Malaysia - Our New Home

I'm back! We have been on an expat rollercoaster for the past 5 months and now I have so much to catch up on; the unfinished Australian posts and our bittersweet good-byes, the two-month holiday in the U.S, and now the new adventures in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia.

We departed Australia in a bit of a rush in order to make sure we had time to visit family and friends in the US after not having been back in two years.  Then once there, our month long holiday kept getting extended as final approval to move kept getting postponed.  We had been waiting for the green light to head to KL for quite a while, but once we got it, we are on the plane two days later.  The biggest challenge was stuffing our already full suitcases with two months worth of US purchases.  Not an easy task and our eight large suitcases were each hitting the 70 pound max. (not including our four overstuffed carry-ons and equally bulging backpacks)

 

It was a long 23 hours of flight time from the US to Malaysia, which started in Savannah, GA and included stops in Washington D.C. and Qatar.  The flights were very comfortable, but the air was turbulent for much of the trip, so I didn't get a whole lot of sleep.

  

Change is hard and our move from Australia to Malaysia was especially difficult this time around.  It has been an exciting, exhausting, heartbreaking, and nerve-wracking transition. When we moved to Australia, although everything was different, it looked pretty familiar on the surface. Here in Malaysia there is no familiarity, surface or otherwise.  The look, sound, feel, tastes and smells are all far from what we were all used to. 

Anna and Ashleigh started 3rd grade and 6th grade, for the second time, two days after we arrived. (School started in January in Australia, so they were a little ahead of the game.) Since the girls had a two month holiday and this particular school had already started a month prior, we thought it best they jump in right away. They toured the school and were very excited to start.

The first day of school.  The school buses came and picked them up at the Doubletree.

When they each got off their respective buses after their first day, there were tears, followed by a heart-breaking two weeks of anxiety induced vomiting by one child and the pleading for homeschooling by the other. Needless to say the first day did not go well, and the second and third day wasn't much better. Why?  Here is my theory. For the first time the girls were at different campuses in different towns. That meant unfamiliar bus rides across very unfamiliar territory without the support of their sibling.  Anna started middle school and had to navigate different classrooms/teachers and a locker. Both had to endure the excitement from international classmates by being "the new kid."  It was all a little too much for the girls at first. I am happy to report that by week three both girls were doing well and now that they are settled they truly love their new school and have made many good friends.

 

The Hilton Doubletree in downtown KL was our home for the first five weeks.  Our first week we started out with one bedroom and two slightly larger than regular twin beds. Let us not forget about all of that luggage. After a week of being extremely cozy, a quick chat with the front desk and we had adjoining rooms and a lot more breathing room.  Ahhhh. 

After a while, it felt a little like "Eloise at the Plaza." We knew the staff by name and they new ours.  We could walk into the lounge and they would know what snack and drinks we all were going to have. There was no need to give our name and drink order at breakfast either. Many times to get out of the room, we did homework, ate, and lounged by the pool.

Eloise, is that you?

We were quite comfortable, the building is full of restaurants and shops, and it gave us time to find our new home.

After living out of the same suitcases for almost four months, we moved  into a downtown high-rise and were excited to be reacquainted with our belongings that had been shipped from Brisbane.

Moving into our condo.

The urbane lifestyle has taken some time to get used to.  Our specific building does not have balconies, so we don't have any private outdoor living space. A complete switcheroo from our outdoor/indoor space in Australia.  There is a common area with pool, BBQ, and playground.



Our new home.

We do, however, have a beautiful view of the towers. The photos make them look smaller and further in the distance then they actually are.  We look up at them!

The Petronas Twin Towers

Just like in Brisbane, we walk a lot.  Unlike Brisbane, the reason we walk is we don't have a car.  There is still a chance we may eventually lease/rent one, but for now we walk or take taxis. Travelling by taxi was scary to me at first. I wasn't thrilled about jumping in the back of someone's car and trusting them to take me to where I asked, especially since I had no idea where I should or shouldn't be going.  However, with time I have grown more confident on knowing more of the city and street names, so I think, for the most part, we are all comfortable with calling a cab. We picked our location so that David can walk to work and I can walk to multiple shopping malls, grocery stores, friends houses, etc. So far it is working out pretty well. Unfortunately, we don't live within walking distance of the schools any longer, so both girls are picked up by school buses.

Here in KL we sit very close to the equator (217 miles to be exact), which clearly wipes out any typical seasonal changes. Our seasons are wet, smog, and monsoon. To begin with its HOT all the time. KL is a tropical climate where the average temperature year round is between 70°F (22°C) and 90°F(33°C). Add to that the humidity which sits at about 80%.  Unfortunately that bumps the "feels like" temp up 10-12 degrees. Here is a quick snapshot of the stats last week as I was getting ready to meet some friends for a morning run in the park.

We arrived right in time for the September/October smog.  Apparently it is a seasonal thing and specifically heavy in October.  The Malaysians blame the air quality on the Indonesians burning the jungles and/or rice fields. However, from what we hear the Malaysians return the favour another time during the year. Whatever is to blame, the air quality can be horrendous.

Thankfully the smog is gone, but now we are into monsoon season.  KL tends to get a lot of tropical rain, but it's particularly heavy in October and November.  It comes in short, heavy bursts in the afternoon and evening and can include some pretty spectacular thunderstorms.  We are now very aware that it is pretty important to carry an umbrella with us at all times. However, we are slow learners and have been known to get caught in a storm, sans umbrella, only to return home drenched and looking like a drowned rat.



The rains can be so heavy that you can't see what is in front of you.

Now when it is not raining or smoggy, it is beautifully sunny.  The days are mostly quite pretty and if it wasn't for the rain snarling up the already horrible traffic, I wouldn't mind it much either.

 

 

So there you have it.  Our introduction to Kuala Lumpur. We are getting settled into our new life and still have a few boxes left to unpack.  We've started being tourists in our own city, visiting local places, tasting local foods, and even picking up new hobbies. I will post more on that soon, as well as our US trip and Aussie goodbye. Stay tuned.