Malaysia

 

Country Information:

The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur. There are approximately 32 million people living here. The official language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia. In East Malaysia, Iban and Kadazan are also widely spoken. The majority of Malaysians practice Islam.

Jim’s Perspectives:

My father and I visited Malaysia in 1995 as part of an Asia trip to northern, central and southern Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong. While there, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, one of the world’s tallest twin towers, had started construction. They were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 and now remain the tallest twin towers in the world.

 

View out our window and construction cranes were everywhere!

Ireland

Country Information: The capital of Ireland is Dublin and the country’s population is about 5 million (2022). The dominant religion is Roman Catholicism and the official languages are Irish Gaelic and English. Ireland is 4 hours ahead of EST. Jim's Perspectives: A...

Nicaragua

  I traveled to Nicaragua in 1986, during the Contra War. This was another proxy war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. On one side of the conflict were Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, Soviet puppets or sympathizers.  On the other were the rebels, known as...

Benin

Note the yellow shirt ... this is what the motorcycle taxi drivers wear here Country Background: The capital of Benin is Porto Novo. There are approximately 11 million people living in this beautiful coastal country. The official language of Benin is French, but Fon...