OK the title pretty much sums things up, we have all been homesick. I miss a lot of things in Canada but most importantly, I miss my family, not always, I only miss them when I think about them and thats a lot of the time lately, but thats something for a different post. I really get homesick when I am missing things, stupid things, but things I can't get over here and really its surprisingly not a huge list.
I will list the top things I miss, with a few pictures to make it real clear, * in no particular order.
Cheese Whiz, yep as stupid as it sounds this is the one thing I miss here in KL. It is the only product that I can't find and it is really driving me nuts. Malaysian's don't eat cheese, or if they do, it tends to be something an Englishman or Australian asked them to try. I once tried to explain "Kraft Dinner" to someone and they thought I was nuts, the only pasta they eat here is spaghetti. There is a product called Cheese Whiz "Dip" and while it is close, it's not the same. I don't really know why I want it, other than because I can't have it.
Tim Horton's Coffee, I would kill for a large cup of Tim Horton's coffee. The first thing I will do as soon as I land and after I use a clean washroom, I will be heading to the closest Tim Hortons. Coffee here is more like the US, there seems to be a million Starbucks here, in most shopping centers there are at least 3 Starbucks. The coffee if anything tastes more bitter than it does in the Canadian Starbucks and it is priced about the same as in Canada, a medium is RM10 ($3 CDN). But that same RM10 will get you 6 cups of local coffee, which isn't any worse than Starbucks. Malaysian coffee beans are roasted with margarine and tastes it. Most places serve instant or espresso shots with added water, Americano, they call it here, I call it crap.
Slurppee's, 7-11 does sell them but the flavours are just plain weird. There's "Blue" yep just "Blue" I have no idea what it is supposed to be but it doesn't taste like any flavour I have ever tasted, I have seen blue popsicles and come to think of it, what do they taste like? Some of the other flavours are Banana, not the flavour I would have thought to make my slurpee, there is BlueBerry that tastes like sugar, I have also seen Cotton Candy flavour, Mango, Kola (spelled just like that) which I thought would taste like, well Cola, but it tasted more like really sweet ice. The picture shows a typical Slurpee machine here in
KL, on the right is "Strawberry/Lichee" flavour and on the right is "Durian". If you have never had the misfortune to taste durian, be thankful, Ok it's really not that bad, think very sweet nail polish remover. It's really more the smell than the taste.
Clean, clear sky's, I can't remember the last time I saw a clear sky, it is usually overcast during the day here. Starting in about August the haze starts, we would just simply call it smog. In August you see many people wearing dust filter masks, to try to keep the haze out of their lungs. Needless to say, they don't work. Some nights the sky is very clear and we can just make out some stars, of course this is in the city and there are street lights.
Being able to see a horizon, because Kuala Lumpur is in the middle of a bunch of hills, the vistas are rather short, so for example, I can't see anything from my front door other than the house across from me and behind that jungle, they don't say jungle, Malaysians say forest, I know the difference. Unlike Canadian cities that are in hills, Vancouver for example, there is always something far away to look at, I know it sounds stupid but I some times feel very closed in. If I want to see a horizon I have to go to the beach and look out to sea, I guess I would actually like a few days in Saskatoon right now. This is a picture of the only horizon I have seen in 3 years.
Winter. I know, as you are shoveling the 50 cm of snow that fell last night, in -30 weather, you are cursing me for saying I miss winter. You know its one of the things I never thought I would miss, I think the change of season is nice too, not to mention how clean everything looks and the air always seems cleaner. From what people have told me, there is a "Winter World" up at Genting Highlands, that has an area <room?> where they make snow and keep the temperature at just below freezing, -2 0r 3? I keep telling myself that some day I'll go up there and see what its like, but I can't imagine it would be to realistic. Most Malaysians have never seen snow, let alone a temperature lower than 15ºC or 16ºCand I can't imagine what they would be like at -30ºC.
Used bookstores, there are very few of them and their prices are really crazy. Like I think I have mentioned, books and reading are not big things for most Malaysian, they are either to busy working or studying to read for pleasure.
