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journeysintowebcomics · 7 years

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Worm Liveblog #33

UPDATE 33: The E88 Attacks

Last time Taylor got assaulted publicly, was slightly injured, and received no support from anyone except Brian. Let’s leave it at that. Onwards!

The ending of the latest chapter was that E88 was doing their statement. And indeed, they’re doing that, and not in the ‘saying words’ sense of the word. They’re taking action. Actions speak louder than words, after all. The bad thing here is that their actions are immensely destructive. Right now, Purity is being broadcasted, showing how she’s destroying the place where Heckpuppy had kept her dogs before. That was a close call!

The building hadn’t even finished falling down before she started work on the next two, devoting one beam to each.

“Were there people in there?” I asked, horrified both at the idea and at what this woman was capable of doing. “What about those other buildings?

So, since he jig’s up, E88 has no other option than to fully embrace villainy and destroy everything. That’s not going to be good. I expected things to get bad, but I didn’t think they would go into full-blown destruction! I guess this means the Undersiders hiding won’t be an option, because if I had to guess, I’d say this is meant to draw them out. She’s attacking a place where Heckpuppy was known to be, after all. Can they stand aside while the city’s getting destroyed because of them? Well...um, they may be villains, but I don’t think they would. Nobody really would unless they had absolutely no attachment to Brockton Bay in any way.

And indeed, Taylor’s first reaction is to start putting on her costume. Nice! Brian’s reaction isn’t the one I expected but it’s also understandable: let the Protectorate deal with it because it was Coil’s fault, not theirs. I don’t know, are there enough heroes for that? It was said there was quite a number of capes in the E88, it’s not impossible they’ll find themselves outnumbered.

There’s not much time for arguing because Purity addresses them directly – well, to them and the Protectorate. Oh, jolly.

“You took the most important thing in the world from me,” her voice was without affect, flat. “Until she is returned, this doesn’t stop. I will take this city apart until I find you or you come to stop me.

...wait, let me check something. I remember Purity had a baby. Aster, was that the name? According to a quick Google search, Aster is a female name. So her baby was taken away. That’s what’s causing such amount of destruction, not the release of everyone’s personal information. Or it could have been both. In that case, maybe Coil’s responsible for this too. He had no qualms with making a lot of people in E88 be revealed to the public, he’d have no problem taking a baby. That’s going to be a problem, if he truly did it.

The cameraman is murdered in a descriptive manner I’m rather sure wouldn’t be otherwise allowed in the news, golly. These people aren’t kidding around! Not that I ever thought that. Interesting powers, Night and Fog’s. One of them can turn into mist, and the other...well, I’m not sure what’s the power because it all happened inside the mist, but it’s extremely violent.

The cameraman’s completely gone, as if he was never there. Ouch. Say, I wonder how Grue’s darkness will interact with the fog. One’s a cape turned into mist, the other is a byproduct of a power. I suppose the fog can be enveloped by the darkness, but who knows, I may be wrong.

“We are not the ABB,” Purity spoke, not bothering to turn the camera back to herself, “We are stronger, both in powers and in numbers. We have discipline, and thanks to you, we have nothing left to lose. I will have my daughter back, and we will have our restitution.”

Here we go, again with the restitution. The Undersiders’ lives, perhaps? Killed in a very public way? And afterwards...well, I suppose they’ll run away, if not stopped by the capes of this city. Since the Undersiders were outright called out, Taylor insists they must do something, but Brian’s still unconvinced.

“That’s not- Taylor, I don’t want people to get hurt or killed, either. I’m not a villain that aims to hurt people. I’m just being practical.”

In Brian’s favor, I’ll say that going ahead to confront anyone like Taylor wanted to do wasn’t a good idea. If they’re going to do something it’ll have to be carefully planned, and for that they’ll need to gather everybody. The problem is that the longer it takes; the more people will die. Truly, nobody wins in this scenario. Brockton Bay must be horrible to live in, what with a crisis happening every other day!

Lisa’s contacted to verify the situation and make sure she knows what’s going on. She’s okay, so the rest aren’t in immediate danger. So, what are the options right now?

