I am staying at the Putrajaya Shangri La (http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/kualalumpur/putrajayashangrila) Very nice hotel. Lots of marble and plants. Good food and excellent service. Its on top of a hill affording some great views of the city.
Calling room service:
Me: Hi, I'd like the hamburger and a coke please for room 405.
Room Service: (pause) Sorry. We do not have ham burger. Only beef burger.
Some things are lost in the translation. I almost started explaining that a ham burger is a beef burger, but then thought the better of it. Malaysia is primarily a muslim country so pork is not served in most places. I say primarily muslim since there are sizeable non-muslim minorities, but more on that in a later post should I get to it. It can get pretty complicated.
Putrajaya itself is the center of the government. That's the parliament on the right. The city looks and feels spanking new. That's because it is new. Development started in 1995.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putrajaya
It contains mostly government offices and civil services. Its kind of a strange feeling since on some level I associate Asia and the East with the old and cultural. I expect 2000 year old temples and places that existed long before Western cultures decided that moving from tribal settings to cities would be a good thing, so to see this spanking new city built practically from scratch and considering the wealth that was needed to bring it off is quite something.
I work in Cyberjaya. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberjaya. Another spanking new city. Its about 20 minutes away by cab from the Hotel. Yes, there I go again. The man who wouldn't dream of taking a taxi in the States being a spendthrift. But remember the prices are so low. Its about $6. In Chicago that would be the price for openning that taxi cab door.
The WK office is in the FSBM plaza which is the oldest building in Cyberjaya. Nice enough building, but the best feature is the artificial koi pond out front. Of course I didn't quite know it was a koi pond at first. I only got to see at night during my smoking breaks. And its dark outside. I just figured it was one of those artificial water architectural flourishes that most modern building like to utilize. Imagine my surprise when while walking next to the edge in my nicotine fueled sleep deprived 7am daze one of the fish jumped out of the water. I almost fell in.
The CBJ staff have all been super and very welcoming. Everyone usually goes to "lunch" around 1:30am in group so I am getting a taste of all kinds of different foods. And the food is excellent. And did I mention cheap. You could get a really good solid meal for around $3. YC and Hui Ling also took me out for some really good satay and a Thai restaurant in KL in the off hours. Thanks guys. Everyone.
I took a couple of short trips to Kuala Lumpur, but still don't have a real sense of the place. Will get more opportunities since I still have 4 weeks here. Did visit Petaling Street and Petronas Towers. Hopefully will write up my KL adventures at some later date. Thus far the only bad thing, other than the working hours, is the weather. Its hot and humid. When Aris picked me up at the airport and drove me to the hotel I noted that there doesn't seem to be much pedestrians about. Now I know why. Its just too hot and humid. Walk more than 100 meters and you are drenched in sweat. At least I am.
Next on tap is a weekend at Tioman with some of the guys from the office. And then the big trip to Sipadan from September 1 -8. Details, hopefully, to follow.
Hi! This is just a test. I commented the other day under your Malaysia post and when I just looked a few days later, it was gone, saying there were '0' comments(?)
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