March 17, 2008

It's Monday and so starts another week in KL. Today is St. Patrick's Day and even though I'm not sure they celebrate it like we do, it has been advertised in a lot of the restaurants and bars that we've been in so I'm sure there will be some expats out partying today. Jim and I have had a long weekend so I'll try to remember everything that we've done.

On Friday, Jim took the day off from work so he could go around with me to look at houses, one being the house I viewed on Thursday with Lina. We took the train into Bangsar and then a cab to Bangsar Shopping Center and then walked around the corner to the house. Jim seemed pleased that it was so close to the mall much like I was. Lina met us at the house and Jim seemed to really like it. He noticed a closet outside the house by the front door which is used to store shoes ( a lot of people remove their shoes before entering a house) and decided that he would remove the shelves inside so he could store his golf clubs in there. I also suggested he could clean his clubs outside too since there is a faucet nearby and I could keep my 2 kitchen sinks clean. Lina also arranged for us to view anothe house nearby Bangsar Village, an area that ideally we really wanted to live in, so after we were done at the house on Jalan Pudina she drove us over to the other one. When we arrived the outside looked very nice, a big lot with lots of room outside for Oso however not so much grass. It was owned by 2 Indian guys who met us there and seemed excited that Americans might possibly rent their home. Inside it was the same old story: they claimed it was renovated but not really. It was huge home, about 4000 sq/ft and it was unfurnished and I can't imagine us needing that much space let alone buying furniture to fill it plus the bathrooms were God awful!! Jim went into all 4 and he doesn't think that he could fit into any of the showers plus the fixtures were all from the 70's, all the bedrooms had built-in's which included desks so it took up a lot of floor space which made them look small, the walls were painted funky bright colors, I couldn't live in a house with a turqoise living room!! That was the only other house Lina had to show us so we had her drop us back off at the first house so Jim could explore the neighborhood. The shopping mall offers lots of things to do including a grocery store, several bars and an indoor golf simulator restaurant where Jim could play virtually any golf course in the world. After finding this out, it pretty much made up his mind that the house on Pudina is where he wants to live. So I text Lina and we started the negotiations with the owner for us to move in. The house doesn't have hot water in the kitchen, and a washer/dryer, those were the only 2 things that we could see we would need long term other than the initial cleaning, pest control ( I did see some critters, but was explained that since the house has been vacant it was the reason for their presence...will see) and cutting the grass. The owner wanted to raise the rent an extra $500 Rm p/month for the hot water and washer, so we agreed to purchase our own washer/dryer and so the rent was only increased $100 Rm p/month for the hot water. We did the math and for an extra $500 p/month for a washer we could buy a set for cheaper. The only thing we have to do now is determine when our container with our things will arrive so we can agree on a move in date.

After that we did a little bar hopping in the mall and Jim has decided which one will probably be his hangout, it's called George and the Dragon. It's like an old British pub. I think for now he will be happy with it until he finds his usual dive bar with pool tables that is...he isn't as good at darts as he is at pool and I just don't think he'll be happy unless there is a pool table nearby. We headed back home on the train because we realized that we had been gone for a while and Oso was locked up in his kennel. When we got home, Jim's phone rang and it was a guy from his work inviting us out since he was down the street. We got dressed and really I don't know the name of the place we went. He said he was at the DePalma hotel but when we pulled in to park and starting walking toward the hotel, David came out of a restaurant that was in the alley. He was there with his pregnant wife, a guy named Logan also who works with Jim, Logan's wife and another guy who works with Jim but I can't remember his name because really he didn't say much other than "Hello" and then later "Good night". It was definitely a hole in the wall but interesting. The food was good, I had fish, Jim had chicken ( I'm about sick of chicken), there were pool tables and also live entertainment. At first it was awkward, I didn't know them, they didn't know me and anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a tomboy and getting along with other women isn't part of my nature. They didn't initiate any type of conversation and being the polite one that I am, I did most of the talking, maybe it was the wine that was doing the talking although they were not drinking. It did turn around at some point because the band was playing mostly American music, mostly oldies from the 70's and 80's ( and for some reason they assume that since we're Americans, we know who sings every song) we decided to break the ice and go and dance which led to everyone else joining us on the dance floor. After that the tension was cut a little bit. There was a guy working in the restaurant who reminded me of an Asian Bon Jovi. He was tall, slender with rocker styled long hair and who sang really well. Later on I found out he was the manager of the bar and was from Portugal, something I never would have guessed because he really did look Chinese. He said he should have known we were Americans because at one point me and Jim went out on the dance floor and did the "Electric Slide" although Andrew called it line dancing. Leave it to the electric slide to unite everyone...you know what I'm talking about. My last uncomfortable moment was when it came time to pay the bill and everyone was willing to pitch in because there was a lot of drinking on the guy's part but David wouldn't let Jim help out so while I was talking to the manager Andrew ( who allowed me to get one more beer even though it was past last call ) David paid the bill to him but I don't know if he was drunk and didn't count right but it was short so I was going to go for my wallet and he insisted on us not contributing, so he went to his pregnant wife and asked for their credit card and you should have seen the look on her face!!! If looks could kill, he would have been lying dead at my feet. The bill was a little over $700 Rm ( about $230 U.S.) and she was not happy one bit. I didn't think it was all that bad considering 7 people ate, and 5 people drank for most of the night. All in all it was fun and when we move into our house I will have everyone over for a BBQ.

Saturday was a wasted day. Jim was spent from Friday so he napped on and off all day and I watched B-movies on HBO and Cinemax. I received a package from Keith with the Kool-Aid so the only time I left the hotel was to go and buy a pitcher and some sugar so Jim could have some when he got up. Later on we went up to the hotel lounge and played some pool

Sunday we went back to Bangsar and explored a megamall called Mid-Valley. They have a free bus shuttle from the train station and we hopped on then waited for about 20 min. because the driver was no where to be found. I'm assuming that this is common because we appeared to be the only people questioning where he was. At the mall we walked around and explored the shops looking to price appliances that we're going to need. Before we left home, I pretty much either sold or gave away anything that plugs in since I won't be able to use them here without an adapter. So we looked at tvs, washer/dryer, coffee pot, crock pot, irons and furniture since we will have to purchase some furniture in order to fill our house. The prices were reasonable, Jim wrote down the model numbers since one of his warehouses is LG he can receive a discount on the TV and washer/dryer. I bought 2 new pair of sandals that hopefully are comfortable to walk in. I've been wearing my gym shoes a lot because the shoes I packed don't do well when I'm out hiking around town all day. Jim got a new baseball cap and we also bought a cordless phone that can plug into our computer so when I make phone calls instead of talking to the laptop I can walk around and talk on a regular phone.

So that was our weekend and now that we've found a house I really don't have any plans for this week. There is a flea market every Saturday at the mall around the corner from our new house that I will probably check out to look for furniture or maybe find the IKEA store to look for some area rugs.

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone and don't do anything I wouldn't do!!!