Christmas, I have been over here for almost 7 years and have missed 7 Christmases at my parents and without a doubt that is the worst part of being in Malaysia, not just Christmas, just not being there sucks. Malaysians don't have the first clue about Christmas, I mean they try, but its so tacky that it makes me want to avoid it at all costs. When you go to a shopping center in Canada at Christmas its over powering, but here it's in your face and LOUD,everything is loud here. Don't get me wrong, Malaysians try, but well, they just don't get it, they think it's all about shopping, but then again so do a lot of people I know.
Quiet, pure and simple. People here are either all deaf or I have the best hearing of any person in Malaysia. Everything here is loud, cars, advertising, people talking, kids playing, motorbikes just everything is painfully loud. We have a guy that drives through our area everyday selling mattresses, I'm not kidding, this guy drives around honking his horn every couple of seconds, at first I thought it was something like the Monty Python "Bring out your dead" sketch, because when he honks, thats what I always think of. We have a guy that goes around selling Roti (bread), there was a picture of him in one of my previous posts, and he honks one of those annoying clown horns, honk honk, honk honk. Then the garbage men drive through a couple of times a week, no one knows when they are coming, but they make more noise that you would believe. Then there are the renovations, most people renovate their houses frequently and almost always before Chinese New Year. I know you're thinking that can't be so bad, well remember all the houses are made of cement, brick and tiles, they use a small jack hammer to remove the tiles, a full size jack hammer to knock out the walls and sometimes they just use a backhoe to knock things down. I'm sure if they could get them they would use explosives.
Sidewalks, stupid but true. Anytime you want to walk somewhere you are either on the street or walking on questionable drain covers. The drain covers are made of concrete and are usually cracked or don't fit, so they rock back and forth. I have known quite a few people that have fallen through these covers and done some serious damage to their ankles, a co-worker broke his ankle and was off of work for a month, thats a whole other pet peeve. When on the sidewalks you have to watch for scooters as well, and sometimes cars.
Privacy, this one is partially because everyone seems to know my wife and are always staring at us, but I know that, right? Malaysians as I posted earlier, have no boundaries, there is nothing that they don't think you should be happy to tell them. I know its not that unusual in other cultures, but dammit, these are the things I miss no one else, if you want to know what they miss then go read their blog. Sorry the picture isn't that great but I had to steal it from somewhere, I was trying to find one that showed the crowds. It is a pic of Petaling Street Night Market, most nights there are about half a million people there, ok I exaggerate, but it feels like it. This is where everyone goes to get robbed blind while thinking they got a great deal.
Free toilets and toilet paper, they have both, but the free toilets don't have toilet paper and are nasty, the pay toilets have paper, sometimes, but they aren't all that clean either. I was told a story by someone and I don't honestly know if its true or not, but anyway. The story goes, that there is never toilet paper in the restrooms because all the restaurant owners will steal it to use instead of napkins. I can confirm that a lot of restaurants use rolls of toilet paper instead of napkins. You know I never thought much about washrooms before I came over here and now I would love to go into a public washroom that doesn't smell or have water all over the floor, not to mention a toilet seat without foot prints. Thats a whole other post!
Canadian cigarettes, I know I only quit smoking a while ago, but I really miss Canadian cigarettes, the smell and the taste are so different than the cigarettes here. Here the cigarettes are harsh and I'm sure they are made from some dubious tobacco. One thing I have found out here is that sometimes the cigarettes are counterfeit, yep even cigarettes, the latest products to be copied by the industrious forgers. Speaking of forgers remind me sometime to tell you about the Brietling shop in Dubai.
Thanks for reading.
*Just so I don't feel to dishonest, I didn't take most of those pictures, I did however steal them, the ones I took are the sunset, the Slurpee machine and the sidewalk. The pictures I took were taken with my iPhone 3Gs so aren't the best pictures.
I will list the top things I miss, with a few pictures to make it real clear, * in no particular order.
