Setting up office at home.

If you are planning to set up an office in your home one of the places to go and get your IT equipment from is Low Yat here in Kuala Lumpur. But don't make the same mistake as us and buy the Brother fax/printer/scanner model MFC-J415W. It will cost you an arm and a leg in toner cartridges!! Is it just this model or are all home desk top printers ink guzzlers??! I have hardly done any printing (15 pages at most) and within 2 months of purchase we had to go out and purchase some more teeny toner cartridges that cost 40 ringit each. There are cheaper toners on offer but they involve refilling your cartridge casing with ink using a syringe! Messy and prone to leaking which can end up costing you buying a whole new printer.
I unfortunately, cannot offer at this point a printer I would recommend so please take this as a warning of what not to buy!
All your views and advice are welcome so please leave a comment or drop me an email. I will post this to the Low Yat forum as well. The Low Yat forum is a good place for you to check out what others are saying in the KL techy world.
Link to Lowyat Forum

P.S: A helpful samaritan on the Low Yat Forum suggested buying a Laser printer instead. Make or model was not mentioned.

Avoid buying this printer/fax at all costs!!

Leadership Training, Executive Transition Coach, Cross-Cultural Training, NLP practitioners Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Moving abroad can be stressful and may leave you extremely vulnerable. In my previous blog entry I gave all the tips that helped me when I moved to Malaysia from London. You can find them here:
Tips for Moving abroad

However, if you are very anxious and need to talk to someone about it, I would highly recommend a wonderful lady called Louise Legat who is a Life Coach and has a speciality in helping people through transitions and moving abroad.

If you are bored, frustrated, lifeless, feeling stuck, don't know the next steps in your life, then I would recommend you speak to an NLP practitioner. Sounds scary? Not to worry, they are wonderful people and have some incredible skills that will get you feeling motivated and ready to move on with your life and towards your goals.

NLP is also extremely effective when it comes to changing people's behaviours and the culture in a company. Particular results are achieved in Leadership Programmes and Culture Transition Programmes.

Transition/Moving abroad Coaching: contact Louise Legat:

Website: http://coaching.positiveenergy.ch/
Blog: http://www.louiselegat.com/
Email: louise@positiveenergycoaching.com
Swiss mobile: (+41) 0788 152 161
UK mobile: (+44) 07974 642 145

NLP Coaches and Cross Cultural practitioners in South East Asia:

Erika Zechner on 019 221 2075
Website: http://www.blueprintfive.com/
Sharmini Hensen on 012 391 2272
Website: http://www.sharminihensen.com/

Leadership and Soft Skills Training Programmes:

Website: http://www.blueprintfive.com/

Herbal Medicine and All Natural, Organic Cafe in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I am extremely interested in how different countries use plants and herbs for medicine, teas and cooking. So I was so pleased when I was introduced to Joe. Joe runs a Nature Cafe, in Sunway Damansara. You can find him in the complex just before the Carrefour. For new comers, Sunway Damansara is located between The Curve (Ikea) and Tropicana Medical Centre, diagonally opposite Tropicana Golf and Country Resort.

The Nature Cafe is brilliant and gives you an insight into the healthy world of living with nature. All of Joe's products are harvested wild and he puts all of his nutritious, organic ingredients together to create traditional dishes with a modern twist. If you do not have time for a sit down meal, just grab a fresh fruit juice on your way to work or boost your metabolism and virility with one of Joe's traditional root teas.
All of the furniture in Joe's cafe is hand made from wood with a specific design to ensure you can sit comfortably for hours and improve your posture.
Joe also stocks herbs that you can purchase and make your own teas at home. (E.g.) Tongat Ali and Kacip Fatimah.

Passionate about Malaysia and preserving all that is natural, Joe can talk for hours about plants. So if you are on a search for answers, have a good long chat with him and he will be able to point you in the right direction.

If you are looking for something new and different or want to revitalise your energy by reconnecting with all things natural, go visit Joe!!

De Fine Nature Cafe
No. 16, Jalan PJU 5/5
Dataran Sunway
PJU Kota Damansara
47810 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 0123362214  or from abroad +6 0123362214

For Map click here

Need more storage space? Buy a wall mounted concertina Clothes Rack

                                  

Having lived in the UK, I am used to living in a small flat. So it was so wonderful to move into our flat in KL with all it's extra space and views! As the unpacking continued it was strange to find out that we actually didn't have quite enough cupboard space. My stuff started to spill over into the guest room cupboard which was a no no. 1st solution was to buy some new cupboards either from a Teak furniture shop or Ikea. 2nd solution was to utilise the store room better. (I know, I am spoilt for space here!)
It became a mission to find a strong enough clothes rail that I could mount on the wall in the store room.
I have finally found it! It is so versatile because you can store towels above it and hang clothes below it. It is very strong and they come in all different sizes. Alternatively you can also use it outside in your wet kitchen to hang up your clothes to dry. Best of all they are inexpensive and are portable. Easy to take with you when you move!
Prices start at 200 ringit. For more info call 0192212075 or email expatliving@homail.co.uk.

Have a look:

Same Same but slightly different!!

What do you say to this:?

And this:

And finally.......

Which mobile phone service provider to use in Kuala Lumpur?

I am in the process of switching from Celcom to Digi mobile and the good thing is I can keep my number. I am switching from post paid with Celcom to pre paid with Digi. Reason being Celcom's processes don't allow me to switch to pre paid within Celcom. So I need to switch to Digi first and then back to Celcom. Very complicated indeed. So let's see what Digi has to offer: I will most probably just stick with them. I am also curious to see what happens with the deposit I paid to Celcom once I switch over. Their helpline has told me different timescales for the refund : 4-6 months (crazy I know!!) or 3-7 working days.

If you are confused about which service provider to go for have a look at the price comparison table for pre-paid rates via the link below:

Pre-paid rates compared: Digi, Maxis, Celcom and Tune Talk, 2010

6 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur KLIA Airport

I have been recently asked if you can dash into town and see the Petronas Towers if you have a 6 hour layover at the KLIA international airport? The answer is yes. How? Read on....

N:B: Just be aware this is different if your layover is at the other KL airport, LCCT!!

If it rains or you are visiting on a Friday afternoon then avoid cabs as there can be some awful traffic jams that would delay you considerably. Better option below:

1.There is a train from the KLIA airport that takes you straight into KL Sentral (spellt that way)
2. From KL Sentral you can take the LRT(metro) to the station called KLCC.
I recommend the LRT over cabs in case there are traffic jams and you do not want to get caught in one of those!!
3. Calculate 1 hour to get into town and 1 hour to get back using the train and LRT.
4. The train ticket to and from the airport should cost you 70 ringit, divide by 3 to get US dollar equivalent.
LRT ticket one way is about 2-3 ringit. 30 minute journey airport to KL Sentral. and 15-20 minutes by LRT to KLCC. In total budget 80 ringit for transport.
5.There is a huge shopping mall beneath the Petronas towers so maybe budget some money and time for browsing around there and taste a few dishes.

Quick and easy giving you some time to see the centre of KL. Enjoy!