The way I see it Moving to KL?
W
ell here I am, one year on. We left Jakarta and arrived in KL in August 2014. Looking back, I realise the transition was relatively seamless, though it felt manic at the time. We settled into our apartment after being unable to find a house in a gated community, in close proximity to the boy’s school. There are numerous apartment blocks studded all over town with easy access to the city and highways leading out of town. A few older homes remain on huge blocks of land, many in disrepair, but clutching to their existence, as if to remind us of another era, a different KL. Most have been swallowed up by progress and replaced with residential apartment blocks to accommodate a growing population wanting to live closer to town. The law has recently changed in our area, making it illegal to keep a pet (specifically a dog) in an apartment block. This has made our dog Bella’s life a little uncomfortable. Although she’s not a ‘barker’, taking her for a walk has become like a scene out of a spy movie. We’ve had to adopt ‘cloak and dagger’ methods to get her in and out of the apartment without detection!! We found generally, property prices in KL are slightly less expensive than in Jakarta, which we welcomed! Few people have drivers, as many expats drive here and they drive on the same side of the road as we do in Australia, which makes it seem more ‘normal’. I was quite surprised one day in our local mall, to find ‘The Reject Shop’, ‘Harvey Norman’ and a ‘Spotlight’ store! I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t back at Highpoint shopping Centre on Chadstone!! In all my years as an expat, I’ve always carried a jar, and more recently, a traveler’s tube of Vegemite with me when traveling. My kids have grown up on it and it’s what they miss most when we’re on holiday. It’s a widely misunderstood condiment. When I lived in the Philippines, you could buy it - if you could find it!! They never knew where to stock it in their supermarkets. Eventually, it was placed next to the ‘shoe polish’ in the cleaning isle. I stumbled across it by accident, to my delight, but that was a long time ago! I’ve never seen Vegemite on the buffet selection at any resort (understandably) until I came to Malaysia. There it was, at the Shangrila
16 ANZA BERITA ISSUE 3 - 2015
Penang buffet breakfast, proudly nestled between the peanut butter and the honey. Ah, it is a small world! One of the things I love about living in KL is the proximity to the jungle. You can be in the heart of the city, jump in your car and hit jungle within 45 minutes. It’s even closer from some suburbs. Many neighborhoods back onto protected forest land that’s full of monkeys. I’ve encountered many on walks near my home and my sons’ school has several resident monkeys that crawl over power lines onto rooftops to see what’s going on. The evidence of the closeness to the jungle is everywhere. Many of the neighborhoods have several species of monkeys that wander freely and are quite comfortable around people. But they’ll still go for your sunglasses, cameras or any food that you may be carrying, so you always have to stay guarded around them. There’s a lot more English spoken in Malaysia than in Jakarta, which makes things easier in every respect. I remember living in Vietnam and having to draw pictures of what I was looking to buy in some stores and relying on my charades skills to make myself understood. I was reluctant to use what little Vietnamese I knew. The tonal challenges of the language meant you could be thinking you were asking directions to a particular place, when in fact, what you were really saying, was that you wanted to kiss your Grandmother’s horse!! KL is a beautiful city brimming with fascinating architecture. I love living close to the city and being able to get around without crippling traffic and having to pack supplies for the car journey. Food is very important in Malaysia. KL is a melting pot of cuisines, and restaurants are plentiful. I’m also enjoying the climate here (as a person who doesn’t function well in the heat, that’s not something I ever thought I’d here myself say) It rains a lot, sometimes every day for extended periods. The weather changes frequently and dramatically and we’re often treated to spectacular lightening displays. It’s also very hot, especially early in the afternoon. The abundance of rain means the city, dotted with trees and green areas is always vivid and lush. So if you’re thinking of moving to KL, I would encourage you to come for a visit and explore the city. And if you do, look me up!
Antoinette Gustini