Cheese Whiz, yep as stupid as it sounds this is the one thing I miss here in KL. It is the only product that I can't find and it is really driving me nuts. Malaysian's don't eat cheese, or if they do, it tends to be something an Englishman or Australian asked them to try. I once tried to explain "Kraft Dinner" to someone and they thought I was nuts, the only pasta they eat here is spaghetti. There is a product called Cheese Whiz "Dip" and while it is close, it's not the same. I don't really know why I want it, other than because I can't have it.Tim Horton's Coffee, I would kill for a large cup of Tim Horton's coffee. The first thing I will do as soon as I land and after I use a clean washroom, I will be heading to the closest Tim Hortons. Coffee here is more like the US, there seems to be a million Starbucks here, in most shopping centers there are at least 3 Starbucks. The coffee if anything tastes more bitter than it does in the Canadian Starbucks and it is priced about the same as in Canada, a medium is RM10 ($3 CDN). But that same RM10 will get you 6 cups of local coffee, which isn't any worse than Starbucks. Malaysian coffee beans are roasted with margarine and tastes it. Most places serve instant or espresso shots with added water, Americano, they call it here, I call it crap. |
| Slurpee's in Malaysia |
KL, on the right is "Strawberry/Lichee" flavour and on the right is "Durian". If you have never had the misfortune to taste durian, be thankful, Ok it's really not that bad, think very sweet nail polish remover. It's really more the smell than the taste.
Clean, clear sky's, I can't remember the last time I saw a clear sky, it is usually overcast during the day here. Starting in about August the haze starts, we would just simply call it smog. In August you see many people wearing dust filter masks, to try to keep the haze out of their lungs. Needless to say, they don't work. Some nights the sky is very clear and we can just make out some stars, of course this is in the city and there are street lights.
 |
| Sunset at Morib Beach (West Malaysia / Straits of Malaka) A Clements |
Used bookstores, there are very few of them and their prices are really crazy. Like I think I have mentioned, books and reading are not big things for most Malaysian, they are either to busy working or studying to read for pleasure.
Quiet, pure and simple. People here are either all deaf or I have the best hearing of any person in Malaysia. Everything here is loud, cars, advertising, people talking, kids playing, motorbikes just everything is painfully loud. We have a guy that drives through our area everyday selling mattresses, I'm not kidding, this guy drives around honking his horn every couple of seconds, at first I thought it was something like the Monty Python "Bring out your dead" sketch, because when he honks, thats what I always think of. We have a guy that goes around selling Roti (bread), there was a picture of him in one of my previous posts, and he honks one of those annoying clown horns, honk honk, honk honk. Then the garbage men drive through a couple of times a week, no one knows when they are coming, but they make more noise that you would believe. Then there are the renovations, most people renovate their houses frequently and almost always before Chinese New Year. I know you're thinking that can't be so bad, well remember all the houses are made of cement, brick and tiles, they use a small jack hammer to remove the tiles, a full size jack hammer to knock out the walls and sometimes they just use a backhoe to knock things down. I'm sure if they could get them they would use explosives.
 |
| This is a good sidewalk |
Free toilets and toilet paper, they have both, but the free toilets don't have toilet paper and are nasty, the pay toilets have paper, sometimes, but they aren't all that clean either. I was told a story by someone and I don't honestly know if its true or not, but anyway. The story goes, that there is never toilet paper in the restrooms because all the restaurant owners will steal it to use instead of napkins. I can confirm that a lot of restaurants use rolls of toilet paper instead of napkins. You know I never thought much about washrooms before I came over here and now I would love to go into a public washroom that doesn't smell or have water all over the floor, not to mention a toilet seat without foot prints. Thats a whole other post!
Canadian cigarettes, I know I only quit smoking a while ago, but I really miss Canadian cigarettes, the smell and the taste are so different than the cigarettes here. Here the cigarettes are harsh and I'm sure they are made from some dubious tobacco. One thing I have found out here is that sometimes the cigarettes are counterfeit, yep even cigarettes, the latest products to be copied by the industrious forgers. Speaking of forgers remind me sometime to tell you about the Brietling shop in Dubai.
Thanks for reading.
*Just so I don't feel to dishonest, I didn't take most of those pictures, I did however steal them, the ones I took are the sunset, the Slurpee machine and the sidewalk. The pictures I took were taken with my iPhone 3Gs so aren't the best pictures.
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