Chicken recipe, internet installation,

Sorry about the dearth of posts recently: moving in has taken a lot of time and energy. having only a small car (Myvi), the number of trips needed to stock the fridge and cupboards, buy bedside tables etc has been unprecedented!

This evening we have tried our first home-cooked Malaysian dish. See what you thinK

Chicken in tomato coconut sauce:

8 chicken drumsticks

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 tbsp vegetable oil

8 spring onions

2 cloves garlic

40g ginger, grated

8 red dried chillies

5 cloves

1 star anise

500ml coconut milk

425 can tomato purée

1 cinnamon stick

1 large brown onion, sliced

1 large tomato, sliced

1. Use plastic gloves to prevent staining your hands. Rub chicken with turmeric. Heat oil in wok; cook chicken in batches until brown; drain on kitchen paper.

2. Blend or process spring onions, garlic, ginger and chillies until finely chopped.

3. Heat what is left of oil in wok, add onion mixture, cloves, star anise and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add coconut milk and simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes.

4. Add chicken, tomato purée and cinnamon. Simmer, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through and tender. Add brown onion and tomato slices. Cook for about 3 minutes.

5. Remove cinnamon before serving.

Our daughter wanted this with pasta (!) so we served it with sweetcorn and pasta. It also needed some salt, in our opinion. We only used 2 chillies in case it was too spicy for her. Next time, I will prepare everything in advance since it is so hot in our small kitchen that you really don’t want to spend any more time there than necessary. I would up the chillies too!

Overall verdict? Definitely something we would cook again. Initially we thought coconut milk and tomato made strange bedfellows, but it worked. Hope you enjoy it too.

Getting the internet installed was amazingly easy. We visited the TM (company) shop, paid RM30 for the guy to install and were given an appointment 3 days later. He came with a new phone for us too, and set up everything within about half an hour. The cost will be about RM110 (£25) per month. Not too bad then.

Other than that, life has revolved around setting up the flat, getting to know my husband’s colleagues and adapting to life in general. Driving here is very easy for a Brit: they drive on the left and the roads resemble suburban America in that they are wide, well maintained and pretty empty most of the time. Malaysians seem to drive more sedately than we are used to, although you do spot the odd lunatic. After India, it is sheer bliss …

Most shops open at 10am, but Tesco’s is ready to go at 8am. This will be so handy: I will be able to drop my husband off at work, get anything needed and be home by 8.30 am. Again, after India with its 11am start, this is unexpected and much appreciated. 

The new school looks absolutely superb. Even though the building work is still ongoing in one section of the site (usual contractor issues) it is clearly going to be the most awesome school building I have ever seen: light, airy, white, cool, with indoor amphitheatres, an open-air covered dining room, two swimming pools, athletics track, all weather football pitch. The architects have used the fact it is built on a hillside to allow hot air to rise through the building and escape,  and the cool winds to aerate it. The site preview for parents last weekend left them gasping at the vision and very, very impressed, as were we.

 

 

 

Social etiquette

Living abroad takes a little getting used to. You expect the clothes, climate, countryside and food to surprise and sometimes challenge you, but sometimes it is little things which matter more. In Malaysia, for example, the right forefinger is not used to point at places, objects or people. Instead, you should use your right thumb, with the the four fingers folded inwardly. You may offer to shake hands with your right hand, but wait for a female to offer her hand first. In a similar vein, Malaysians use their right hand to eat when tackling traditional food (the left hand is reserved for more basic bodily functions!) and you should follow suit when giving or receiving objects too.

Again, you might expect to remove your shoes before entering places of worship: but this is normal when entering a Malaysian home too and is something most Westerners here have also adopted. People generally ring before visiting and timings, deadlines and punctuality all operate within fairly relaxed boundaries.

Never offer a Muslim either alcohol or anything containing or derived from pork, and seek permission before taking photographs in temples or mosques. Pretty standard practice, really.

