Tag

Malaysia

in Diplomatic Incidents, Personal Musings

When Nations Mourn and How the Media Either Helps or Gets in the Way

August 29, 2014

First written on July 31, 2014 but I decided to just actually finish it today. Also publishing this weeks after the incident to avoid being insensitive:

I’ve been putting off writing about things that caught my eye on the news the past couple of weeks so as to avoid tackling anything depressive.

But after weeks of not seeing anything other than Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, seeing images of people being hurt on both sides, after the several plane crashes within the same week, and catching a report on the TV showing a parade of hearses in the Netherlands carrying the bodies of those that died at the MH17 crash, I found myself scribbling my thoughts on random pieces of paper – the back pages of my planner, grocery lists, and even some receipts.

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in Expat Life, KL Shopping, KL Tips

The Entertainer: Two for the price of one – always

August 29, 2014

I love a good bargain. I mean, really. Who doesn’t? Personally, I get a kick out of buying something on a discount. I feel that the purchase (even if it’s pretty hasty/impulsive) is justified.

A couple of days ago, a new friend of mine introduced The Entertainer – Malaysia to me. And needless to say, I am thrilled by it and totally excited to start using it.

The Entertainer is basically a coupon book (good for one whole year) that lets you enjoy food, spa services, staying in hotels, fun activities, and a lot of other things in a certain area – buy 1, take 1. So let’s say my husband and I would want to try out a new steak restaurant, we’ll be ordering two steaks but will only be paying for one – it’s like dining out for the two of us is always on 50% off. Pretty cool, huh?

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in Expat Life, KL Where to Go

KL Adventures: Colourful Brickfields (Little India)

August 26, 2014

Right in the centre of Kuala Lumpur is its own Little India. The husband and I were able to walk around its main street during one of our weekend afternoons which we usually spend either sightseeing within the city or furniture shopping.

Brickfields is a neighbourhood near KL Sentral station. It’s easily accessible and is a place known for good bargains (from food, grocery items, to accessories) and a good mix of modern meets traditional architecture.

Just wanted to do a quick post on this neighbourhood (which we visited after our trip to the Planetarium) and share some photos taken along the area’s main street, Jalan Tun Sambanthan:

The KL Sentral side of Brickfields is filled with modern architecture.

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in Asia, Expat Life, KL Food, Kuala Lumpur, Travel

Foodie Adventures: Chinese food haven at Jalan Alor

August 18, 2014

Malaysia is basically Asian food heaven. With the country being a melting pot of Malay, Chinese, and Indian culture, it’s quite hard to imagine Malaysia not having good food.

We all know the history between Singapore and Malaysia and I’m pretty sure a bit of the rivalry between these two countries also extends to their food which is very very similar. However, one observation that can really differentiate one’s cuisine from the other is this: Malaysian food is definitely spicier than Singaporean. If you’re used to Singaporean laksa which is already spicy, you better brace yourself for Malaysian laksa because it will definitely leave your mouth burning. I have a friend who will testify to this as well.

A couple of weeks back, the husband and I decided to walk all the way to Jalan Alor – a street known for its authentic Chinese street-restaurants – for dinner. The food was so good, we found ourselves back in Jalan Alor only two days after that, friends in tow.

Ok, first things first: Where in KL is Jalan Alor?

Jalan Alor is located in the Bukit Bintang area. You can take the Monorail and just hop off at the Bukit Bintang station. From there, it’s only a short walk. As for my husband and I, we would always pass through Pavilion Mall (our building is located a couple of minutes walk from the mall’s back entrance while it’s front opens up to Bukit Bintang). For a map to Jalan Alor, click here.

From the mall’s main entrance, you will see this:

Just go straight down the main road which is behind that fountain. But wait, there’s Sephora! It’s best if my husband and I would make a quick stop over, yes?

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in Asia, Expat Life, KL Where to Go, Kuala Lumpur, Travel

KL Adventures: Islamic architecture in Putrajaya

August 15, 2014

Putrajaya on a holiday.

The husband and I are suckers for beautiful architecture – be it modern or more on the classical side. I’ve fallen in love with several European and Asian cities because of their skylines and the feeling I get when I walk around the city, surrounded by stunning buildings. They just add so much character (some even add to the city’s history) to a certain place.

So it’s no wonder that I enjoyed our short afternoon trip to Putrajaya, Malaysia’s seat of government, a couple of weeks back. We went with 3 of Alvin’s colleagues who were nice enough to drive us around.

