. Well, then we started asking questions and they're like,
Hey, I've got something really special for you. We're about to do the called prayer. Would you like to videotape it and, you know, video it? And so we actually got to video that and I was like, that I thought would be totally off limits, but because we were curious and we were, open and respectful of their culture and their religion,
It opened a window for us to see something that I think many people have never seen in their lives. And so that was really neat.
Melissa (37:22)
And have lots of conversation about how different people practice the faith differently. yeah, just a lot of, it was just very eye opening. So I think that's great advice. you.
Colin (37:34)
Yeah, like for and I could say that with about my life too. Like I was, I'm a mixed race Malaysian. My mom's Chinese. My dad is of Malay background. And so I was that kid in the cafeteria that, you know, on one side I have, I have half of me is friends with all the Chinese kids and we speak Mandarin. And then the other half of me, I'm friends with all the Malay kids. And so I'm always, I'm that kid that was straddling all these cultures at the same time.
and I don't know where I was going with that, but to tell you that I'm, I'm such a melting pot of Malaysia and I'm, and I'm glad that that was my experience growing up. So. Yeah.
Melissa (38:11)
Well, think that's great. I think knowing as tourists, as people who are going to visit, that is what makes up Malaysia, right? That's the people that we encounter. So I think that's just a good, I think that's a great thing to share,
Colin (38:25)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You'll meet people from all kinds of backgrounds in one single day, which is always fun. So yeah.
Scott (38:37)
we end every episode and you guys know this because you've been on the show before, but we want to see if your answers have changed. We asked three questions to all of our guests. And the first one is, what is your favorite place you've ever visited?
Colin (38:53)
Did we answer this last time? Did we say the Faroe Islands?
Okay, well it's still my favorite.
Scott (39:00)
It's gotten back from the Faroe Islands when we talked to you.
Colin (39:04)
It's safe to say a year or two later, I'm still smitten by that place and how it's, I think there's something about traveling to a remote location that just comes with a lot of travel fun.
Meg (39:19)
Yeah, I would say it's probably still one of my favorites too. Yeah. Yeah. It was just a great experience as a family and yeah, one of those rare trips where nothing went terribly wrong. And so we probably just had like a highlight reel of an experience, which is amazing, you know, but yeah, it was, was a great family.
Colin (39:39)
It's just nice because even though you're in Europe-ish technically, you don't really see the big box. There's no Starbucks. There's not a giant Zara on the corner of the street. It's still a Faroese island that has- Yeah, quaint. Yeah. So yeah, it's great.
Scott (39:58)
Well, we tried to find puffins in Ireland when we were there last month, but I think we were a month too late.
Meg (40:06)
the ocean.
Colin (40:06)
Man. Yeah.
Melissa (40:08)
We'll to go to the Faroe Islands. think that's, you know, while it's still, and it's small, right? So it can't be a zillion people, but while it's still, a very hidden gem and off the beaten path.
Colin (40:19)
And this comment that I'm about to make really just like I'm getting older and older, but I appreciate things like engineering that Island Scott and Melissa is made up of like 12 or 20 islands, but it is all connected through these underwater highways. You won't even know.
Meg (40:37)
Yeah, you don't know that you're under the ocean.
Colin (40:39)
And
the engineering is just amazing. It's such an easy country to travel to talk about a road trip. Y'all need to go. What are we doing here? We need to go there.
Meg (40:48)
mean, they're going to Australia, so... Yeah, they're doing stuff.
Colin (40:50)
Worth it.
Scott (40:52)
places instead of wasting my time working.
Melissa (40:55)
Yeah, what are we doing?
Scott (40:56)
Um, so our next question is what's left on your travel bucket list? I limit this one Collins. Yeah. was like half an hour.
Colin (41:01)
Man, too many hours.
I was actually thinking, I've been thinking about this for the past two, three, two, three days, but I was like, I need a list because I have so many things I want to do and see with the family and I need to just have lists like written somewhere. So I don't forget that I these things.
Meg (41:24)
Yeah, I would say one of the next places we've talked about going because our season is just kids. Like we don't have the privilege or luxury of traveling without our kids. They just have to come with us, get to come with us. It's not necessarily a bad thing. That's just our season of life. Wherever we go, they also go. And so one of the places that we talked about visiting next, like many people is Japan. We are. Yeah, we're pretty late.
Colin (41:33)
LUNCH TRIP
know how lucky they are. ⁓
We're so late to that game. We're
gonna get there.
Meg (41:54)
But we'd love to go and I think that our kids would love it. especially our girls now that they're bigger, I think they'd enjoy eating through Japan, which would be great. And then we'll just take the baby along for the ride. But that's probably kind of up there in terms of where we want to go next in this current season of our life. Because we've got lots of dreams. Maybe the kids won't always be with us and they'll age out eventually and we can go places by ourselves. But yeah, Japan's high on the list right now.
Colin (42:21)
Yeah, which sounds like a boring answer.
Meg (42:23)
Yeah.
Melissa (42:24)
No, it's not. haven't been either. yes.
Colin (42:26)
I've been told that my time is limited but that can be a whole episode. Yeah there How do you guys keep track of what your bucket list is? Do you guys have a list somewhere?
Meg (42:31)
Yeah.
