Malaysia was a cruising destination on the way to Thailand for us. We stopped in Port Dickson briefly, then in Langkawi. While not as teeming or varied as Singapore, we found many of the people nice, with good food along the way. Langkawi is a beautiful cruising ground that reminded us of some spots in Maine.
How nice are the people in SouthEast Asia? The third stop to check into Malaysia was the Customs office. They happened to be having an office party with good local food, chicken and beef curries, for example (at 10 AM), so they invited us in to taste the food. Leslie and I are sitting with the commander of the local Customs offices, Mr. A. Wahid. Note the good foods on the table.
These cute fishing boats were everywhere off the coast of Malaysia. Dodging them at night was an adventure, but the drivers for the most part were good seamen, and we never got in any trouble.
On our approach to rockbound Langkawi, we passed these magnificent rocks.
Ahh.. the joys of cruising. One issue is that every different marina seems to have a different electrical connection. Here Michael on TAHLEQUAH is changing plugs for the latest marina (here Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in Langkawi)..
In keeping with our theme of eating our way through South East Asia, here is Dick ordering food from a food stall in the ferry building in Langkawi.
They're everywhere! Malaysian Optimist prams round a weather mark. The kids have fun all over the world: 
By this time, Leslie and I needed a bit of a rest. We had been traveling hard throughout Indonesia, Singapore was mostly busy, not resting, and the trip through Malaysia was a push. So we anchored off the west coast of Langkawi, and just spent a couple of days on the hook, just like cruising in the old, more relaxed, days.
Cute fishing boat there!
And the beautiful sunset in RLYC, Langkawi: 
The next three photos are tagged on the end here for the interest of offshore navigators only. One of the major hazards offshore is the lost containers, which may be floating just at water level, and the nightmare of hitting and unseen one in a sailboat. We saw many container ships throughout the voyage, and especially in the busy Singapore Straits and the Malacca Straits. Here are some photos of one.
The issue is that any container stack more than three containers tall is supposed to have cross-bracing to keep the containers from rolling off. I could not see any cross-bracing on this ship, but may not be able to see it...
Ship as seen in the Malacca Straits. Containers are stacked as high as six tall.
See any cross bracing on the bow?
What about on the stern?
Notice the list ... we saw many container ships which were not evenly loaded side to side.
I am not picking on P&O Nedlloyd, their ship is just the one I photoed. Many others had the same problems. In fact, P&O ships in the Med seem to have bracing. In fact one of their ships there had a (new?) system where large structures rose up at the corner of each container stack to contain(sorry) them, and keep them from rolling overboard. Comments appreciated.
Copyright Richard W. York, 2005