What is it like living in Malaysia...I'll tell you!

So I'm sure people ask me all the time and I really never have a good answer. I say things like it's great or we really like it. But what is it really like living here? I have a very good example from the other day. So as I'm sitting here eating my little chocolate chip cheesecakes I'll tell you. There is a place here, in Bangsar Village, called Hammam. I've always been intrigued by it, but never could commit to making an appointment. It is a turkish bath and spa where they bathe you and scrub you down. I'm going to do another post decribing the details of the Hammam experience so don't worry I'll give you the dirty little details :) about what occurred in this dreamy place. So anyway back to Malaysia. I finally made an appointment for a 2.5hour session. They bathed me and scrubbed me and masked me and massaged me and I relaxed with mint tea and bhaklava...so yes - it was FABULOUS. 2.5 hours of fabulousness all for a very low price of RM268 ($86 USD). Yes I said $86! So I left hopping and skipping and singing to myself all the way to my car. I felt so good, so relaxed and so prepared for the rest of my day. Uh huh...whatever. So I head out of the parking garage around 12:45pm. I have to pick Reid up at 1:30pm and I have not had lunch which is now 2 hours overdue. Totally worth it, but I MUST EAT NOW. There is a shopping center nearby Reid's school and there is a McDonald's there. I hardly ever go because it really is a logistical nightmare...another parking garage followed by no parking spaces and a strange layout....yada, yada, yada. I decide this is my best option. I pull into the garage just praying for a space and voila! A space...my day is excellent. I walk straight to McD's picturing in my mind the rest of my steps (get McD's takeway - pay for parking at that autopay - head back out the way I came and at school on time with a full belly...perfection!) Place my order at McDonald's and it is RM9.50. Hand her the Visa debit card and she says cash only. I almost say WTF? to her cause I'm like...THIS IS MCDONALDS! How can it be cash only? I'm outraged because I know I only have RM5 in my purse. SHIT! So I tell her to cancel my order and walk out thinking where in the world is an ATM here. I don't know this place well enough. I know McD's, Starbucks and the autopay. Ah yes - focus Natalie don't panic - there is one right there. So I get money not paying attention to the sign on the ATM which says RM100/RM10 only. I have enough money now, but only in 100 bills. And I know that lady is going to look at me and say sorry no change! At this point it is sometime after 1pm and I'm starting to panic a bit. I think it could be 1:15pm. I get more cash out this time in a weird amount so I can get some RM10 bills. Back to McDonalds and at last I have food. I go out the door to the autopay I know and it says card- unreadable. At this point I know I say "you have to be fing kidding me." The display also tells me to insert my card the proper way. I look at it and it is very proper so I try again. No luck. So now I'm looking for another autopay machine. After a little searching I find one and same message. SHIT! What do I do? I push the little help button on the machine and a Malay speaking gentleman says something to me. I tell him card not readable and I'm barely able to make out...block c, basement 1. Yes this shopping center is set up in blocks...nutty! Anyway, I make it down there and see the carpark office. He tells me to pull up to the gate by the office and he will let me out (I'm thinking where in the hell is my car - I ALWAYS go out the way I came in) I ask how much I owe he says "RM2, do you need a receipt". At this point I'm ready to fight anyone, but not willing to wait one more second or in this case probably 5 more minutes as he hand writes a receipt. So I say "No I don't need a receipt as long as you open the gate for me when I pull up". He assures me he will...hmmm. I was able to find my car, cram a crappy McD's burger in my mouth and pick up Reid on time....barely.

So what's it like living here....there are things here that are absolutely fabulous...FABULOUS. It is wonderful getting to do and know things I would have never done in Texas...and then there are moments...short ones...like the 30 minutes I described above that can completely slap you back to reality and out of your blissful state. Don't get me wrong, these problems are not big ones by any means, but they are so damn frustrating. Most of the time you can run around and feel like you're in any large city in the world... tons of shopping, luxury items, etc, but then there are these little things that they just haven't bothered with or haven't figured out yet here in Malaysia that drive you mad. Here in KL our response to a story like this one would be "that's Malaysia!". It is so true.


This is a picture of the relaxing room where you retreat after your scrub down and then again after your last treatment. It is very dark, you drink hot mint tea, and just melt!

And Bill is off again

A few months ago Bill was traveling non stop. I think four weeks in a row he was home only 1 day a week. It was a very busy month and I missed him terribly. That kind of traveling really throws a kink in your love life. Like everything else you adapt. I was hoping that we would try as much as possible to not go there again...and here we are. Bill left about 30 minutes ago to head back to Jakarta. This will be his 3rd week gone in a row. The downer about this week aside from him just being gone is it is Chinese New Years holiday for MKIS, Reid's school. We have the whole week off and I had high hopes for doing some cool things with Reid. I'm still going to try, but it's not the same without Bill. While is it hard to see Bill off again I know it is for good reason. He is making really great progress here and making a name for himself within his company and around Southeast Asia and India. I'm really proud of him. I'm hoping he'll be back soon and definitely before Friday. The Kelly's have invited us over for dinner and to watch the fireworks from their 40th floor condo. Really looking forward to the action. The Kelly's have really been a blessing for us and Bill and I say how nice it is that we connected with them before we even arrived here. We've met a lot of other really great people here as well and it is so amazing how natural it feels getting to know them so quickly. You really just hit the fast forward button. We been very lucky to come to know this many wonderful people.