Lisa’s voice was tinny through the low quality speaker. “Purity? I saw the bit on TV. From what I picked up, child protective services and a contingent of capes went into her place and walked out with her baby while she was at work, before she even had a chance to hear about the email. Mama bear snapped.”

...well that sure explains it. Of course that’d be the consequence of revealing the mother of that baby was a dangerous cape. I had the impression Purity loved her baby a lot, of course she’d snap. I doubt simply getting the baby back to her will stop anything, though. I mean, her life’s still destroyed, that’s not going to change, and if/once she’s captured and sent to the Birdcage, it’s impossible they’ll let her keep the baby. That baby’s going to be taken away no matter what.

Lisa also informs Coil told Kaiser he was the one to send the information to the media, but Kaiser’s keeping it under wraps, most likely to incentive his group to look for the Undersiders and cause destruction. I’d say making things harder for Coil may be another motivation. I mean, Coil’s objective is to take over the city, and I don’t think it’d be a stretch that other big villains suspect that or are aware of it in some way. If Kaiser knows, then this could also be a way to have a revenge against Coil. If there’s no Brockton Bay to take over, then Coil’s plan is ruined.

Just like I had thought, Coil won’t implicate himself publicly because there’s no way a mastermind would step out of the shadows. Since that’s not an option, then what’s there to be done? Brian hasn’t changed his mind about not fighting, but what do the rest think? Lisa...I think she’d want to fight once she’s prepared. Alec wouldn’t want to. Rachel is a mystery to me.

Indeed, Lisa wants to fight! Mostly because at some point Purity and her group will reach the place where the hideout is at, and they’ll destroy everything, including friends of the Undersiders. That’s enough to get Brian into a reluctant fighting mood. Good! So now what’s the plan? Gather everybody and then go fight them after a plan is made. Also sew Taylor’s wounds.

Brian held up the needle and thread, “Let me apologize in advance.”

For Taylor’s wellbeing I really hope those are medical needle and thread, Brian, because otherwise this is a quick route to one hell of an infection – infection that’d be near the brain, may I add.

Scene cut! Coil is rich and you can never forget it. He got a modified ambulance to pick up Grue and Skitter, and now they’re going in direction to where Purity and the rest must be, or at least that’s my guess. A couple of Coil’s soldiers are disguised as paramedics. Going to the meeting point?

Grue rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m not sure I’m as good a person as you’re making me out-”

Yeah, I don’t think Grue is exactly a good person, but he’s also not a bad person. Or at least there are worse people than him. He’s still rather honorable, but he’s no hero. His friends, his sister and himself are the priorities, the rest of the city’s not as important to him.

The discussion’s cut short when the ambulance stumbles upon some of E88’s powerful capes. Well, guess it’s fighting time! The first foe they encounter seems to be able to inflict in themselves an effect similar to what Heckpuppy does with her dogs. There’s also a man with a tiger mask and a woman with lots of scars.

...Hookwolf can do the same thing Heckpuppy does to her dogs. Oh boy, Mr. Wildbow, I bet that was intentional of you! Making his power similar to hers! Also, Hookwolf used to be in a parahuman fighting ring. Huh. I’m not sure what to think about him running a dogfighting ring when he was in a fighting ring himself. Well, I’m sure he wasn’t treated like a dog, but still...

Cricket and Stormtiger’s powers go undescribed. A bit underwhelming, this Cricket villain, she kind of sticks out like a sore thumb among the rest of the names. Their powers aren’t mentioned yet, but that’s because the plan right now is to run away. No time for fighting! Coil’s soldiers don’t like the idea of running away; they want to shoot them. Uh...not really a good plan? I’m not sure, it’d depend on what Cricket and Stormtiger’s powers are.

Well, at least the soldiers are willing to listen to the Undersiders. Grue puts some darkness to cover their escape. Erm...I’m not...exactly sure how subtle that is. I mean, this big blob of darkness covering the block in middle of daylight can’t be subtle, right? Anyway, they start running through it, but they can’t get too far before Stormtiger reaches them. Looks like he has wind powers of some sort, based in the claws he has. Alright, wind powers are interesting!

He used one of the translucent blades on his hand to tap the side of his tiger mask’s nose as he turned to look down at me. When he spoke, his voice was deeper than Brian’s, “Don’t need to see you, sweetie.”

