A dark and mean virus seems to be spreading around KL. My boss, her boss and my two colleagues (one of which is my flat mate), have come down with high fever, chills and sore throat / cough. What a depressing environment to work in! Luckily we had one 2 day conference here in KL where most of the participants were quite jolly and an internal audit is looming on the horizon (help!). Today we went to visit 2 clients for whom we will do the audit in the coming month. The one good thing about poking one’s nose into other people’s business professionally is that I can get a good overview of various jobs. Today for example, we visited a shoe manufacturer, and it was very interesting to see how shoes are made. We went for lunch with another client, all Chinese women who were very friendly, despite the fact that they plied me with food incessantly (I even ate duck as not to offend them, a bird I normally won’t touch, but I drew the line at chicken foot soup!). The food was delicious; absolute first rate.
I had an issue earlier this week when my flat mate and I tried to wash our clothes. It’s been about 3 weeks now since I arrived and buying clothes isn’t always the answer. Especially as it seems to be impossible to buy a normal bra here, each and every one is filled with some kind of silicone pad, water cushion or just plain padding to give the illusion of a larger bust!
So we went to a local laundry and the guy there tried to rip us off! One Ringitt for one bra two ringitt for one tshirt etc!
August 19, 2004
August 11, 2004
Rest and Relaxation
Having finished work late yesterday, my flatmate and I decided to walk down the Jalan Bukit Bintang (the main shopping street) in order to buy some water and get a little exercise. Off we went, our eyes drinking in colours and vibrant settings, people streaming in and out of the mall (it was nine pm!) and traffic zooming up and down the road. We were quite shattered so battling our way down the sidewalk wasn't really a relaxing thing to do. Suddenly we were accosted by someone touting for customers for a foot reflexology massage. 25 Malaysian Ringitt (about 9CHF) for a whole half hour may seem like a lot to some, but for me this was too good to pass up! Ah, the utter bliss (well, not quite, some of his efforts were downright painful! but absolutly worth it) that followed is highly recommendable. We left feeling refreshed and energized.
Now we've decided to go the whole hog and look for a spa to be pampered to the nines! It's kinda tricky though to know if the spa you're interested in is what you had in mind or if the ladies in there cater for a more, let's say, intense experience. Karaoke venues are just as bad, hairdressers are pretty straightforward, luckily. I was planning to get a haircut.
Now we've decided to go the whole hog and look for a spa to be pampered to the nines! It's kinda tricky though to know if the spa you're interested in is what you had in mind or if the ladies in there cater for a more, let's say, intense experience. Karaoke venues are just as bad, hairdressers are pretty straightforward, luckily. I was planning to get a haircut.
August 10, 2004
Toilets
Just came back from Johor Bharu yesterday. Was on a business trip, the usual, a conference. Forced to dress up nicely (Mum, that suit we bought is a real asset) and with a beaming smile in place I registered the participants. All went well until I needed the bathroom. Well, the details of my toilet are not going to be the subject of this post, however when it came to flushing the innocent looking monster I found that appearances can be very deceptive!
When you looked at the toilet there was this thing you could turn (no sign of the obvious flushing device), so I enthusiastically did so. To my absolute horror, a strong spurt of water came rushing out of the toilet, aimed straight at my chest! (Not a little trickle or anything like that, this was a full blown attack! As if you were squeezing the garden hose to increase the pressure of the water flow!) Luckily a split second reaction of mine saved me from being drenched from head to toe - how I would have explained my drowned-rat-appearance to all these high powered people I would not have known! I shudder at the thought!
On a happier note: Malaysia is swamped at the moment with a Mega Sale, the whole country has gone shopping mad for the ENTIRE AUGUST!!! Ah, absolute bliss, the malls stay open til 10 every night…
When you looked at the toilet there was this thing you could turn (no sign of the obvious flushing device), so I enthusiastically did so. To my absolute horror, a strong spurt of water came rushing out of the toilet, aimed straight at my chest! (Not a little trickle or anything like that, this was a full blown attack! As if you were squeezing the garden hose to increase the pressure of the water flow!) Luckily a split second reaction of mine saved me from being drenched from head to toe - how I would have explained my drowned-rat-appearance to all these high powered people I would not have known! I shudder at the thought!
