Energetic pursuits

I revel in having the time to do some swimming training. I decide that the worst of the sun will have passed by 5 pm so three to four times a week I swim 4 kms mostly doing backstroke. One day, weeks after arriving, I notice sun damage from my activities and vow that with all the samosas I am eating I will have to exchange swimming for gym.
It is suggested to me that I will meet other expats in the air conditioned comfort while exercising and watching cable TV. It sounds good but I soon realise that not many people use the gym. I go at different times and finally catch someone to talk to. Fortunately she is pinned to her machine with earphones which she patiently takes out to have a lively chat with this new expat.
She explains that she too is on a "dependant visa" but if people ask she says she is studying. She explains her struggles to get a work visa while her partner works weekends and long hours. Apparently peoples' attitude change when they realise she is not gainfully employed.

My writing keeps me fairly busy but not as much as I would like.
I return to an expat organisation looking for ideas. Volunteering seems like a good idea and I seek to explore options. I visit the hospital across the road and they invite me to a function they are having to mark breast feeding week. I feel strange, new and my efforts to find out what time I need to arrive prove  difficult. I contact an organisation called Orphan Care but they do not return my emails.

Undeterred I try Mahjong and realise that I have a bad attitude to the rules of the game and the other members could well do without my opinions which so far I have managed to keep to myself. How long I can keep myself in check is not guaranteed.  I exit gracefully to try my hand at something else.
What will it be next week? Surely at some stage, I will have to keep to something...

All things different

Every day is a new experience reminding me of where I am. Waking up to the purr of the air conditioner, the sun rising strongly up between the KLCC skyscrapers, the sound of roosters crowing in the distance, smoky horizons and the regularity of sounds of prayer calling in the mosques which is never far away.
In the lifts, there is a delightful 'notice on hanging cloths' to explain to residents not to hang their washing outside on the verandas. This makes me smile.  I am learning a useful phrase, honest, amusing and most annoying. 'No, cannot,' when there is something for which I ask, however nicely. No broken promises and no time wasted in getting that answer in a round about way. Still I am unused to such honesty and I take a deep breath to absorb this information. My self deprecating sense of humour sometimes gets me smiles and laughter as well as unexpected help.
My attempts to speak Bahasa Malaysia have failed miserably and people seem to understand better when I speak English!
At the wet markets the soy milk lady chastises me as she does her other regular customers. 'Have a good day' I say. 'Every day is a good day' she says gruffly, the corners of her mouth upturning very slightly.
The heat of the day rises and consumes as I tread the uneven pavements. In the second week at the Ramadan markets, I stand on a used kebab stick drawing blood and a look of worry from my partner. I am a fairly clumsy person (on land anyway) and slip on sandals seem inappropriate here.
I decide to go and buy sensible closed shoes.
I am becoming used to the sights and sounds of building construction wherever I look. Half finished condominiumms and office blocks soar into the air. Construction workers perilously lean over with no barriers. Rail links are being built everywhere and this all adds to the dust and traffic chaos that is KL.
Although we have bought a car, I am hedging my bets more on the taxi drivers. 'Waze' is going to have to be my new friend if I want more independence!

Glorious soup and some favourites

For the most delicious soup ( if you like mussels)

Fry an onion until golden with fresh ginger, garlic  and chilli to taste. Add milk and/or water (or fish stock)with a packet of mushroom soup stirred in and simmer adding baby carries and potatoes until just cooked. Add mussels and a good white wine and simmer for a minute while adding plenty of black pepper. Serve with crusty bread and listen to the silence. ( with a few slurps for good measure)
This is a meal in itself and doesn't need anything else as it is very filling.  My favourite type of fast food eaten in the coolness of the air conditioning. We do now live in the tropics.:)

Hot or cold pan fried salmon
Two pieces of fresh salmon (bought at the wet markets) marinated in a sprinkling
 of chilli powder, turmeric, cumin,fennel and black pepper for an hour or two.
Pan fry the salmon skin side first and after a few minutes when the salmon is cooked sprinkle fresh lime or lemon juice over the fish as it comes out of the pan.
Serve with a creamy potato and egg salad topped with fresh coriander. Simple, fresh, fast food, just the way we like it. Serve with a Riesling or Gewürztraminer

