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| Petronas twin towers |
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
KL, Malasia and home
So we brought our time in the 'far east' to an end in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. First impressions weren't the most positive as we arrived late at night and made some selections of food from the street hawker stalls in Chinatown that weren't nearly as tasty as what we had grown used to (and spoiled from) in Thailand. Happy to report that being in KL grew on us a bit and we felt lucky to have at least a few days there. It's a big city for sure with the usual diversity in population that comes with an urban setting. Primarily Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian. As far as religion, almost entirely muslim with many women donning the head-covering called a hijab. We found the lebanese part of the city in short order and had several delicious meals of that cuisine (which we know well).
Before leaving, I met with DaVita (the company I work for) counterparts in KL...an american woman based in singapore who is a manager and several malaysian women who oversee operations at one of the three dialysis clinics that DaVita runs there. The clinic we visited was on the 17th floor of a high-rise. Quite a bit different from what we're accustomed to here in the states. We met in person after having a tele-conference months prior while I was in Grand Junction. Marrie and I are tempted by the idea of living abroad for an extended period of time (1-2yrs) and the meeting went quite well. They seemed to like us (we all went together) and made it sound like the choice is ours. And were very excited to hear that Marrie is a social worker, and started viewing us as a package-deal as they are in need of such. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on one's stance on the matter) the standard work-week in malaysia is monday thru saturday, ie 48hrs/week. That's a 60% increase from the 30hrs/week that I average currently. With a pay-cut making about 66% less than what I make now (despite working 60% more!). Though of course, the cost of living is much less than in the US (they estimated that we could get a pretty comfortable condo with gym/pool at about $300-500 per month). But with that work schedule, marrie and eleanor would be on their own much of the time and it would not allow for much travel to nearby countries (basically Thailand and its neighbors...Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam). Which is much of the motive for the plan. Pretty sure you can fly roundtrip KL to Chiang Mai much of the year with little advance booking for less than $100! So although we have not ruled it out, that scenario is looking less likely than likely.
Before leaving, I met with DaVita (the company I work for) counterparts in KL...an american woman based in singapore who is a manager and several malaysian women who oversee operations at one of the three dialysis clinics that DaVita runs there. The clinic we visited was on the 17th floor of a high-rise. Quite a bit different from what we're accustomed to here in the states. We met in person after having a tele-conference months prior while I was in Grand Junction. Marrie and I are tempted by the idea of living abroad for an extended period of time (1-2yrs) and the meeting went quite well. They seemed to like us (we all went together) and made it sound like the choice is ours. And were very excited to hear that Marrie is a social worker, and started viewing us as a package-deal as they are in need of such. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on one's stance on the matter) the standard work-week in malaysia is monday thru saturday, ie 48hrs/week. That's a 60% increase from the 30hrs/week that I average currently. With a pay-cut making about 66% less than what I make now (despite working 60% more!). Though of course, the cost of living is much less than in the US (they estimated that we could get a pretty comfortable condo with gym/pool at about $300-500 per month). But with that work schedule, marrie and eleanor would be on their own much of the time and it would not allow for much travel to nearby countries (basically Thailand and its neighbors...Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam). Which is much of the motive for the plan. Pretty sure you can fly roundtrip KL to Chiang Mai much of the year with little advance booking for less than $100! So although we have not ruled it out, that scenario is looking less likely than likely.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Catching up on some pics, now back home in grand junction. Have to post a quick re-cap at some point and some pics from Kuala Lumpur. For now, a couple people shots from our 3-day/2-night snorkel outting to koh rok and koh kraden.
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| Eleanor and her 'buddy'/boyfriend Daroon. He was the cook and our guide into/out-of the emerald cave on koh muk |
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| This was our entire group, including guides Ned (2nd from right), his dad to his left who operated the boat, and his uncle Daroon in the middle. A family affair. Then there's the group of 4 others that we shared the trip with...Arama (crouching down), her boyfriend Sebastion (behind Daroon) and his parents Eberhardt and Monica (to Daroon's left and right). I am using Daroon as the reference point not by accident but more as poking fun, as he was Eleanor's reference point much of the time (as illustrated nicely in this shot, notice how focused she is on him!). |
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
Oh, Hat Yai
Seems to be a hate-hate dynamic b/t folks of Hat Yai and farang/foreigners. White/western farang anyway. Thai folk here seem less tolerant/patient/accommodating towards farang vs other parts of Thailand. Perhaps they've developed a bit of a complex over time related to not being a chosen destination of farang but rather a forced destination as you pretty much have to go thru hat yai to get to malaysia from Thailand or if coming to Thailand from Malaysia. Not to mention all those doing a visa-run from south Thailand to buy additional time in the kingdom. And not many travelers linger in hat yai. Which is not difficult to understand once you've spent a bit of time here. Which we did...again, not by choice but by necessity. It's unfortunate because it is certainly not representative of Thailand as a whole. And the kingdom would do well to try to effect some sort of a shift...as it has a tendency to leave a bad taste for those (like ourselves) who say goodbye to Thailand via hat yai.
