Yesterday afternoon along with two friends, Mitch and I took the train from Seremban to KL Sentral, the main train station in Kuala Lumpur. From there we transferred to the subway and headed to KL City Centre (KLCC), the main shopping and entertainment district of KL. We wandered around the massive mall, visited a few stores, tried and failed to get tickets to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) because none of us knew there was a pretty strict dress code, wandered through a lovely park, and had an excellent meal with our Scottish friends in an Irish bar. Some highlights are below. Enjoy!
So many books!
The store in which we spent the longest was a two-story Japanese bookstore with zillions of titles in English. It was very exciting. Both interestingly and frustratingly, the books were wrapped in plastic so patrons couldn’t flip through them. To me, that almost defeats the purpose of a bookstore; I don’t like buying books electronically because I can’t look through them. Same story here. I was very glad, however, to find a section of Jewish history books and a section on Judaism in general.
Books about Judaism – note that “science and religion” are together in this section
This bookstore was inside a huge mall that was inside and underneath the Petronas Towers. We didn’t go up to the skybridge, but we did gaze up at them from the park outside.
The Petronas Towers are actually the same size. I guess I took the picture from a strange angle.
The towers were cool but I thought the park was cooler.
Nifty fountainsKL is pretty cool – it has dolphins that magically jump out of shallow water!
There were also some awesome trees in this park in the center of KL. The mere fact that there is a park in the center of KL is pretty cool, too. It also has a 1300m track!
It was a really fun afternoon and the Irish bar for dinner was great. It was nice to recognize every item on the menu for a change. The Gaelic football game that was on in the bar was enjoyable to watch, as well. We’ll definitely be back in KL. I want to explore Chinatown and see the MPO for sure!
As I’ve mentioned, Malaysia is hot and humid all the time. Indoors is always air conditioned, though, so you actually do need to walk around with a sweater (or just be okay being cold). I didn’t expect to move to a tropical climate and miss my cardigans, but that’s what’s happened.
Because Malaysia is a tropical climate, it has some really beautiful beaches. Yesterday the primary staff went on an outing to Port Dickson after work, which is about a 30 minute drive through palm oil plantations from Seremban.
Port DicksonI live in a place with palm trees!
We had a really lovely time walking in the water because it’s so warm! The sand was warm and soft, too. And, of course, being around saltwater means that appetites wake up. Since the palm trees are so plentiful, the cure for that is to literally eat from nature’s fruits.
The sun starts to set much earlier here than it does at home because we’re so much closer to the equator. It’s dark by about 7:30. We left the beach shortly after 6 and the late afternoon/early evening sun was really beautiful.
In complete contrast to summer, people in Malaysia have to actually think about other types of weather because there are certain items of clothing they don’t need in their regular lives. Mitch and I could not stop laughing when we spotted a store called Winter Time in the mall where our hotel is located.
My first comment what, “Do people really think it’s cold here?”
Of course we had to go take a look around. A closer examination of the store revealed complete sets of outdoor winter attire – coats, boots, scarves, mitts, gloves, etc. – and luggage. And that’s when we figured out, “Oh, people must travel to places where it’s winter.” My second thought was, “Why?” but people like to go on vacations that are different from their real lives and winter is different from real life here.
If finance doesn’t work out, Mitch can always consider a career as a model for Winter Time
Wherever you are, whatever your weather – here’s to travel and adventure!
We made it! Mitch and I traveled for about 40 hours door-to-door, but we made it to Malaysia and so did our luggage! I ignored the flight attendant’s request to “stow all electronic devices” during landing and took a few pictures to document my first glimpse of my new home.
15,000 feet up!
. . . getting closer . . .. . . almost there . . .. . . hey look, water! . . .. . . almost there . . .
. . . yup, I think I can do this.
I don’t know quite what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting so much greenery. I am aware of the fact that Malaysia is tropical and that a large part of it is rainforest, but somehow that did not equate to green in my head. Sometimes it’s nice to be mistaken.
My bosses picked us up at the Kuala Lumpur airport and we drove for about 40 minutes to reach Seremban, the city where we’ll be living. Or, at any rate, the city where I’ll be living and working; Mitch still has to find a job, and Seremban is an “up and coming” city, which, in Southeast Asian terms means it has more than doubled in size in the last decade, so it’s probably not going to be here.
On our drive we passed literally dozens of palm oil plantations. We were warned not to make friends with any of the many stray dogs that roam the city (so far I’ve only seen one) and told to watch out for poisonous snakes. Apparently Malaysia has more species of poisonous snakes than any other country. Excellent.
The on-campus residences are still under construction (yikes?) so the school has put everyone up in a hotel for now. Part of orientation will also include off-campus house hunting, too, so I’m really excited about that. Mitch and I spent the afternoon getting organized, trying to figure out cell phones, and wandering around town. One of the more interesting aspects of our wanderings were our attempts to find and ATM. There were signs for ATMs at the mall next door to the hotel, but they’re not installed yet (“up and coming” in Southeast Asia also means currently under construction) so a helpful lady directed us to a 7-Eleven around the corner. We’d already been there and their ATM was broken, so we went back to the hotel and asked at the desk. The gentleman on duty directed us to a hospital down the street.
Never in my life have I strolled into a hospital, wandered around the first floor unaccompanied and completely ignored, taken money out of an ATM, and walked out again. I did not leave feeling incredibly confident in the Malaysian healthcare systems, especially considering the sign announcing prices for different procedures at the door. Toto, we are certainly not in Kansas anymore.
After 40 hours of travel, sporadic eating and sleeping, and lightheaded wandering, we were more than ready to find some dinner. We had asked a hotel employee for suggestions, stipulating that the menu include vegetarian food. He directed us to a Chinese restaurant in the opposite direction of where we’d walked earlier. I’m not positive we found the specific restaurant because there’s more than one Chinese restaurant here, but we ended up finding the spiciest tofu I’ve ever tasted.
When we walked in, a server handed us menus (mercifully written in both English and Chinese) and we sat down at a table. After looking over the menu and consulting our friends Google and Wikipedia, we learned that we were in a laksa restaurant. We also learned that laksa is a spicy soup that combines Chinese and Malay culinary traditions. Good for us, we’d found something authentic! It also wasn’t too hard to figure out how to order after we realized that no one was coming by to check on us.
The instructions were pretty self-explanatory
When we pressed for service, a bell chimed and a number flashed on the wall, like the numbers people take in the deli counter line at the grocery store. A server came over, we ordered, and a short time later, we had food!
Mitch’s chicken (and some other unidentified items that he said were tasty)My vegetable curry
It’s a good thing there were tissues on the table (maybe they were supposed to be napkins?) or I would not have gotten through that bowl. Quite tasty, though!
All in all, so far so good. We’re basically watching the clock until it’s late enough to go to bed. I know what day it’s supposed to be, though not exactly what day my body thinks it is. At any rate, I’m glad we have a couple days to acclimate before teacher training starts. We certainly need it!
Photos, travels, musings, and ideas on education by someone trying to make the world a better and more peaceful place
It was a really fun afternoon and the Irish bar for dinner was great. It was nice to recognize every item on the menu for a change. The Gaelic football game that was on in the bar was enjoyable to watch, as well. We’ll definitely be back in KL. I want to explore Chinatown and see the MPO for sure!
By Rebecca Michelle 