Iced tea with a twist
Your favourite brew, strong or weak as you prefer.
Lychee juice for sweetness and according to your taste. You could add any other juice you would like instead.  Have the confidence to experiment with your taste buds. Remember variety is the spice of life.
Add fresh mint, lemon or limes cut up or whatever you wish.
Keep in the refrigerator and liberally use. In KL we live on bottled water so cannot drink out of the tap. This makes a refreshing change and is not too sweet like the prepackaged bought iced tea.

Spiced out

Whether we eat in or out, we opt for spicy food and it is not long before we find ourselves eating highly spiced and curried food 7 days a week. I have always loved curry and spicy food  from my days growing up in Dar es Salaam and Durban.
When we sit in a local restaurant for lunch, we find ourselves having to ask for sliced up chillies. The elderly Chinese lady has decided we will not need it and tries to whip it away off the table, but we are too quick for her.
I start longing for roast pork and order one especially. That night, we find joy in everything roasted and the crisp crackling which comes out the oven. I still prefer anything animal in a polystyrene container! Seeing heads/feet on chicken and intestines/ hooves and heads/carcasses strung up, reminds me a little too much of lives lost!

Ramadan

More than a month has passed since we arrived and it has been slow, steady progress. I still have so much to learn. We still have teething problems, like our internet which seems to have a mind of its own and connects with us when 'it' feels like it. More telephone calls to the provider, insisting that it must be fixed. I still have not the slightest clue about how to go about getting our medical employee benefits and every time we ask for the information it is somehow not given or we are directed to a website that is not helpful.

Ramadan has come and bazaars which sell food pop up everywhere. Smoke and heat permeate while exotic flavours titillate my senses. I start very slowly trying different stalls, and soon I have my favourites. The vendors start smiling when I appear. A foreigner who likes chillies and spices is a novelty. I take home lamb Bryani, beef rendang,and samosas revelling in not having to cook at home.
Creme Caramel from the markets is our favourite dessert. We become caught up in the anticipation for the end of Ramadan when it is marked by the Hari Raya long weekend.

Creative cooking

I feel a sense of triumph when I find the wet markets. Fresh fish stalls line the corridors as shop keepers beckon to show me their wares. I recognise sea bass, sole, skate, salmon and squid as fresh fish is filleted as orders come in. The whole sea bass I choose is prepared and I am given spices to marinate the fish in. In our apartment we cut the head and tail and put a variety of spices in a large pot of water to make fish stock.
In the cavity of the fish, we put curry leaves and limes and spread the mixture of herbs (chillies, mustard seeds, black pepper, garlic) and knobs of butter liberally over the fish and bake it in a parcel of tin foil. The fish is tender and juicy, as we add pickled cucumber salad, butter lettuce and home made chilli sauce to the plate. We pan fry fine chips remembering earlier advice that 'I shouldn't worry about the oil because we are in Malaysia.'

You win some you, you lose some la!

I have figured out how to use a taxi successfully. Without the app on my phone, it proves very difficult, firstly to converse because of language differences, and secondly often the meter is not used and you can be charged pretty well anything and thirdly locating taxis in a city of about 6 million can seem impossible.
The Myteksi app is invaluable but I am still getting used to the mad traffic in KL. The motorbikes which buzz in and out sometimes within centimetres of the car and the virtually non existent travel distance between cars, the road and building construction which is everywhere, the heat and the dust.
Inside the taxi there can be challenges too with seat belts that often don't fasten and taxi drivers who like me, have no clue where I live!
I have tried to speak Malay a little but people seem to understand my English better, even though it is a foreign language. Also I am a person who likes to use my hands when speaking and pointing with one's forefinger is considered rude. Using my thumb to point seems aukward to me.  I have a long way to go, terima kasih to all those who are teaching me. By the time I learn, two years will be up and we will have to leave.