Things I wouldn't have guessed about Malaysia

Date: September 29, 2010

I'm interrupting the cycle of catching up on the old entries before adding the newer ones, but it's my blog, I make the rules, so get over it.

I'm writing this blog because I think this is informative and covers a lot of the initial questions i get asked about Malaysia so far. When I got here, some things surprised; some good, some bad, some ugly. LOL.
Let's start with these roads. I guess maybe I don't think about the whole "Asians are the worse drivers stereotype" as much as most people. But the roads are utterly ridiculous over here. the best word for it is 'anarchy.' They seem to think that because they drive small cars, they have to drive in extra close quarters all the time and don't have to signal (you have to move your finger ONE INCH to turn on a signal) or be 'gradual' about any of their actions on the road. Plus the roads, and parking lots seemed absolutely packed all the time. I was on the brink of having a heart attack the first few times I rode somewhere here. And it's normal to them, I was in the car with my boss and a car rips through 3 lanes of traffic and ends up almost sideways in front of us so he has to hit the brakes. I didn't hear one horn, one word of road rage or anything. I had to look around like "Am I the only one who caught that?" Our current company car is a long pickup truck with manual transmission. Plus they drive on the other side of the road and have the steering wheel on the other side; meaning I'll have to operate the stick with my other hand. But I still think I'll be the safest driver on the road, I'm still more worried about someone else hitting me. On a related note, the cops here are corrupt too and take it out on the drivers. They frequently stop people looking for something wrong, from expired road tax to using your cell phone, as an excuse to say "If I write you this ticket, it will be $200. But if you just hand me $100 instead, I'll let you go." They have a reputation for doing this a lot right before major holidays to get extra spending money. Crooks. Next, there are quite a bit of Africans here. My complex is full of students from the colleges in the cities. I didn't expect to see Black people here but I've met people from Uganda, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and the most notorious, the Nigerians. They have a terrible rep worldwide I guess. The first things anyone says when they hear the word 'Nigerian' is "You'd be better off just staying away from all of them." Rough stuff. Most of the Africans I met have been cool people though. But I guess I live with the students and not the trouble makers. Plus I relate most to them socially. I found a Christian church, tailored to young people. I didn't know how that would work out here in a Muslim country. Shoot, they police have the right to arrest you if you're a Muslim and they catch you eating instead of fasting during the day time; I wasn't sure how accepting of other faiths they would be. In a country where food (Malay, Chinese, tradition Indian, and Muslim Indian known as Mamak), movies (the best and cheapest illegal DVDs in the world), and household items are so ridiculously cheap, some random things tend to be ridiculously expensive. Why is a fairly standard charcoal grill 6000 ringgits (about $2000 US)? 200 ringgits (about $70 for a small microwave)? 3500 ringgits (about $1150 US) for the iPhone? Well, I guess I understand the last one. Still random surprises in pricing sometimes though. Moving on, there are no seasons. I repeat NO SEASONS. It is hot, humid, and rainy all year long. Period. Better keep an umbrella or rain coat in your bag. You don't know when the downpour is coming. And I wish my British roommate and some of the locals would adopt my philosophy of wearing either undershirts of beaters. You know it's gonna be humid out, those huge sweat stains on your armpits and the middle of your back and chest aren't cool; even if you are 10,000 miles from home, Do Better. My bad, wrong blog. Last (for tonight anyway), I'll just say that a lot of things we have come to use as the norm in the US and special or upper echelon here in Malaysia. I'm sorry, I'm not amazed that your restaurant has a tv and air conditioning, I'm used to it. I'm also used to restaurants handing me printed checks, but hand-written bills and 70's style cash registers are the norm here. The gym I go to is like the best of the best in the area, and therefore is more expensive than others. But 'best of the best' means it has dance/fitness classes, trainers, and enough machines for many people to do the same exercise simultaneously to some recent music. It's a nice gym, but this is just how gyms operate back home. And it's virtually impossible to buy in bulk here. I wanted to get some juice to last me at the house for a while, getting more than about a half litre is next to impossible here. Very different. But I'm about to head home for the night. I'm working 10 or more hours a day, 6 days a week. So I'm gonna try to get some rest at a decent time. Selamat malam...