Malaysia, Truly Manila... ay este Asia pla...

As promised, my Malaysia trip # 1 adventure...

I was sent to KL Malaysia on a mission to get whatever "knowledge" I can get from the SI of our Malaysia branch. This is part of the company's plans to make the SG office the support hub of the Asian region. I also needed to officially meet the telco client, so they'd know the face of the person they're gonna kick in the balls if something goes wrong with their system.


Off-Topic: When your boss tells you nobody else in SG knows about the project you're
about to take over and they want you to absorb everything you can out of the turnover activities... that's when you know you're under freakin' pressure...

[flashback to the time my boss was talking to me about the project] I was just playing it cool, nodding my head, mildly smiling at times, with occasional "ah"'s... but there was this loud and manic voice inside my head telling me "OMG! OMG! You're screwed! Run towards the door! Run while you can! Saaaaaaave yourself...." Then images of the teletubbies flashed in my head... then bam! I fainted... (ok, kidding about the "I fainted" part...:), but the teletubbies part... true and freakin' creepy man!!!... why do I have such an evil mind???)


Anyway... going back to the KL trip...

What makes this BT so different from the ones I've had in my past company is that I am in this ALONE... :(

Meaning no one to copy travel itineraries / immigration papers from, no one to ask what part of the airport I am supposed to go to, no group food explorations (e.i., pagpapaka-PG pag buffet)... it was just me, and my cunning and survival skills (which is of course non-existent).

The hotel was a 10-minute walk from the KL branch, which kinda reminded me of our Cebu-BT days... ah... memories... tears are starting to well-up (well, not really... hehehe)... but oh, those were really good times! I miss the walks (or jeepney/taxi rides) I got to have with my BT-mates... sniff...sniff... Waaaaaaaa.... I miss you all!!!! waaaaaaa.....

[breathe...breathe... must regain composure...]

Now, before I go any further, I have to rant about my incoming flight to Malaysia... i took a the-space-is-so-cramped-the-least-you-can-do-is-stop-this-annoying-inflight-
music-but-this-is-probably-not-as-annoying-as-the-dude-sitting-beside-me-who-decided-that-he's-the-only-one-who-needs-the-armrest-we're-supposed-to-be-sharing,-now-where-the-hell-is-the-food-?-what?-no-food-?!!-airlines flight. What a big mistake! Yes, I'm referring to you Malaysian Airlines...

I am soooo taking SQ next time...

Just when I thought PAL flights aren't at par with other international airlines, Malaysian Airlines proved me dead-wrong...

oh PAL, i miss our fun "fiesta" flights together... [sigh...]

After a painful 50-minute flight, we landed oh-so-roughly at KLIA. Since the airport is a freakin' 60KM away from the KL City Center, passengers have to take an Express train to KLIA Sentral. Atleast this train ride was smooth. The train ride was 29 minutes long, but the seats were comfy (and more importantly, does not come with an annoying seatmate) so I didn't mind that part at all.

So what about Malaysia?

I almost shouted at the taxi driver: "Manong, Manila ba to???". KL City Center looks somewhat like Makati, but the outskirts have a tinge of Manila written all over it.

Even most of the people look like someone you'd meet in the streets of Manila. It feels like being trapped in the twilight version of the Philippines... everything and everyone seems to look familiar, but you can't understand a damn thing they're saying...

But on the bright side, I look so Malay, I don't feel like a freak when i'm walking along their streets...At home na at home ako...

Sobrang at home, kinakausap nila ako in Malay! Damn, if I had a Ringgit for every time someone talked to me in Malay, I'd have... well, a lot of Ringgits... hehehe...

There was even a point that I got tired of saying "Sorry, but I'm not from around here", that when a perfume saleslady was talking to me, I just kept on nodding my head and smiled away, then after a good 5 or more minutes of her speech, she looked like she was asking me something, to which I had no choice but say, "no thanks, bye"...

I know, that wasn't a very nice thing to do (I did smile, though... hehehe). But she seemed so passionate about her lengthy speech that I didn't have the heart to interrupt her (ok, maybe I did get a good kick out of it... [insert evil laugh]...but hey, gimme a break, I was alone for 3 days!?!... the world owes me!...ok, maybe not...[insert evil laugh])

Going back...

Any trip to KL won't be complete without a good look at Petronas... well, they weren't kidding when they said it is tall! I was forced to use the "stitch-assist" function of my camera just to make the damn thing fit in one picture (side note: I hate using that function) I'll try to post the pics next time... (hopefully)

I also went to Bukit Bintang, which according to my trainer is the "Greenhills" of KL. (yes, my trainer is pinoy... astig noh? hehehe...)
The prices of the items are pretty cheap, compared to that in SG, but the one's in the Philippines are definitely much much cheaper... damn I miss pinas!!!

My trip was only 3days long... so not much time to explore the place, hopefully next trip I'd have more free time.

But generally, I think it was a good trip. One hell of a learning experience... being really alone in a foreign land can knock some sense out of you sometimes. makes you think of a lot of things you left behind, and at the same time pumps you with anticipation of what's gonna happen next... oh shit, im growing-up! [not!] :)

hopefully my trip next time will be better... [crosses fingers and books an SQ flight]