Alive and Kickin' in Malaysia! Greetings All! Yup, I am now in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at about 3° latitude above the equator. Life is good. The temperature is sitting very nicely right now at about 34°C, mid to high 80's for you 'Meeericans, and loving it! So, I made it to my KL apartment relatively unscathed considering that it was around 1 a.m. on Friday morning (straight Edmonton time), remembering that I woke up at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. So on Saturday I rolled into KL and do some shopping for the trip. Illicit DVDs and CDs, trinkets, see if I can find a $3.00 Rolex in Chinatown. Other goals while I am here is a meal at Suzi's Corner with their renowned Water Buffalo steaks (mmmmmmmmm), a midnight swim at the apartment. Did some suntanning today (Sunday), I had the requisite sunblock with me, so I should be okay. Plus, heck, my face is always kind of red anyway. Oh, on the way here I met a couple from Taber, Alberta that are heading out to KL to meet up with their daughter and her husband, who are living here for a few years as part of an engineering project. It is really easy to tell who definitely speaks English here in Malaysia. If you look like a white folk, you speak English. I have not run in to any French, Spanish or Italian people here. Some Europeans, Australians, and Canadians. No Americans so far. A fellow worker here has lined me up with a motorcycle for the next two weekends, I am hoping to get out on one of them and go to Malacca, which is located on the west coast of Malaysia, about 150 kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur and where much of Malaysia's rich history can be traced. The Portuguese influence is still very visible in the city's architecture apparently and I think that would make for a neat trip. Especially on a bike. I even brought along my own helmet so I can be comfortable along the way, how's that for somewhat prepared? Not much for pictures so far, shots of downtown KL aren't particularly spectacular or even interesting. I did have one down thing happen that I would like to pass on, I stubbed my toe. Now, before you get all weepy and decide to send me e-greeting cards saying get well and all, I should mention that it actually got infected. I stubbed it on a piece of plastic that is used for the chairs to roll on under a desk. It had curled and was about an inch off the ground at the one edge. I didn't sleep well last night, hardly anything from 2-7 a.m. and finally went to a clinic to have it checked out, for staph or whatever. The doctor saw me, gave me some staph ointment for my foot, some penicillin for a week, some pain killers to get me through tonight and tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day (heh heh heh), and including the cost of her visit, since I am not on any Malaysian health plan I paid (are you ready for this?) - $10.00 Heck, in Canada the pharmacist charges $8.00 just for their dispensing fee! I got it all, plus the doctor for $10!
The apartments that I stay in are actually rather nice. Most things you could want are here. They don't have running hot water, as this is typically not necessary here. The water is already pretty warm. But for showers where you would like it to be potentially warmer, like in the morning, there is a heater that you manually start (switch) that gets you hot water in about 5 minutes. Very economical system.
My pad in Malaysia: Kitchen
Living Room and the ol' laptop!
Closer view of the Living room portion
Kitchen, closer view
Cooking area, it's outside the apartment, actually
The bedroom
The closets in my bedroom