Scott (42:37)
We do. So we have one on our Apple Notes that we keep and share between the two of us. But I said, kind of tongue in cheek, it's a chalkboard wall because that's where our bucket list was born. We a chalkboard wall and everybody put their bucket list on there and mine and Melissa's was travel related.
Melissa (42:57)
Yeah. So it just helps us. mean, not that, you know, when other places come up, but it just does help us to kind of say, okay, we want to, you know, prioritize some of these things or figure out how to make these things happen.
Meg (43:10)
That's cool.
Scott (43:10)
And then finally is, I think we've already talked about this, but where are headed next?
Colin (43:15)
Yep, so we are going on a six-week journey through Malaysia starting in Kuala Lumpur and Penang and ending up in a little town of Tawao where I am from to celebrate Christmas there. There will be lots of food, karaoke, food, breakfast foods, lunch foods, and lots of family time. Yes. ⁓ Yeah, post-dinner snack, all that.
Scott (43:37)
Yeah.
Meg (43:38)
Yeah.
Yeah, we haven't. The last time we were there for Christmas, we've gotten to visit, I don't know, every, we try to go every two years or so. The last time we were there was two years ago, but we haven't been for Christmas since our oldest, who's nine, was one. So last year at Christmas time, Colin was feeling quite nostalgic for being there during that time of year. And he brought up how much that he would love to spend this Christmas in Malaysia with his family. So.
It's kind of been on the docket for and then convenient that we're also bringing the youngest to meet all the family. about a year ago, he was like, I think it's time to go back for the holidays.
Colin (44:18)
I've cried about this trip many times of that homesickness and wanting to be home. But after booking everything, I really am second guessing because the holiday prices are a lot more expensive.
Meg (44:30)
It might be another eight years before we do this time of year again.
Colin (44:34)
I can see my family in March, that's fine too.
Melissa (44:37)
Yeah. Yeah. And Meg, you're conceding your love of Christmas decorations. So that's very sweet.
Colin (44:43)
Christmas is
Meg (44:43)
I already was looking at our calendar like how can I fit things in because I'm a big tradition girl Yeah, my last story will be that when we spent that very first Christmas there I was a first-time mom like ready with my list of traditions That I was going to start before my daughter will even remember but they're for us, right? I knew like I had all these traditions I wanted to pass down to her and I remember two days before Christmas I was like, hey, can we go get
her some Christmas pajamas. Like I really want her to wake up to Christmas pajamas. And he was like, I don't think we're going to be able to find any. And I didn't believe him. I was like, no, let's get out of here. And so we went to a few stores. There were none. Anyway, that's just a funny story because now this year I'm more prepared. I have already purchased three sets of Christmas pajamas that will come with me in my. So it's going to be a better experience because we're going to have.
Colin (45:25)
not a concept.
and our carry-ons.
Meg (45:37)
mostly Malaysian Christmas, but I'm going to bring a few things along this time to keep it a little similar.
Melissa (45:44)
Awesome.
That's awesome. We can't wait to follow along. And so yeah, so you can find these guys when they're traveling at Colin and Meg on Instagram. Thanks for sharing. It's really given us some great things to look forward to and to look for. So we appreciate that so much.
Colin (45:49)
Yes.
So don't be mad at me when you guys come back and you have to do some extra exercise to for all the food that you've been eating in Malaysia. But yeah, it's been a pleasure talking to you guys.
Scott Barronton (46:15)
Scott, after talking with Colin and Meg, you know, it was such a fun conversation and so many stories that they have, because they have a completely different perspective. And I think that really gives us, you know, kind of what we should expect, but then also the insider perspective, from Colin.
So it just reminds me how much more meaningful travel becomes when you have stories that relate to a place. And, you know, just thinking about some of the things he talked about, like you already have some things now in your mind about what to look for, Especially in Penang.
And so also hearing them describes Malaysia's diversity and of course their food. makes me even more excited for our time there. Yeah, I think same here. I loved how Colin talked about Malaysia being a country of both tradition and progress and where faith, food and family all kind of intersect. And Meg's description of walking through Penang, just tasting your way down the street.
think that sounds like our kind of day and we even said we're going to have to book a food tour. Yeah. So I think we've got our plan, Kuala Lumpur for temples and towers, City Energy, Penang for the street food and just wandering through all that history. so maybe one day we'll be able to take them up on that Borneo Safari idea because that sounds just incredible. Yeah, and sign up for that in Heartbeat.
You know, it's conversations like this that remind us how much we still have to discover. And you think you know a destination after you do some research, and then someone who's lived it gives you a whole new lens to think about. Yes, absolutely. And so different from just like reading about it, right? And seeing pictures and things like that, but hearing those stories. So if you're listening to this episode and planning your own trip, whether it's by a cruise,
or for a longer stay, Malaysia really seems to reward curiosity. So ask questions, try everything, and do not skip the hawker stalls.
Every destination that we research teaches us something before we ever step off the plane, or in this case, off the ship. And Malaysia has already reminded us that travel is about connection. It's a place where cultures overlap, where kindness is shared over a cup of sweet milk tea, and where every flavor tells a story. We can't wait to experience it for ourselves and share what we discover in the weeks ahead.
The world is full of sunshine and surprises. Make 2025 the year that you explore beyond the familiar.
Speaker 1 (49:04)
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Speaker 2 (49:10)
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