Finally settled, Myanmar count down can start!

Now we are finally settled in the new apartment. The new IKEA wardrobe and drawer have found its place and is already overfilled with our stuff. We still haven't unpacked three bags.. For now they will have to be stored in the 3rd bedroom (storage room for now..), maybe another trip to IKEA will be needed later on..

Last night Lina came back to KL from her 6 months stay in NZ (YAAAY!!) Finally I got my "makan" buddy back! She will stay with us for a while so there will be plenty of food experiment to come!

On Saturday we fly off to Myanmar for 10 days of holiday. So far we have only got the return flight ticket and the accommodation for the first night. Though I am not worried. I think mine and Mun's traveling style match each other very well.. Spontaneous, not to much planning, play by ear..  The only thing I know we have to do is to exchange some US Dollar and make sure they are brand new and not folded or torn. They don't accept "bad looking" bills and there are not an excessive number of ATMs around. Hopefully we wont have any problems. Update on the trip with pictures will come later on.

Tuesday was my last day working for Besedo after almost 4 years. Many mixed feelings. Its been an amazing experience and I have learned so much and met so many wonderful people. On Friday we had dinner at Hilton KL Sentral to celebrate Besedo 10 years anniversary and to say good bye.  I will miss Besedo dearly!

screw IKEA or IKEA screw?

My birthday weekend has been celebrated in a relocation marathon. We rented a car for 2 days to be able to get as much done as possible. Half a day was spent in IKEA eating meatballs with unboiled potatoes (a big disappointment..) and shopping for the basics since the new place doesn't have plates, cutlery etc. During the last year I have managed to assemble a full walk in wardrobe at the old place and I have been a little concerned where to put all my stuff when moving but thank god for Swedish inventions.. IKEA solves all problems! I got myself a brand new wardrobe and a drawer. Yesterday afternoon I was rediscovering IKEA furniture screwing a la Malaysian style.., that is in 30 degrees.. ppfff many screws to screw but with great team work the wardrobe and the drawer now decorates the bedroom very nicely.
 

How to copy your key in Malaysia..

I am moving! Finally we found a nice apartment close to a park with a small lake. I can't wait to explore the park more. I am looking forward to being able to go for a walk in nature which is something I miss very much living big city life. Today we start moving in and we went to get the door key to the new place copied and I learned how simple and efficient Malaysia actually can be sometimes.. The van was parked just around the corner from our new house and it took him only 10 minutes.  

Brickladies

Last night I attended my first Brickladies event in Bangsar. Brickladies is a social group for both local and expat working women of various nationalities and professions based in KL. Last nights gathering was at a French restaurant called Croisette Cafe inside a nice condo close to Bangsar Shopping Center. I went straight from work and was one of the first to arrive. Quickly I got myself the first glass of wine for the evening (many more to come..) and I chatted away with a Danish lady who has lived in KL for over 20 years being married to a Malaysian and running her own company here. Very inspiring! Second glass I enjoyed while munching of the French buffet table. The chocolate dessert was to die for! I had a really nice time and met some interesting fun ladies that I hope to keep in touch with.

I have a long weekend coming up with 4 days off. Hopefully the weather will be good so I can enjoy some lazy hours by the pool. It is a shame how little I have utilized the fact that I have two very nice swimming pools just outside my door.. there is room for improvement here!

Cecilia's Zoo

I have rediscovered drawing again and last week I got a really nice drawing/painting book that will teach me to draw all kinds of animals. 2 years ago in Malta I took a portrait and figure painting class but I have realized that humans are way too difficult to draw.. My skill level is just not there yet so I will stick to animals for now and keep practicing. I am planning to have my own little Cecilia Zoo and so far I have Elephants and an Owl. In progress is a lion :)

Pre-Burma, visa stage

Today we are getting our visas to go to Burma in the middle of October. I cant wait!! To apply for the visa was surprisingly easy.. after my experience of getting Russian and Indian visas I expected a million times more questions and trouble but our passports and papers were smoothly submitted yesterday and we can collect them today in the afternoon, piece of cake!

Now is definitely the right time to explore the country. It has opened up more than ever and welcome tourism. Many tour operators in Sweden have already entered and the response is very positive. Some even have had to doubled the number of departure dates for next years season.  In the article below they describe a trip to Burma as travel back in time and they mean Burma is like Thailand was 30-40 years ago.



http://www.travelnews.se/artiklar/artiklar/20120906/turistboom-i-burma

Ugly fish

Last weekend we went to Perhentian Islands, north east cost of Malaysia. To my surprise friends from Sweden, Micke and Linus decided to join as well. They have been traveling for a few weeks around Indonesia and I was very happy to meet them in Perhentian before they went back to Sweden. We enjoyed some lazy hours on the beach, a crazy pre-monsoon thunderstorm and the guys went for diving while me (chicken as I am) only did some snorkeling. I was swimming alone while the rest of the diving group was about 14 meters somewhere under me.. Peacefully I was swimming looking at the small fishes and the corals when I pumped into 8 terrifying ugly huge fishes.. They are called Parrot fish and this kind can be up to 120 cm. Thankfully they were friendly and were more interested in eating from the seabed than off me.. Next time I am planning to get over my "chicken" behavior and try to dive again. Might get a chance in Tioman in 2 weeks time. Maybe if I see more of these crazy looking fishes I will be more afraid of them than my diving equipment.. and I will actually manage to get an open water license.