It’s quite easy to get to Putrajaya from Kuala Lumpur – you can take the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Transit (don’t take the express train as it won’t stop at Putrajaya station and will go straight to the airport!) or you can take a Rapid KL bus marked ‘E1’. It will pick up passengers in the Pasar Seni and KL Sentral train stations. However, once you actually get to Putrajaya, it’s quite hard to navigate without your own car. So some tourists opt to hire a taxi within the city and agree on a fixed price with the driver who will also act as your tour guide.

Fast facts:

  • Though Putrajaya is now the seat of government, Kuala Lumpur remains to be Malaysia’s national capital and the seat of the King.
  • Malaysia only shifted their seat of government in the late 90s to avoid congestion in the capital.
  • Almost all of the ministries are now in Putrajaya except for the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Works which are still in KL.
  • A 650-hectare, man-mad lake is found in the middle of the city. The Malaysian government has said before that the main reason (aside from the obvious aesthetics and recreation opportunities it can bring) the lake was made was to act as a “natural cooling system” for the city. And man, do they need it. Putrajaya is way more hot and humid than KL. I couldn’t stand not having a roof over my head for 2 minutes. I cannot possibly imagine how hot it would be without that lake.

Okay, enough yapping. Let me show you the breathtaking view from the elevated Putrajaya International Convention Centre:

I feel like I was looking at a real-life post card. Though I had to cut the sight seeing from here. PICC is on top of a hill and MUCH closer to the sun. I had to get back into the car right away.

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in Beauty & Fashion, Diplomatic Incidents, Events

On Diplomatic Events + Egyptian National Day #OOTD

August 7, 2014

It is only now that I realised how long I have been attending diplomatic events – National Days in particular. For someone who’s not a diplomat per se, I’ve had my fair (ok, maybe more than fair) share of diplomatic parties back when I was working as a journalist.

When I married my husband, it was like sealing the deal: I’ll be attending these things for the next couple of decades or so. Not that I’m complaining. I find such events fun and very informative – a chance to learn about other cultures – and to make new friends.

To be honest about it, Diplomatic Events (be it National Days or cultural showcases) are very important. Whether you show up or not can be deemed a statement (so always RSVP!), friendships are made, bilateral relationships are strengthened, meetings are set over food, introductions that can lead to new and important projects between governments and private organisations are made, ideas are born, and some important talks and exchanges of views between diplomats are done on the sidelines. It’s not just a party as how some people would describe it. It’s so much more.

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in Expat Life, KL What to Do, KL Where to Go

KL Adventures: The KL Planetarium

August 6, 2014

I haven’t posted anything in days as we have been busy putting the condo together. And now, I am quite glad to report that we’ve made substantial progress. We now have couches in the living room, the TV is off the floor and finally on its own chocolate brown stand, and our 6-seater dining set is now in place.

We even got curtains up on the sliding glass panels that open to the balcony yesterday and our cooker (with an oven!) was delivered today. I can’t wait to start cooking. Maybe we’ll look into buying pots and pans this weekend. I’ll share photos of the condo in a couple of days but for now, I’d like to share a fun activity we did here in the city a couple of days ago. It’s something I’d recommend to families with children. We don’t have our own – yet.

We’re more like children at heart (not childish, I hope) and we enjoy activities like going to theme parks and checking out toys like Lego Star Wars sets and robots. So for one of our weekends, the husband and I went over to the Planetarium Negara (National Planetarium). I personally love Planetariums and reading about space programmes in other countries (so is my husband but I honestly think he’s nerdier than I am when it comes to this).

KL Adventures: The KL Planetarium

I would pretend I was an astronaut or a member of the Rebel Alliance back when I was a kid. Yep, Star Wars geek through and through. We took the train to Pasar Seni station (Kelana Jaya Line) and walked towards the Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens – a huge complex that houses several KL attractions such as the Bird Park (which we plan to visit when my Mom and her boyfriend come over), the Butterfly and Deer Parks (these are reserved for my grandma and my parents-in-law).

The National Mosque and Islamic Art Museum is are also in that area and we plan to visit them in the next couple of weeks. After getting off Pasar Seni, you would have to go through the Old Railway Station (which still works, serving a different line) and walk towards Jalan Lembah then Jalan Perdana.

