What is Different In Kuala Lumpur

Wow! Nearly the end of February and we have been living and working in Kuala Lumpur for two months.
Doesn't time fly? So this week I have been asking myself, what is different about living in KL?

Actually I could fill the page with a list of things I have noticed so far. Instead I think I will just focus on some of the things that have more impact on our day to day lives.

Have you wondered what it would be like if you couldn't drink the water from your taps?

Today I am enjoying a cool glass of water. This is something that most New Zealanders take for granted. Water in NZ flows from the tap and is safe to drink. In Singapore we would turn on the tap and pour water into a water jug and place it to cool in the fridge. Here we have been told not to drink the water from the taps.
At work when you turn on the taps the water is often brown and smells. In our condo it is usually clear but smells strongly of chlorine. We were boiling it and placing it into the fridge, plus buying water regularly at work.

This week we have found a better solution, a water dispencer. It stands in the kitchen, we had to pay a deposit which was around 200 RM. And we also had to buy 5x18 litre bottles of water. When we want clean drinking water we just push switch and out it comes. We can have cold and we can have hot so we can make a cup of tea out of it. When we are on our last bottle we just make a phone call and the next 5 bottles will appear at our door. The bottles cost around 7.50 RB. That is less than $4.00 NZ for each bottle.

When we were home in December we paid about that for a small bottle of water from the conveniece stores. Isn't it funny when good water is freely available in NZ it is also very expensive in NZ. In othe parts of the world where it is not so freely available through the taps it is so much cheaper.

Now that we are not boiling water and carting it home in our backpacks, I am noticing for the last two days I have not had a headache when I woke up. I guess we are now drinking enough water.

It is important to have drinking water and to keep hydrated particularly over here where it is so humid.

The Petronas Twin Towers

The Petronas Towers Impressive from any angle.

Some information on this impressive Skyscraper


If you want to visit the Petronas Towers they are above KLCC on the rapid rail system. Actually I have a feeling they are KLCC. Between 1998 and 2004 Petronas Towers were the tallest building in the world. NO wonder we could see them from all over the city. At 378.6 m to the roof top they are a long way up.There are 88 floors and a total floor area of 395,000 square metres. According to Wikipedia there are 78 elevators in the towers.

SPot the plane flying by in this photo.

 If you arrive by train you walk in to an impressive shopping mall from underground. On our first trip we were unaware that we in the towers. Once at ground level if you venture outside there is a popular viewing are out in front of the towers. Standing at ground level and looking up you get to understand the grandeur of this towering structure. When you find yourself at the bottom of the steps, lying bent ont the ground to get a photo of friends with the tower in the background you realise how an ant feels.

Business done for two out of three. Well done Ruth and Genevieve. Next time ,Wayne, bring your Passport.

We had lunch in a local restaurant just around the corner. Indian, very nice. Actually some good shopping nearby as well.

Heading up to Bukit Bintang under the monorail. Mind the traffic.

Our Afternoon Stroll
We had some business to do down town. SO off we went, the business was all done so the decision was made to take a walk around in Downtown KL and explore a bit. It was the day before Chinese New Years Eve. If you down in the heart of KL it is traffic crazy with so many concrete corridors and it can be very confusing. One landmark that stands out for miles is the famous Petronas Towers. So our exploring ended up taking us in that direction.

After a few hours of traffic and their carbon emmissions the park was a haven. Not sure why there is a whale though?

I was also surprised to see he had brought his dolphin friends along to play.

We found ourselves approaching the towers from the convention centre which is across the KLCC park. It was late afternoon and evening was fast approaching. The park has an amazing water feature which forms an ideal foreground for the Towers. In fact we spent a little time exploring the park it really is nice, a haven in the heart of the city. It was very popular with so many people out exercising or just sitting in the many sitting places.  Including thousands who were seated around the ponding area. This is a peaceful place to relax and view sunsetting with the lights coming on. Although there were a lot of people it did not feel crowded on this evening.

Ruth in the park with a the Petronas towers. Can you spot them?

We had our small handbag cameras so we were limited in the photos we could take.I have to say that if you want good photos of the Petronas towers or of you with the towers in the background you really should head out into the park. We found a number of vantage points for good photos and we had a pleasant evening enjoying the fountains and lights without being hassled by the busloads of tourists wanting that album shot.

Isn't this woman amazing she has the Petronas Towers on her shoulders.

We will be exploring this park area in the heart of KL more with our big cameras as the year progresses. When you come to KL I can recomend that you do too.

Welcome to Malaysia

1 Malaysia, Maybe it should read Malaysia #1

We think we are so lucky to have the opportunity to live and work in another Asian City.

It is now official Ruth and I are employed and working in Kuala Lumpur. We flew in on January 2 and began work on January 3 2011. We have work permits to remain working for the next twelve months and contracts for two years. Classes began on January 5 and we have been busy settling for the past month.

