A Many First in Malaysia

It’s a many first for me here in Malaysia. First to move abroad. First to live not with my family but strangers, who eventually became my fiends. First to experience international trip. First to experience paying my own bills. And not to missed, first of being totally independent.

First time experiences can really be cloudy at times 

It’s like a reset. And, it’s sooo. very. egggzoiiiting!

Now, let me share you my first week here.


Day 1. The Arrival. Tuesday, lunch time.

The entire airport, that is Kuala Lumpur International airport 2 (KLIA2), was crazy. It’s very clean. Huge. Not so crowded. The toilet is neat. The roving guards are approachable. Signages are foreigner friendly. 

Arjay and MJ heading to the Immigration

Accoding to Wiki, KLIA2 can cater for 45 million passengers per year, with future capacity expansion pa!!!

Mapping our way out with this state of  the art public information display system

KLIA2, the world’s largest purpose built terminal for low cost carrier, is well equipped with information display system, you won’t get lost. Though,  most of the time, our instincts have been our bestfriends.

It was quite a looong walk to reach the immigration. We even thought we were lost so we asked the guard, without realizing we were already standing beside the immigration counter. ugh!

After we went to immigration and got our baggages, we headed to the money changer.
Malaysian Ringgit is sooo cool. It’s like play money. And, I, was like a kid, figuring out which one is 10 which is 50 and so on.



Then, we grabbed our quick lunch at Wendy’s and waited for our service.

After a few minutes, our service arrived. A chinese-malay looking guy drove us to the condominium where we will be staying.

Contrary to the Philippines, Malaysia drives on the right side.

 

To Petaling Jaya (PJ)

Paradigm Mall is just a 10 minute walk to the condo. 

After we settled, we skyped our families, letting them know we arrived safe and in one piece, met our new colleagues, went to Paradigm mall to buy necessities,  unpacked  and the next thing we knew was, we woke up, and it’s day 2.

Day 2. Werk it.

I woke up at 6 in the morning. It’s still pretty dark outside. It’s sooo cool  to see that at 8 AM, sunlight is still skin friendly! Kung baga sa Pinas, parang 5:30 pa lang.

7 freakin’ AM

At the office, we were introduced to our bosses and team leaders. And, the day started rolling.

For lunch, we ate in an Indian peg fast food, similar to karinderya sa Pinas where food are in a buffet style. You get to choose whatever dish you like or which ones look good. Better ask if spicy or not, because sometimes instincts don’t work.

If you dine in, a staff goes to the table and give you your bill. If your taking the food out, they call it take away, the usual drill applies. You stand in line at the cashier and they’ll estimate the amount of food you get. I’m not really sure of their formula but based on my observation, their pricing depends on how much dish you put on your plate.

Fast forward to 6PM,  we headed back to the condo. And again, I was like a kid, so happy to a new discovery that in Malaysia, the sun sets past 7PM!!!

Day 3. Still adjusting.

A day filled with bunch of jargons at work. And, a stomach busting dinner at Ming Tien.



Kuya Roland, our very accommodating colleague brought us here for dinner. It’s a 20minute teksi ride from our place. It’s a cozy outdoor food court one shouldn’t miss when in Selangor. The food is in big serving, budget friendly and oh-so-yummyyy!

Having a hard time choosing, friend?LOL

 

Calamansi juice in Philippines, Limao ice in Malaysia

Day 4 

First swim at the half olympic size pool. Too bad I didn’t get a snap shot. But, to describe, the water was not too cold. Good thing as I am quite weak in cold temperature. I had a good first lap and I’m thinking of doing it regularly on weekends.

Another highlight was when a firefly came inside our room that night. In cities of Philippines, I rarely see birds and fireflies being so close to people. But here, birds are everywhere, crows especially. And, it's like they're sooo at home here. Oh, and another thing, I saw a monkey at KTM 

Day 5

Early swim at the pool. Swing at the playground. Then, meet uncle Ray  to deliver some pasalubong package from tito Jorge and roamed around Paradigm mall.

Lunch at  Nando’s with MJ, Uncle Ray and wife (plus Arjay behind the photo)

Chillin at Paradigm Mall (Moi, MJ and Arjay)

Someone’s busy counting ringgit #ofwproblems hehehe

And, on our way back to our place (8pm)

Day 6

Morning was a bummer. But, a trip to Petronas Twin Tower saved the day!

So, we went on a bus ride. Then, LRT, a rail transport in Malaysia.

Inside the LRT

 Parang laban ni Pacman sa luwag! Lol

And from the KLCC Station, we walked through the mall to see the famous tower for the first (freaking) time.

Petronas twin tower, soaring a height of 452 meters, became the tallest building in the world from 1998-2004,  is now a reality to me.

My first reaction meeting the majestic tower was funny, which i believe deserves a separate post.

My first photo op with the tallest twin tower in the world (Photo taken by Arjay)

It’s really overwhelming to see pictures in your history books come alive. From all the captivating beaches and mountains of my beloved Philippines, to the neighboring country, which I’m about to explore, Malaysia.

Malaysia and Petronas tower are just few of the many places I dreamed to visit. There are a lot more, and I am so looking forward to meeting them soon, one step at a time. For now, I’ll keep digging more of what this awesome country offers.

So, to cap this very long  post, I’d like to quote Lao Tzu’s saying… “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” As for me, a new journey has just begun and will continue to unfold in the few days.