I was really, really growing to hate enhanced senses.

Figures. You know, I thought Mr. Wildbow would avoid writing a fight here. I mean, Purity seems to be this arc’s big target, yes? In comparison to her, these three aren’t important. Unless Purity arrives during it or intervenes in some way. I can’t avoid thinking this may be kind of...filler? It’s too early to judge that, though, I haven’t read not even a single word of the fight. For all I know the Undersiders focused on running away and did it, in which case I’ll eat crow. So I guess I’ll refrain from further opinion about how relevant this maybe-fight is until it’s over and done.

But yeah, that’s the end of the chapter. Alright, the situation is escalating! After all this is over, E88 is likely not to matter anymore, just like the ABB. Two big groups taken off the story in a relatively short span of time! Well, there’s a possibility E88 is a tad more resistant than that, but given its powerful members’ lives have been turned upside down, that may affect everything in some way. Depends on how stubborn Kaiser is.

Okay, I’ll go for the next chapter now.

Hookwolf doesn’t waste any time, he goes straight towards the two Undersiders here, and orders Stormtiger to find the rest. It’s worth noting Grue can’t be smelled. I remember one of Heckpuppy’s dogs had noted that too, during that interlude back then. Nice, Mr. Wildbow! But of course they know Grue’s around here, the fact there had been darkness around is a clear indication he’s in the area. No element of surprise there.

Hookwolf turned to me, “The dog girl. Where’s Bitch?”

He really isn’t going to forget what she did, eh? And once again he can’t get revenge. I feel some satisfaction at knowing that.

This is not the time to ponder what’s the terminology for Hookwolf’s powers, Skitter!

Skitter tries to dissuade them by telling a half-truth, that they split up earlier and wanted to back off. It doesn’t seem to me like they care, even if Stormtiger’s reply is that he doesn’t believe them. Skitter’s efforts are nulled when one of Coil’s soldiers shoot at Hookwolf’s group and, just as Skitter and Grue guessed, they’re not affected or are prepared in some way. Also, I was mistaken about what Hookwolf’s power was.

The scarred girl with the buzz cut dashed forward, reaching behind her back to draw two scythe-like weapons, each only about as long as her forearm.

Oh, pffft, yeah, only about as long as her forearm. That length is bad enough, you know!

Hookwolf turned back to me, “Suspiciously competent for an ambulance driver. Pretty fucking sure that’s one of Coil’s people. What are you doing with her?”

Huh. Unexpectedly perceptive, even if maybe it’s a bit obvious. Maybe it’d be a good idea for the Undersiders to avoid being linked to Coil, for the time being? It’s something a bit out of their control, yeah, but still...Kaiser and others could interpret that as Coil and the Undersiders being on the same side, and that seems to me like something that should be avoided at all costs.

While Cricket may or may not be turning Coil’s soldier into mincemeat in the darkness Grue left around, Skitter analyzes her options. There aren’t really that many, because Hookwolf and Stormtiger can counter the bugs. Cricket’s the most vulnerable one, I’d say, but Skitter can’t focus on just one person right now, not with another two getting ready to attack her, I think. Cricket’s done with the soldier – thankfully the soldier isn’t dead, just...rather injured. Ouch.

Interesting! Stormtiger’s claws are wind, indeed, compressed wind that grows in power with every second and can be released when he wishes it. It’s not full wind control, but it sounds like it can have a lot of attack power. I find it a bit...hmmm...a bit random? A bit random that he has enhanced senses and these powers. There’s no correlation between them. Guess it’s just to have a tiger theme!

“Want to see what happens when one of them is buried inside you when he turns it into one of his blasts of wind?” Hookwolf asked. Again, the low laughter at my expense.

...thanks for the colorful mental image, Hookwolf. That’s a horrible way to die. I mean, skin is generally pretty good at keeping wrapped everything inside you, but with enough air...yeah, better not to think about this any further, the details are better unsaid, eh?

Grue’s approaching, still unnoticed, well, except by Skitter’s bugs. He’s also carrying something...something I can’t identify.

He was carrying something three and a half feet long, nearly a foot wide, a rounded off shape that was all smooth metal.

