Month: August 2015

Entrance to Tower C of Verve Suites in the Mont Kiara neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur. My residence for about three weeks while British homeowners Emma and Karl are away on holiday.

The roof of Tower C with its greenery and “aqua gym”. There are four towers at the Verve: A, B, C and D – also known as Viva, Vogue, Vox, and Vibe.

Inside the Sky Lounge at the top of Tower A.

The restaurants and cafes at the bottom of the apartment complex.

Inside the grocery store at the bottom of the Verve Suites.

Tennis court at night. The Verve has a lot of amenities like this including a basketball court, gym, reflexology pool, and meditation garden.

The local Starbucks is about a 15 minute walk away. Along with Coffea Coffee, this is my favorite spot to work.

A roadside durian stand. Durians are notorious for their strong smell and are very popular in Malaysia.

Emmet the cat. He is the pet for whom I am sitting.

One of the several pools at the Verve.

The infitity pool at the top of Tower B.

This is what it looks like over the edge.

This is what it looks like over the other edge.

Mom came to visit!

Looking up at the Petronas Towers.

Washing windows at over 558 feet in the air. Somebody’s got to do it.

Taking pictures of swords at the National Museum.

On the way to the Genting Highlands, a large resort and entertainment complex outside Kuala Lumpur.

At a casino in the Highlands. There were lots of Chinese people here and no Malays.

The windy roads heading back from the Highlands.

At the Chin Swee Caves Temple.

A man paying his respects.

Patiently waiting for our affogatos at Starbucks.

Waiting some more.

Still waiting…

At the entrance to the Batu Caves. We didn’t go up the stairs because it was really hot and had already been a long day.

Here is a sampling of some pictures I’ve taken while in Malaysia. These were all taken during my time in Kajang, a sleepy suburb south of Kuala Lumpur.

I have since moved to Mont Kiara, another suburb in a different part of town. Both of these locations came about via housesitting opportunities, which allows me to live rent-free in exchange for taking care of peoples’ pets and homes while they are out of town.

Loading up the car after going grocery shopping. The homeowners, a German family, were nice enough to let us use their car while they were away on vacation.

Grillmasters preparing Satay, Kajang’s specialty.

Feeding the fish, part of housesitting duties.

The front yard pond area.

The pool area while raining.

Heidi with Lucky and Luke, the house pets.

Walking Luke in the upscale Country Heights neighborhood of Kajang.

The CrossFit gym where I go two or three times per week.

Lifting barbells inside CrossFit Pahlawan.

Outside the local mall.

An ice skating rink at the mall.

Remembering where I parked.

My favorite coffee shop was taken over one morning by a film crew.

1. Lots of malls
   Malaysians love their malls. They are all over the place.
2. Highly air conditioned
   Malaysia is much more air conditioned than Cambodia or Vietnam. This is generally a nice thing.
3. Materially comfortable
   I’m not really sure what drives the economy here, but people seem to enjoy a comfortable standard of living. At least the people I’ve met.
4. Lots of high rise buildings and condos
   The skyline is littered with tall buildings with more under construction.
5. Linguistically diverse
   As far as I can tell, almost everyone here is bilingual. English and Malay are the two dominant languages, with English being the lingua franca. Various types of Chinese and Indian languages are also spoken.
6. Toilet paper on the outside
   For some reason, the toilet paper is sometimes on the outside of the bathroom stalls. So you have to estimate what you’ll need before you go in. I’m not sure if this a Muslim thing or what.
7. Good food
   The food here is very tasty and cheap.
8. Credit cards are widely accepted
   Credit cards are accepted at most places, even for smaller amounts. I appreciate this because I prefer to use plastic over cash.


The pork section of Jaya Grocer in Mont Kiara

9. Hold the bacon
   Because of Islam’s prohibition against pork, the other white meat is generally less available. In some grocery stores there is a separate pork section where you have to pay for your items before you leave into the main area. Some restaurants even advertise themselves as “pork free” to appeal to Muslim customers .