Year: 2015

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 .

For over a month now I’ve been living outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital and largest city. Before arriving, I had very few pre-conceived notions about Malaysia. I knew about the Twin Towers and I had heard there were lots of other tall buildings here. But other than that, my knowledge was very limited.

Here are seven random things that have struck me since I’ve been here.

1. It’s hot and humid
   Like much of Southeast Asia, it’s hot here. And humid. Because it’s so close to the equator, the temperature remains remarkably constant year-round with highs of around 87 to 92 degrees every day. This makes deciding what to wear an easy choice.
2. No visa requirement for Americans
   The lack of paperwork required to enter Malaysia made the arrival process quick and smooth.
3. Predominantly Muslim country
   I arrived in Kuala Lumpur on the first full day of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month when people fast from sunrise to sunset. Since the majority of the population is Muslim, this means a lot of restaurants were closed during the day and the food court at the local mall was deserted.
4. Mix of cultures
   There are significant Chinese and Indian minorities in Malaysia, which is reflected in the cuisine. I have heard that the different ethnic groups don’t interact much socially, but I haven’t noticed any strict separations.
5. People are respectful and mild mannered
   From my interactions around town and at CrossFit, people are polite and generally welcoming.
6. Lots of cats
   There seems to be a high number of cats here, both as pets and strays. There are not as many dogs, however, because Muslims view dogs as unclean.
7. “Don’t be a pain, stay in your lane”
   Like in many other countries, traffic can be a problem here. Although the main roads are nice and wide, they can be very windy and other drivers sometimes seem oblivious to the cars around them. The radio even runs public service announcements encouraging drivers to stay in their lane and not to tailgate. Also, because of the historical British influence, people drive on the “other” side of the road, which took this Yankee some time to get used to.