Tag Archives: Kuala Lumpur

Goodbye to an Old Pal

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This poor blog has been sorely neglected over the last handful of weeks. As I look back, I don’t have a great excuse, other than a bit of laziness, but I think I am going to blame it on my recent laptop conversion. Late last year, my trusty pink Vaio laptop began to fail. I would be working away on a project and suddenly I would hear a small popping sound and then everything would go black. Nothing. No power. No charge. Everything not saved, gone. (This was right as I was working on my graduate thesis, so I quickly became an obsessive saver, as little is more painful than having pages upon pages of ideas disappear. Yes, they were still rattling around in my head, but sometimes it is nearly impossible to recreate that perfect sentence that you cobble together, reconstruct and then rework one more time.)

With my faithful laptop looking at an imminent demise, back in late February I finally broke down and bought a new one. I was really hoping to make the current machine last until summer when I would be home in the US to do some in-person shopping, but once it started to blink out three or four times a day, I knew the end was near. A DNR had been issued.

Not wanting to buy local, but also not wanting to buy online without seeing the product, it was time to do a little KL recon. (I am a stickler for a good keyboard. I want something with a bit of a click to it. I adore the sound of typing and want just the right background noise as I write away for this blog and other projects.) Looking at computers in Kuala Lumpur means a trip to Low Yat, possibly my least favorite shopping area in town. It very much reminds me of the computer city buildings in Chengdu- large edifices crammed full of legitimate brand name stores, flanked by less than reputable kiosks and shops selling anything with a battery or electrical connection. The whole place makes me both claustrophobic (something I am not) and uneasy. Am I going to get ripped off? Pickpocketed? Shived? All seem like possibilities.

One quiet Sunday afternoon, Thad and I made the trip to Low Yat where the main test of the day was keyboard clickiness. Once I determined that Hewlett-Packard machines, as whole, had the best sound, it was time to go home and narrow down my options. In the stores (“stores”?) I did see a few other brands of a 360-degree style that I really liked and the internet quickly told me that HP not only has this style, but it was highly ranked among its peers. I love the laptop/tablet combo idea.

Horrified by the price of laptops in general (I really thought they had gone down more than they had over the last five years), I finally settled on the HP Spectre, realized it was pretty much a set price at all stores, so made my purchase. Knowing that it had to be shipped to Kuala Lumpur through the diplomatic pouch, the fact that the Spectre had a built in battery was a huge selling point, as that fits within the regulations of pouch mail. Before buying, I even checked with the embassy mail room staff, who assured me that shipping with an installed lithium battery should be no problem.

Apparently, it was a problem.

As I excitedly watched the shipping progress from Best Buy to the pouch facility, I was horrified one morning to see that the box had been rejected by the pouch and returned to the warehouse. Best Buy refunded my credit card, but what I really wanted was my new computer. Ol’ Trusty was on life support and the prognosis wasn’t good.

Back to the internet I went, reordering the exact same item, but this time shipping it to my brother in Idaho, who then had to rebox it and ship it again (there’s an extra $30) with a customs label indicating that the battery had been removed. Ugh. (The second round of shipping did mean that when it finally came, treats from home and drawings from the niece and nephew were bonus gifts.) Two weeks estimated shipping time on the original purchase ended up being over six weeks, with the new laptop arriving just days after I left KL for a three-week stint at Consulate Ho Chi Minh City.

Now, I’m in the painful process of converting from the dying, cracked, pink laptop to the shiny, new, black and bronze beauty. But, the changeover is fraught. All of my life is on that other machine. It knows my links. It knows my passwords. It has Word. It has everything.

Plus, I feel a strange loyalty to it. (I tend to be loyal to a fault. I remember as a kid feeling guilty when I switched from regularly listening to my parents’ favorite oldies radio station to the current pop station. Strange loyalties, I tell you.)

Last night, I finally downloaded Word onto this new machine, so the replacement process is nearly complete. I am not sure what will become of the old machine as we face packing out in just a few short weeks, but I’m hoping by July to be fully dependent on this fancy new table/laptop, as it is much small and much lighter, a huge benefit as a summer of travel is headed our way. It is time to say goodbye to my old pal, my trusty buddy who has traveled all over Asia and back to American multiple times. It served me well, adding years of postings to my blog, sticking out a graduate degree in literature and giving me hours of wasted time on internet pic-dump sites.