At night it is beautiful

We had been here for a week and we managed to find an agent who was able to show us an apartment in Ken 2 Damansara, one of the top of our list to view. It was good and affordable, the advantage was its closeness to Tropicana mall and ease of access to other places. But we held off as we had an appointment to view at Bukit Utama  a nice condo about 15 minutes walk from work. It proved to be a wise decision. We saw trhee apartments in this condo. All were nice, but one fitted all of our criteria and then some. So we have ended up residing at Bukit Utama on the 29 floor overlooking a golf course. We are paying Rm 3200 for a fully furnished three bedroomed apartment. It close to the numerous shopping centres and I can walk to work. Check out the photos and make your own decisions about it.

It is a long way down from 29 floors

The dining area is enormous the table is big enough for a Chinese Banquet.

We have a nine hole golf course all around the condo.

When you stand on the balcony and look back inside the living area just goes on and on.

When stand in the living area and look out the view goess on and on to the mountains.

  

Home For December

 When the Pohutukawa  is in full Bloom,

And the Kaka are going crazy on the nectar. 

You know it's Christmas on the Coromandel.

Paradise revisited.

As one chapter closes....a new one opens! December arrived and for us it was with mixed feelings. After four wonderful years our time living in Singapore ended on December 6 2010. We closed the door on our great Lilydale apartment and headed to Changi Airport to fly back to New Zealand for a short holiday. We have loved our time in Singapore and appreciate the many wonderful friends we have met through our time with Morris Allen English. We will return and will enjoy catching up with them all.


 We spent fantastic day wandering up the top of the peninsula.

Ruth standing on a lonely ridge. It really is a spectacular place.

Nothing beats flying home and catching up with everyone. This time round Ruth and I both felt we needed to stop and recharge our batteries. So we were keen to get back and spend a few days with Beth and Mat and their kids. A quick trip to catch up with the bros in Rotorua and collect the warm clothes hanging up in David's wardrobe. But most of all we needed to escape the world and spend some time contemplating our next chapter up at the beach. We didn't realise how much we needed our break until we actually stopped up at the caravan. We knew we were in our own little paradise, the pohutkawa trees were in full bloom and the moreporks we calling at night.We did enjoy watching the moreporks catching moths around the lights in the camping ground.

The sunsets are often wonderful on our little beach, this one was pretty good.
We enjoyed some great sunsets. We got the boat out in the water and caught enough fish to keep us fed. Including one very nice snapper that was almost 4 kilos. We have learned a few cooking tips from our travels in Asia so really we feasted on the fresh seafood. We got some reading done.And all before Christmas.


 The best catch of our time. Very tasty and nothing went to waiste.


Beth, I think that this might be classed as cheating.
Christmas Day 2010
We were excited about Christmas because Logan was flying over from Melbourne and Lloyd and Anna were coming up, Beth, Mat and Kiddlewinks were also going to be up at Papa Aroha. Christmas Day was set to be a fun relaxing day with family. It lived up to expectations. The weather was OK, a bit of wind, so there was no pressure to take the boat out. We had a fun morning participating in the excitement of the children opening their Santa sacks...The travellers showed up and we had a fun meal and some quality family time. It was such a great day. Fine food..Great company...We feel truely blessed to have the family we have.

 Fish for dinner!

Some people caught them two at a time.
Boxing Day came around and the weather settled to give us a good morning out fishing. David arrived up and spent the night with us. So it was another Social evening and another morning fishing. Jacob launched his dinghy for the first time. Mat and Jacob caught more bigger fish than us but we all caught fish. We were due to drive to Hawera and meet Anna's parents. So it was only a quick fish in the morning. Hmmm typical by the time we drove off from Thames it was late afternoon so we arrived in Hawera in the middle of the night. It was nice to meet Lloyds future inlaws. Considering our late arrival they were very easy to get on with.We had a great couple of days in Hawera and felt very much at home.

My favourite shot of the holiday. A Kaka (Native New Zealand Parrot)
I really was this close and it was drunk on the nectar from the Pohutukawa flowers.

All good things seem to end eventually and we drove back up to Rotorua for a night with Ian then back to Thames for a couple of nights to pack up and head off to start our life in Malaysia on January 2. We arranged to spend our last night in Auckland with Logan as he was flying off back to Australia early morning. We were off at a more civilised hour but it wouldn't have been so good if we had to add a drive from Thames. All in all our holiday in New Zealand was probably the best holiday we had in 2010. It was just what we needed in terms of unwinding and relaxing. Maybe we were a bit selfish this year and didn't rush around catching up with everyone. If we missed catching up with you we are sorry, maybe next year! We appreciated catching up with those who we did manage to spend some time with. As always we have to say a great big THANKS to Beth and Mat. We are so lucky to have you guys looking after our place. I think Ruth has the best sister and brother inlaw in the world.


We are so lucky to have you two at home.
Thanks for doing such a great job looking after our paradise.


 The sunsets on another memorable holiday.
Summer on the Coromandel.
One of life's Must Dos.