‘Nightstick’ was my first thought, but that’s too big to be a nightstick – not that a nightstick would have been very useful at all. I suppose there’s a possibility this is a weapon that was stashed in the ambulance, something that belongs to Coil’s soldiers, some kind of special weapon against capes. Whatever it is, it makes Skitter be alarmed, and she tries to run away. Neither Hookwolf nor Stormtiger recognize this as something to be worried about. Guess you’re going to have the element of surprise after all, Grue! He throws the object he’s bringing and covers it with darkness so the enemies don’t see what it is, and fires at it with his gun while Skitter runs and covers her ears.

His arm jerked twice as he fired the gun at the oxygen tank he’d fetched from the back of the ambulance. The first shot missed. The second didn’t.

Oooooh, right! An oxygen tank explosion! Oxygen is highly flammable when it’s concentrated, yes! A cylinder of oxygen as large as Skitter described it should have quite the explosive strength. And indeed, it does! So much Skitter has to worry about being deafened by the explosion! That’s some quick thinking, Grue, nice!

Stormtiger was defeated in a rather anticlimactic way, he didn’t even do much. It’s a shame, I liked the concept of his power. To make sure he wouldn’t stand up soon, Grue shoots him in each leg, and that’s that. Hookwolf’s still prepared to fight, though. Is this why you weren’t able to fit Hookwolf in the fight earlier, Mr. Wildbow, besides what you said about him not fitting? Because he was going to appear here again? Or could it be that he moved Hookwolf to this scene, instead of it having been planned since the beginning? That’s possible.

Hookwolf can modify his body, indeed, moving metal inside him to take different forms, whether it gives him that quadruped shape from earlier, or armor, or weapons. So it’s more similar to Kaiser’s than to Heckpuppy’s, in a way. He makes an outrageously large hook and arm, and since going to fight that thing’s an awful idea, running away is the decision taken here.

Cricket leaves the hostage aside and focuses on Grue, and he...weeeeell...he loses. He’s not unconscious or dead, but she manages to hurt him a lot. I suppose everything’s up to you once again, Skitter. That’s the burden of being the protagonist, you’re almost always going to be the one to finish the fight. What’s going to be the trick today?

Well, since Hookwolf’s not going to be affected by the bugs very much, she starts swarming Cricket little by little, enough to be bothered by them. Also, Cricket has radar. Echolocation? Same difference, in terms of function, and doing it continuously makes the bugs go haywire. Hah! You really have a lot of bad luck, Skitter, when was the last time one of the important enemies could be affected by the bugs in a significant way? Pretty much never. Bakuda would have been the only one, I think, and in that moment Skitter was in a place mostly devoid of bugs. She’s really unlucky, seriously.

Okay, at least Hookwolf’s busy climbing a building, for...some reason. That should be of help for Skitter, she only has one foe to deal with. Not that she’s doing awesomely, Cricket hooks her with one of the scythes and tries to slice her through the stomach. If I remember right, Skitter has that part armored, doesn’t she? Once again her foresight while making that costume may have saved her.

That radar also makes people disoriented...I think. At least Grue’s having trouble aiming. Skitter tries to stab Cricket in her back, but all she manages to do is stab the thigh. That’s painful enough, but it doesn’t stop Cricket. She bludgeons Skitter with her scythes and Grue barely manages to save her. Teamwork!

I twisted the knife, and pulled it out of her leg with a two-handed grip. Or, to rephrase, I pulled the knife through her leg, dragging it horizontally through the meat of her thigh, toward her hip, and out.

That hurts! And...that’s a really sharp knife, isn’t it? Cutting through flesh isn’t that easy unless the blade is very sharp, especially when it’s developed muscles like Cricker surely has. It’s more akin to cutting beef than chicken. Cricket’s very lucky her artery wasn’t severed with such move; the knife mustn’t have been very deep into her thigh. But it’s enough to make Cricket fall, so it’s a success. One opponent more for Skitter’s growing list of foes defeated during her career.

Apparently Hookwolf wasn’t able to do anything at all about the cloud of darkness, nor returned down to fight, he just stayed up there on the top. That means there’s a chance of reprieve, once they manage to get back to the ambulance to look for first aid help. Grue’s rather cut, after all. Nothing crippling, fortunately.

