theFISHBOWL: March 2012

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Traffic & Taxis & Mopeds, oh my

If I forget for a minute that I'm in Malaysia... I'll just grab a taxi, then I'm zapped back to reality.

There is traffic every hour of the day. Everyone tells me not to plan to go anywhere during "rush hour" but I'm still trying to determine IF there is actually a rush hour, or just constant congestion. Surprisingly, I've never seen a wreck, which seems like a miracle with all the crazy moped drivers weaving in & out of lanes. So that's at least a little reassuring.

There are no real addresses for anything. If I gave a taxi driver an address he would just stare at me with a blank look. All the locals say, "just give them a landmark", ugh. I don't think that helps that much either. I still have to know where I'm going and make sure they turn at the right point. So needless to say, I'm learning the city VERY fast. So, 'thank you' to all the terrible taxi drivers... I think? : )

Meet Ryan, the "Negotiator"

We're puttin' down roots, woohoo!

We really like this building called the Seni, located in Mont Kiara, which is about 15-20 minutes northwest of KL. However, the negotiations have been tough.. and the realtors are terrible here. It's nothing for them to just ignore you for a few days, not return calls/emails/texts, and of course we're (as Americans) not used to that. We saw this building last week and it was on the top of our list (& made an offer, which was rejected), so to do my due-diligence I went out again while Ryan was at work this week and checked out their competitors. There was no contest. So we viewed the Seni again today and ended up with a BEAUTIFUL condo on the 6th floor. There were options of partially furnished (which means you have appliances and lighting), or fully furnished (which means everything is provided, but you get the back with the good). We decided on a partially furnished place, with the goal of adding pieces to the house slowly over the next few months, and hopefully we'll pick up some cool pieces over the next year during our travels.

It was taking the owner's realtor forever to negotiate with the owner, then come back and reiterate the conversations to us, then go back to the owner, etc... The owners live in Hong Kong, so it's not like we could meet with them in person. I knew Ryan had had enough. I told him whatever he choses will be fine with me, and I took Mads to the pool. He got on the phone with the owner directly and sealed the deal. woohoo!

I'm really happy with our choice - Seni just feels like we're living at a resort. There are beautiful long crystal pools running the length of the courtyards between the two buildings, with children's pools on each sides of the main pool.. which look more like shallow fountains than kids pools (which I like). Huge jetted spas are on each end as well, one hot, one cold. The playground is located right outside our door, and covered above so Madison can still play outside if it's raining. Unfortunately (smile) the gym is glorious also, all new and "floats" over the pool area with glass walls.. so I have no excuse to go everyday. We have a private elevator that only goes to our condo, and opens to a beautiful marble landing. Carpet is not used here at all by the way... everything is tile, wood, or marble, which I prefer anyway.

Mads & I made friends with some Scottish and English people lounging around the pool, and they gave me some great tips about the building, schools, and the MK area. Everyone really enjoyed living there, and I know we will too. We hope to move in this weekend.. it just depends on how fast we can find furniture. On that note, gotta go!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Car Shopping, and Banana Leaf Dinner

Today we went car shopping. I'm sure it will get old seeing me say "it was an experience" about everything, but yet again it was crazy. The cars here are about as safe as tin cans, and surprisingly expensive. You can't test-drive them either, as there are no car lots.. at least with cars on them! The standard practice is to make an appointment to see a specific car, and if a dealer can find one, then you can test drive it. Other than that.. it's all by individual order.
Ryan made contact with a car dealer about a week ago, and so far he's helped Ryan figure everything else out EXCEPT what car to buy. He took Ryan furniture shopping, took him to lunch, etc.. I think they're more friends now than anything else, it's funny. We drove a local car today (well, from Indonesia) and I think I broke the bottom of the car while taking a speed bump too fast (fast, as in 8 MPH). It's frustrating to think a piece of junk costs so much! To put things in perspective, a new Camry costs 175,000-200,000 MYR (that's approx $58-66k)!!!! WOW! We'll continue to search...

After car shopping (not sure I should even call it that), we went to dinner in Bangsar Village, at the Banana Leaf. It was the first time I actually embraced asia cuisine, and it wasn't too bad. It's a very unique restaurant, where everything is served on these huge banana leaves, and most people were eating with their hands (a standard practice here, as most people are Indian). Mads only ate some white rice, and wasn't open to trying anything else on the leaf. "It's too spicy" she would say.. and for the most part I'd have to agree. I know we ordered some type of chicken dish, but I couldn't tell you what anything else was. I tried everything (mainly to appease Ryan), and I'll probably have to take pepto later.
We walked around the village after dinner, then got some mango sorbet for dessert which she quickly inhaled. I found this cool kitchen store, kind of like Sur La Table back home, and bought Mads a set of "learning chopsticks" - they are these pink chopsticks attached to a little rubber holder at the top (in the shape of a child waving) so it's easier for her to learn to eat with them. Ryan may need a set too : )

House Hunters International (kind of)

