After a colourful weekend in Melaka, it was back to the office and back to my project. It’s coming together much better now- I now have the accountant and business analysts on board. Hopefully the rest of the info I need will come through today and I can make my recommendations by tonight! There’s certainly no lack of work to do here- we are being assessed for ISO 9001 later in the week.

Haven’t done too much after work this week- been catching up on some much needed rest! I went out with my colleague Zueli, her husband and some of her friends on Thursday night. It was really nice getting to know more locals. We went to this really nice coffee shop and then to Nando’s (yes, I know we have those in Scotland!). After that we went back to her friends’ house and watched this AWFUL American comedian... one by one people just filtered away from the TV... and we chatted the night away. Their house was amazing- they even have a tortoise as a pet! Like me, they are bookworms and have shelves and shelves of books! I won’t be stuck for reading while I’m here!

On Friday night we went out to Skybar after work. That’s the rooftop one with the swimming pool and the view over the twin towers. We got there early enough to see the towers glittering in front of the sun going down. It was very pretty. Jackie and I got talking to the manager of the Skybar and so he got us window seats (despite it being fully booked)! It’s good to know people... We stayed there as it picked up for the night but decided to move on to somewhere we could afford...

We went  to Kampung Baru, a village inside the city. It was amazing! Streets were lined with preserved Malay buildings- wooden long-houses on stilts, old food stalls with tin roofs... The contrast with the skyscrapers and twin towers was surreal! I’m told that for about the past fifty years, the government have said that only Malays can live there, change in ownership is forbidden and any changes to the structure (buildings or otherwise) is also forbidden. It’s not a bad thing- it’s very refreshing to see some Malay history inside the city. Judging by the crowds, the Malays appreciated it too!

Malays love to eat. Any time of any day. All the guidebooks will tell you that! So being with Malays... it was past midnight when we reached Kampung Baru and still we had “dinner”. My second “dinner”! I had some spicy beef with rice thought the others all had huge platefuls. It was delicious. Traditional Malay food in a traditional Malay village... inside the city! Brilliant!

I slept in the next day and wandered to the Convention Centre for a ‘Malaysian goods’ expo. It was brilliant- anything you could possibly imagine, Malaysia manufactures! I spent a long time in the food and drinks section, tasting lots of different things... ended up buying some of my groceries there!

It seems to have gotten hotter this week and it’s not quite as pleasant as it was to walk about. Still, I walked to Little India again to go to the Saturday night market. It was great- anything you could possibly imagine, you could buy. As well as some good food. See- I’m blending in well with the locals! Talking about food and eating all the time! Good thing there’s a gym in my apartment building...

Not that walking all over the city makes me lack exercise. Getting to Lake Gardens on Sunday was a marathon and a half! And it’s big enough inside as well! The park was beautiful- it was all palm trees and tropical plants and monkeys!! Ended up stumbling across a huge group of monkeys! They were totally adorable! It was so surreal how close they interact beside us humans!

Next stop was the Orchid Garden. It was beautiful. I wandered round there for a while then went to find the actual lake. I passed Masjid Negara, the national mosque, on my way. It was beautiful. It has a sixteen point star made up of tiles coloured different shades of blues and greens. With the backdrop of the forest, it was like a beautiful sapphire shining in the sunlight.

I finally found the lake and the much needed cool wind. It was huge and had lots of sculptures dotted around it, glimmering against the trees. The city was once again visible in the background and I knew I wouldn’t get too lost trying to get out of the Gardens! It was time to put my feet up and relax by the water for a wee while!

That was pretty much my week! I had lots of fun and saw a lot more of the city.