Public Transport and Wedding Crashers

My first week in KK has been pretty full on but I’m adjusting and will be a local in no time? So far I have already managed to crash a Malaysian wedding and figured the public transport system.

My room is pretty basic but it's fine because I don't plan on spending much time there.

The BET office is about a 20 minute drive depending on traffic and is located in Kolombong, the industrial part of KK. The first thing that took me by surprise is that you take you shoes off outside the office and everyone around the office is either barefoot, in socks or flip flops. That's my kind of office goodbye heels and hello havaianas all the time! The office is quite large and comprises of three large rooms and a really nice kitchen area. I had been warned but didn’t believe that in Malaysia most companies have their staff working five and a half days.. work on a Saturday morning? I’m slowly adjusting to this.  Everyone in the office is really nice and I have already made some new friends Nancy, a web designer, has taken me under her wing.

Nancy and I usually go out for a lunch a couple times a week  and my first Saturday Nancy asked me if I was doing wanted tag along with her after work, her day involved lunch, shopping and checking out a band to possibly  play at her wedding.
I didn't realise that I had just  agreed to crash a Malaysian wedding to hear this band.  Being white didn't exactly help me  blend in not to mention the blonde hair but thankfully no one said anything although I did get strange looks. I got to see traditional tribal dancing and the wedding took place at a cultural centre so I checked out the different local longhouses. The rest of my weekend was pretty low key more exploring the city, the shopping centres, Sunday markets and signal hill a short hike a view of the city and I even got my haircut for 40 ringgits! The city is busy with traffic and people at all times of the day everyone is friendly and I feel very safe it was a nice weekend but back to work.

Telling a local that your catching public transport generates about the same look would get if you told someone in Perth you’re attempting to catch public transport.  From the BB to the offices requires catching two buses and takes about 30 to 40 minutes depending on the time of the day and round trip fare costs less than a dollar.  No I do not share my bus with chickens or goats but some of the buses/mini vans are pretty old school, ie knock the roof when you want to get off. Yes I have looked into catching a taxi but it’s about 25 Ringgits (divide by 3 for US/AUS dollars) one way.  Eight dollars may not seem like a lot of money but here I could get a manicure or pedicure or go out for a really nice meal so as of now I’m sticking to the bus. I do get very weird looks on the bus but I’m sure the locals will get used to seeing a white person on the bus soon enough.

The rest of my week was pretty uneventful just work, which is really interesting so far. Right now I'm working on a few projects are helping to revamp the website and preparing for a trip to a future eco camp. This is only week one!