Friday, June 3, 2011

Tall Tiger and instant noodles...

     Once again, it's been a while and once again, to no surprise, I've been busier than ever. The competition is in full swing, and to be honest, I need a break from it. Granted this is me coming off of a 10 and 12 hour day, a 6 day work week, and another 6 day week to go. Being thrown into the deep end of the lop-sided frying pan is not only beginning to take its toll on me, but has also begun to wear away at my enjoyment of architecture. It's kind of like the week before jury week...for 3 consecutive weeks. Not to mention the principal in charge of the project is a night owl (when it comes to working, surprisingly, I am the complete opposite). On the plus side, I can say I am getting to know AutoCAD inside and out. For those of you who may be surprised that I didn't know CAD, my school (and firms in Colorado) teach/require Revit. Basically, I'm reversed in the sense that I know Revit but am relatively shaky in CAD. We have a new intern, Q (phonetically it should be a K) although he mainly builds models because he is a first-year in undergrad. Some may find it depressing that I'm staying in, eating instant noodles, sipping a Tiger beer, and blogging on a Friday night; but honestly, this is exactly what I want to be doing right now. I'm dead tired from the week and it just finished raining, so the humidity is at an energy-zapping high.

     Anyways, enough about work, there is more to life than the office (although it hasn't seemed that way quite yet). I finally met my third roomate - C. She's from South Africa, which is quite cool in my opinion. Every South African I have ever met has been super awesome and a lot of fun to be around. She is here with her mom (who is on holiday) and although I showed her around, she won't officially be moving in until Sunday. Yesterday I went out for Lebanese food and shisha (Americans usually call it: hukah), in Asia, with her (a South African) and my co-worker S, who lives a train stop over, from Columbia. If that isn't a sign of the times I don't know what is. In KL, such situations are quite typical. 'International' almost seems to be an understatement. The food was amazing, some of the best falafel I've had in ages.

      A few days prior I went to yoga with a group of gals from the office. It's a Tuesday tradition, something not to be missed. I'm not too good at yoga, but I love it anyway. After a 2 day journey to Malaysia, it was just what my body needed. I also stopped by the REAL Chinatown (not the touristy one near the National Mosque), a small strip of streets in the district of Wangsa Maju to go to a Chinese hawker center. A hawker center is basically a large strip of street vendors selling various food items at low, low prices. I got some spicy pork, spicy fish balls, some type of vegetable, and rice all for $1.20 US. The rule is to pick the most packed stall and go for it. Don't ask what you're eating, follow your nose and figure out what it is when you eat it. It was a leap of faith on my part, the first time I ventured into an adjacent neighborhood (I really don't live in a touristy part of town, but where actual locals live) and went for it. Given my past experience in Mongolia, food still remains a point of nervousness, especially street food when no one is there to re-assure me about it. These places are definitely not Halal, and as much as I appreciate the cleanliness of Halal, the smell of pork was a welcomed familiarity (and one I couldn't pass up). I was going to stick around and eat there, however mosquitos (colloquially called mozzies) were happily gnawing away at my ankles so I returned to the safety of my 19th floor apartment. I plan on taking C and S there next week for some tasty authentic Chinese (complete with MSG and all).

     Today, as it goes with every Friday, I got to enjoy a long lunch (we get more time so the Muslim community can attend Friday prayers). I was invited by M, a co-worker, to go to this Japanese restaurant for lunch. It was soooo so so good! Japanese food is my favorite kind of food (tied with several other Asian culinary delights) so I had a great time. It was also kinda cool because I was the only true foreigner. It was good to get to know some of the other people I haven't really spent a whole lot of time with in the office. They also gave me some confidence to speak more Bahasa Melayu; meaning they admitted they could understand me. They also asked really cute questions like if I'd eat raw fish or if I was 'suffering' from eating Japanese food. Granted there were things in my lunch I hadn't tried, but who can complain about Udon noodles and tempura fried soft shelled crab? I explained that sushi and Japanese food is quite popular in the US, and pretty un-typically of your average American home, my boyfriend and I loved cooking Asian food. They suggested I try Durian, which I have been told is in season. Of course, I would love to try it, but I think I would prefer to eat it with someone who likes it as well, just in case I don't like it. It is considered quite rude to waste food here, which is something us Westerners could learn from.

     I talk about food a lot, mostly because lunch and dinner are my only breaks from work as of yet. Fortunately I have the excuse of a visa run coming up after my 14th deadline for the competition so I should get some much deserved time (and weekends) off for a bit and be able to report on more exciting things than just work work work work. I have made some plans for the weekend aside from an almost full day at the office on Sunday. I'll report back if those things go as planned.

     Anyways, I can smell myself, which is always a bad sign, so I'm going to hop in the shower and settle down to bed with a good book until I pass out from exhaustion. With any luck, I'll update at the end of the weekend. If karma really acts in my favor, I'll have pictures from the weekend (I've posted others from my adventures on Flickr...although I must admit they aren't my best).

Good night (or good morning)

-M

1 comment:

  1. sleep is the key to making through the 10-12 hour days. Welcome to the professional work world. 10 hour days and 6 day weeks. Enjoy the experienceas if it is doing what you truely love time passes quickly and is very self rewarding. You will find that working hard along side others results in solid relationships with them and other job opportunities in places and with people you will remember for your whole life.

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