Examples...not helpful with bags; little attempt to communicate in English.
Anyway, we're now in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur (KL) in particular. Got stranded in Hat Yai for a night as we arrived too late to catch a bus to KL. Our predicted 10a-2p minibus arrived at 6p. And then our big air-con bus to KL that was predicted 9a-5/6p arrived 830/9p. Thai's are not to be trusted when it comes to predicting travel times says Marrie. Eleanor handled it all like a champ. Actually for the mini-bus she was mostly lethargic and running a fever. Had us rather worried. She's doing better now, fever subsided, more energetic, more of an appetite. We had a late meal of street food upon arrival to KL and let me tell you, my taste buds miss Thailand! Not a wonderful first impression. Let's hope it was misrepresentative.
Examples...not helpful with bags; little attempt to communicate in English.
Anyway, we're now in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur (KL) in particular. Got stranded in Hat Yai for a night as we arrived too late to catch a bus to KL. Our predicted 10a-2p minibus arrived at 6p. And then our big air-con bus to KL that was predicted 9a-5/6p arrived 830/9p. Thai's are not to be trusted when it comes to predicting travel times says Marrie. Eleanor handled it all like a champ. Actually for the mini-bus she was mostly lethargic and running a fever. Had us rather worried. She's doing better now, fever subsided, more energetic, more of an appetite. We had a late meal of street food upon arrival to KL and let me tell you, my taste buds miss Thailand! Not a wonderful first impression. Let's hope it was misrepresentative.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
snorkel trip
Oh...re: our 2nite/3 day snorkel/camping trip, such a great trip! definately a highlight of our time here. Ned/Cait of freedom adventures are doing good work. click here for their website. spent one night on koh rok, one night koh kraden. marrie/eleanor in provided tent, me in hammock with bug dope on body, mosquito repellent coils burning below me (could not tolerate the dead-still hot air of the tent). shared the trip with just 4 others...a thai girl/her german boyfriend in their 30's who are living in bangkok and his german parents, their first time in thailand. we felt good that we had picked a trip that a native thai person chose for her boyfriend's parents as their first experience of thailand. some of the 'sexier' sightings in the water included a reef shark and a kuhl's ray just off the beach at koh rok. and some 'Nemo' (ie clown) fish. And a low-tide swim into a south thailand landmark of sorts known as 'the emerald pool' of koh muk. a pretty novel mini-adventure swimming through a lengthy tunnel into a hidden cavern surrounded by steep, high limestone walls. youtube it if curious.
random
hard to believe I haven't posted anything on massage here. have paid between 100-300B for hour-long massage. That's about $3-10. nice that thailand keeps massage accessible for all vs being financially exclusive like it is in the US (not unlike skiing).
re: the weather here, it has been almost entirely hot/humid throughout. at times and in places we have reserved mid-day for respite in our climate-controlled room (when we have been lucky enough to have 'air-con'). It is definately something one endures vs enjoys. it's the settings/food/culture that is enjoyable, not the weather!
setting off from koh lanta for malaysia today. that's the goal anyway. as usual, we are at the mercy of many variables. it will be an indirect (if not meandering) and multi-mode route/means. minibus to trang, change to different minibus to hat yai, big bus to butterworth (near penang), spend night there and take 5hr train ride to KL (kuala lumpur) tomorrow. this is of course all 'in theory'.
re: the weather here, it has been almost entirely hot/humid throughout. at times and in places we have reserved mid-day for respite in our climate-controlled room (when we have been lucky enough to have 'air-con'). It is definately something one endures vs enjoys. it's the settings/food/culture that is enjoyable, not the weather!
setting off from koh lanta for malaysia today. that's the goal anyway. as usual, we are at the mercy of many variables. it will be an indirect (if not meandering) and multi-mode route/means. minibus to trang, change to different minibus to hat yai, big bus to butterworth (near penang), spend night there and take 5hr train ride to KL (kuala lumpur) tomorrow. this is of course all 'in theory'.
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