Day 200 in Beijing: Not in Beijing.

200 Days in Beijing.  And San Francisco.  And Healdsburg. And Malaysia. And Sinagpore.

200 Days in Beijing. And Shanghai. And San Francisco. And Healdsburg. And Johor Bahru.  And Kuala Lumpur . And Sinagpore.

It should be day 200 in Beijing for me.

It is not.

I’m in Kuala Lumpur.

Little did I think when I started this blog that I’d even be doing a daily blog that would take me all the places I’ve been to as of today.

A bit of history:  I used to have a blog, a few years ago, where I posted things about my views on life, love and therapy.  I decided that it probably wasn’t the best thing to do since I wasn’t sure I wanted my personal life out there.

However, when I started getting ready to move to Beijing, I decided to do a 14 day countdown for my friends and family that wanted to keep in touch.

When I arrived here I found that I enjoyed it so much I’d attempt to do a blog post for each and every single day of my 3 year contract at my job.

I may stay longer than 3 years but that was my minimum and that is where I wanted to start.

I’m now at 200 days and surprised at how easy it has been to think of something new, and different, each day.

There have been a few tough times where I felt I was losing steam but I asked my readers to give me suggestions and it brought me back to life.

I would like my readers to comment more and tell me what they like and what they want to know as that does excite me and I have more of an idea that people are actually reading my blog.  I would like to think people are reading it and enjoying it but I won’t know unless they tell me.

So, I appreciate, deeply, everyone that writes to me and comments.

It honestly makes me smile each time.

In honor of that, I think Steve Johnson needs a shout out, as we say in the states.

Steve is an old high school friend of mine and has been a one man cheer team for me and my blog.  I think he has “liked” every single post and commented on most of them.

Steve, thank you.  I’m honored and humbled to be your friend and someone that you feel deserves being read.

And, since this blog is mostly about life, love and the pursuit of travel, ending with a thank you to Steve, while visiting Malaysia with Jill, and then living in the same apartment complex as my older brother Robert and his wife and new born son in Beijing, China, while conversing with my family and friends all over the world, do I realize that, in the end,

I am home.

Day 199 in Beijing: Elevator Etiquette.

I posted about the number 4 and the elevators in my building on Day 177.

Keep it clean, kids!

Keep it clean, kids!

Maybe I’m becoming a elevator stalker since this will now be another post about elevators.

We are in Kuala Lumpur and we are enjoying the city a lot.

It is very beautiful, the people are incredibly friendly, and the food is amazing.

We took the elevator up to our apartment and thought this little note made a lot of sense.

Just be respectful, courteous and kind to each other and life will continue quite well.

It is something that Jill and I have noticed about Malaysia: people are incredibly kind and generous.

I’m sure this is also true of China, and we’ve seen it once in a while, but since we don’t speak the language, and most people in Malaysia speak English, generosity seems a way of life here.

We were buying some toiletries we needed.  The cashier asked if we had 5 cents, since it was 29.05 RM (Ringgit Malaysia) but we did not.  A lady, buying her own toiletries, reached over and gave us 5 cents.  This is not a big deal, and it is the kind of thing Jill and I would do also, but this kind of generosity seems to be an everyday occurrence here.

Shiny happy people in a shiny happy mirror!

Shiny happy people in a shiny happy mirror!

Case and point, Alan, who runs the Airbnb apartment we stayed at, took us out to lunch and wouldn’t let us pay.  After trying to convince him to let us pay, we told him we will pay next time and he waved us away.

We also had a few times, last trip here a few months ago, were we would share taxis with people and they would refuse to let us pay.  We did our best to offer to pay them back or take them to dinner but they would often refuse.

One of the couples that helped us out told us, “When I was in American, people helped me.  Now it is my turn to help you in my country.”  They were a muslim couple who were celebrating their 25th anniversary and on the same bus as us when we came into Johor Bahru.  They were too busy to have dinner with us that trip but we will be seeing them again and taking them out this time.

Anyway, the elevator mirrors were spotless and perfectly clean.

As you can see in the reflections.

Day 198 in Beijing: Bye Bye Beijing!

Jill and I have left Beijing!

Well, we’ve left for a vacation, not for good, so don’t worry Beijingers!

We took off at 3:30 AM on Friday morning (Beijing time) and arrived at 10 AM Friday morning (Kuala Lumpur time, which is the same as Beijing time) and have already settled in here in Kuala Lumpur.

It was overcast when we arrived, which is a bit comical since the weather in Beijing is supposed to be terrible during the winter, but so far has been fantastic, and we are now in the tropics, where it should be perfect.  Yes, that was quite possibly the longest run on sentence, in history, but I’m on vacation, so forgive me please.  Editing, after going for a swim in the pool, is not my strong point.

We were picked up by Alan, who runs the Airbnb apartment where we are staying at, and dropped everything off at the apartment.  After doing that, he took us on a tour of the neighborhood and there are so many amazing restaurants and bars we new we were in the right place.  There is about 20 different types of restaurants serving different cuisines that we wish we were staying longer and know we will be back after being here for only 4 hours.  Alan has to be the nicest guy ever and a wonderful host!

After the tour, we went to lunch at Saravanaa Bhavan and then Jill and I took a very nice long nap.

We just woke, went for a swim, and are now going to check out the restaurants and bars right by our apartment.

An absolutely perfect way to start a weekend, and a long vacation.

I hope you all are having as nice of a Friday as we are having!