.. Just married, then back to Australia for me

..more photos..

Last week was a big week! :

My lovely girlfriend and I were married last Wednesday morning at Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (National Registration Centre) @ Putrajaya.

An exciting day! I can't believe it finally happened, Pei Lin is probably even more surprised than I am that she managed to actually get me there. It was amazing how much cooler the suit felt after the ceremony too. I didn't feel too stressed, but I guess I must have been a bit eh.

We spent about 8 hrs the next day doing our official photography, which was exhausting, but the results look really great. Thanks to Alex from La Casamia "De Casamia" (thanks for the correction honey).

Saturday night I left KL, where I'd been living for the last 2 and a half years, and moved to Sydney. I'll certainly miss KL and the many great people there, at the same time though, it's sure nice to be back on home turf.

My lovely wife (wow, still can't believe I'm saying .. 'wife' hehe) is staying in Malaysia for a month or so while I'm getting settled here, and her visa is getting sorted there.

Almost..

Okay, all the pieces are falling into place :).

We've applied for a spouse visa for the girl (which they let us apply for even though we aren't married yet, and therefore don't have a wedding certificate), we've booked the wedding registration and paid for the photography, just need to finalise the flight and freight for the belongings and all systems are go go go.

I've decided to go with excessBaggage.com for the freight, it's about $1400 AUD for 8 x 60cm x 41cm x 34cm boxes, sent via air & door to door, so while it's pricey, it's also very convenient.
No need to hire vans and deliver or pick stuff up from an airport.

The registration is on the 11th March at Putrajaya, and most likely I will fly out to Australia on the 14th. The lovely lady will probably stay in Malaysia for a few weeks while I set up camp in Sydney a bit, you know, do novel things like find a place to live and buy a bed and a fridge etc. (..and television and internet connection and couch and 'a table').

When we had our interview with the good people at the Australian High Commission, they thought that there was a chance that the visa could be quite quick to approve, given that Peilin has a job offer in Sydney and our application was quite complete. If she stays in KL for a little it will also give that a chance too.

Who knows, maybe it's going to take longer that they suggested (it can take up to 6 months), if so she can come to Australia whenever she's ready and we can fly to New Zealand for the weekend when it comes time for the visa (the final part of the approval process is entering the new country, even if you're already there, you've got to do it again).

Sure, it could easily be argued that flights and freight are the most important part of moving internationally, but considering all the things we've achieved so far, that stuff seems ridiculously trivial.


It's been months of gathering documents and getting them legally certified, and while I'm expecting to have to redo a couple of things, I think we're mostly there.
It's been a stressful few months too! I'll be glad not to have to do something like this again for a while. And it should be a while too, unless I decided to start in import business of Asian wives. Hmm..

Where was I? oh yes..
I'm also getting a couple of suits tailored from the excellent Page Shop, in Sungei Wang. I can actually get one tailored here for about the same price as I could walk into a shop in Australia and buy one ready-made, so it's money well spent. Not that I'm a big suit wearer, but whenever the opportunity comes up, I'm going to be so ready for it. So ready.

I'm getting one in a charcoal grey, and one pinstripe blue, and two shirts made as well. For both the suits and the shirts you can choose from a wide range of materials and colours. It's costing me 2400MYR, which is about $1000 AUD for the lot. Not sure which to wear for the registration..

I've included the contact details for The Page Shop below, in case anyone wants them. Highly recommended. They even gave me beer while having my measurement done. C'mon, THAT's service :) .



Page Shop
Lot No. 100, 1st Floor, Sungei Wang Plaza,
Jalan Sultan Ismail,
55100 Kuala Lumpur.
Ph: 603-2148 8168.

Chinese New Year in the Office

Groovey, I've always suspected it, glad to have it confirmed :)

Things has been very, very busy of late. Workwise, I've been moving back towards a development role, which is good. On the home front, we're trying hard to organise all the various odd & ends for Pei Lin's visa application for the impending move to Australia.

I can understand why all the paperwork is required, but it only slightly helps to have a glimmer of this understanding when we're wading through it.

Last week I was overjoyed to receive my 'certificate of single status' from Australia (which will allow me to get married in Malaysia), but the joy was short-lived, they'd spelt my name incorrectly, and rather than just a hurried phone call to get another reissued, I find out that I need to return the incorrect one first. CrapCrapCrap! More unnecessary delays. Head office will no be pleased. Are already not pleased.

So I spend another 75RM express mailing the incorrect certificate back to Sydney, along with another form detailing the very basic concept of checking the spelling on someone's name.

I keep telling myself that in 3 months from now, everything will be settled.
.. I can't wait till then.

To the person who organised Australia day celebrations in our Office:

.. This is a Sausage Roll

.. This is not. This is a travesty and quite possibly an act of war.

Xmas and New Year in Sydney

We're leaving KL 2moro night for Sydney town to celebrate Xmas and New Years with friends and family.

I can't wait. It's been over 18 months since I've been in Australia, and, as you can imagine, the differences to Malaysia are substantial :).

I don't think I've mentioned it previously, but we're going to be moving back to Sydney in late February, my contract in Malaysia is finishing up, and while there are many things that I enjoy and will miss about KL, it sure is going to be good to go home.

Nice KL sunset

.. from my window to you.

Kono Pizza

Kono Pizza at Pavillion for lunch Saturday.

I think it's one of those quirky japanese ideas, but it's actually a rather practical and delicious one. The chicken and mushroom was pretty good, but the beef one with the olives (beef capriccio?) was better.

Jalan Kejora back to Jalan Alor!

