It has been a great 2 weeks or so being back in KL. Not sure what the initial apprehension was all about – perhaps it’s kind of like the first date follow up jitters, where the first few minutes are awkward before you are reminded why there is a follow up. Anyway, as expected, it is a tad hard to leave the comforts of home once again, for another place I must think of as home also.
Anyway, just wanted to say hi and thanks to the people who’ve made time to catch up with me. As always, it is great seeing all you guys!
Looking forward to T and J coming over in a mere couple of weeks. There are SO MANY THINGS I want to show you guys!
Oh – by the way the kayu nasi kandar last night was a fabulous finale to my eating spree. Must get back to the gym again, now I have a very big bet riding on my (currently awol) ability to shed off the kilos. If things go well I will finally get to go to Rio, fully sponsored! Talk about motivation.
Must get packing!
Spent the weekend vegging with lots of game time. You know the kind: old t-shirt, sweatpants, big bowl of chips and a family-sized bottle of Coke. Now that work involves gaming (it had to happen someday.. sigh) it’s a great excuse to crack out the ol’ console and have a bash.. although in this case it’s other people’s consoles. I still haven’t gotten a TV although I have looked at a couple. It’s hard to decide on one when the difference between a 24″ and 42″ is a couple of hundred bucks I’m too stingy to fork out for.
I’m currently working with a company (and have been since August) that puts out a number of gaming magazines and that is probably Sydney’s equivalent of Catcha in terms of numbers and operation.. minus the cool street mag. The funny coincidence (this is old news to some, but I haven’t blogged about it yet) was that my ex-colleague from Sydney, who came to work with us in Catcha a few years ago, is back in Sydney and in the same company that I am now – small world or what?
The office is near the beach, which is great in summer, but also means that the buses I take home are often packed, sweaty but with a nice vibe. In the mornings it is different; I miss the rush-hour crowd by 30 minutes and the journey is often uneventful. I have a regular coffee place, and the man who makes my coffee practices his Cantonese on me while we exchange bits of news from home. It is funny how a common language abroad places you in a box with other people whom you might not necessarily share with back home. I love my coffee guy though. And people assume all Malaysians will instantly be my new best friends, which is fairly amusing but six months has dulled its amusement value somewhat.
Side-tracking, to answer some questions a few friends have asked..
Bars and clubs here are so diverse that I’ve barely been to the same place twice. There are probably more bars and clubs in my suburb (Darlinghurst) than in KL CBD, and although there will always be the bar or club du jour (read: expensive, elite) there are enough places for everything you’re after.. be it music, drinks, dress code or crowd.. and plenty more to discover if you have a little time on the weekends.
So after a long and interesting journey from KL I am finally here. At my uncle’s place at Mt Gravatt now enjoying the cosy new house, fantastic “winter” weather and good company. Brunei was interesting to say the least. I spent most of my time at Coffee Bean until they shut, cutting me off from internet access. The remaining of my transit was like a stage for an airport horror story – it was empty. Except for an interesting heavily-tattooed female trucker I met who loved to talk. No guesses how I spent the rest of my time there. Decided not to go out of the airport as it was a huge hassle. Brunei can wait.
My flight to Brisbane had a total of 18 passengers. Which meant class A service and as many seats as I wanted for my own. I didn’t think it would be that empty, but apparently midnight flights usually are, perhaps also because Royal Brunei doesn’t serve alcohol. I got through customs pretty fast and spent the rest of the day in the city with the family and wishing I WAS on holiday because I everything at Aldo was half off. I didn’t bring my boots.
Met up with Roy and Phuong today after sleeping through till past noon. We went shopping down the coast. Or at least Phuong did :) Had dinner at a Malaysian restaurant much to Phuong’s chagrin – but as Roy says, it’s a Malaysian thing.
Am dead tired now, for some reason even though I am two hours ahead of home I seem to be quite sedated past 10pm here and am looking forward to tomorrow because apparently a) I came at the right time, it’s the Queen’s birthday tomorrow thus no one is working; b) The sales just started (but unfortunately I have to abstain.. boo hoo); and c) Family taking me to Harbourtown.. which is ironically.. an outlet shopping mall that just got extended. Sniff (ref: point b).
Weather has been awesome. Apparently I brought the sunshine with me from KL, past couple of weeks have been wet and gray.
Has been great to see the fam, especially my awesome cousins and Roy & Phuong who are practically also fam. I’m lucky to have familiar faces greeting me; perhaps that is why it hasn’t quite sunk in that I’ve finally done it, still feels like a holiday, even after the lovely customs officer who stamped my passport gave me a very sweet welcome and Roy telling the sales woman at Fendi that I now live here too. I wonder when it will really sink in.. as my cousin Faith points out, I’m now homeless and unemployed.. haha!
Spent some time up at Colmar; it is somewhat idyllic but for the busloads of asean tourists that flock there even during low periods, and quite the novelty. Went horse riding on a whim and destroyed my satin sandals in the process. I’d only brought one pair of footwear :( But it was so worth it! There’s just that one feeling you never get from anything else but on horseback. Which gives me another thing to look forward to.. riding at Centennial Park ;)
Penang this week. Like last minute Malaysia tour only. So fun!
Just got back from Club Med. Not sure if I’m still hungover from all that drinking. But it was a really awesome trip guys.. thanks for having me and TK, thanks for the farewell speech thing. The organising committee did a fantastic job too.
Never been to a Club Med before so was pleasantly surprised at how fun it can be. The guys up at Cherating put alot of effort into the decor which changes daily according to the theme, and the show at night, and all the mad activities including an outdoor full-size trapeze thing (I flew off the swing LOL thank God for safety net), archery range etc.. but the best bit is that everyone participates. The buffet spreads were pretty good also, and the free flow of beer and house pouring at the bar led to a fair amount of mess :) Yay us!
Anyway now that I’m back home, I’ve started packing again. It’s amazing how much stuff I’ve acquired over the years. I’ll be thinking about this the next time I go shopping :P Anyway I have some stuff for sale. Figure I’d recycle it instead of chucking it out, it’s not really stuff that charities have a need for. Drop me a line if you’re interested :)
