The Settling In Continues

It has been a few interesting, and busy, days since my last blog post.

When I left you last, we had taken delivery of our washing machine.  The installer put it in and hooked it up, it looked fine and we couldn't wait to use it.  In went the first load, with great ceremony, and the machine was started.  When checked several hours later it had halted in the spin cycle and remained full of water. Hmmm... Back to the instructions we went (those usually undecipherable writings to be referenced when all else fails). Started over, same result. Called shop, installer would be by to check, shop called, installer would not be by, we would deal with next day.

Meanwhile, we were seeking some furniture for the apartment (here it's called an apartment, back home it would be called a condo). Cynthia had a severe lack of storage space in her room so we were looking for a wardrobe cabinet for her.  After visiting several furniture shops we were very disappointed, in both the quality of material and the empathy of the sales staffs. Then, as with the electrical shop, we received a recommendation for a furniture guy. Off we went to visit Andrew. Success plus! We got not one, but two different wardrobe cabinets for Cynthia, one for hanging clothes and one with many shelves. Then we spotted a china cabinet for the dining room. Bonus. Extra bonus, all for only RM1100 (Cdn$385), free delivery same day as ordering.

Now back to the washing machine saga. In the morning off we went to the electrical shop, arriving just after 9am. Not open yet, what should we do.

Ahh, as any good Malaysian would do we looked around for food, seeing a small Malay coffee shop, looking less than pristine. We will try there. Seeing as how it was morning the menu was fairly limited. Kim had mee-rebus and I had mee-rojak.  Both were absolutely delicious and the people there very friendly. We have learned not to judge any place by it's appearance, and this was proven once again.

While eating we determined that the electrical shop didn't open until 11am so we decided that we would travel down the road to the Lui-chew Cemetery and visit Kim's grandmother and grandfather. Kim's first visit there in over twenty years. We spent quite a while there, driving up to the very top of the cemetary (four-wheel drive comes in handy) and looking out over the city. It was an emotional time for both of us, however very peaceful as well.

Back to the electrical shop, had a nice visit with the boss there.  We do really like the staff and have no complaints with them.  While there they arranged for a maintenance person to look at the washing machine and we picked up a countertop induction hob for the apartment. (Hob - Collins English Dictionary definition - (British) the flat top part of a cooking stove, or a separate flat surface, containing hotplates or burners). More on these items later.

Next stop was Tesco.  This multinational retailer, headquartered in England, is kind of like a cross between Walmart and CostCo.  It is a huge place with pretty much everything one might want. Good prices, extra benefits for members, and good quality products. Their big competitor is Aeon Jusco. Aeon is a Japanese company that operates shopping centres across Asia, with their retailer Jusco as the primary anchor. Jusco has similar member benefits and so on to Tesco.

Upon returning home, the maintenance guy arrives to look at the washing machine.  Simple fix, it seems that the machine does not have a pump to remove the water, but rather drains by gravity, hence re-positioning the hose solves the problem. This is common with all top-loading machines. Unfortunately the installer appears not to have been aware of this wee detail. anythewho, we were happy and maintenance guy had an easy task.

Then came learning how to use the induction hob. Easy to use, takes up little counter space and is extremely efficient, we really like it. Again, happiness.

Enough for now, long lost cousins in the next post.  Until then, enjoy.