Malaysia

Well, what can I write about Malaysia that people haven't heard before? A land where lane markings on the road are merely a suggestion, a country which allows U-turns on highways, a government who introduced the $1 coin to replace the $1 note, only to reverse their decision a few years later reverting back to the old note. A place where blue skies are a rarity, and food is unbelievably cheap and abundant :)

The trip was predominantly family oriented, and not quite a holiday in the traditional sense. The majority of the time was spent with grandparents who are now nearing the end of their journey.

I visited the CSC office in the Maybank Menara building in KL. Unlike our Perth office, they have hardly any expats, all locals except for 2 aussies. It was good to hear that they experience the same challenges as we do in the Perth office, it would be interesting to manage a project in this environment.

The week passed by rather quickly, and thankfully we didn't have to commute down to Malacca as dad's mum came up to KL while we were in town. Despite food being ridiculously cheap, I didn't gorge myself at meal time (didn't put on any weight :) as I knew the next meal would only be a few hours away, I wanted room to try as many different types as possible. My discovery for this trip was mangosteen, and for those of you have never tried it before, it is fantastic! It's available here at selected markets for $14.95 a kilo, back in Malaysia, we were able to get 3 kilos for RM$5, which is about AU$1.74, which makes it less than AU$0.60 a kilo . . . yes, only 25 times more expensive :) Needless to say, this was one of the few fruits I ate in abundance during my trip! Other interesting fruits were the dragon fruit, and fresh longans (yes, the ones we normally eat from a can!).

What I found most interesting is that none of my relatives were particularly concerned about getting speeding fines of any sorts. Not that they drove around like madmen (arguable, in the aussie sense of driving), but apparently, unlike here (in Australia) where if you don't pay your fine before the due date, further penalties apply, but there (in Malaysia), your fines are halved! If you wait even longer, the King's pardon comes about every so many years, and so you don't have to pay a single cent! I'm sure there is some cultural significance in all of this, and since my polluted western thinking would be unable to grasp the underlying concept, why any country would want to do this, I don't know. If anyone would care to enlighten me, I am all ears . . .

The view from the back of my grandma's place:
Shopping was kept to a minimum, spending only 2 of 7 days walking through Mid Valley Mega Mall, Sungei Wang and Low Yat for electronic gadgets. Malaysians seem to really big in adding the words 'Mega' and 'Cyber' into the names of places around town.


The trip was well timed, with my grandfather passing on less than a fortnight after I left. Mum & dad were still in Malaysia when it occurred, so were able to stay on for the funeral. It's a little sad to know the he has passed on, but at least he was in his home surrounded by the people who he loves.