Ryan has been on the search for condos for 3 weeks now, and was successful in narrowing it down to 3 choices for us. We're pretending it's House Hunters International (smile). So Mads & I got up today (rested, surprisingly) and we all headed out early to narrow down the choices and make a decision. It's such a different world!
The first option, the Hijuan in Bangsar, felt like it was in a rain forest. The elevator opens up right into the condo entryway - yes, very cool! The unit was on a low floor, so we could hear the (landscape) waterfalls outside that surrounded the building when the windows were open; I thought that was cool. However, it made me wonder if mold was an issue here. We don't have that problem in Dallas b/c it's not humid, so I don't really know how to handle it. I asked the real estate agent and she explained it's not a big deal b/c there are numerous products here that take care of it.. one of which was some time of dry "sponge" that you put in the closet, and once it's full of water from soaking up the moisture in the air, you throw it out. Ok, gross. The grounds were cool - the playground had a built-in trampoline (ground level), and it was hard to get Mads away from it. The realtor walked me back a long pathway that was surrounded by beautiful landscaping, to an outdoor "spa" area with a hot and cold spa, and cabanas for massages. It was so lush I would probably never go back there by myself, and all I could think about was Mads wondering back there by herself. So, strike that one off the list.
Next, the Meridan in Mont Kiara. The elevator didn't open up into the unit.. yes, I'm getting spoiled now. The unit is furnished, and it is very pretty.. loved the kitchen finish-out. The living room was divided by sliding glass doors, kind of like a huge enclosed patio, so it provided a sound barrier if we were watching tv and Mads was sleeping. Very unique. However, the place wasn't very big and we'd prefer to bring in our own furniture. Moving on...
Next was the Seni condos in Mont Kiara. Hands down the nicest place of the 3 options, and BRAND NEW. There are two private elevators that open to the our landing, then a main door. The place was very clean-looking with white marble floors and a white kitchen (2 "mini" dishwashers! never seen that before). The view from the enclosed balcony is breathtaking, with the Petronas Towers and the King's palace in the distance. I can picture us chilling on our patio at night with that view. The grounds are what sold it for me. It's like living at a resort.. there are two olympic-sized pools anchoring the space between the two high rises, with spas on each end, plenty of space for Mads to ride a bike, a gorgeous gym (no excuse now!), a covered playground, tennis courts, and a Montessori school at the base of the building for Madison. Done! Now I am ready for a nap b/c my jetlag is seriously setting in. However, I stayed strong and powered through w/o giving in. We ended the day with family swim at the hotel pool and ventured out for dinner. A successful first day!

First Day in KL! (pics added)

Wow, what an adventure the last 2 days. We started our journey at DFW on Monday, March 12th. Checking in to the airport with 7 large black travel trunks, a carry-on suitcase, and our carry-on bags.. was surprisingly easy! It was around lunchtime so we decided on one last bbq meal (Madison's choice!), then boarded our flight to Japan.

Madison was an angel on the flight from DFW to Narita. However, she only slept about 2.5 hours then played/watched movies the rest of the flight, which was 11 hours. Needless to say I didn't sleep because I was worried she'd wiggle past me and wander the plane. We were both the worst versions of ourselves when we got to Narita.. tired, restless from being on the place, hungry, etc. It was only 38 degrees in Narita, and we waited outside for the hotel shuttle for 40+ minutes. By the time we got to the hotel I just wanted a quick dinner for Mads but nothing is "quick" in Asia. The (empty) restaurant took forever, then brought her a plate of the following: 2 mini cheeseburgers covered in a dark mushroom sauce, fried shrimp, rice cake, steamed veggies, and a curry mixture of something. This was considered their "kids meal" - she didn't take a single bite, and I didn't blame her. I felt bad for being so ill-prepared with food options for her, but I just didn't know what to expect. I paid the bill and she was asleep by the time I laid her in bed.

Our wake-up call came at 3am, when the Dallas alarm company kept calling my phone to tell me a burgler alarm when off twice in the house. I was so groggy and have no idea what I said to the dispatcher, but it must have included telling her to send the police. She called back 2 minutes later to tell me our alarm permit was expired so the police will not go to the house. At this point I was lethargic, Madison was now wide awake and ready to play, and I couldn't reach Ryan. I called my mom in tears and asked her to call Ryan's hotel in KL and tell him to call me. She calmed me down and said she'd handle it. I put an ipad movie on for Mads, put my eye cover back on, and fell asleep for a few more hours. I'm not usually an emotional person but that all just sent me over the edge. Of course Mads fell back asleep around 7:00am, when we were supposed to be getting up to go back to the airport. This is going to be an interesting day!

Got to the airport early, checked-in okay (after they told me I had to have a visa to fly and since I didn't I could come back tomorrow - um, right!) That lady didn't have a chance against me - I was tired, emotional, and anxious to get to KL, but somehow I was able to pull my patience out of somewhere and "negotiate" with her. Good news is, we got an entire row of seats on the plane and I was able to get Mads to lay down and sleep the majority of the 8 hr flight. I took a picture of the "kids meal" I ordered 4 days prior to our flight, which consisted of very strange things.

We finally landed in KL, and that walk off the plane was something I'll never forget. The humid air hits you in the face like a steam shower, and it looks/feels like we landed in a rainforest. All we had to do at this point was get through immigration and Ryan would be waiting on the other side. I know I was anxious to see him, but it seemed like it took forever to get through the line! When we got to baggage claim our large pile of travel trunks were waiting for us, so I rounded up a few guys to load them on carts. The customs officer stood next to me the whole time and kept asking me questions about what was in the trunks, why I was there with so much luggage, etc.. He threatened that he had a right to scan each of the trunks due to the size and quantity, and told him to feel free... while praying he didn't do it bc I just wanted to get out of there to see Ryan. We lucked out.

We saw Ryan right away and Madison was so excited (he was too!). It was great to be together again! It took about 45 minutes to get to the city, so we were able to get caught up on the journey. We got checked in to the hotel, then went for an evening walk around downtown to find some dinner. There's a huge indoor/outdoor mall across the street from our hotel, so we walked around and soaked it all in. There were SO many people, so many food outlets, and it was all just visually stunning. Even though I had on jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, the night air was cool because of the constant breeze here. Ryan was right... this place really is paradise! The adventure begins...

Views from our hotel balcony (enclosed lanai), of the Pavilion mall. It was huge! Traffic is even crazy at midnight on a weekday.