“Looks worse than it is. I’ve fought people like her before, in sparring and fighting classes. She was showing off with the first few cuts. Shallow, inflicting pain, not really meant to disable or deal real harm.”

“That’s stupid,” I muttered. “I’m glad, but it’s stupid.”

“She probably didn’t think about it. I’d bet it’s something she learned and incorporated into her style while fighting for a crowd.”

That’s...quite the strategic mistake, but I suppose it has worked well enough for her so far, or she’d have changed it. My guess is that not many have the chance to run away or counter. I hope their deaths were swift enough.

It takes them some time to get away far enough from Hookwolf to feel safe enough to dispel the darkness. Grue’s wounds are bad enough to require stitches – a lot of stitches, I suppose.

The rest of the Undersiders were waiting inside a church, Heckpuppy already transformed her dogs. None of them expected Grue or Skitter to have been attacked, Skitter quickly explains what happened. It seems the rest didn’t have any problems, they sure got lucky, just a few thugs.

I duly handed over the cleaning solution and some antiseptic wipes. I heard Grue mutter, “Shit, I hope Cricket isn’t the type to put poison on her weapon.”

Oh goodness, the thought never crossed my mind! Thankfully Cricket doesn’t do that, but still...that’d be quite the dirty trick, eh? I don’t think many capes would do that unless their powers produced poison.

Now that all the Undersiders are back together, there’s time to discuss what the plan of attack will be. Purity’s still rampaging around, she’s still the main target here.

“I’m thinking guerrilla strikes,” Grue spoke, turning to Tattletale, “We have the dogs, we use their mobility to harass, catch any roaming groups off guard, take them down, disappear before reinforcements or heroes show.”

Is there really enough time to attack roaming groups? If anyone manages to alert others, the tables will turn and not in the Undersiders’ favor. Besides, Grue’s not in condition to fight or even to ride the dogs, according to Tattletale, and if she says it then that’s final. Grue will have to stay behind. Maybe his darkness powers wouldn’t have been very useful against Purity, anyway. Night and Fog may still be with her, though? His absence will be quite the disadvantage.

What’s the plan of action?

“Direct action,” I echoed her. I didn’t like the sound of that.

“We go straight for Purity.”

Good enough. It’s going to be difficult, but maybe not way more difficult than the rest of the fights so far. They can do it...I think. The exact details aren’t said right now, Tattetale will say it while they’re sewing Grue’s wounds. So it’ll be for the next chapter, then? Most likely not, knowing Mr. Wildbow’s writing style, he’ll want to make the plan a surprise.

The chapter ends with Skitter echoing the same thing Grue had told her: apologizing about having to stitch a wound shut. The mere thought of having to undergo that continues giving me goosebumps. So, my opinion about this fight...

...well, I think Grue being hurt turned it from a fight that wasn’t needed into a fight that...well, it still wasn’t needed but at least wasn’t inconsequential. I can see why Mr. Wildbow decided to make it happen. Making Grue be hurt in some other way would have been a bit humiliating, wouldn’t it? He’s not completely out of commission, but he’s weakened enough he won’t be able to do much, if anything at all. That was the direct consequence of this fight, and therefore it had a point.

Seeing Hookwolf in action was interesting, too. Stormtiger being defeated so fast was kind of a bummer, but those things happen. Maybe in the future he’ll return, maybe not. Cricket, while not having an impressive power like the others, is really used to fighting and was the main foe here. There’s something interesting about a cape without flashy powers managing to hold her own against others. I enjoyed that.

Overall I’d say my fears of this being filler went partly unfulfilled. That’s good enough for me. So, dealing with Purity may be happening next time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to show the entire fight in one update, it depends in how many chapters it takes and what length they have. This is a big deal, after all, I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes three or four chapters. But yeah, I’ll leave that for next time. Thank you for reading.