As in India, Malaysians keep tight control on their emotions and will rarely show anger in public. They will try to avoid confrontation at all costs and you do need to watch you keep your voice calm and body language non-threatening. Not loosing face is terribly important, so it is not a good idea to embarrass or belittle them. Even pointing out minor mistakes can cause upset, so we need to cultivate patience and understanding. I’m sure they are trying to deal with our many foibles too!

Someone was explaining the concept of ‘kiasu’ to me: this is a fear of missing out, in Chinese. I guess the nearest Western equivalent is ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ and is seen in situations such as driving aggressively, stacking the food on your plate at a buffet, pushing to the front of the queue. (Mind you, driving aggressively here pales into insignificance if you compare it to what goes on in India!)

So far, we have found Malaysians to be smiling, welcoming, friendly and keen to practise their English. The exceptions have been the odd taxi driver who has been less than keen to drive outside his preferred little patch of JB. Last time we were in a shopping mall of several thousand people, I spent four hours trying to spot another Westerner and failed, so you do get curious looks and staring from children occasionally. It’s all good fun, especially if you grin right back!

Malaysia – a quick peek at the facts.

Bit of a quiet day: most of the local shops are closed as the three day Eid holiday starts, so I thought I’d give you a flavour of what Malaysia is all about in terms of its history and stats. etc.

Malaysia’s situated between 2 and 7 degress north of the Equator, with Peninsular Malaysia separated from the states of Sabah and Sarawak by the South China Sea. Thailand borders it to the north and Singapore sits to the south. Sabah and Sarawak are bordered by Indonesia, while the latter also shares a border with Brunei. It’s total area is 329,857 sq. km. and the population was over 28 million in the 2010 census. Approximately 69% of the overall population is ethnic Malay, 24% Chinese and 7% Indian. Malaysia’s tropical climate brings warm weather all year, with temperatures ranging from 21 – 32 degrees Celsius. There’s plenty of rain too!

Kuala Lumpur is the capital, but I am based in Johor Bahru, which is on the southernmost tip of Peninsular Malaysia, just across the causeway from Singapore. Apparently the name ‘Johor’ comes from the Arabic “jauhar’ which means “precious stones.” It’s the 5th largest state by area (19,210 sq. km. ) and the 3rd most populated state (3.5 million.) JB itself then is the central business district and state capital of Johor and is an important industrial, tourist and commercial hub for southern Malaysia. JB has a population of about 1.4 million and to the north is Senai, to the east Pasir Gudang, to the west Nusajaya and, as already mentioned, Singapore to the south. Roughly speaking Malays account for 49% of the JB population, 42% are Chinese and about 9% are Indian. We have noticed many Tamils here – apparently they are well known as nomads.

In 1963, Malaysia was created through a federation of the former British colonies of Malaya and Singapore. and including the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the norther coast of Borneo. Initially the Indonesians tried to control Malaysia, the Phillipines claimed Sabah and then Singapore seceded from the federation in 1965. Manufacturing drives the economy primarily, with tourism and commodities such as petroleum, palm oil, rubber and timber playing important supporting roles. 

So Malaysia is a cultural melting pot: a diverse blend of religions, cultural activities, traditions, ways of dressing, languages and food have shaken down pretty well and most of the time there are few problems. The official religion is Islam, but there you are free to practise your own religion here. We arrived during the fasting month of Ramadan and our hotel hosted a massive buffet every evening for the Moslems to eat as much as they wanted for a set price. Now that Ramadan is over, we are interested to see what will be on offer this evening! The Malay language (or Bahasa Melayu) is the official language, although English is widely spoken and used particularly in business. Mandarin is also widely spoken, as well as dialects such as Hakka and Cantonese. I’ve managed to find a not very good phrase book and a small dictionary to help me get started with Bahasa, but I really need a proper grammar guide.

The flag of Malaysia consists of 14 alternate red and white horizontal stripes. The top left-hand quarter is a navy blue square with a gold crescent and sun in it. Malaysia is a parliamentary democracy; the Head of State is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Prime Minister is the head of the government. The tiger is the national animal and the flower is the hibiscus.