On a happier note: Malaysia is swamped at the moment with a Mega Sale, the whole country has gone shopping mad for the ENTIRE AUGUST!!! Ah, absolute bliss, the malls stay open til 10 every night…
August 05, 2004
KL
I arrived back from Kutching (Sarawak) last Tuesday evening. Dr. B had told me that I would be living with another intern who had already started working at his office 2 weeks ago. She's from Germany, my age (10 days younger to be exact) and very nice. She'd never been to KL before, so after chatting we deicided to go out to Chinatown for some late night shopping (they only close at midnight!). Not heeding the warnings by well-wishers, we stayed out quite late and 2 girls (especially with C being blond) can also attract negative attention. We made it home eventually, after having to duck into hotels pretending to be guests and walk a longer route back to our appartment to mislead a overenthusiastic shadow (guess what language he spoke: French! I hadn't really expected that!).
The attitude to work here is pretty intense, going home early means around 7pm, generally one gets out at around 8.30pm or so. One hour lunch break (very strict about the times) and work begins at 8.15am.
My boss and his co-worker are both Indian, so we DID NOT HAVE ANY TOILET PAPER at the office! I'm not quite sure how the Muslim girls who work here as well handle the situation, but I've not seen them smuggling any paper past me. Whilst we're on the subject of cross-cultural issues: the other day I squashed a bug walking along my arm and earned a reproachful: "that could have been your grandmother!" from my boss (happens to believe in reincarnation)! Hmm, I wonder if he feels that way about mosquitos too... Better watch out for the odd insect, I could never forgive myself for accidentially treading on the pope, or so. :)
You'll never believe it, but if it were not for the humidity, I could wear a pullover quite happily (outside, not in an air-cond office builiding). So much for the swealtering heat of the tropics.
The attitude to work here is pretty intense, going home early means around 7pm, generally one gets out at around 8.30pm or so. One hour lunch break (very strict about the times) and work begins at 8.15am.
My boss and his co-worker are both Indian, so we DID NOT HAVE ANY TOILET PAPER at the office! I'm not quite sure how the Muslim girls who work here as well handle the situation, but I've not seen them smuggling any paper past me. Whilst we're on the subject of cross-cultural issues: the other day I squashed a bug walking along my arm and earned a reproachful: "that could have been your grandmother!" from my boss (happens to believe in reincarnation)! Hmm, I wonder if he feels that way about mosquitos too... Better watch out for the odd insect, I could never forgive myself for accidentially treading on the pope, or so. :)
You'll never believe it, but if it were not for the humidity, I could wear a pullover quite happily (outside, not in an air-cond office builiding). So much for the swealtering heat of the tropics.
August 03, 2004
Malaysia - first impressions
Malaysia, a rich diverse country, where spirits, ghosts and ghouls feature heavily in small talk (everyone tells me at least one ghost story, it's getting quite hard to fall asleep peacefully!), the food is incredible and the air-conditionning freezes the air in your lungs: what a country!
After been picked up at the airport last Saturday, I was driven to the appartment I now share with a German girl who is also interning at the same company (Smartfocus; they deal in Risk Management and Internal Audit). I haven't met her yet, as she went off to Singapore for a few days.
After settling in, I was whisked off to Kutching in Sarawak (on the Island of Borneo) to assist my boss in a conference. After making sure all the participants were there, I took center stage with my heart in my mouth and welcomed these multimilionnaires (one is a prince, no kidding!!!!) to this gathering. I was soooo glad that our studies place a heavy focus on presentations, as I nearly died when I saw these calculating eyes on me. They turned out to be quite nice, but it was so daunting to speak in front of these high profile men (no women).
After been picked up at the airport last Saturday, I was driven to the appartment I now share with a German girl who is also interning at the same company (Smartfocus; they deal in Risk Management and Internal Audit). I haven't met her yet, as she went off to Singapore for a few days.
After settling in, I was whisked off to Kutching in Sarawak (on the Island of Borneo) to assist my boss in a conference. After making sure all the participants were there, I took center stage with my heart in my mouth and welcomed these multimilionnaires (one is a prince, no kidding!!!!) to this gathering. I was soooo glad that our studies place a heavy focus on presentations, as I nearly died when I saw these calculating eyes on me. They turned out to be quite nice, but it was so daunting to speak in front of these high profile men (no women).
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