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in Expat Life, KL Shopping, KL Tips, KL What to Do

Photos: Bookfest @ Malaysia 2014

July 28, 2014

I figured it’s rather timely to post these while the book fair is still ongoing – just so people who love books as much as I do can still make their way to Bookfest @ Malaysia 2014.

It’s the first day of Hari Raya (Eid al-Fitr) and here in Malaysia, it means that everyone gets to have a long weekend. No work until Tuesday for most people as our Muslim brothers and sisters celebrate the end of Ramadan and break their fast.

We had a long day today – we (along with other people from the Embassy) visited the house of the Ambassador’s chauffeur (he’s a loyal employee and has been with the Embassy here for decades) to celebrate Hari Raya with him and his family. It was nice to be exposed to their religion’s traditions which, I must admit, seemed really foreign to me prior to coming here.

And it was so heartwarming to see how his family is so tight-knit and are happy to see each other during the holidays. It’s like Christmas back at home but without alcohol and a bit more quiet. After that, my husband’s colleagues from the Embassy decided that we all drop by the Batu Caves (as it was only 5 minutes away) before going home. But I will write more about that next time. After the Batu Caves, we went home for a nap, caught the Philippine President’s State of the Nation Address via live streaming, then went to the book fair to check it out.

We weren’t disappointed. The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre was filled with books and people trying to get their hands on the titles they wanted. The best part about the book fair? All the books are on sale – some with even massive discounts. Here are some photos from the fair:

The halls in the ground floor were divided into two – the Chinese and English sections.

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in Diplomatic Incidents, Personal Musings, Uncategorized

Changes and boredom

July 23, 2014

KL is such an expat friendly city. It’s like Singapore, Hong Kong, and even Manila (yes, people! Manila is expat friendly! Come see it!). There are so many different things you can do that it’s actually hard to get bored.

Which is a good thing since my husband worries about me getting bored (which might lead to me getting cranky) here while he’s in the office. See, back in Manila I worked as a full-time journalist. I did TV and multimedia and was always on the go. I was doing things like this and before that, things like this and this. I’m pretty much out all day till a bit late at night – like 5 to 6 times a week.

I did stories on diplomats, foreign policy, and politicians. I covered the impeachment trial of the Chief Justice and did stories on the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea issue. I met lots of fun and interesting people. I also did stories on art, beauty, fashion, travel, and food which you can find here. It was so much fun but I was as crazy busy as my husband was back in the home office, making the move here to KL a welcomed change. Now, only one of us is crazy busy! 😉

I definitely and obviously miss my job but the time to lie down and actually get to do some reading (I brought a lot of my books from Manila!) is such a glorious feeling! So different from squeezing in a couple of pages while my crew cab zig zags along Manila traffic!

Sometimes, I wake up basically asking myself: Do I really have free time? Or am I just forgetting something?

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in Diplomatic Incidents, Personal Musings

Adjustments

July 9, 2014

Now I don’t really remember anyone saying that moving to a different country and starting a new life (read: from scratch) was easy. That’s because though it’s fun and exciting, it’s no walk in the park.

It’s been 13 days since we arrived in KL. We have finally moved into our new apartment – a two bedroom, three bathroom unit with its own storage room. It’s huge for just Alvin and I and I feel like it’s empty most of the time. And that’s because it is still quite that – empty. We’re taking it slow when it comes to buying furniture as we want the condo to look exactly the way we’ve been planning without breaking the bank.

So far, we’ve purchased the essentials and we’re predicting my decorating plans will take about 3 months to fully materialise. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that I stick to my deadline and that I am able to have everything running by then as guests ranging from family and friends will be arriving in just a couple of months.

We were told by most of the people from the Embassy that KL is a post where you would definitely be getting lots of visitors due to its proximity to Manila. No complaints there, I say. As most of my friends and our family (even the ones in the Western part of the world) are already making plans to come over and it would be nice to show them around.

Speaking of visitors, the Ambassador recently hosted the son of one of the DFA Undersecretaries who was on a short trip to KL with his friend. We had dinner with them that night and shared lots of great stories over food. I had the pleasure of getting to know the Undersecretary back when I was part of the media, covering the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) back home. The Undersecretary’s son is fun and smart – just like his dad. My husband and I had fun pointing out their similarities as he seemed like the exact (only younger) replica of his father.

http://instagram.com/p/qAzYJ7iqXo/

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