The transition means it is time to get back to regular blogging; no more excuses. Blogs and Wordless Wednesdays are headed your way. Be prepared.

KL Consular Team Hard at Work

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US embassy helps out the needy

The Star, April 7, 2016

By Teoh Xiu Jong

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KUALA LUMPUR: The US Embassy here is among the busiest foreign missions in the country, yet it does not hesitate to lend a hand whenever help is needed.

This was proven yet again yesterday when 18 members of its consular section literally got their hands dirty, preparing hot meals for the less fortunate who frequent Carl’s Kitchen in Jalan Gereja.

Deputy consul-general Thad Ross said Carl’s Kitchen was chosen because it had also helped Americans who needed assistance here.

“Many people do not know that Malaysia has such a place for the unfortunate. There are many people who need a meal, so our ability to help feels wonderful,” he said.

The team raised RM1,400 and brought food items worth RM600. All 18 took turns to prepare the food.

Senior consular assistant Rachel Leow, 51, said the experience reminded her of how fortunate she was.

“I have a family who cares for me, have a roof above my head and I can enjoy meals prepared by my parents,” she said.

Consul-general Jessica Norris, who led the team, said: “We decided to step out of our comfort zone to help. We like how open Carl’s Kitchen is to everyone, serving the community on a routine schedule,” she added.

Neglected by her children, Wong, 72, was among the many who dropped by for a free meal.

“I did not take good care of myself when I was younger because I wanted to give the best to my children.

“But now that my children have grown up, they have neglected me,” she lamented, adding that her children did not even visit her these days.

Strike Two

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Road trip. The phrase conjures up mental pictures of driving long distances with the windows down, wind blowing through flowing blonde locks and a radio blaring the latest (although probably not greatest) pop music, headed off into the great unknown. Ross-family road trips were regular occurrences back in the States, but they usually had a decidedly more nerdy twist to them. Most of our road trips were in search of a new national park to visit and rather than singing along to whatever tunes the local radio station offered (not like we could agree on anything other than NPR anyway, and NPR doesn’t make for great karaoke), our trip was filled with the sounds of narration- me reading whatever book we’d chosen for that trip. Often, our book of choice ended up being one we’d pick up at the national park bookstore on our way out, stopping to get the coveted National Parks Passport stamp.

We’ve not had such great luck with road trips in Malaysia though. After two years in China, relying on cabs to get us around (or our scooters, but they had a fairly small travel radius), I was super excited to buy a car in Kuala Lumpur so that we would have freedom to get out of town on the weekends. (Said car is now for sale since we are leaving this summer…anyone interested?)  Not long after we settled into our new home and routines, we decided to take the right-hand drive X-Trail on a long weekend outing. We’ve been told Penang was wonderful, full of great food and awesome street art, plus Thad had a Kuna High classmate and his wife living/working up there, so north we headed. (How three Kuna High School graduates all ended up in Malaysia is beyond me…)

Penang should be a four hour trip. If you don’t go on a local holiday weekend.

Huge mistake.

Being new to the country, we didn’t realize that everyone clears out of the city for Hari Raya, headed home. Malaysia has a really well-developed freeway system, which I think would work well when it wasn’t carrying the entire country’s population. Between traffic jams and nightmare backups at the toll booths, what should have been a lovely four hour drive through the Malaysian countryside became an eight hour slog, listening to the one radio that would tune in, which ended up being a loop of ten pop songs over…and over…and over…

(I am leaving out the details of the huge rain storm that hit just before we crossed the bridge to Penang, flooding the low-lying roads in town and making passage in anything less than a 4WD impossible. Suffice it to say, we made it to our hotel well after midnight, hungry, tired and a bit cranky.)

Needless to say, after our less than stellar attempt at a Malaysian road trip, we were in no hurry to repeat the experience.

Fast forward eighteen months and the nightmares had finally ended. It was time to try it again.

This time, we were taking a shorter trip- just to Melaka, about two hours south of Kuala Lumpur. The plan was to just go for an overnight, so to leave Saturday morning and come home Sunday evening. That part of the plan worked, out, but not the driving part.

