1. No hot shower

Showers in homes typically don’t have hot water, eventhough you see a tap which can be pulled left or right (for cold and hot). Unless you see a water heater which is usually a rectangular plastic box in the bathroom, don’t count on it. Hotels normally have hot showers though.

2. Toilets are the squat type - no seats

It’s common to see squat type toilets with no seats, even in restaurants, budget hostels or backpackers hotels, and some homes. If you’re not comfortable with it, ask where you can find a seated toilet.

3. Toilets - no toilet paper

Locals (Malays especially) don’t use toilet paper. They use a lot of water, soap and their left hand. Be prepared to not find any toilet paper at all. Again, hotels should have them. Budget accomodation should have them if they’re used to having foreign guests. Ask outfront, or buy your own.

4. Receiving and giving

Always receive and give something (money, business cards, etc) with your right hand (even if you’re left handed). The left hand is reserved for hygiene purposes (see point above).

5. Cigarette butts thrown on floors

Malaysians smoke quite a lot, and throw the cigarette butts quite alot also. Its a normal scene if you see people smoking in open air restaurants, and just throw them on the floor (eventhough ashtrays are provided). Throwing butts on the street is very normal.

6. People might stare

If you’re travelling to more remote areas, for example Kota Bharu, people might stare, especially if you’re caucasian. Don’t worry, they’re probably not talking badly about you. They just don’t see people with white skin that often. They’re not hostile or disgusted, they’re just trying to figure you out and watch your moves. If you’re female, they’re probably just checking you out. If you have tatoos or piercing, they’ll stare at that too. Act normal, or just smile back at them. They will, without doubt either smile back, or embarassingly look somewhere else. Usually, they’ll smile back.

7. No knife and fork.

People either eat with hands, or fork and spoon. The chinese use chopsticks. No knives will by lying around conveniently for you. Eating daily meals with a spoon (using the fork to drag the food to the spoon) is just like westerners eating cereal with a spoon for breakfast.

8. Hugging and kissing

Affection like hugging and kissing in public isn’t a common thing (even for husbands and wives, irrespective of race). If you are introduced to a Malay or Muslim women, wait and see if they extend their hands to shake. If they don’t, a warm smile will suffice.
Hope this helps.

Faisal Abdullah was born in Malaysia and is a systems engineer by profession. He loves travelling, culture, cooking and making international friends. Faisal has travelled to countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Holland, France, Germany, Belgium, England, Italy and USA. Faisal regularly updates travel and leisure related blogs at http://www.dormantbrain.com.

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As much as I love the city (Toronto, that is), every once in a while I gotta get away and a few weeks ago I came up with the idea of a little winter weekend getaway with my sister-in-law Yolande and my nephew Jazz. So I started surfing around the Internet to see where we could go, and since I didn’t want to spend several hours driving, I settled on a destination just about an hour outside of Toronto: I came up with the city of Barrie whose surrounding areas include several ski resorts.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, and at plus 8 degrees Celsius certainly not a typical Canadian winter day. After checking in at our overnight retreat, the Nicholyn Farms Bed and Breakfast just 15 minutes outside of Barrie, we drove downtown to explore this growing city of 125,000 which is located right on the shores of Lake Simcoe on Kempenfelt Bay.

Although our plans to go ice-skating fell through, Lake Simcoe was frozen solid enough so we could take a walk around Kempenfelt Bay, and like many others on this gorgeous day we were able to walk and play on the frozen lake. I started off with a brief walk through town to capture some of the essence of this country town that has become a popular bedroom community for commuters to Toronto. The completion of the railroad connecting Barrie to the City of York (now Toronto) in 1865 and the construction of Highway 400 in the 1950s were critical events that promoted this city’s growth. With its proximity to both Toronto and Ontario’s Lakelands and 4-season resorts, Barrie is ideally positioned for a quick winter getaway.

[SAFETY WARNING: Please ensure that you obey all weather warnings when venturing out on frozen lakes. This year the winter has been particularly mild and every year several people fall through the ice and drown. Please make sure that the ice is safe before you venture out on the lake!]

In close proximity to Barrie are 2 winter resorts, Horseshoe Valley Resort and Snow Valley, and not much further away are Blue Mountain / Collingwood (Ontario’s largest ski resort) and Mount St. Louis Moonstone. The forests and lakes around Barrie offer plenty of opportunities for hiking, cross-country skiing and snow-mobiling. Its proximity to Georgian Bay, one of Ontario’s favourite getaway areas, makes Barrie a popular travel destination close to Toronto. Lake Simcoe itself is a major hub for ice-fishing.

Barrie’s downtown is anchored around Dunlop Street which holds a variety of independently owned shops and retail outlets. Many of the buildings along Dunlop Street date back to Victorian times and the city has made an effort to preserve and highlight its architectural heritage.