Next update: three updates

#worm liveblog #worm #book liveblog #story liveblog #liveblog

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itsiotrecords-blog · 7 years

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Malaysia could be on your list of adventurous traveling destinations for so many reasons. They are known for their beaches and rainforests with a rich heritage culture, loads of activities, and sites to see. As for activities, they have big caves and old temples to visit, some of which are pretty whacky and scary. Malaysia also has lots of exotic foods to try. Malaysians believe that if you visit their country, you will instantly fall in love with it. According to the website Malaysia.travel, “To know Malaysia is to love Malaysia.” Their slogan “Malaysia, truly Asia” proves that in the country one can discover a convergence of different races—Indians, Malays, Chinese, and many other—that altogether live peacefully and harmoniously. With the diversity of cultures that thrive in Malaysia, it should come as no surprise that it is home to hundreds of colorful festivals. Because of this, Malaysians naturally love to socialize and celebrate. If you’ve never been to Malaysia before or even if you have already visited it, you might want to consider reading this list of 15 disturbing facts Malaysians don’t want you know about their country. The list includes some pretty weird things, including strange superstitions, icky eating habits (just a warning, worms are involved), and growing and building the largest things on Earth.

#1 They Have The Grossest Infestation Of Cockroaches Thriving in one of the caves of Malaysia, Gomantong Cave in Sabah, are cockroaches in abundance. In fact, the worst infestation in the world. They are all there fighting for food from bat droppings and thriving from the wet environment. Remind me never to visit this large cave in my life. What sounds worse than bat droppings from the ceiling and cockroaches swarming at your feet? It gets worse. Not only do they have the worst infestation of cockroaches in the world! They have a problem with large snakes too. Drum roll, please! King Cobras. Yes, you guessed it right. The largest venomous snake in the world is found in Malaysia. The longest King Cobra was found at Port Dickson in 1937. It was so huge that they captured it and took it to a zoo in London where it grew to 5. 71 meters.

#2 Practice Of Needles Under The Skin! Here is a practice that you do not want to try! Shamans practice cosmetic sorcery by poking gold, silver, or precious metals underneath their skin. This practice developed from the pre-Islamization era of Malaysia and Indonesia. This is meant to make the Shaman who partakes in this practice of poking himself with needles never die. This practice is also meant to prevent his spouse from cheating on him. It’s also believed to heal his ailments and infections in the body and bring everlasting youth and beauty. Very strong claims for a simple weird practice of poking yourself.

#3 Crazy Flying Records You might not have heard much about Malaysia and its accomplishments, but this one was quite the real deal. Dr. Shikh Muszaphar Shukor is an astronaut from Malaysia. He was practicing Ramadan when he was meant to fly to space. He didn’t let this deter him. In fact, he actually became the first Muslim astronaut to practice Ramadan while in space. Think that’s crazy? They also had the youngest pilot fly around the world by himself. Captain James Anthony Tan was only twenty-one years old when he chose to fly around the world all by himself in 2013. He flew a thirty-year-old Cessna 210 Eagle aircraft for twenty-two miles around twenty-one countries in fifty days! Talk about guts, I would be too scared to fly a plane full stop.

#4 Weird Superstitions Old beliefs do not die easily. For instance, Malaysians are still afraid of the number four. If you go to Malaysia, you will find that in lifts and on unit floors the number four doesn’t exist. They usually replace this with 3A. This apparently comes from the old superstition that the number four sounds similar in phonetics to the word death. On the other hand, they see the number eight with a lot of favor, mostly because the Cantonese pronunciation sounds like ‘batt’ sounds similar to ‘faat’ which refers to wealth and prosperity. So impressed are they with this number that you’ll often see men driving around with the number eight prominently on their number plates. They have many superstitions. Apparently, according to ancient belief, if a cat jumps over a coffin with a dead person inside before the coffin is buried, the man will come back to life! This doesn’t sound like a very hard feat to bring someone’s life back. I wonder why they don’t try to have more cats jump over coffins, like a regular ritual at burial services.

