March 10, 2008

Yesterday I went out with Kenneth from YY Properties and I was really excited at first. We met him on our last visit to KL so I thought for sure that he would have some nice properties for me to view. So after locking Oso up in his kennel I headed down to the lobby to meet him. I waited for half an hour and he wasn't there yet, so I called and left him a voicemail and then I checked my texts ( texting is very big here) and the confirmation said Monday March 12 but it was Monday March 9 so I was confused. I called Jenny in the office just to make sure and she assured me that the appointment was for today. A few minutes later he showed up and was very apologetic about being late, and even though I filled out a questionnaire stating exactly what I was interested in seeing, he had a list of condos for me to view. I did not want to waste anytime looking at condos and he seemed disappointed that I was not interested but with Oso we really want a private yard for him. So he switched to plan B which was let's drive to Bangsar, explore the neighborhoods and look for houses with for rent signs on the gates. Had I been able to drive myself I would not need his help! It wasn't all that bad, I actually had fun, had Kenneth been a girl and named Angela I would have considered it another adventure! So that's what we did for about 2 1/2 hours, I was able to go into a couple because the landlord was onsite and what looked promising from the outside was disappointing on the inside. Kenneth has explained to me that landlords don't put much thought into kitchens and bathrooms because it's not where most locals spend a lot time whereas in the States the kitchen has become a place of gathering. A lot of the fixtures are outdated or just downright primitive. Here partly furnished means that there are airconditioners, kitchen cabinets and light fixtures, unfurnished means a bare unit, fully furnished means that there is some furniture present...not what I was thinking but I'm getting used to it. The hightlight of my day was when we were driving through a neighborhood and I spotted a for rent sign, Kenneth pulled into the driveway and the front door was open so I walked right in. There were some workers in the house and they allowed me to come inside. It was HUGE!!! It was the Malaysian version of a mansion, it had 2 kitchens, marble floors (which I'm not so fond of), chandeliers, a koi pond with a fountain...it was awesome, but definitely out of our price range, it was 12k RM p/month about $3700 U.S. p/month. It was up for sale for 4.5 million RM about $1.38 million U.S.

After that Kenneth suggested a different part of the city called Petaling Jaya. I know that it is closer to Jim's work and because I'm starting to lose hope that we will find anything nice in the Bangsar area, I'm willing to see anything. He shows me a house that is owned by an Indian family, completely detached on a large lot with a fence around it, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths ( well technically 4, there was a bathroom outside for the gardener), the bathrooms were recently renovated and I almost thought we had a winner until I saw the kitchen. Not saying it was bad but it wasn't great, I could possibly work with it. All of the cabinets and countertops were new but there was not oven and only a 2 burner cooktop. The refridgerator was located in the adjoining dining room something that seems to be common here although I can't get used to the idea of going into another room to get something out and the entire kitchen including the walls was tiled with bright yellow and orange patterned tiles, something I'm sure they find decorative but to me overwhelming. I opened one of the cabinets and a gecko jumped out at me, apparently they are everwhere. Now I don't like bugs let alone little lizards running around getting into my spaghetti!! I keep picturing Oso trying to catch them, maybe I should do some research and see if they're poisonous.

After that I came home and looked for some properties in Petaling Jaya and found that the rent is much cheaper than Bangsar and because it's up and coming a lot of the homes are brand new and in gated communities. When Jim finally arrived home from work (yes, he got lost again coming home, he left work at 6 pm and didn't walk in the door until almost 9 pm) he said that if we could find something in PJ he would be a happy man because he knows his way there plus it's closer to work for him. So this weekend we are going to set up some appointments to view some villas, bungalows, and townhouses. Even though I have 2 real estate agents, I find that I'm doing most of the leg work in our house hunt.