HKKL#3

HKKL#3

Moved into the apartment on Monday, 21APR...WOO HOO....I am a KL resident now. I have a few things to work on, but mostly, it is OFF THE HOOK baby!

It was funny when I arrived home today from Singapore, I really felt as if I was home. I think I have already mellowed to the culture change. That means I was on the LRT with my nice Italian tank (bought at the sample sale in London) and I didn't care that I looked so western...cause hey...I am. That doesn't mean I can't be totally respectful to all things Malay but I now know it is OK to be me. The smiles I received from the people on the train as well as the security guards at my building while rocking out to Little Feat (more on that in a minute) on my iPod made me know for sure I was home. Home is where you are going at the end of most days, isn't it? It sure is for me.

Little Feat...all this talk about the great bands you loved in high school (secondary school - thx BR) has made me realise that some of you who might read this were born after Lowell George passed. I had the distinct privilege of seeing Little Feat with Lowell George 2 weeks after I graduated from high school and it was one of best concerts ever. I went high school and university with mostly Led Zep, Bruce Springsteen, and Grateful Dead fans. I was never in that space in high school and liked lots of different music and Little Feat is just one of the many bands that made a difference to me and I still love hearing their music.

Back to life in KL. I am sitting at my work desk looking at the KL Tower and yes, I know everyone wants to see pictures and you will, all in good time. I did manage to get the shot above this morning. That is the view from my desk...KL Tower. It is a GORGEOUS morning with blue sky and just a few scattered clouds. I do think the "drier" season is here as it has only been raining for about 30 minutes and much more blue sky.

The food is so diverse and interesting, I just can't get over it. I had the nasi lemak from a stand on the street for breakfast before work on Friday. It was 1.20 MYR (about 20p or US 40 cents) and it was delicious. A big helping of coconut rice with peanuts, sambal, ikan bilik, egg, and cucumber...all served in a banana leaf and portable to carry to the office!

Singapore...I spent the weekend there (last weekend) and that was interesting. By comparison,

Singapore is expensive so I did not get a new camera or anything except some Chinese slippers to wear inside my apartment. Malays don't wear shoes in the house and it is a very good idea as most of my apartment has white marble floors. I do find walking around barefoot makes my feet very sore so have been improvising bit. I have a shoe closet at the entrance to my apartment. I haven't tried to get all my shoes in there yet, but they might actually fit.

Singapore is quite flashy in the main shopping area of Orchard Road but has many diverse areas as well. I was lucky enough to have a local co-worker give me a personal tour of the city, country, island...it is all three. The old town part is really lovely with tons of shuttered colourful buildings that seem as if they would be home in mainly tropical locales aroung the world. The port area is really impressive, the cranes and TONS and TONS of giant ships everywhere is surreal. KLF was testing my adventurous food habits and took me a noodle house for lunch where we had the chow fun (or one of the MANY other names it goes by in this part of the world) with beef. It was great and after my first few bites, I said....mmmmm, are those mushrooms in the broth? To which KLF responded sheepishly, no, they are "parts". YIKES!!! I think it is the nurse thing but I have never been able to handle eating organ meat. In this case it was probably stomach lining or intestine. The beef slices tasted fantastic and the broth was equally delicious so I just left the "parts" in the bowl. I think KLF found it quite amusing after I had been bragging about eating the cheeks in the fish head curry.

BTW...I've decided that all my mentions of people and employers will remain anonymous. Some of you will know who or what I am writing about.

So I am learning much more about my neighborhood by wandering around it is so fascinating. The other night I found a traditional southern Indian restaurant right near my apt. I had the most amazing idly which is SOOOO yummy. It is a steamed savory cake made from black lentils and rice. Delicious and wheat free!!! It looks a bit like a muffin and is white in colour. In this case, I had little ones that were recooked by pan frying and mixed with a lovely spicy dahl curry with piles of shallots and garlic. The shallots here are a bit larger and reddish and are frequently called onions. I also had an amazing green mint tea and a plate of snacks including yogurt/cheese, and two other vegetarian curries with plain idli.

Thursday was a holiday in Malaysia, the first of many I hear. This one was labour day. Many small shops were closed and all the big stores open. I was fascinated to see that all the security guards and sweepers are still working. Street sweepers are people here, not trucks. They are everywhere and most nice buildings also have someone constanting cleaning the floors in the entry. Even in my building, there is usually someone cleaning the floor in the lobby although the hallway on my floor could use a bit of mopping. Haven't gotten a maid yet, but I am now down to two boxes that are unpacked. I have also been to Ikea and about 5 trips to Mydin which is a big discount store that is in little India and is REALLY inexpensive.

Did I mention my pool? I get to call my pool because hardly anyone lives in my building yet (it is brand new) so I feel like it my pool. It is gorgeous and all tiled. There are also two gigantic jacuzzi tubs, a weight room, a studio (my personal yoga studio when I'm not using my office area), meeting rooms, kids area, sauna, and a squash court. OMG!!! I just found that yesterday.

The liquids, alcohol is very expensive here so is giving me the opportunity to learn about all the other delicious things to drinks. There are stalls in the streets with lime juice, sugar cane juice, and all kinds of other great fruit drinks. The rice jelly drink is very interesting with chunk of jelly in the bottom. It is very sweet but is a great balance if eating something very spicy. I had some mango juice yesterday that I was able to watch being made where a bunch of mango is mulled in the bottom of the glass, a bit of sugar syrup, a pile of ice, and water. YUM!!! The juice drinks are much thinner than I am used to and it is very refreshing. Now if I could just figure out how to tell them not to put any sugar in it...all things in good time.

TTFN!