These, then, are the bare bones of what constitutes Malaysia in the 21st century. I will be writing about social etiquette and mores in a post very soon, so “stay tuned!”

Rental Terms, Shopping Mall,

My birthday turned out to be a very good day. Apart from the usual fun – Skyping, chatting to the children, nice meal, glass of wine – we got our sticky mitts on the flat keys. What we thought was going to be a quick meeting with the letting agent, handing over two months’ deposit and signing papers, turned into a rather jolly affair: we were taken back to the flat, where we met the owner, his wife, the neighbours and a friend. The owner is Singaporean, a former pilot, RAF trained many years ago and with good English from 10 years’ worth of British education. He was very proud to be able to show off his English and utterly charming. His wife is Malaysian and, although she spoke very little English, insisted on showing me around the kitchen and utility room.

Essentially, you pay one month’s rent (RM2,000 in our case) to reserve the flat and cover the first month’s rent, then a further two months as a deposit to be held against damages. Then there is a deposit of RM1,000 against electricity and water costs, half a month’s rent for the agent’s commission and a further RM350 for the government stamps needed on the documentation. All being well, we should get back most of the deposit and most of the utilities deposit. In addition we have now to sort out a gas bottle for the gas hob, but that should be straightforward. We also need to arrange internet provision with the landline.

Every single room in the flat has a key, so our key-rings are loaded to capacity. There is a key for the postbox in the lobby, a card to access the building and two keys to the flat itself – one for the front door proper and one to open the security grill / door. 

Today ( 7 August) we took a taxi to Tebrau City, a very large shopping mall about 10 minutes’ drive away. What a revelation! Aeon is the department store: several levels with a supermarket at the base, bed linen, crockery, small electrical goods, toys … great for all your basics. Next to Aeon is a super electrical store, with laundry, bathroom, garden and cleaning items at the back. We viewed the electric ovens, filter coffee machines, Canon printers, kettles, irons but will have to wait until the car comes to buy anything heavy or large as the taxis are all on the ‘cosy’ side.

However, to keep a restless child happy, we let her choose her own Aussino towels and bedside rug (lovely quality), a book from Harris (fabulous bookstore) and an old fashioned alarm clock from a novelty shop. To keep the weary adults happy, we also indulged in towels and books. In our case the latter included a complete (!) guide to Malaysian cooking, smaller books on Japanese, Chinese and Nyonya* cooking, a local map, a pictorial map of Malaysia and some basic Bhasa Malay phrase books and dictionary (no grammar book visible). Oh, and a Lonely Planet guide to Malaysia and Singapore.

Aeon has a customer loyalty card, which was simplicity itself to sign up to (take your passport; RM12 for 1 year, RM25 for 2 years + 1 year free) and which, amongst other things, offers you 3-5% off every time you shop. Harris’ has great 10%  off everything for roughly the same price, as well as student and teacher discount cards. The cards are issued immediately to you and you get the discount straight away. Aussino have a card too, with 15% off regular priced products, 40% one-off on regular prices in your birthday month, plus points (although these expire 30 June every year).

This evening I want to peruse the cookbooks and get a feel for what cooking utensils I will need if I am to tackle anything other than Western meals. I have a feeling not adapting to local food might make everyday meals more hassle than it’s worth!

 

* of the 15th and 16th Century Chinese immigrants to Malaysia

 

 

Banking and shopping

10am saw us at Maybank, passports in sweaty palms and pens ready to sign anything that would give us access to an ATM card and ringgit. The school had already sorted my husband’s paperwork so his c/a was quickly opened and he was able to make a nominal deposit via the ATM. Since I do not have a Visa yet, I could not. Neither could we have a joint account as I do not work. At some point in the future, therefore, I will have to return to downtown Seri Alam and have another go. All this is so avoidable. 

Transferring money from the UK can take over a week. We have made our first attempt and I will let you know how long we have to wait. We need money to lease a car, pay our flat rent in advance, utilities bills etc, and only the daily limit our UK debit cards allow us to get our hands on cash. You need so much money at first: it is a shame the employers do not give you advance warning of this, or arrange a loan.

