Phone Images

Probably the first picture I took with my phone.

Petaling St.

Downtown KL. I rarely get a chance to go.

The Petronas Towers.

A five star near my house.

Outside the Sheraton, where the ICPU teachers had a Chinese buffet.

Inside the Sheraton.

Did you know you can have pet monkeys here?

Stray cats are everywhere.

My school.

Shertaton banquet hall before the unveiling of Taylor's 10 year mission.

A beach in Penang.

The street beside the big lion in the first photo. This is right near my house.

An ugly picture of the pyramid. You can see a monorail track that never got completed. It's such an eyesore.

The first place I went golfing. A year long membership is about $150 CDN.

One man golf cart.

Your parking spot.

My parking spot.

Before my last taxi ride. 6:45 am.

7:00 am and still waiting.

I'm happy that I got picked up and only had to pay twice the meter rate.

Stray dogs right near my house. They have a healthy fear of man.

I ordered a coke to go. I didn't order a coke in a bag!

I forget what you call these things. My dad has one locked in the storage area. One of my students uses this to stay refreshed.

Anyways, I thought my phone was pretty darn good, but I found that it's a bit out of style. I can't buy an adapter to download pics to the comp. Luckily, one of my students has the old-skool adapter. He was nice enough to lend it to me for the weekend. Thanks Bobby!

My Crew

DJ Juice

Two hitchhikers

Streets, Streets, NYC, NYC, Universe, Universe!

London chillin

Is that Mills?

Rockin it!

Lovely couple

1978 or 2006? Hawks killin it!

I took this picture:)

No comment

Don't mess!

All Photos lifted without permission from http://www.jhodgsonmusic.com/ . Hey Jordan, can you e-mail me those pics from the slideshow on your myspace? Awesome pics, make me want to cry.

Going Out on a Limb. Nacho Libre is a Great Movie!

Since I've seen pretty much every DVD available, I thought I'd scrape the bottom of the barrel and give Nacho Libre a try. I have aways hated Jack Black. I think he is a cheap Chris Farley rip off. Anyways, the movie was excellent. I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in a long time. I'd like to dress up as a Mexican wrestler for hallowen. I think it may be hard to get the mask.

Happy Deepavali

I should be on a beach in Langkawi right now, but I'm broke and have too much work to do. I figured I'd make the best of it here in KL. I'd write more, but I'm not feeling well AGAIN!!!

Happy Deepavali!

Cost of Living in KL

Here is a breakdown of the cost of living in Kuala Lumpur. If you are considering teaching here, use this as a guide to decide if your school is giving you a fair deal. Malaysia's currency is called the Ringgit. I call it the Blinggit. 100 Ringgits equals about $30 CDN. For most things, I'd say a ringgit buys you about the same as a dollar. The three exceptions are cars, houses, and beer.

Income tax

For any teacher it shouldn't go above 10%. 10% would be for the top of the pay scale at an international school.

Accommodation

Unfurnished basic (ghetto) apartment: RM 500-600

Master bedroom fully furnished: RM 250-300

Nice condo in nice area: RM 2,000-2,500

Two story townhouse (older): RM 800-1,000

Newer style townhouse: Over RM 1,000. Depends how nice and what area.

Taxi

Basic fare starts are RM 2, but you'll never get the meter rate.

Train

I enjoy taking trains. I took the train from KL to Butterworth, which is where you catch the ferry for Penang. I believe the ticket cost me about RM 40, which is pretty damn cheap for an 8 hour train ride. I had my own bed and slept the whole way.

Bus

I recently to the bus from KL to Lemut, which is where you catch the ferry for Pangkor Island. The bus tickt was RM 19 for four hours. Not too bad.

Food

Lunch or dinner at a Chinese or India restaurant (nothing fancy): RM 6-7

Beer

Big Bottle: RM 12-15 depending on the brand.

Can: RM 6-7

Mug: RM 9-10

Jug: RM 50 (can be cheaper during hh)

Cigarettes

20 Marlboros: RM 7.20

14 Marlboros: RM 5.00

Pirated DVD

Street seller: RM 10

Petaling Street RM8

Gas

RM 1.50 per litre

A Dangerous Situation (Once Again, Family Members Don't Read)

As I was leaving for work Thursday morning I had to leave my bike on the kickstand for a moment in order to lock my gate. The bike fell over and oil and gas started to leak. On the way to work my bike started to clunk out in top gear. I figure I'd needed to go get it repaired. However, the gas and oil didn't leak for the rest of the day. The ride home was fine, but I was never in top gear.

I took the bike out later that night to go back to my school. On my way home, my bike completely gave out while I was in the fast lane of the highway. I managed to pull over just because my bike was still rolling, but with no power. Luckily, there was a gap in traffic and I was ok.

The problem was that I ran out of gas. My bike's gas gauge doesn't work. I was also lucky that there was a gas station about 100 meters away. Since it only costs about $1 CDN to keep the tank full, I'm not going to test my luck again.

Verbal Lashing from Golf Pro

I went to the local driving range to blow off some steam. The local pro came to talk to me and try to get me to take some lessons. Here are the exact words he used to describe my skills:

- "Pathetic"

- "The worst I've ever seen."

- "You're wasting your time."

- "I can't watch you any more or I'll be sick."

Thanks for the advice!

A Cool Day in Malaysia

I just got back from Genting Highlands. Genting is a town in the clouds. It's cool all year round. There is an amusement park and a casino. I went for the casino, but they wouldn't let me in because I was wearing some "loud" shorts. Anyways, it's probably for the best since I'm broke after buying the bike. I went on some cool rides at the park. The drop zone was crazy. I have decided that I will never go skydiving.

