Selamat Datang

No amount of poetry would describe that feeling of flying out on that cold Perth morning, not because it was September 11 but because of the adventure that was about to begin.

The activity at the start of this adventure are two internships, one with a policy insitiute and another with the Australian High Commission. It is a programme organised but the Australian Federal Government to get students engaging with Asia.

While saying goodbye to Perth is easy, saying ciao to the goast of homesickness and culture shock is a little harder. Thank goodness my Malaysian SIM card wouldn't let me ring home and chats with other backpackers soon helped to send this homesicknss ghost packing.

After his departure, a quick tour of the local area with a fellow visiter was the order of the day. The National Mosque, Islamic Arts Museum and the old railway station were all visited and admired.

As the weekend drew to a close and Monday rolled around, a visit to the Australian High Commission for an orientation briefing remined me of my reason for being here. Soon, the much anisipated first day dawned where there my mind soon started growing with a new facts about Malaysia.

One of my first tasks was to attend a CSR and Sustainabilty Summit which was an interesting introduction into the organisation's work as well as where Malaysia is at in this area.

People new to KL are always struck by the multicultural mix of its citizens and how Malay, Chinese and Indians all live side by side. While such a food being central to all cultures, Malaysians are famous for its love of eating. Not only food is thought about a great deal but it is often the first question that you get asked is if have you eaten. The minute I soon started think about what I was going to have for dinner soon after breakfast, which is a sign (so I am told) of being more like a local.

Looking back on my first 10 days I am filled with excitment about where I'll be living for the next three months. Having been inspired to explore more the South East Asian region I can see that it will be an oriental express of tastes, sights and smalls as well as an adventure of a life time.