Minor Details

Yesterday I met up with our realtor, Adrian. He's been a great help since he found us an apartment the day before we left for The U.S.   Part of the handing over the keys process we had to look over every single item in our new place. It's a list of three pages long. It took us a while, and as I waited for Adrian to change the batteries to the A/C remote controls I discovered a few things that you might not notice at first sight.

Most Malaysian's don't have ovens in their homes. So, when they built our condominium they didn't realize that most foreigners do like to use their ovens. Pizza, duh!
Our owner obviously had to change this for his Western tenants a while back. The funny thing is that they obviously didn't care about details and just cut a square and stuck the oven in. As long as it works, right?

Then we got to the living room. On the list of items to check it said, blinds behind desk. I asked Adrian, "what do they mean with blinds behind desk? I don't see anything". He looks at me surprised and says, "blinds, you know, those things that open and close!" Like I'm stupid for not knowing what they are!  Then, after that comment, he decided to tell me there is an actual window behind the desk! I'm really lost on this one.

Finally, this really made my day. The largest and only ashtray I've ever seen in a kitchen! Maybe I can make use of it and put a plant in it? he he

Christmas Bazaar

 Alice Smith School Christmas Bazaar is coming up this friday and I'll be selling my cards and watercolor painting there. This is the same school where I also did a week long workshop. 

A room with a different view

Tomorrow we get the keys to our new apartment. It's not the fanciest of places, but I do like how it's closer to the ground and it feels very peaceful when you walk in. We will also be paying half of what have been, so the remaining money will go to our future dream-house piggy bank. 

 Living room

 Living room

Guest bedroom/ studio/ offices

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 Kitchen

Bedroom

The Return of Durian Delights

I can't believe it's been a year since our last post!

Yesterday morning David and I returned home to Malaysia from our lovely trip to Houston, Texas. My favorite highlights were tamale making day with the Kaisers, a 30 minute chat in the HEB cheese section with my sisters, long walks with Ma and my sweet dog Katie, Thanksgiving in the rain with 5+ different families, chicken soup at Oma's and Pumpkin cheese cake with my best friend.

Since David's work contract ends in 6 months I thought I would start up our blog again so we can share our dreams, another move to another apartment 15 floors down, and our list of places we still would like to visit while we are still here. Hope you enjoy!

-Kim

Texas, here I come!

KL -> Singapore -> Moscow -> Houston

Sorry guys, I've been wanting to post a blog about our newly, used (2002) car that we purchased last month!

It's small but still has great pick-up, compact, silver, reminds me of a mini, has a tight turning radius , can park anywhere, has A/C plus a cd player. Helaas, no picture of us in it yet, but I added one from the internet! There ya go!

The Final Countdown

10 more days...and I leave KL for a 6 week holiday in Texas! I'm extremely excited, and I try not to mention it too much to David, because he wants to go home as much as me!

It's hard to realize that we've been away from home for a year now. It went by so fast, but we've experienced and learned so much it's unbelievable. Someone asked me if there was anything I really wanted to do while I'm back home. Like, go visit my favorite restaurant or favorite bar, but honestly, what would make me the happiest person in the world would be to see my family and friends and give them a big ol' Texas hug (since I've only had two hugs here, besides David) You really don't appreciate those little things until you're an ocean away.

Besides that, David does have a list of things to do, places to visit, things to eat, and I'll definitely go along for the ride. : )

1. Restaurants

a. Abdallah's "One spicy falafel sandwich, please!"

b. Mario's - "I'll have the same thing I've been ordering for the last ten years straight please"

c. Christian's Totem -Burgers and beers

2. Bars

a. West Alabama IceHouse - "The variety of locals is the only thing that exceeds the variety of beer"

b. La Carafe - "At sunset, it's the best seat in town"

c. The Velvet Melvin - "Some things never change"

3. Beers This one is very important since Malaysia only offers a select number of beers; Tiger, Guinness, Hoegaarden, Carlsberg and Heineken. For beer lovers, it's depressing.

a. Stone I.P.A

b. Bridgeport I.P.A

c. St. Arnold's Octoberfest

4. Homemade Meals

a. Ma's gehakt balletjes

b. Liz's green bean casserole

c. Dad's george foreman chicken

5.Miscellaneous

a. Shoot guns

b. Wrestle Katie

c. Drink coffee on ma and pa's back porch

d. Have burgers at Fitzwillie's in College Station

Let's hope we have enough time to get all of these things out of the way before we have to return to Malaysia!