Arriving in Malaysia was a bit of a blur since it was almost 3am. It was too dark to scope out the scenery on the bus ride from the airport to our hotel. The next morning, waking up for breakfast was my first impression although until I could explore outside, all I could gather was the bed was comfy, there are tall buildings outside, and the continental breakfast had a lot of options. After sitting and eating for hours, I went back to my room to meet my roommate who had finally arrived since ETAs were still arriving in shifts. B, my roommate, and I decided to go on a 3 hour exploration (or what it ended up being) wandering around the city to pretend to remember where we went along the way to get the lay of the land around KL. We discovered lots of cool locations such as a Bank park with interesting benches and quotes, walked by the famous Petronas Twin Towers, stumbled upon a craft village, among many other things. We almost got lost but tall buildings were helpful landmarks to find your way back to your also tall hotel building.
I tried some local food after an extremely way too long nap. Chicken Rice. So good! They use chicken stock/broth to flavor and soften the rice then serve it with chicken. Very moist, flavorful- yum! The foot court before the Pavillion (mall) right near us is where I tried this treasure. They have an amazing selection of food with almost any Asian cuisine as well as some Western food (Italian).
Today was our first day of orientation which meant information overload and the inspiration for the title of this post. The hotel manager gave us safety instructions in case of an emergency during one segment of today’s informational sessions. This included many topics such as how to respond when alarms go off and if there is a fire to try to “fight the fire” yourself first before seeking other help. I feel like this is a great metaphor for this next year of experience to come. It will be better try to to battle out the tougher situations or social obstacles I might encounter before allowing defeat. There will be many, many exciting times also met with challenges. This is a year to grow and learn which I intend to do. We were told many times today that you will mess up, say something offensive accidentally, have a lesson flop, or meet other failures; it is all a part of the growing experience. Tomorrow we may find out our states and Thursday our placements. KL Malaysia adventure today, more surprises tomorrow!
(Christmas set up outside Pavillion, so festive here in KL).
On My Malay Way 