Shopping in Tesco’s was a more leisurely affair this afternoon. Fed up with eating out (imagine!) we opted for ready cooked chicken, salad and brown rice. The latter necessitated buying a rice cooker and, as a Faber happened to be on at £10 (half price), we took the plunge and had a go. Verdict? Probably better with white rice, but eminently edible after a glass of wine. (£7 for a bottle of Corbière, so much better than India). Incidentally, you can steam vegetables in the top of the rice cooker.

We were bemused to see chicken legs, cow’s liver, cow’s lung, thick fungi, dried seaweed and cow offal ready prepared in Tesco’s. I will try to upload photos, having failed miserably today. We were relieved to find strawberry jam, Tabasco sauce, olive oil, salad cream, yogurt and HP sauce … how provincial does that sound?? Rest easy, this blog is for information as well as reassurance!

Tomorrow, we hand over the first two months’ deposit, agent’s commission, utilities deposit and rental agreement fee for the government … and have a meeting with the car lease guy. What a way to spend my birthday!

Flat hunting

As is the case the world over, I am sure, landlords here put their prices up as soon as they see a non-Malaysian in need of a home quickly. The steady flow of teachers into Johor for the new school initially meant prices were probably set at 30% higher than normal. As word has spread, however, of deals being made and rates coming down considerably, the letting agents have reacted quite speedily and we now find more room for negotiation.

Having found a flat we thought suitable, we have reconsidered. Our budget was RM2,000 (about £400) from the school, and with that we have now found a 3 bedroom, completely refurbished and furnished ‘condo’ on the 20th floor. It includes TV, a/c throughout, 1 en suite and 1 family bathroom, large lounge / diner, balcony, kitchen with hob, and utility room with washing machine and tumble dryer plus a small entrance hall. All bedrooms have adequate storage and are a decent size,  and the bathrooms have showers with hot water (not always found in Malaysia). There is no hot water in the kitchen: this is par for the course here. The lounge and dining room have all the requisite furniture and there are curtains throughout.

Initially we had intended to get an unfurnished flat and visit IKEA … but despite what you read on the internet, there is no IKEA in Johor – the nearest two are in Singapore. Not quite sure why IKEA has not shown up. I would have thought Johor was prime IKEA territory: there are so many new homes being built. The prospect of visiting several shops to choose furniture does not appeal when you have no car and no idea where anything is: no-one has yet managed to find a map!

Letting agents’ commission is another area where you can negotiate. The landlord clearly would prefer the tenant to pay this (usually 1.5 x monthly rent) but a 2:1 split in the tenant’s favour seems to be accepted. You must also pay a £200 deposit for utilities, recoverable at the end of your lease, and one month’s rent in advance plus two months’ rent as a deposit against any damage caused. So come prepared for a big financial outlay at the start.

The Seri Mutiara development has an outdoor pool currently being refurbished, a gym and a playground for younger children. Hope the pool will soon be ready!

I’m really looking forward to moving in. I love marble floors and the minimalist design of the refurbished condos here. Small work-top ovens can be bought in Tesco’s for Western cooking and I am keen to experiment with Japanese and Thai food. As in India, we shall be on the look-out for local artwork and crafts to make our flat more homely. 

Tomorrow, it’s off to the bank to open accounts: watch this space!

Deals, Tesco & Mobiles

Today has been up and down: initially we thought we had a deal sorted for a flat we really liked but then discovered we were being hugely overcharged. Apparently the letting agent is related to the putative landlord … so we have made a much lower offer and are prepared to walk away if necessary. A Croatian colleague and her Italian husband have done spectacularly well (he IS a hard nosed businessman!) and I think word is out that the other teachers have cottoned on.

The flat has three bedrooms, small kitchen with gas hob, washing machine and tumble dryer, one en suite and one family bathroom, large lounge / diner and balcony. It has been entirely renovated and we would be the first to live there since the refurb. It is furnished to a high spec in a modern, minimalist style and has a large flat-screen TV (so we now need to consider whether or not we want television. Having gone without it in India, we are not sure we can be bothered.) Flooring is marble, there is an adequate amount of storage and, on the 17th floor, it offers a great panorama. A/C is throughout, plus large ceiling fans … do hope we can sort this out soon!