KUALA LUMPUR: Much to the joy of the public, a new signboard bearing the name "Jalan Alor" replaced the Jalan Kejora signboard on Thursday in Bukit Bintang by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

The new signboard was put up after Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ab Hakim Borhan announced on Oct 29 that the previous road name would be retained after Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique intervened.

In a statement yesterday Zul­hasnan urged DBKL to refer matters concerning change of road names to the ministry in future to avoid similar controversies.

“Jalan Alor is not only popular in Malaysia but also all over the world.

“I understand the people’s sentiment over the initial decision for the change to Kejora and I hope the hawkers on Jalan Alor will press on cleanliness,” he said.

Two weeks ago DBKL replaced the old Jalan Alor signboard with Jalan Kejora which created a huge public outcry that caught the attention of the Federal Territories Ministry.

Bukit Bintang MP Fung Kui Lun said Jalan Alor was a brand name for over 50 years to both locals and foreigners and the decision to change it would have caused confusion.

“This is what the people want and I think it is fair to retain the name, everyone is happy,” he said.

Melaka (Malacca)

The site where the city of Malacca stands today was the center of Malaccan history.
It was the capital of the Malaccan Sultanate and was the centre of the Malay world in the 15th and the 16th century after the Malays moved over from Sumatra and it was the most developed part of the Malay Peninsula before it fell to the Portuguese in 1511.

Centuries of colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch and the British as well as development of Straits Chinese (Peranakan) culture have influenced the architecture of the town.

.. And we went there recently for a couple of days :).

The trishaws are a great way of seeing the town, and not really that expensive either.

Some of the wiring on these things is incredible.. check the above, those are interior light switches. Most, if not all of the trishaws has a car battery or similar in the back that they use to power the pounding music (a mishmash of pounding techno and 80's love songs) and this here is the control centre of it all.

You can see a different (and probably safer) configuration above.

It was really hot, so we treated ourselves to a couple of cocktails before lunch. I'm liking Singapore Slings very much. I had a few of them, just to make sure.

Pei Lin enjoys 'Sex on the beach' .. ehehehe.


Replica Portuguese ship. Interesting 6/10; refuge from the heat 9.5/10.


A' Formosa - built by the Portuguese in 1511 as a fortress to safeguard their settlement

Skull & cross bones on dutch(?) grave stones

Night Markets on Jonkers Street



View from a tri-shaw


Oh course, how could we not have the famous Malaccan Chicken Rice ball.

All in all, Malacca is an excellent way to escape from KL for a couple of days. Great food, friendly people, and more sights, sounds and novelties that you can poke the proverbial stick at.

High recommended. In fact, I'm going to go back soon.

Locals and tourists want Jalan Alor to be maintained

KUALA LUMPUR: Jalan Alor on Yahoo! returns more than 900,000 results. It is famous.

Yet, Kuala Lumpur City Hall is adamant that changing the name to Jalan Kejora - a move that has sparked a public outcry - is the right thing to do.

Datuk Bandar Datuk Ab Hakim Borhan said the move, which was planned three years ago, would give the tourist destination of Bukit Bintang a new image.

Popular spot: Azmi (left) serving customers at his 'Nasi Lemak Alor Corner' stall along Jalan Alor recently.

"Other roads in the area will soon have new names, and they will all be named after the stars to create the new image," he said yesterday during a visit to a landslide site in Cheras.

The name change came to light when city hall replaced the road sign about a week ago. The Jalan Alor name has been in existence for 35 years.

City Hall explained that the name was changed at the request of the National Economic Action Council to meet requirements under the road naming guidelines and to go with other roads in the vicinity.

The MP for Bukit Bintang, Fong Kui Lun, who has brought the matter up with the Federal Territories Minister, said: "How can you change the name just like that?"

Name confusion?: Tourists (from left) O'Connor, Jack Coppock and Caitlin Coppock feel that the popular street should retain its name for the convenience of tourists looking for the place the next time they return here.

He said a search of Jalan Alor on the Yahoo! search engine returned more than 900,000 results.

"You can imagine how famous this food haven is internationally," he said.

Fong said that the area had taken years to establish its reputation and changing its name overnight was unfair to the locals.

"We want the name maintained," he said, adding that he would bring up the matter up to the Tourism Minister.

Traders in the area could not fathom the rationale behind the move.

"Why must they change the name when it is already popularly known among the locals and tourists?" said Loke Yew, who has been selling fruits there for the past 35 years.

Trader Azmi Aznal said: "Even my stall is called Nasi Lemak Alor Corner and now City Hall has changed the road name for no apparent reason.

"Does that also mean I should change my stall's name too?"

Several tourists have frowned at the move.

"The new name will definitely confuse some of us when trying to find the place in the future," Australian tourists Jenny O'Connor and Caitlin Coppock said.

It is learnt that traders and residents have embarked on a signature campaign to stop the change in name.

Datuk Dr Lee Chong Meng, the Bukit Bintang MCA division chief and a former MP there, said the change was not justified, and that City Hall should focus on more meaningful issues.

Mick visits KL

A couple of weeks ago, my good pal Mick ventured forth from the golden shores of Australia and graced us with his presence in KL. As it was his first trip here, we did our share of the tourist circuit, such as:

having our photos taken outside KLCC,




going to the Batu caves,

.. and taking photos of the monkeys




going up KL tower,




taking photos from the top,




.. I discovered that if I held my camera just right, I could take photos through the telescopes they have up there. The view was amazing..




.. even the staff think so!




after checking out a few more of the sites of KL, we flew down to..




err...Singapore!




.. still more Singapore




.. that's right, you got it, Singapore



We caught boats..




.. and taxi's




.. we went to the zoo




.. and saw the animals..




.. we didn't even get shot.




.. so we drank some beer.