Beijing Reunion!

Sophia was in town for training, so last weekend Terry came up from Singapore (where he's doing a traineeship) and we had a bit of a reunion!

Of course there was some sightseeing - the Islamic Art Mueseum is SUCH a gorgeous building, one of my favourite places in KL so far I think! And the exhibts are pretty interesting - we all 3 learnt a lot about the history of Islam in China and the role that the Chinese played in bringing it to Malaysia! You know there is an ancient script that is a blend of Chinese and Arabic, that at the time was legible to both civilisations? And lots of gorgeous ceramics, silverware, jewellery, clothing, furniture, etc. And very strong 'Arabic Coffee' in the cafe! Then on to Times Square for shopping - starting with a late lunch on the 10th floor - man! Admittedly lots of the shops on the top few floors were vacant, but still. We checked out the indoor theme park in the centre, including rollercoaster, but just after lunch isn't great timing for that kind of thing so we just observed from a distance. Memories of the Myer Centre back in the day, though this is better designed ;) After a quiet beer at Bangsar in the evening it was time to part - so sad! Sophia and I fitted in some more eating and shopping the next day - very Malaysian!

But I guess the best part was not the shopping, eating, "culture" or whatever, but just hanging out with the two LCPs I coached that year! It's like all of that was just the backdrop for us to chill and chat together. It was great to share our experiences in our first 'real jobs', and our hopes and dreams for the future... and of course to reminisce a little about the good ol' days, and get the goss from Sophia on what everyone in BJ is up to now!

I'm so lucky that KL is always on someone's way to somewhere or back, where someone is sent for regional training, close enough for a short tropical holiday, or whatever. You just can't beat spending time with old friends! :)

Aussie lingo is official

Check out the article below from the Sydney Morning Herald this week:

Microsoft embraces the Aussie vernacular

Asher Moses
November 13, 2006 - 3:11PM

In a move that is sure to draw the ire of English teachers everywhere, Microsoft Office 2007's dictionary will recognise Australian colloquialisms such as g'day, sheila, bogan and dag.
Microsoft said that 24,000 Australians voted in an online poll on its website for the 20 Aussie words they felt were most culturally relevant.

G'day led the pack with 2868 votes, following by sickie with 2152 votes, ute (1912), trackies (1597) and bogan (1557).

Previously, when typed into Microsoft Word, all of these words appeared with a red line under them, indicating a spelling error.

Tony Wilkinson, information worker business group director at Microsoft Australia, said the reason for incorporating the above "quintessential Aussie vernacular" into Office 2007 was to make the software more user-friendly for Australians.

"Although many Australian words and spellings are already included in Microsoft Office, we saw the upcoming release of the 2007 Microsoft Office system as the ideal opportunity to make sure the Aussie classics weren't forgotten and new Aussie words were added," he said.
Online voters got to pick from a shortlist of 41 words, compiled by a panel of local language experts including David Blair, the founding member of Macquarie Dictionary's editorial committee.

"Australia has a unique cultural background and, as a result, there are a number of Australianisms in our language," he said, praising Microsoft for its recognition of Australian culture.

The announcement by Microsoft comes as many are criticising new technologies such as SMS text messaging for discouraging sophistication in the written word.

But Cathy Jamieson, PR manager at Microsoft Australia, is adamant that including colloquial terms in the Office 2007 dictionary won't be detrimental to the English language.

"There are times for informal language and there are times for formal business language. People who are good writers ... know that difference, and can pick which form of language to use."

Australia's top 20 words are:
1. G'day
2. Sickie
3. Ute
4. Trackies
5. Bogan
6. Dag
7. Sheila
8. Wuss
9. Uluru
10. Galah
11. Jackaroo
12. Dob
13. Bonza
14. Cockie
15. Dinky-di
16. Ugg
17. Waratah
18. Ironman
19. Ridgy-didge
20. Bradman

Movies

I really enjoy watching movies but somehow I seem never to get around to seeing many - I'm pretty clueless when it comes to movie titles and names of actors and stuff. ANYWAY recently I seem to have seen so many - its great! :)

This is why...
1. We don't have a TV - which is definintely a GOOD thing, I watched waaaaay too much in the last year! But, you know, it's still nice to watch stuff sometimes.
2. DVDs are pretty cheap
3. The Japan Foundation screens Japanese movies every other Saturday arvo for free at the tourism centre, with English subtitles.
4. The British Council is currently screening English movies once a month on Sunday arvo for free with free caramel pop corn and coke at a trendy bar at The Curve

Ahhh I feel so... relaxed :)

Christmas is coming!