Barrie’s waterfront is dominated by an impressive outdoor sculpture: the Spirit Catcher, which was designed by sculptor Ron Baird for the 1986 EXPO in Vancouver. The sculpture was donated to the Barrie Gallery Project in 1987 and represents the Aboriginal People of Canada and the Aboriginal myth of the Thunderbird. When the Spirit Catcher was erected, it was blessed in a special ceremony by the Rama Native Drum Group of the Mnijikaning First Nation.

In the spirit of human understanding , we had our own inter-cultural experience. After I returned from my little photographic tour through downtown Barrie, I reconnected with my sister-in-law and my nephew next to the Spirit Catcher on the waterfront. Yolande and Jazz had met a young German exchange student by the name of Martin who is currently completing a degree in Environmental Technology in Germany and managed to arrange an international coop assignment in a small town north of Barrie.

We had a fabulous conversation and Martin mentioned how tough it was to realize his dream of completing an international coop program in Canada. But he succeeded and is spending 9 weeks here in Ontario. He said he loves the country and is taken in by the Canadian mentality. Of course, he also plans to explore Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Niagara Falls and New York City during his short 9-week stint here in Canada. Martin told us that at his young age he had already travelled to 19 different countries, and no matter where he goes he loves to link up with people from different places.

And apart from just having a conversation, Martin, full of youthful energy and mischief, was definitely up for a snowball fight and some horsing around, something that my 8-year old nephew greatly enjoyed. It was fabulous to see the two of them chasing each other on the frozen lake, heaving snow at each other and laughing their heads off. On one hand there was blond and blue-eyed Martin from Germany and on the other there was my brown-skinned nephew of Trinidadian heritage. Two total strangers, from totally different backgrounds and cultures, connecting through fun and outdoor activities. It doesn’t get any better than that….

After Martin had left, we continued our walk on Lake Simcoe and enjoyed our time in the warm sunshine like all the other people on the frozen lake until the sun slipped down beneath the horizon.

We took in the activities and watched float planes land and take off, we watched the dog walkers, the ATV riders, even mountain bikers on the lake, and glanced at the ice-fishing huts in the distance on the other side of the bay. One young boy was playing catch with his father, and with real Canuck determination, was dressed in shorts. He figured +8 degrees Celsius was enough to break out the summer garb. That’s the true Canadian spirit!

Useful links for travel to Barrie:
Tourism Barrie
Simcoe County Tourism
Ontario’s Official Travel Website

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”.
The story with photos is published at Travel Stories and Photos (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/hello_barrie_1.htm)

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My first experience with the ingenuity of Mexicans was during our year of volunteer work in Villahermosa in the state of Tabasco. We were driving a Chevy Nova and it was usually pretty reliable for us. However, Mexican gas disagreed with it and I soon has some trouble with the carburator.
A friend of mine who worked in the hospital laboratory took me to a nearby repair shop and helped me get a mechanic to help me out. He followed us back to the hospital and pulled the carburator out of my car. He then headed back to his shop.

Having heard that it was best to keep a close eye on anyone working on your car, I followed him. Over the next half hour, I watched him completely disassemble the carburator, clean it with solvent, hand make new gaskets and put it back in my car. The car then ran like new.
So, within a half hour, I had a rebuilt carburator back in my car. I was pretty impressed. I was even more impressed when he said, “Sorry it took so long, but I have never worked on a Chevrolet before.”

A professor from one of the Universities in Texas had a similar experience. He taught Mexican archeology and often toured remote areas in a jeep.We met him when we were camped on the beach on one of our trips to Tulum.

He told us that one time he was traveling up in the mountains in a remote area north of Mexico City. The road was pretty rough and he hit a rock. The rock totally destroyed his oil pan. Without the oil pan, the jeep was useless and he could go nowhere.

After waiting about 4 hours a farmer came by with a mule and was able to pull the jeep into a town a few miles away.

Now every little town in mexico has a small mechanic shop that is a combination repair, tire retread and blacksmith shop. He went over there and explained his problem. After asking if the shop owner could order him a new oilpan and install it, the mechanic replied, “Sure, no problem. It should be here within a couple of months.”

He questioned the mechanic if there was any other solution. The Mexican replied, “Come back in three days.”

So, the professor found a lady that would put him up for a few nights. He then got a chair in the yard and watched what the mechanic did. He watched with interest as the owner went to each house in the village and collected any scrap metal or tin cans that they had.

The mechanic then went back to his shop and started working the metal. Over the next few days, he melted the metal down and poured it out forming a sheet of metal. He then pounded it and cut it into the proper shape, made a gasket and fitted it onto the bottom of the jeep.
The professor then told me that he drove the jeep on many trips after that and the handmade oil pan never leaked a drop!

As you can imagine, I have the highest regard for these underrated Mexican mechanics. While caution is always in order dealing with anyone working on your car, you should be able to find someone with excellent skills to work on any vehicle that has problems while driving in Mexico.

Ron McCluskey has prepared more valuable information for you. Go to I Love Travel Vacations now to find more great travel resources.

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