One week in (a country South of) Bangkok
I have been here in KL about 6 days. I am at work. I am feeling a little lonely as my Malaysian co-workers are not in yet at 11AM Saturday. I need materials and files added to the tool, so I have a few minutes for a post.
I guess I am well traveled, but I do not find KL to be any sort of extreme travel experience. For one nearly everyone speaks English. For two KL has a lot of wealth so when I am around the hotel everything is actually nicer than US.
The Malaysian food is not too wierd. Hiabchi cooked skewers of beef and chicken that are dipped into a mild chili sauce are an example. Malysia is a melting pot with double digit percentage populations of Chinese and Indians and Thailand is just to the North. So we have eaten Malaysian, Japanese, Thai, Chinese as well as Pizza Hut and McDonalds. I have violated every rule for travel eating. Ice in drinks, peeled fruit, water from the cooler. I even had Sushi and Shashimi which I avoided in China.
One of the reasons for so few pictures is that I cannot bring a camera to work and we tend to do things on the way home from work. I will work to get a camera pass so maybe I will have more pictures later.
Religion is interesting here. It is a Muslim country and probably half of the women wear head scarves. It is Ramadan, so my Muslim co-workers are fasting during the day. I felt bad that two days ago we worked until 11:30PM and my coworker had to eat his pre-fast meal at 5:30AM. However, the melting pot it is there are Buddist and Hindus here in significant numbers. I have even seen three Christian churches. So, other than the Ramadan influences (skip lunch OK but Hard stop at 7PM to break fast) and a two hour lunch on Friday for prayers it could be work at home.
Politics are interesting, their is a majority coalition and the opposition. They have a King and Queen much like Britain. The equivalent of president is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minster is the top of the ruling part. However, the coalition is composed of many parties. Parties can jump from majority to opposition and swing the majority swapping power. Say there was a Hillary Clinton block with the democratic party and they suddenly decided to support the republicans. They would tilt advantage to the Republicans and the entire government could change.
Money. It is all over the map. A premium taxi from the hotel to work is 27ringit or about $9, if it was not included in room. A standard teksi is $2. Our hotel is $120 US which is great for the 5 stars it is. Lunch in the cafeteria, a basic rice and chicken plate, is $1. Breakfast at the hotel (included in room) is $25US. A cheap car is $15000 US due to import taxes on foreign cars. Duties can be 75% of the cost of a new car. That is, a Toyota costs 4X what it should in USD. With salaries a fraction of US, a new car easily costs more than a years salary. No wonder there are so many old cars and scooters.
Well I really need to get some work done so I will stop with that.
I guess I am well traveled, but I do not find KL to be any sort of extreme travel experience. For one nearly everyone speaks English. For two KL has a lot of wealth so when I am around the hotel everything is actually nicer than US.
The Malaysian food is not too wierd. Hiabchi cooked skewers of beef and chicken that are dipped into a mild chili sauce are an example. Malysia is a melting pot with double digit percentage populations of Chinese and Indians and Thailand is just to the North. So we have eaten Malaysian, Japanese, Thai, Chinese as well as Pizza Hut and McDonalds. I have violated every rule for travel eating. Ice in drinks, peeled fruit, water from the cooler. I even had Sushi and Shashimi which I avoided in China.
One of the reasons for so few pictures is that I cannot bring a camera to work and we tend to do things on the way home from work. I will work to get a camera pass so maybe I will have more pictures later.
Religion is interesting here. It is a Muslim country and probably half of the women wear head scarves. It is Ramadan, so my Muslim co-workers are fasting during the day. I felt bad that two days ago we worked until 11:30PM and my coworker had to eat his pre-fast meal at 5:30AM. However, the melting pot it is there are Buddist and Hindus here in significant numbers. I have even seen three Christian churches. So, other than the Ramadan influences (skip lunch OK but Hard stop at 7PM to break fast) and a two hour lunch on Friday for prayers it could be work at home.
Politics are interesting, their is a majority coalition and the opposition. They have a King and Queen much like Britain. The equivalent of president is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minster is the top of the ruling part. However, the coalition is composed of many parties. Parties can jump from majority to opposition and swing the majority swapping power. Say there was a Hillary Clinton block with the democratic party and they suddenly decided to support the republicans. They would tilt advantage to the Republicans and the entire government could change.
Money. It is all over the map. A premium taxi from the hotel to work is 27ringit or about $9, if it was not included in room. A standard teksi is $2. Our hotel is $120 US which is great for the 5 stars it is. Lunch in the cafeteria, a basic rice and chicken plate, is $1. Breakfast at the hotel (included in room) is $25US. A cheap car is $15000 US due to import taxes on foreign cars. Duties can be 75% of the cost of a new car. That is, a Toyota costs 4X what it should in USD. With salaries a fraction of US, a new car easily costs more than a years salary. No wonder there are so many old cars and scooters.
Well I really need to get some work done so I will stop with that.
posted by More Paul, Less Andrea | 9:54 PM
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