Why am I alone in every picture on this blog?

Driving in Malaysia (Family Members Please Don't Read)

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060925/3/2qe4k.html

A Nice Artifact

A nice student in period two gave me a great surprise. He is from Palestine. He asked me what my full name was, so I told him. At the end of class he gave me this. It's my name in Arabic. I keep a teaching portfolio and this just got added.

Thanks

TEFL Scam Hits Malaysia

The original intent of this blog was to inform ESL teachers what it's like teaching in Malaysia. It's very hard to find info on the topic. As you can see from my pictures, I'm enjoying myself a great deal.

This article was sent to me by a fellow blogger: http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/Tuesday/Hotnews/20061003120159/Article/index_html.

It's a classic scam that teachers need to be aware of. Honestly, I don't know what the people who fell for it were thinking. If you earned RM25,160 per month, you'd be living in a palace and driving a new Benz. I don't know of any teachers in the world who are pulling in that kind of money?

Anyways, check out http://www.teachers-international.com/wordpress/ . This Guy is much better at covering TEFL topics than I am.

It's About Time

The taxi drivers here in Malaysia have been driving me so crazy that I just had to buy a scooter. When I lived in Korea, I had a Vespa style scooter. Once I bought the scooter in Korea, I enjoyed myself much more. Here in Malaysia, I've been pretty much trapped in my community for three months. The only problem is that it is a manual and I've only ever driven automatics. I made it home in once piece. The key challenge for me will be to get past the roundabout between my house and my school. I got through it today.

Malaysia Beats China for Shopping

When I first arrived, my students claimed that Malaysia was the pirated goods capital of the world. I had trouble believing it because I have been to Thailand a couple of times. I also lived next to Shanghai for a year. Now I realise that on a per capita basis, Malaysia is the champion. Petaling Street has a much wider variety of pirated goods than any market I've been to. I've also determined that pirated goods are much cheaper than Thailand or China. Officially, Mr. St.Germain does not endorse the purchase of pirated goods. I simply visit these areas to browse.

On the other hand, I do live near the Sunway Pyramid. Today I was pleasantly surprise to see that they opened a new store call "Outlet Bazaar". I bought four pairs of Abercrombie shorts and two golf shirts for about $30. Factory Outlet Store (F.O.S.) and The Reject Shop are two other stores I frequent. I also picked up my golf clubs at the Pyramid. The Pyramid also has all the expensive stuff you could possibly want.

Taman Negara

For some reason Taylor's College decided to send all of their employees on a trip to one of four destinations. My first pick was to go to a beautiful beach and just relax, but I was late in submitting my request so I got my second choice. I got to go on a jungle trekking adventure in Taman Negara. Taman Negara is a virgin rainforest. Tiger, elephants and black panthers roam around in this national park. For some reason, I have become a jungle trekking expert. I have been on four jungle treks in the past two years. Here are my rankings.

1. North Eastern Cambodia (Forget the name of the place). Way off the tourist trail. We hooked the whole thing up ourselves. We saw some tribal people returning from a hunt with the greatest bow and arrow set I've ever seen. Sandra said they should be in a museum. I'll never forget that.
2. Taman Negara is great. I may go back again and do some things I didn't have time to do on this trip.
3. Chang Mai Thailand. Pretty touristy, but we had a great guide and the food was awesome. Visiting the hill tribes is a bit weird (seems like a freak show). The bamboo rafting was awesome.
4. Phuket Tailand. This was my first jungle trek and even at that time I felt it was lame. We rode on elephants, but you could tell that they lived in misery.

Note: The photo of me on that bridge was one of the scariest experiences of my life. It's the longest bridge of it's kind in the world. Crossing it took about 20 minutes. Whenever I looked down I almost fainted. I've always been afraid of heights and this just made things worse.

Student Creativity

My students are currently working on international business plans. Part of it includes developing mamangement profiles. I encouraged them to use their creativity and this is what happens!
I'd also like to add that the same student who did this is responsible for the security violation post.

Back to the Nam

I went to Vietnam in 2004. I had a great time. I was only there for seven days. I explored the area around Saigon. Last week I booked a ticket to visit Hanoi during Chinese New Year. I believe that's the same things as Tet. Anyways, if you didn't know, Air Asia basically gives away tickets. The taxes and fees are more expensive than the actual ticket. I look like a weirdo in the picture with Ho.

In other news, my blog reached 1,000 hits yesterday. Today it's at about 1,060.
Total advertising revenue has reached a whopping $2.18.

Must Audioblog!

I want to master the blogosphere. I'm currently exporing the audioblog feature, but my phone won't call the number they supply. Anyone have any tips on how to add music or a better background?

Assalamu Alaikum

My Classroom

I teach four sections of Introduction to International Business. Most teachers share a classroom, but I got lucky and have my own. I can decorate it any way I want. It has a nice projector and I use Power Point everyday. The student have taught me a thing or two about how to make nice Power Point presentations. My class sizes range from 29-32, which is maximum capacity. I also keep my classroom chilly by blasting the a/c.

Back in Action

I didn't swing a golf club for two years while I was teaching in Asia. I returned home and went out about once a week when the weather was nice. I didn't really go to the range and practice so I constanly sucked. Malaysia's weather is perfect for golfing all year round.

I picked up a set of clubs for RM 800 ($250 CDN). The range is a three minute walk from my house. I can hit 100 balls for $3 CDN. My co-worker goes golfing at a course close to our school. The price is about $20 CDN with a cart. I should be hitting the links this weekend.

Security Violation

My blog has been exposed! Iron Maiden rulez!!!!!!!!! BTW, that's Eddie in Canada.