The two main mobile networks are U Mobile and Maxis. We have chosen U Mobile and went to Today’s Market (near our local Tesco) to get pre-paid simcards. The store is one of many around the perimeter of the supermarket and offers a deal where we could get data too. We can text and call each other for free, and will use Whatsapp to text the UK whenever possible. You need your passport when signing up.

Tesco’s here is hardly recognizable as such. True, there are huge placards reminding shoppers to join the Clubcard scheme, but there are very few products bearing the Tesco name. I spotted one jar of Tesco Finest pasta sauce in a jar, and a bottle of moisturising cream. Dairy products are very few and far between, as you might expect here, diet Coke is sold only in cans, Dairy Milk chocolate is the only confectionery our daughter liked. Being a Marmite baby, I have looked in the Tesco and Tesco Extra: I am told it can be bought in Malaysia but clearly I need to persevere. I am very tempted by the aisles of Japanese and Korean products …

ATMs: Maybank would only let us make one withdrawal a day from out HSBC Premier account. The other ATMs worked well, although we have now had a call from HSBC fraud prevention!

Last night we tried the Japanese restaurant within our hotel complex and really enjoyed the food. The staff were super friendly and the food obviously freshly prepared and cooked. Tonight we shall return, this time with colleagues and their daughter. Only another 45 minutes to go!

Arrival

Welcome to my blog!

My husband will be teaching at a new international school in Johor Bahru and this is our first visit to the country. I aim to keep a record of my initial impressions, as well as noting information which may be of help to others.  Having arrived yesterday, I am still rather tired and there is a huge amount to do before we leave the hotel, where the school has provided free accommodation, and start to live in a flat.

To start at the beginning: our Singapore Airlines Airbus flight was direct, from LHR terminal 3 to Changi, Singapore. After the 12 + hour flight, the airport looked so good!  We had to complete immigration forms before going through immigration rather than on the ‘plane, as the crew had run out of forms. If, like me, you have survived immigration in India, the Singaporean welcome is bliss: you are smiled at, you are not treated as a criminal and you only have to do things once. After collecting our cases from the carousel, we found our driver and headed to Malaysia, our home for the next two years.

So, what of the humidity and heat? Leaving the ‘plane, we were pleasantly surprised. It had obviously been raining hard just prior to our arrival and the temperature was perfectly acceptable. As we drove through Singapore, I thought it looked rather like some sort of toy town – everything tidy and clean, traffic in lanes, no cows on the road (don’t forget I have been living in India!) and verdant, well manicured lawns and parks. I spotted signs up warning of the prohibition of all fireworks there. Clearance through Customs leaving Singapore was quick and painless, as was entry into Malaysia. All in all we needed 80 minutes to get to the hotel in Johor, about double what we had expected but it did seem to be morning rush hour. First impressions of the city? Definitely more Wild West than Singapore, lots of construction underway, some tatty buildings but an impression of vitality, growth and expansion.

The school had booked all teachers into the AmanSari Residence Resort. Our hotel room turned out to be a beautiful, marble-lined duplex with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, small kitchen, balcony and large lounge. Our daughter thought it fantastic! Okay, so the Reception could have been more on the ball and Ramadhan buffet that evening was noisy and crowded, and the bath wouldn’t empty, and the room safe wouldn’t open, and there are no shaver or electric toothbrush points … but, hey, we like it here!

First night’s sleep: what a misnomer! We were awake at 3am and that’s how we stayed. The buffet style breakfast was fine (although the coffee is only available extra sweet) and at 10am we met the letting agent, Nicholas, to view some apartments. I’ll go into more detail about these tomorrow, but we saw one in particular that we liked and have made an offer on the rent. Now begins the waiting to see if we will be able to do a deal to everyone’s satisfaction. 

NB: although the official Malaysian currency is ringgit, apparently they are referred to as dollars.