Hi everybody!

I’m here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, (KL) for the next two months working for Opito. To explain what we do... well, we work with companies and training providers to write the international standards for the oil and gas industry. We certify products and training providers and provide an open learning programme for industry-related diplomas.

My first week here... Flight was fine- slept through quite a bit of it. Arrived in a rather warm KL. After flying in to a spectacular sea of green and driving forty minutes or so through the lush rainforest, I knew I was going to love this place!

Didn’t see much of the city at all the first week. My colleague Jackie took me to the Petronas towers when I arrived for lunch and some shopping. Food is amazing over here!! Then it was between the apartment, my office and the KL Convention Centre for the next five days! Oh, and a little bit of shopping.

Monday, met the team. Everyone is really nice and it looks to be a friendly atmosphere to work in. To let me get over my jet lag we had a meeting and just did admin chores round the office. I learnt lots about the role of Opito over here and about the background context as well. It was fascinating! Definitely great for a politics student!

Tuesday, we prepared for the Oil and Gas Asia Exhibition 2009. We set up our booth (see pictures) and briefly met our neighbours, Scottish Development International (SDI) and the Energy Industries Council (EIC). I did a little shopping after work in Bukit Bintang, a thriving little shopping  district.

Wednesday and Thursday were great. I met so many interesting people from all over the industry and all over the world. It was amazing to be given such responsibility in my first week to represent Opito at an exhibition as big as this with many huge companies in the oil and gas industry. For example, on just day three of the job I’d be telling a director of an oil/gas company why they’d benefit from our auditing! I also learned a lot more about Opito from the event, especially just how great a role they have in the industry worldwide.

Thursday night was a Siemens networking event at Traders SkyBar. I went along with the SDI and EIC people. The novelties of this bar are that it has a giant swimming pool in the middle of it and that its at the top of the building so almost open air. A certain exhibitor, who shall remain nameless, had an accidental wee swim in the pool!  It has a stunning view over the city, especially of the Petronas towers. Met lots more interesting people there- hopefully some future contacts as well.

Friday was our annual Training Providers’ Advisory Committee meeting. All the heads of our training partners throughout Asia-Pacific were there. It was interesting but had a lot of jargon! I think Pat Hannigan summed up the thoughts on the meeting when he said “It’s great to know I’m not alone. There’s others just like me who have the same problems as me and who I can turn to”. The networking Opito facilitates is beneficial to all in the industry- from students to corporate executives.

 We continued our meeting at the Hard Rock Cafe, after a few of us went to pack up the exhibition. We sat in traffic for at least an hour for a distance that could be walked in five minutes! KL traffic is horrendous- my advice to anyone is walk where possible!!

Anyway, HRC led to Beach Club led to Thai bar and the rest as they say is history. Again, many more interesting people met at the meeting- quite a few of us Scots expats in the mix as well!

I finally got to go and explore the city on Saturday. First stop- Little India! I was astounded when I got off the monorail- beautiful mosques and other old, elaborate buildings greeted me. I spent about an hour going to each of them before I even entered Little India! It was all beautiful- colourful gardens and fountains topped off the scenery. Then, more colour filling the market stalls and shop fronts of Little India. I happily wandered through the streets before settling at a market stall to have a curry. It was amazing! Then I wandered along to Chinatown.

I can’t rave enough about Little India. The people were friendly, the atmosphere lively and just all round a pleasant experience. From this to Chinatown. Petaling Street is not a ‘must see’ as most travel guides would have you believe- I’ve done it, I can say I’ve done it but I know now for sure, the locals are always right! My colleagues warned me against Chinatown- “They see a foreigner and the price goes up tenfold”. That’s fine if I was actually buying. I couldn’t even look without being harassed and grabbed. Then there was the woman who chased me down the market because she didn’t quite understand that NO, I was not paying 600RM i.e 150 quid for a FAKE Jimmy Choo bag. Couldn’t get out of there quick enough!

I walked home and came across another wee Indian-style market. It was great! I don’t know what the event was or anything but they were all dressed up and playing music and dancing... I bought some Indian sweets- tastes just like tablet! Then I had another wander through Bukit Bintang on my way back.

On Sunday, I relaxed by the pool for a while. After cooling down, I went to Menara KL or KL Tower. It was great- even before I got up the tower there were monkeys playing round about. They were adorable! The tower had a good view over the city but it was a bit foggy. It definitely helped me get my bearings around the city!

Later, I met my uncle at the Green Man, a Scottish pub in KL. It was a great wee place though I have my doubts that it’s not actually Irish... We went for tapas and had a good catch-up.

So it’s back to the office today. Very quiet- only me left at the end of the day because Jackie went home sick. I started my actual research project here- to see if the structure in the UK can be replicated over here. I’m waiting on head of finance to give me info on UK structure and I’m drawing teeth on the Malaysian governments’ websites about non-profit organisations. Hopefully I can have a more productive day tomorrow.

First impressions- I love Malaysia! The people are great, the weather is nice (not as hot as I’d planned for!), the scenery is beautiful and the food is just amazing! More importantly, the placement is great.

To the Saltire Foundation team- thanks for making this happen!