Look out...here I come...?

Jen G fun fact:  tough cookie exterior...fluffy marshmallow interior...

Before I left home I told as many people as I could about these wonderful plans that I had for Monday - see Patric off to his first day in his new office, go to the bank, go meet my dog boarder, go to quarantine to check on my animals, then come back to the apartment - all by taxi.  Seeing Patric off was no problem.  Then the rest of the day presented itself to me...

I had made plans to meet the boarder at her house at 11:00 AM and was told it would take about 40 minutes to get there from where I am staying now.  I asked the concierge to call a taxi for me and showed him the address I wanted to go to.  Those that know me will not be shocked to know that I wrote down all of the addresses that I needed to visit throughout the day...best to be prepared.  Addresses here are very different and I did not want to chance the language barrier.  So I felt pretty confident when I asked for that first taxi and sat down to wait for it.  Then I saw it pull up and I felt myself get up and start to walk toward it and I started wondering exactly what I was doing.  It hit me that I was about to get into a taxi in a strange city in a strange country all by myself and set off to do things all by myself and I started thinking that maybe this wasn't such a good idea...but the wheels were already in motion and I was already inside the taxi and the day had begun.  So here we go...

My driver was a really nice guy and he was really talkative.  He asked all the usual small talk type questions.  I felt like an idiot sometimes because I could just give him very simple answers...I think I was in a simple state of shock.  The driving here is indescribable.  I figured out in this first taxi ride that as long as I look out of the side windows I will do much better than looking out of the front or rear windows.  But sometimes even the side windows are a little scary.  I'm amazed there aren't more wrecks than what there are.  But it seems to work for them.  The combination of his driving and my reality of the day had me in my simple state of shock which had me feeling like an idiot when it came to basic conversation skills.  I'm sure this driver thought he had the world's dumbest expat in his backseat at this very moment.  During the course of the conversation he did manage to get it out of me that it was my first time in Malaysia and that I had just arrived the day before so I hope that he understood I was just taking it all in and that I wasn't truly mindless...

Anyway, he got me to the boarder's house safe and sound and even waited to make sure I was at the right place.  What a nice guy!  I should let y'all know that Patric found our boarder online (of course) and since then I have had many email conversations with her.  We had planned this Monday meeting before I had even left home.  Let me just say that Duke and Josie will enjoy their stay with her.  They will have their own room, they will be walked twice a day and there are other dogs for them to play with.  If you know anything about my dogs you know these facts will make them happy.  Needless to say, my meeting with Shayne (the boarder) went well which lowered my stress level a bit.  We had agreed to have lunch when we arranged our meeting time so I knew that I could relax for a bit longer.  I just had to figure out the bank bit since I had to give her a deposit for the two week stay.  Luckily, Shayne agreed to take me to the bank and even show me the system...yeah, there is a system...

We went to a local bank, Maybank, which is a national branch.  I learned from Shayne that if you are doing a basic transaction, such as a withdrawal or deposit, you can do that at one of the ATM machines on the first floor.  If you are doing a transaction that requires a teller you have to go the front desk and let the person know what you need to do and they will issue you a number.  Then you go upstairs and wait for your number to be called.  Luckily there weren't very many people ahead of us so we didn't have to wait very long for my number to be called.  I'm also very happy that Shayne can speak seven languages because the teller's English wasn't that great...she tried really hard but we would have had a tough go of it if Shayne wasn't there.  So I gave her the traveler's checks that I wanted cashed and then we sat back down and waited some more.  And here I thought this would be an easy process.  =)  After a short-ish wait the teller called my name and money was exchanged and we were on our way.  I should mention here that it's not just that taxi drivers that drive the way they do...it is a way of life here.  Shayne fit right in with the best of them...

She took me to a local chain restaurant called PappaRichteh.  It is iced tea mixed half with milk - very good.  I will definitely eat at this place again.  She ordered a bread (again, I can't remember the name - I will take pictures when I go back and order myself) that we dipped in half boiled eggs mixed with soy sauce and pepper.  I know...those that know me are thinking there is no way that I ate that much less liked it but believe it or not it was pretty good.  And yes, I would eat it again.  Now, pick yourselves up off the floor...isn't this supposed to be about trying new things?  I'm still not about to try the squid though!!! 

As lunch started winding down I could feel my stress level pick up as I started thinking about how I was going to get to quarantine to see my babies.  This would be another taxi ride and from what I understood quarantine was about an hour away from Shayne's house and not real easy to find.  The only think I knew was that it was near the airport.  Great!  Shayne was on her phone speaking in a different language so I didn't know what she was saying.  Then I heard her say something about the quarantine center...she was asking someone something about it.  I figured at the least she was trying to get me better directions to give the taxi driver which would be most appreciated.  When she got off the phone she looked at me and told me she was free the rest of the day and didn't want to worry that a taxi driver would just drop me off somewhere at the airport and leave me stranded so she would take me to quarantine herself...besides, she wanted to meet my dogs.  I love my HP!!!!!!!  In another unexpected turn she even bought lunch amidst my protests.  Life is just funny...

Off to quarantine we go.  It was far, too.  We got in with no issues.  We stopped to see PK first.  My inside cat is being kept outside in a cage and is quite stressed.  It was very hard to see her that way.  It did not take her long to warm up to me though.  She was very happy to see me.  I can't wait to get her here with me on Friday!!!  Our next stop was Duke and Josie.  They are being kenneled together which is a good thing.  As long as they are together they are happy!

They are being kept outside, too, but that is not so bad for them.  They are doing a little better but I can't wait to get them with us, too.  In the meantime, I know they will do well with Shayne.  I felt much better after seeing all three of them and knowing they were all well.

We left quarantine and I thought we were heading back to Shayne's so I could get a taxi home.  Then it hit me...the only address I did not write down was mine.  Before I could mention this Shayne informed me that she was going to take me home.  What an amazing day!  I insisted on paying her for her gas which she allowed.  On the way home she showed me a shopping plaza that was so much closer that the one that Patric made me hike to Sunday evening!  I just can't tell you how happy that made me!  Throughout the day Shayne gave me so many helpful pieces of information...she was truly a lifesaver that day!!

Monday evening Patric and I walked to that new little shopping plaza and had dinner and went to a little grocery store called Cold Storage.  We are still finding it difficult to find milk here.  Skim milk is next to impossible.  I'm going to try lowfat milk today, although I have no idea what percentage of lowfat it is.  I will have pictures of the plaza tomorrow.

So until then...see you next time!

By the way...day two, no monkeys...