Our first week in KL

Upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur at around 2pm on Sunday, we were picked up by Joel´s brother (as Joel mentioned in his last post) and then welcomed by his parents and aunt at whose big, nice house (almost a palace!) we were going to stay in. We got a comfortable bedroom and a bathroom on our own.

This is actually the same place we stayed in for 4 months after getting married, while we were in Malaysia together waiting for Joel´s job transfer to Malaysia.

After showering and putting on some fresh and short clothes (not the long and warm ones from Germany!), we felt much better. We rested for a while and then went out to buy dinner and eat it in Joel´s sister´s place. It was great to see everyone again. I haven’t been in Malaysia for 2 years! Here are some photos of our nephews.

Shawn (1st photo in this post) is turning 4 next week and Robin (2nd photo in this post) is 1.5 years old. They are very cute and adorable. In February, they are going to have a baby sister. :-) We played with them and had a lot of fun. They call Joel “Say Ku” (2nd Uncle, maternal; Chinese dialect) and me “Jee Kim” (2nd aunt, maternal; Chinese dialect). Shawn is always eager to take pictures with Joel´s big new camera. He is actually saving money to buy a camera like Say Ku´s. Last time Joel visited them, Shawn gave him his piggy bank and said that the wanted to buy Say Ku´s camera! :-)

The first night, we slept nearly 14 hours (!) – with some breaks in between when it was too cold with the air con and then too warm with the fan only. I could have slept on for days. :-)

The first few days, we met up with many of our friends here and did a lot of shopping. Compared to Germany, most things are so incredibly cheap here! I bought lots of accessories and clothes. :-) So fun when it is so cheap! In the pics, you´ll see some of my new clothes: a new dress, T-shirts, skirt, shoes,…

Another highlight that needs mentioning is the Malaysian food that we’ve been enjoying here. Indian bread, Chinese noodles (fried and with soup), Chinese and Indian mixed rice, Malay Nasi Lemak, freshly squeezed watermelon juice, etc.

This weekend, we´re in Malacca with Joel´s parents, siblings and nephews. But that is a topic for another post... :-)

jessika.solomon@gmail.com

Visiting Malaysia

We decided a few months ago that we wanted to visit Malaysia, my home country, at the end of this year. Fortunately, we’re just the two of us and pretty flexible when it comes to timing our holidays. We started looking for off-peak season tickets pretty early and stumbled upon a very good offer on eBay. Yes, you heard me right – eBay.

The tickets were fixed-price items on eBay and not on auction. I was pretty surprised to find such an offer on eBay especially when the prices of flight tickets are typically variable depending on availability and departure dates / days. In the description, the travel agency that posted the item advised interested bidders to get in touch with them prior to making the purchase on eBay. We did so.

We got in touch with them, expressed our preferred dates of travel and got an offer. The price was slightly higher than that which was advertised on eBay but still the best we found on the Internet. A return ticket from Germany to Malaysia for one adult was 550 EUR with Etihad, the national airlines of the UAE. We accepted the offer and transferred the money soon after.

About four months went by before we boarded the plane bound for Malaysia. Our flight was pleasantly uneventful. We boarded the plane in Munich, transited in Abu Dhabi and arrived in Kuala Lumpur. The transit in Adu Dhabi was pretty long though – seven hours. Nonetheless, we found a nice lounge, had some food and drinks, surfed the Internet a bit and soon enough had to make our way to the departure gate. As usual, I used the time on the plane to catch up on some movies. I watched Transformers 2 in the first leg and Wolverine in the second – both movies I wouldn’t have been "able" to watch with my lovely wife at home.

Etihad is a pretty good airline and I would gladly recommend it. We were happy with their service, punctuality, movie selection and the huge LCD screens they had in Economy. They are also the only airline I know to offer a very decent pair of headphones. Most other airlines provide passengers (in Economy) with sorry excuses for headphones - they tend to hurt your ears more than entertain you. I found the leg room to be a little tight though when compared to Lufthansa, for example.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur at about 2 pm and were picked up by my brother. We then made our way to my aunt's place.

joel@jjsolomon.com