I really need to learn to look at a calendar around here! The weekend we decided to go turned out to be the first weekend of the local school’s holiday, so everyone with kids was headed out for the equivalent of spring break.  Once again, it was us and half the Malaysian population.

Our two hours trip south ended up taking closer to four hours. We arrived mid-afternoon, just as the current heatwave hit its high point for the day. (Over the last couple of weeks, Malaysia has been breaking high temperature records. That sun is blazing!) After finding our hotel and dropping off our overnight bags, we found chairs at a nearby café, had some great chicken satay and whiled away the afternoon people watching. It was too hot for movement beyond that!

With afternoon naps and massages covered, we once again ventured into the great outdoors, spending a crushing evening on Jonkers Street where anything and everything can be bought, if only you can wind your way through the crowd. The evening wrapped up with more roadside treats and drinks, enjoyed while watching masses of humanity go about their evening activities.

Between the scorching heat and the ridiculous traffic, once again our road trip became a bit more of an adventure than we had bargained for. We may have two strikes against us, but I’m not ready to sit on the bench quite yet.  With a little over four months left in our tour, I’d still like to spend a weekend in Ipoh, make the trip to Johor Bahru or even overnight in Port Dickson. The way I figure it, we’ve got one more strike or, better yet, we hit it out of the ballpark with the next attempt and erase those other ticks in the playbook.

Play ball!

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2016 Book Challenge- A Book that Can be Finished in a Day

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2016 Book Challenge- A Book that Can be Finished in a Day

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When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Another month has come and gone in Malaysia and with a slew of long weekends I’ve been able to add thirteen books to my “read” list for the year, even with it being the shortest month of the year. (One *huge* advantage to working for the State Department aboard is that we enjoy both US and host-country holidays.) Luckily, I had the bonus of Leap Year day this year, as the actual end of the month caught me by surprise and I really am getting this month’s challenge write-up taken care of as I put an X on the last day of the calendar page. (Yes, I still cling to actual print calendars rather than having moved everything in my life to a digital one. I have an adorable floral desk calendar at work that not only lets me easily look up appointment dates for callers, but that serves as home to my week count of scam calls/emails. I also have a spiral day planner that I use for my personal events- complete with binder clip on top for easy access to the right page. )

Once again, I read books from many of these categories, so I am just going to choose one and go with it. I am guessing by about November or December, this willy-nilly organization might bite me in the butt, but for now it is working. I decided to go with “A book you can finish in a day” and I actually had two strong contenders in for this title: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and Washington’s Monument by John Steele Gordon. Ultimately, I decided I’m going to go with the first, as it has wider appeal, but history buffs and DC friends, be sure to check out Gordon’s new book- it just came out a few weeks ago.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi has made several “best new releases of 2016” lists, so I couldn’t wait for my library hold to come through. (As always, I have a full hold list and I swear about four come through at a time. There is never a trickle. It is drought and then deluge!) This is a beautifully written book by a man who dedicated his life to finding the intersection between our brains and our minds. A scholar of both literature and neurology, this book was a fascinating mix of references to classical literature and quite in-depth scientific processes. It has something for those of us who love literature and the empathy it brings to one’s life and the as well as those who are more hardwired for facts and figures. In what some see as a cruel twist of fate, and yet exactly what Kalanithi studied for years, he is forced to confront the mind/brain overlap when he is diagnosed with brain cancer in his mid-30s. When Breath Becomes Air is Kalanithi’s final thoughts on where his book studies and his personal experiences have left him in terms of what makes us who we are. The combination of philosophy, literature and science makes this a great read for lovers of fiction and non-fiction alike.

In Search of the End of the Sidewalk’s 2016 Reading Challenge

_____ A book published this year

_____A book you can finish in a day

_____A book you’ve been meaning to read

_____ A book recommended to you by a librarian

_____ A book you should have read in school

_____ A book chosen for you by your spouse/partner, best friend, child or sibling

_____ A book published before you were born

_____ A book that was banned at some point

_____ A book you abandoned previously

_____ A book you own but have never read

_____ A book that intimidates you

_____ A book you’ve read at least once