It hit me yesterday that I feel like I've definitely settled in and have become "with it" as far as where to go around here. With all of the complaining and frustrating moments I had when we moved here about the parking and the autopay parking and where in the world to find everything...I finally feel like I can for the most part find just about everything I need. Now whatever I find is just icing on the cake. I feel really comfortable knowing where to park, where to pay and how things generally work here. I told Bill recently that I definitely have settled in and feel Malaysian. I was out with the girls one night and we sat outside as usual and I felt cold (because they have the a/c from inside that makes it outside as well). Bill thought I was crazy, but it's true. I find myslef getting cold places that I wouldn't normally. I remember my friend Jennifer telling me the same thing after moving to California. Once you deal without a/c for awhile you really can do without. When Bill is gone I don't mind turning the a/c off or leaving the doors open for a little bit.
I've also done something I never thought I would...I DOUBLEPARKED! Yep, my friend Keli was telling me how she does it as it is just a necessity and I did it the other day. I felt like such a rebel! What a rush! I'm sure those that know me will understand as I am definitely a rule follower...boring yes I know. So I think that is about it for now. Kids are napping, I need a shower and then we are off to do a little shopping at Plaza Damas and then over to a friends for some play time and dinner.

Playing Catch Up

I'm not one for New Years Resolutions as I find most people don't stick to them. However, I think blogging will make the list for me. It would be much easier if I kept up with it. The end of October was my last blog post sorry to say and a lot has happened since then.
The most memorable part of November was obviously Thanksgiving and celebrating it outside of the US. I was surprised to see so much "Thanksgiving" food at the grocery stores...turkeys, cranberry sauce, stuffing, etc. I didn't splurge and go for all that this year, but made a special dinner for the family that night. It was strange being in another country knowing people back home are all together celebrating. It was like knowing there was a party and you weren't invited. However, a few days later the Kelly's or who we refer to as Ashely and Ashley invited us over. We had turkey and mashed potatoes, etc. It felt so nice to be together with friends. It was very special.
December was jam packed full of "things". The first and very special part was Nana visiting us for a week. Having her here made our house feel a little more like home. We did our best to show her around and she was able to spend a little time in Reid's classroom. The kids really enjoyed spending time with her. I know they are looking forward to spending more time with her this summer.
In front of the twin towers
Tamarind Springs Restuarant
Ice cold towels that smell of lemongrass to clean and cool you down before eating...plus the table always looks really cool to me.

Nana is an angel for many reasons, but the most recent would be flying home with me and the children. Bill was not able to fly home with us so we asked her to help. Thank goodness for Nana. It was quite a trip and at times I didn't think I was going to make it with Georgia screaming to fall asleep and us racing through the Hong Kong airport to make our connection. I'm so thankful for my friend Heather who let us borrow their double stroller. Pushing 2 tired cranky kids hecticly through and airport is much easier than pushing one and pulling the other or even carrying one for that matter. Thank the Lord for Nana and her help. It was wonderful to have her with me and I so appreciate all that she did. I'd like to say that the trip was the most difficult part of the journey, but unfortunately I can not. We must have caught a very bad stomach bug on one of the flights over because a few days after arriving in Houston we were sick as dogs...no other details needed or desired I'm sure. Georgia was sick, then Reid, then me and Nana and then my mom. It was awful. With the sickness and the time zone changes it took the kids about 7 days to get back to a somewhat normal schedule. It really was a bummer to feel like we lost so much precious time. I had to reschedule and cancel many visits with friends. I must say though prior to us getting sick we were able to squeeze in a visit to see Gammaw at Silverado. They had a Christmas party for the residents and it was very nice. They had a buffet with all kinds of goodies, drinks, carollers, and a carraige ride. It was wonderful to see Gammaw. She looks great and is very with it right now.



I think that is all the play by play I can give for the visit home.
Instead I'll tell you how wonderful it was to be back on American soil...to have the immigration officer at San Fran airport tell me welcome home...and to just be in a place I know with the people I love. I treasured every moment with my family and loved watching Reid and Georgia play with Nino and Pop. Waking up as a family and going to bed as one was priceless. Thanks to my parents for putting up with all of our BS while we took over their house. Can't wait to do it again! HA! Below are just some of the special moments from our trip home. There is a story of our trip home which at this point I just can't rehash. It was a long long trip home, but we are so happy to be back.