#5 They Grow Some Of The Biggest Things In The World Though not a very large country, Malaysia grows some of the most gigantic things in the world. Found naturally in Malaysia is the biggest flower in the whole world known as the Rafflesia. They also have the biggest undivided leaf, the Alocasia Macrorrhiza from Tawau, in Sabah. They have the largest cave chamber in existence, known as the Sarawak Chamber at Gunung Mulu National Park. The cave chamber covers an area of 1.66 million square feet! This was discovered in January 1981 by three British cavers during their Mulu eighty expedition. You certainly wouldn’t want to get lost in there. Apart from that, they also have the largest insect in the world—a stick bug. Named as Chan’s Megastick, the stick bug measures up to 56.6 centimeters. The bug was discovered in 1989 by a naturalist, Datuk Chan Chew Lun, in Sabah. After having read about all of these massive things, I’m sure you couldn’t decide whether to consider this cool or freaky. It makes one wonder why almost everything grows gigantic in Malaysia?

#6 They Have An Old Custom Involving Babies And Worms Malaysia is known as a place of rich heritage and culture. Some of their cultural traditions are a bit stranger than you would imagine. For instance, traditionally in Iban communities in Malaysia, babies and young children are referred to as ‘ulat’ until they are given a name of their own. The word ‘ulat’ actually means worm! Somehow, this is meant to be given in an affectionate way. The idea of having a generic nickname until an official name is decided on was actually common for many traditional cultures. The use of the nickname worm is rather odd, though. If it was a bit of a cooler nickname like ‘precious’ or ‘cool kid’, then I wouldn’t mind adopting a tradition like this. I think it’s much better than everybody referring to the baby as an ‘it’ for the first few days or weeks (some people take an awfully long time to decide on their baby’s name).

#7 They Make The Biggest Things Ever worried about getting lost on a long endless road? Well that fear might actually come true if you stay in Malaysia. They have made the longest highways in the world. In fact, the total length of their highways is 40,934 miles. That’s more than the circumference of the earth at 24,901 miles! The plan was to make it easier to get around, but making roads longer than the entire earth is just plain freaky. As if the 40,934-mile highway wasn’t enough, they also designed the biggest roundabout in existence, the Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah in Putrajaya. It’s not just me that gets lost reading these really long names, is it? Its diameter is 2.7 miles (3.5 km). In 2015, they won a Guinness World Record for the largest hotel in the world known as Genting’s First World Hotel. It has three stars and has 7,351 rooms. This sounds like a place worth staying, doesn’t it?

#8 First To Try This Crazy New Medical Procedure You probably wouldn’t guess it but the first arm and hand transplant was actually performed in Malaysia on a little girl. Up until this moment, only hand transplants are done. This procedure took place with Dr. V. Pathmanathan in charge of the team. They operated on 18 May 2000 at Selayang Hospital on a baby girl only one month after she was born. Her name was Chong Lih Ying. Her new arm and hand was actually from her identical twin sister who died at birth from severe brain damage. Only five months later, she was already waving both of her hands and cuddling her teddies. The surgeon responsible believed that the surgery would be successful only because they had used the identical twin’s limb so this means they have similar cells and come from the same blood group. I guess there’s always a silver lining in the dark cloud.

#9 Boats Capsizing They have boats capsizing. According to a post from news.com.au in January 2017, “A boat ferrying 40 people from Indonesia has capsized off Malaysia’s coast, killing at least nine people and leaving nearly 30 were missing. . .The agency said a combination of overloading and bad weather and heavy seas were believed to have caused the accident.” Apparently, this incident was not the only occurrence of boats capsizing. A number of similar accidents have occurred along the waterways of Indonesia and Malaysia. More often than not, these accidents are caused by overloading of ferryboats carrying laborers who seek for work in Malaysian plantations and factories. According to a news article, in November 2016, “more than half of the 101 passengers aboard a boat died after it hit a reef and sank off the Indonesian island of Batam, south of Singapore. Four months earlier, a boat sank while en-route to Batam. Malaysian authorities recovered eight bodies and rescued 34 people.”

#10 They Don’t Take Jokes Lightly If you’re planning to go on a vacation in Malaysia and see all the terrific and great sites of the land, always bear in mind that their law system is rather very strict. And if you’re caught being very silly, you might just end up in jail. In October 2016, according to 9news, nine Australian men were put in prison for stripping down to colorful Speedo trunks in the design of the Malaysian flag. As if that wasn’t enough, they drank beer out of their shoes and sang in a public place during celebrations at the Grand Prix. While the crowd found them the pinnacle of amusement and joy, many cheering on and taking selfies with them, the authorities put them directly in prison. Authorities said that they would receive their sentence with a possibility of getting out easily by simply paying a fine. However, there’s still a greater possibility of being sentenced up to two years of prison “with intentional insult to breach the peace.”

