Where Am I Again?

Orientation -

1. The determination of the relative position of something or someone (esp. oneself).

2. The relative physical position or direction of something.

3. An adjustment or adaptation to a new environment, situation, custom, or set of ideas.

I'm sure you are already getting an idea of how Thursday starts, huh?

Schlumberger scheduled us for an orientation to begin at 9:30 Thursday morning.  The good thing about it was that it was to be with Lana (remember, she was my savior in the furniture store).  We met with her in the lobby of our apartment building.  She had a welcome bag full of stuff to start the orientation off.  Here is the cool stuff that was in the bag..

Good info on shopping, dining, events, recreation and other essential information,  The good thing about this little book is that it is sectioned out for KL, Selangor and Putrajaya.  We are staying in Selangor right now which is separate from KL.  I don't quite understand it fully but from what I think I understand Selangor is a state or a district.  It seems that KL and Putrajaya both are located within Selangor but they are Federal Territories so they are considered separate.  So, there is the little I think I have learned so far of the geography of Malaysia...don't quote me...  =)

This little book has the same information but for tourist locations in East Malaysia.  These locations boast nature attractions.  Some of them even have pictures of monkeys...I don't think this counts as a monkey sighting for me though.

This little book has the same information but for tourist locations in the Northern Region of Malaysia.  These include some beaches and islands.

This little book has the same information but for tourist locations in the East Coast Region of Malaysia.  This seems to have it all - beaches, islands, nature - you name it and it is represented in this book.

This little book has the same information but for tourist locations in the Southern Region of Malaysia.  This seems to have more civilization exploration but some off the beatin' path areas as well,

These are useful informational books.

This is a directory full of phone numbers and addresses.  Lana told us that every single one of them had been tested to make sure they were good before they were put in this directory - it is specifically for expats.  Cool, huh?

Some expat magazines.

And finally...my favorite!  A Malay phrasebook!  Periodically I will even throw you a bone...we will learn Malay together!!  How cool is that?!?!  Of course, I probably think it is much cooler than you since I will probably use it more but nonetheless...you will get a word every now and then.

So, after we received this really cool welcome kit we set off on the orientation.  Believe me, the welcome kit was the last time I felt oriented!  The purpose of the morning was to drive around and have Lana explain where important places where and give us fixed points in the area where we were most likely going to live.  This was not a problem since we did have an idea of the area after our house hunt on Wednesday.  The problem turned out to be that we didn't just stay in that area...

Since we had not been to the actual city of KL yet, Lana included that on our itinerary.  After going there, I'm very happy to say that I am not living in KL.  That place is crazy!!!  I'll take the outskirts anytime!  Maybe part of it was that we were doing it so quickly and Lana was trying to explain everything so fast and there was so much traffic.  I am looking forward to going back when Patric and I have time to spend exploring.  Until then I will just have to remember my time in KL as a blur.

Really, my entire Thursday morning was a blur.  It got to a point where I was starting to recognize areas and could tell that I had been there before but there was no way that I could have gotten you there to save my life!  In a nutshell...I was thoroughly confused.  But it was ok.  The fact that things were starting to look familiar was somehow starting to feel a little comforting.  Especially since we were staying mostly in the area where we were hoping to get a house.

A few things that I found really interesting,.,

Pantai Hospital - All things health-wise happen here, including dentistry.  There are clinics outside the hospital but it is more common for regular doctor visits to be made and happen at the hospital.  We were shown the process and the clinics inside the hospital.  GPs are found in the emergency room, specialists and dentists are found in the regular part of the hospital.  A very interesting set up.

The Curve Shopping Center - This is a big mall.  Ikea is located here...yay...and it is very close to where we are looking to live...yay again!!!  Also, The Dome is located in this mall...another yay!!!

Tesco - this is a hypermarket, very similar to Walmart.  It is also in the same area where we are looking to live.  They have just about any and everything we could possibly be looking to buy for any area of our life.  Lana took us in and introduced us to a lot of the local fruits and vegetables.  It all happened so fast that I could not tell you what she showed us right now but I will be sure to show you as we use them.



As our orientation came to a close we met up with Shanny for more house hunting...that is the next post.  See you then!!!