Starbucks is promoting their Christmas frappes, Marks & Spencer is selling Bon Bons and Christmas Cards, Bangsar Village has even decorated the poles in the car park. The Village Grocer has a Christmassy display of panettone, stollen and candy canes at the front of the store. It seems that Christmas is coming! Well, to the areas with a high proportion of expats and tourists, anyway :)

I made my first Christmas purchase - a gift bag! Starting small, I don't want to get carried away too soon! BUT I am looking forward to decorating our apartment AND my desk at work (sharing my culture!) as soon as December hits! :)

Monsoon

(Written Tuesday November 7)
The monsoon is here. It’s so strange. Everyday I read in the Aussie papers about the drought, about water restrictions, about dam levels and relief packages. And here? We have more than enough water to go around. Every-single-day. Where does it all come from? And where does it go? By morning everything is back to normal. Fresh and green and ready for another hot sunny day.

Determined not to be a victim of the weather, I was walking home in the downpour tonight. And what struck me more than the water itself (although that was pretty hard to miss!) was the noise. It was so loud. Car tyres were screetching as they spun on the road. Horns began to honk when traffic built up. Water was gushing underneath and beside me in drains and over the footpath. Rain was bouncing off of my umbrella, the footpath, the road, everything. Thunder was cracking and then rumbling away, only to crack again moments later. I normally find rain peaceful. But not when it breaks each afternoon or evening here. Not until later in the night.

It causes temporary havoc... and in the morning its as though it was all just a bad dream.

Week....11?!

So what have I learnt this past week?

1. Margarine that doesn't need to be refridgerated is useless. I thought I'd try it just for the experience, then noticed the fine print on the box that says "Store in a cool, dry place". Seriously - does such a place exist in Malaysia?!

2. You can't pay cash at the Air Asia office for one of their package holidays, only for flights. You need to wait for 2 hours to be told this. Thank goodness it's a ticketing system, not a physical line!

3. If you want the "Beef with ice cream" dish at the Chinese restaurant near work, you have to order a day in advance :( You can't imagine the disappointment!

4. Toilet paper rolls don't come in packs of less than 10. I thought it was just Carrefour, but it seems to be more widespread than this. When you carry home your groceries, a 10 pack is... slightly awkward.

5. Milk is not just milk. Maria and Marina from Kazakastan are in KL for a few months on an AIESEC CEED and they brought powdered camel and horse milks for us to try. The camel milk reminded me a bit of Yakult, not as sweet but heading in that direction. Drinkable, if not tasty. The horse milk... was really, really, really hard to drink! Super salty and smelt appalling. After being passed around the 20 or so of us, the glass was still pretty much full - the sips were small!

6. Dead rats decompose really quickly in this weather. Am reluctantly observing the progress of one on the footpath on the way to the Bangsar LRT station.

Update!

Sooooo last week was mostly a holiday, I only worked Thursday and half of Friday :) Somehow I felt more tired after than before! :s Too much fun I guess, it's got to be a good thing!

I went sightseeing with Florine - Merdeka (Independence) Square with the weird fountain that looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland, the gorgeous Sultan Abdul Samat law courts building, and the presitgious Royal Selangor Club house. As we arrived at the LRT station we noticed a lot of men standing around - then found ourselves walking down a street with lots of discarded newspaper and literally hundreds of men just standing around chit chatting. We still have no idea what they were doing there and why there were no women (except us) - if anyone can shed any light on the matter it would be much appreciated! Research efforts to date have been rather unsuccessful. Anyway, we quickly got out of there and made our way towards the Square!

Thursday night was spent hanging out with the UN people! My housemate Julie is an intern and there's a whole heap of them here in KL. We went to a live music gig at a bar (bought by the Italian restaurant next door - two totally different atmospheres - SO weird!) at The Curve, it was jazz and it was great! :)

Friday night I caught up with Sam from Canberra and her Mum, who were here on holiday. We ate at Jalan Alor (second weekend in a row for me!) cos I love the atmosphere there. Eating at a plastic table set up halfway into the street, lots of hustle and bustle, good food, pretty cheap. It was interesting to share impressions of KL and reflections on life in Australia. And afterwards one of those inspiring conversations about, well, the world - thanks Sam! :) The tim tams are also much appreciated!

Sunday lunch was with the girls at an Indian restaurant at Happy Valley (Mid Valley to those who don't know) that's run by an arts charity. It was a buffet, and then afterwards you just pay whatever you can/want to. The place was gorgeous inside and so peaceful and serene, with very attentive and polite staff. I loved it, I think I'll have to go back sometime :)

Cooking was a big feature of the week, with 3 lovely dinners! Nutritious (more or less~) AND good for the soul :) Ahhh it's the simple things in life! Good food, good company, what more could anyone ask for?

The Glasshouse

So sad today to read that one of my all-time fav tv shows has been cut!! Not that I can watch it here anyway... but it's sad to know that those back in Aust can't watch it either.

Check out the Sydney Morning Herald take on it here.