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I went parasailing in Penang. It was great fun. There is nothing like it. I was hesitant and apprehensive at first when the guy was telling me about it. I told him I would come back.  I was worried about my passport and other important things in my pouch. But I went back to the hotel and left everything, finished my shopping and went back to the beach at 6 p.m. Nobody was parasailing then. So, they gave me the instructions for take off and landing, had me put a life

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Of course Malaysia is a beautiful country especially the islands. The weather is hot and humid. I found it suffocating. But I always remind myself of Riyadh weather which is even hotter but dry. I have not gone anywhere outside KL not even within KL. But I will inshalla. Everything is cheap here: food, clothes, shoes, even taxis and trains. Sizes are too small even for me. I also do not like the quality. I love their tropical fruits. Our fruits and vegetables that they sell here are either tasteless or taste different and are mostly imported from the US or Australia. Milk, chicken, and meat also taste different. They have a lot of Chinese and Japanese vegetables but I do not know what they are or how to cook them. They have lots of sushi restaurants. You see all kinds of sushi passing on a small conveyer belt. You can also buy fresh sushi at the grocery store. I like to browse when at the grocery store, b
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I am much better than before, but my flu is not over. I had to go see a doctor because I was feeling something in my chest and did not want the flu to develop into bronchitis or pneumonia. I also went to an orthopedist yesterday as my right knee has been hurting me and I feel pain in the soles of my feet when I wake up in the morning since I got to Malaysia. In addition, I stumbled in the department store while leaving the fitting room. The edge of the trash basket hit the side of my painful knee so hard and the following day the whole knee area was painful and I was unable to walk or even go down a couple of steps. But since I have a long experience with bone and muscles problems and injuries, I took 2 muscle relaxants and rubbed it with voltaren emulgel before I went to bed and in the morning there was no trace of the pain. When the doctor examined my knee and the sole of my feet, he said th
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In 2002, I went to Malaysia as a visiting professor at the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur (KL). The first week I stayed at a hotel close to KLCC (City Center). Since I was planning to live in KL for 7 months, I needed to rent a furnished apartment either close to the university, which is in the northern outskirts of KL, or close to the Putra Subway Line to make it easy for me to commute to the university. I searched the newspapers for housing ads. Whenever I called for an apartment, a Chinese or Indian landlord/landlady would answer and either tell me that the apartment was gone or ask for a rent higher than that mentioned in the paper. The owners or landlords I called were rough and tried to take advantage of me as they could easily tell that I was a foreigner. Almost 2 weeks were gone without finding an apartment. My colleagues at the university were also helping in the search for an apartment. The hotel bellman recommended an apartment in a condominium behind the hotel. A colleague of mine recommended another one (Fajaria Condominium) that was 15 minutes far from KLCC along the Putra LRT and gave me the landlord’s phone number.

I looked at the apartment at the condominium and it was a very nice and cozy one bedroom apartment and I really liked it. It was about 2400 riyals per month in addition to the utilities. The other apartment was a three-bedroom apartment and was not as nice and was noisy as it was by the highway.

I visited the condominium 3 times, talked to Lily, the Chinese manager in the rental office, seemed to be nice, she served me tea and cookies, and stayed after hour to chat with me. After reading the lease and asking questions about it. I told Lily that I liked the apartment and would like to rent it for 7 months. She told me that I needed to pay 2-months deposit, one month advance payment and one thousand for the utilities (about 9000 riyals). She added that I had to pay the whole amount in cash. She refused the credit card payments and traveler’s checks. She told me they would clean the apartment and it would be ready at 2 p.m. on Friday. I asked my colleagues at the university for advise as I did not know anything about the renting procedures in Malaysia. Dr Ismail told me that I needed to sign a lease and that the landlord should register it at the Puduraya (Municipality) and affix stamps on it.

It took me several days to withdraw the money from the bank because I could only withdraw a limited amount per day and only one bank accepted my ATM card. I walked around KL with the cash money in my purse and was worried I might get pick-pocketed. Friday morning, I checked out of the hotel, asked the bellman to store my luggage until 2 p.m., and went to the bank to withdraw the last sum of money around 1 p.m. While I was crossing Ampang Road, I had strange feelings. I was uncomfortable and was afraid of being robbed down the street. I was walking down the street and looking around.

At 2 p.m. I went to the condominium to sign the lease, pay the money and get the apartment. When I arrived at the office, Lily was not there. I felt more uncomfortable. The secretary told me Lily was eating lunch. I told her that I had an appointment at 2. In few minutes, Lily came and she was chewing. She asked me to fetch my luggage from the hotel until she finishes her lunch.

I went back to the hotel which was about 100 meters away twice and dragged 2 pieces of

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