Malaysia Boleh!

And so the bus conductor shouted "Puduraya". Ram and I immediately got off pulling our huge luggage and carry-on bags. It was a quick ride from SG, 3-4 hours. We left SG at 11 PM and arrived in Kuala Lumpur by 3 am. So funny that Ram left his jacket in the bus. He said he panicked when the conductor shouted. Hahaha. How I wish the Philippines has a neighboring country where you can easily cross the border. Hehehe.

Ram has arranged for his friend, Ginger, to pick us up from Puduraya. Starving while waiting, we decided to eat at Mc Donald's. Ram had a lot of stories about Ginger. They used to be colleagues here in Manila back when they were still working in a call center in Ortigas. And so Ginger came. Was able to finally meet this pretty girl. We then went to her condo - Angsana Hilir.Niceplace,3-bedrooms,fully-furnished. From there I could see the Petronas Twin Towers - amazing! breath-taking! I know I'll be able to go there nearer!

The next day, Ginger went to work so we were left in the house. In the afternoon, her sister, Maan picked us up and brought us to a place in Melia (in front of Time Square). It was her birthday and guess what, we were in a club! Yahooo! I met her friends - cel, gopal, sajid, and her Pakistani bf - Atif. It was the best time to unwind.

What was supposed to be a 5-day stay eventually became 1 year and 3 months. Malaysia has become my 2nd home since then. Sad that Ram left after 3 months due to some personal issues with his long time partner in Manila.

At first, I thought that Malaysia was just like Manila but in the long run, I realized that it was way different. Three unique cultures in one country - Malay, chinese and Indian. But I have to say, nothing compares to the Filipina beauty. Hehehe.

I was there for more than a year and got myself into their culture. I have been to most of the places (Perak, Johor, Port Dickson, et...), especially to the North Border, as I needed to exit to Thailand every now and then.

Partially learned their language - Bahasa Malayu....I'm a fast learner you know...hehehe

Selamat Datang - it's like "mabuhay" or welcome
Terima Kasih - "Thank You"
Selamat Pagi - Good MOrning
Selamat Petang - Good Afternoon
Selamat Malam - Good Evening/Night
cepat - fast!
Makan - eat
Minum - drink
Kanan - Right
Kiri - Left
Turus - Go straight
Abang - Brother
Sayang - Dear
Lelaki - Guy
cantik - pretty
satu - 1
dua - 2
tiga - 3
ampat - 4
lima - 5
enam - 6
tuju - 7
lapan - 8
sembilan - 9
sepuloh - 10 and so on...
ribu - a thousand
cinta - love
keluar - exit
tandas - toilet
boleh - can
ta boleh - cannot
ayam - chicken
nasi - rice
roti - bread
kampung - province

and a lot more....

The Petronas symbolizes the Malaysian "Dream" for many. It stands proudly in the city center over towering KL's High Rise buildings. You can see it anywhere you go.Shopping is one of the best part in KL. It's cheap but quality is good. Best place to shop - Sungei Wang Plaza and Time Square and china town. Pavillion, KLcc (mall in Petronas), and MIdvalley are quite expensive. Low yat Plaza - famous for electronic gadgets. Tropicana Square and One World - parang Trinoma.

Food is spicy. I miss the flavored fried rice - Nasi Goreng, Nasi Goreng china, Nasi Goreng Kampung and I also miss the Roti canai, ayam ketchup, chicken satay, and dimsum. The cincau tea, sugarcane juice and barley ice are very refreshing. My favorite though is the Watermelon shake and milo ice in Showru. I also enjoyed eating at the "Mamak" (Indian cafeteria in the streets).

Best place to party - Hardrock, Rum Jungle, Beach club, Bangsar area, Zouk, Mumbai Se. We usually go to the Rain club at the Kelana Jaya Plaza, which is, 3 mins away from my place so it's easy to go home whenever I get drunk and to Palace Bar if we want to go for KTV. The
owner (Datu Ang) knows us very well already and the Filipino waiter (Argel) has been a good friend of ours. Before I came to KL, I don't know how to sing, but since we're rehearsing our vocal cords every week, my golden voice improved. hahaha....and how can I forget Borneo Rain Forest, where an immigration checking was announced while cel, ginger, and me are enjoying on the dance floor. And also the Ministry of Sound (M.O.S.), the most crowded club in Sunway.

Best place to stay? - my place - Shang Villa. I used to live with Ginger and the gang in Angsana Hilir when I was still working at the Ritz-carlton (Taray!)...but when I transferred to RAIG Holdings, the company got me a place that is a 5-min walk away from the office - Shang Villa. I have all the memorable experiences there. I lived with my manager, Ms, Jaswin (daming eksena ng ghurl na ito, na-stress ako) who is a Punjabi ghurl (so I learned some Hindi songs), chitra and Vin Vinn (my roommate for a short time), who is a flight attendant trainee in Malaysia Airlines. Super shala ang place, super duper fully-furnished and the owner even bought me new furniture for my room (bed, sofa, cabinet, et...), aircon to the max kmi sa loob ng house, sa room, sa kitchen. Hehehe. Life has been very convenient for me at the Shang. And the view from our unit (14/F) is breath-taking. There is a chinese restaurant downstairs that serves "pork" secretly (coz Malaysia is a Muslim country so pork is prohibited), a swimming pool where ginger and I will swim late at night (ginger went home to Manila then eventually came and got a room in another unit at the Shang), and there's Showru, a food court that serves goodMalaysian, chinese and Malaysian Food. I just realized that life there is way too different here. I didn't earn that much but a comfy life is access. The standard is really different.

Landmarks - Petronas Twin Towers!...the moment I saw it upclose, I was really ecstatic! It is the tallest twin towers in the world. Wow! so gigantic! I am really in KL!!! ...I remember, we toured around our 2 Norwegian Friends (Tom and Oystein) there and we took funny pictures. hehehe.

I will never ever forget my KL experience. I've met new people, experienced different cultures, gained a lot of friends and I've become a better person. It was a blast!