#11 Malaysian Delicacy Will Make You Want To Vomit Okay so when I read this strange fact, I actually had to stop myself from gagging. In East Malaysia, they have a delicacy that you never want to try. Although they are said to have a creamy consistency and not taste half as bad as they sound, would you still want to go all the way to the country and eat these rather stout and “juicy” worms? Probably not! Mostly eaten as a treat in Sabah and Sarawak’s native tribes are the larvae of sago worms. Thankfully, this has mostly been phased out in modern menus around the country, though you can still find them stir-fried, roasted, or simply raw at weekly markets and at tourist attractions! Why tourist attractions? Leave it for the old tribes please. But yes, you can find them at tourist attractions like Monsopiad Cultural Village where they’re served to the tourists as part of their program. Maybe this is why they name their babies after worms. This is the absolute most appealing picture I could find. Just try Googling larvae sago worms and imagine eating them raw. Bon Appetit!

#12 They Have Fruit That Stinks The Durian fruit, a real charm in Malaysia. These were banned from traveling on the Singapore Mass Transit because of their intense odor even when still unopened. You either love the fruit or you hate it. And for most, it’s a hate relationship. Though in Malaysia, most people love this fruit and some even love the smell. When they are in season, they have durian fruit buffets that people flock to to eat as many durians as they want. A Malaysian source still suggested bringing mouthwash along. According to food writer Richard Sterling, “Its odor is best described as pig-sh*t, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia.” Anthony Bourdain calls it “indescribable, something you will either love or despise. … Your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother.” Judging from what I’m hearing, I’d rather give this fruit a miss.

#13 Cat Museum In A City Named After Cats Open from 9am to 5pm every day, this is a cat lover’s dream coming true. Some visitors have complained online that it’s rather overpriced for a dingy rundown place with not so much to see. Though according to their website, they only charge for photos and filming (perhaps these charges are outrageous?). According to Sarawaktourism.com, “The World’s first Cat Museum, devoted to all things feline, is in Petra Jaya in the Kuching City North City Hall. Cat lovers will find a range of exhibits, photos, feline art and cat souvenirs; over 4,000 of them. The museum is housed on the ground on the City Hall Building, spread over four galleries covering a total area of 1,035 sq meter.” The cat is said to be a good luck charm, so I guess they decided to make a museum of 4000 things of good luck! Personally I would much rather visit a couple of cute little kittens at a pet shop or a cat café than go through 1,035 square meters of souvenirs and paintings of old cats.

#14 Venomous Snake Temple If you weren’t freaked out enough to hear that Malaysia had the largest snakes on record, then maybe the fact that they actually have a venomous snake temple for tourists to visit will make you a little…okay maybe not so little…uneasy. The Penanag Snake Temple is said to house venomous pit vipers and green tree snakes. Upon entering the temple, one can see a big incense burner filling the main prayer hall with smoke. The smoke emitted by these incense burners tranquilizes the serpents and makes them appear motionless or even asleep. Additionally, at the start of the temple, there are tanks that hold pythons and cobras. This is meant to be the best spot to get a photo. This temple is one of the most popular tourist attractions and there’s only a small fee to visit. Someone would have to pay me more than a large fee to get me to even consider visiting that temple.

#15 Mosquito Virus “Zika” According to an article from new.com.au in September 2016, Malaysia is on high alert for the Zika virus. Catching a virus from a mosquito is alarming as they are so small and unassuming. Sure they usually annoy you with their itchy bites, but how do you even avoid them when they’re flying around. If you’re traveling to Malaysia, make sure to bring a load of mosquito repellents. Actually, Malaysia put up a poster at Kuala Lumpur International Airport warning people and advising tourists to be extremely careful by being fully covered in clothing with long sleeves and pants. They’ve also advised tourists to avoid having unprotected sex when they return home for eight weeks. Zika virus is caused by mosquitoes and can leave you with an awful fever.

Source: TheRichest

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