Friday, April 18, 2008

HKKL#2

HKKL#2

Time flies when you are experiencing so many new things at once. I can't believe I have been in Malaysia for 10 days now. I had a very full week of work this week and know I will be very busy with project work for existing and potential clients.
Only two days left in the gorgeous KL Hilton and this morning I had to move to a different room as my reservation had expired and hotel is full tonight. This room has a fab desk area so taking some time to update the blog.

I know I need to start taking pictures but my little Canon has a battery problem that I have not resolved yet. I am actually going to take the opportunity to look at cameras next week in Singapore after looking at prices here in KL this weekend and get myself a new DSLR camera.

More of the culture and surroundings in KL to date. I have already become fairly versed in the art of the major public transit. The LRT (light rail) and monorail are quite good and easy to understand. They can become very packed during rush hour. The other day I was on the LRT and was standing and realised (still on the UK spelling as that is favoured in Malaysia) that I towered over almost everyone on the train. Looking down the train car, I saw two young guys that towered over everyone even more than me. They had to duck down to avoid hitting their heads on the overhead hold bars. It was pretty funny because we made eye contact, above most folks heads, and just smiled.

Malays are very small people. Many Malay women dress in the baju kurung which is a long flowing tunic with a long skirt underneath. The diversity of colours of the traditional dress is amazing. Walking around the city or on the LRT is a rainbow of colours. Malaysia is a Muslim country and most of the Muslim women wear the tudung (headscarf) here. The typical dress is the baju kurung and tudung. The tudung normally matches the baju kurung and is very colourful. Many Muslim women wear the tudung with western clothes as well. More conservative Islamic dress has come into favour in the last 20 years.

I am still learning about the food and the variety seems endless. I had some typical southern Indian food the other night and it was delicious. The curry was a spinach base with the home made Indian cheese and I had some dahl (lentils) with it. Indian food in Malaysia tends to incorporate chicken, fish, and seafood. For you curry neophytes, this is NOTHING like what is passed off as curry in most of the USA. Curry is really just a mix of foods that is typically served with rice, dahl, or noodles of various types. The Tamil meaning of the word is "mixed vegetable stew." With the endless variety of spices and meat/fish additions, the variety of curry is endless. Most Malay food and many restarants in KL are Halal, which is Islamic food preparation and means permissable in the Islamic religion. Muslims do not eat pork and have strict rules about keeping pork separate from anything they would eat. For example, the breakfast buffet at the Hilton has beef bacon, chicken sausage, and turkey ham but no pork.

I am also enjoying all the new and different varieties of fruit, some of the names I am not too sure of yet. Yes, I have had durian, the big prickly skinned stinky fruit that has gained lots of exposure in the western press recently. It has a nice smooth texture and mellow flavour but the smell is pretty foul. I have preferred the guava, longon or lychee (laici), star fruit, and some melons that I have never had before. I remember thinking the papaya in Hawaii was awful, but I find it delicious here. Are you hungry yet?

Those of you who know me well won't be surprised that I am adjusting to all the new foods in many interesting ways. I think it is actually quite good for your body to react to all the new stuff you put in it and develop tolerance. No doubt there are some interesting natural bacteria in food here that I haven't had before. Even the things to drink are different. The coffee (kopi) is delicious and the basic western drinks are available as well. I have had a bit of a challenge finding my beloved sparkling water that I became so fond of living in the UK. Fortunately, the Hilton has it readily available. The most interesting drink I have had so far is the homemade air laici in Chinatown. It is a tea made from lychees, very sweet with lots of cooked lychees in the cup. Very refreshing. There tons of iced teas of various types available at stands and bottled or canned at stores. The iced green tea, chrysanthemum tea, and milk tea are all delicious.

Saturday...time to get out and explore. Selamat! (all purpose Bahasa Malaysia greeting)

Saturday, April 12, 2008

HK in KL #1

Greetings from Kuala Lumpur!

So now I remember why I always wrote my blog on another document and then transferred it to the blog on the website...because it is very easy to lose all your writing. I just finished a nice long initial blog on my new adventure and somehow hit one key and whole thing disappearing. Ugh!

No matter, being awake at 4:30 a.m. is always a good time for blogging. My jet lag is pretty much over but I still seem to get really tired in the late afternoon and end up taking a long nap and then I don't need to sleep past early a.m.

I have now been in Kuala Lumpur for nearly a week. I left KCMO last Sunday and about a day and a half later ended up in KL. The basics were a 14 hour flight from LAX to Taipei and another 4 hours to KL from there. I was flew on Malaysian Airlines which was very nice and I was lucky enough to have several seats to myself. I understand going the other way from New York adds one hour of flying time. If you are reading this and planning a trip that may make a difference depending on where you are flying from to get here. I am not certain of the flying time from Europe but understand Virgin has really reasonable flights to Hong Kong and it is about 90 min flying time to KL from HK.

This is the tropics and it is very humid and warm, about 25-30 Celcius (77-86 F). It rains nearly everyday in the afternoon. Sometimes the showers accompanied by huge thunder, lightning, and wind. It is really beautiful and can be very refreshing. People pretty much just stop what they are doing outside when it comes down really hard. The lighter rains don't seem to affect anything but have the unpleasant effect of making it seem even more humid.

This weekend I did some exploring and left my private little world of the KL Hilton. This is the nicest Hilton I've ever seen and you could live here and be quite happy. The most amazing breakfast buffet which all different types of regional cuisine available including English, Malay, Japanese, Chinese, and European. I've had everything from congee (rice porridge) to fresh squeezed melon juice, french cheese, fried rice, and made to order omelette. YUM!!! A great way to start the day.

I should be moving into my apartment on Monday 21APR and I am so excited. I'll be living in an area of the city called Capital Square and it just outside the Golden Triangle. It is a brand new high rise building and I'll be living on the 15th floor with a view of the KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers. This place is amazing and very spacious so start planning your trip now.

I've sampled some delicious street food as well as had some typical Malay dishes including Kari kepala Ikan (fish head curry ), Nasi ayam (chicken rice), and Nasi lemak (classic Malay dish with rice cooked in coconut milk served with ikan bilis, cucumber, peanuts, eggs, and sambal). Ikan bilis is dried fish that comes many different ways but is typicall quite salty and made from small fish like anchovies. Sambal is the chili dipping sauce that is also available in limitless variety. The sambal I've had so far have surprisingly not been that "hot", just delicious and full of flavour.

I expect to have a full and busy week of work this week getting to know the team and our client in KL. I have been asked to go to Singapore next week to support a sales effort there.

Last night I was sitting out at the amazing freeform pool on the 8th floor with the palm trees swaying overhead and had to remind myself where I am. The sky was pretty clear last night and the moon looked like it was on its side. It seems to me that is a trait when you are closer to the equator. I am so very lucky to have to this opportunity.

Prior to travelling here so many people told me that everyone falls in love with SE Asia and I think I am falling fast.

Selangat tinngal!