Last Days
      

Sunday, July 25, 2004

I really must get organised and start some sort of preliminary packing.  Like what to throw out, and what to take home.  Trouble is, what I want to take home probably won’t fit in one suitcase, so I’m putting off doing anything about it.  It must be said I really only work well when under pressure, so maybe Wednesday is the day to do all that stuff.

***

Today, it was back over to the boys’ toys supermarket, the technology dreamworld, Low Yat. 

We’ve decided on the new lap top computer we want; now the trick is to buy it after David technically finishes work here, so it can be part of an Australian salary-sacrifice pre-tax arrangement.  (Obviously, if he’s paying Malaysian, not Australian, tax at the time of the purchase, it can’t be an Australian tax deduction). So, if he finishes on a Wednesday evening, he has to make sure his company IWO (I think that stands for International Work Order) specifies that Wednesday finishing date for Malaysia; then, he can buy the lap top on the Thursday morning when back on the Australian payroll, before catching a flight home that evening. 

Monday, July 26

Ditto the first sentence of yesterday’s diary.  Can’t get started.

***

Some sad laugher over a letter to the SMH this morning:

'The mystery source of John Howard and Alexander Downer's foreign policy has finally been solved.

It is not from the bowels of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, nor Colin Powell's list of instructions for subservient governments. The source was revealed in the weekend Herald, page 43 to be precise.

Hagar says to Lucky Eddy: "In our business you have to destroy the enemy before it destroys you." Lucky Eddy then asks: "What if the other guy isn't even trying to destroy you?"

To which Hagar replies: "That's the chance you have to take."'

(later)

Packing is a nightmare.  I have done a preliminary packing  - and the suitcase is full before I even put in any clothes.

A quick phone call to Austrian Airlines told me that their excess baggage charge is RM 265RM for each kilo over the 20kg limit – that’s about $A90 for each little kilo!   So there goes my idea of taking a bag full of books home (and this is after I have already donated half of them to the bookshelves at The Olive).  I’m stymied – don’t know what to do.

***

This afternoon, it was one last shopping expedition to MidValley, to get a couple of (very small) items for Jenny and friends back in Oz.  The credit card was given a thorough working over.

Tonight, we’re having a couple of Dave’s younger colleagues to dinner, to use up that last of my dwindling grocery supplies.  When I’m gone, DB certainly won’t bother cooking at all….

Tuesday, July 27

Another phone call to Austrian airlines - and this time, I’m told the excess baggage rate is only RM65 for each kilo, not 265 (obviously, I was a victim of the communication barrier), and that’s a big improvement.  Still, overnight we decided it would be better to use a freight forwarding service which is quoting only RM17 a kilo.  That’s much more like it!  Although it does mean I have to pick it up from Customs in Sydney – but I’ll worry about those logistics when I get home.

***

I’m not quite counting down the hours until I’m home, but that’s only because I don’t have a real head for numbers, unlike one company bloke I heard about yesterday.  This guy, a Brit I think, was telling another new arrival from Pommieland how to convert ringgits to pounds sterling. 

“Just divide by 6½”, he said.

“That’s a bit hard to do in my head”, the newcomer objected.

“Well, just divide by 13 and then multiply by 2,” was the next helpful suggestion.  He makes it sound easy, doesn’t he?

***

My time here is winding down in a low-key fashion – a quiet night in tonight, as a visiting bigwig from the US has called a business dinner for key personnel (which doesn’t include me!).

And tomorrow night, the same bod wants some sort of briefing, which will also claim DB’s attention, so I am going to have dinner with Dave’s replacement’s wife, who is also at a loose end here.

Almost an anti-climax, really, going out with a whimper, not a bang.

Wednesday, July 28

The last diary entry…..

DB struggled in at some ungodly hour this morning (I am really, really pleased I didn’t go to the dinner last night!).  Work could be a problem for him today, plus he seems to be coming down with a cold.

Packing is finished (sort of), the excess stuff has been picked up by the freight company, and all that remains is for me to get a relatively early night and set the alarm for 2am, to catch the 5.25am flight.

***

Things I’m going to miss (in no particular order):

  • The heat/warmth of KL, mainly in view of the winter weather back home.

  • The cheap cost of living here.

  • The equanimity of KL’s taxi drivers – despite the often chaotic traffic, road rage is virtually unknown here. You want to push into a line of traffic with no warning?  Go right ahead, be my guest.

  • The enchanting view from our apartment windows of that beautiful building, the Petronas Towers.

  • Daily housemaid service.

  • Dining out several evenings a week. (The early months of evening meals with Michael and Randall  will be among my especially pleasant memories – but Michael has been back in Brisbane for more than a month, and there are now increasing numbers of incoming new staff here.)

Highlight of the year?

  • Our travels all over and outside the country, most notably the trip to Cambodia.  Absolutely memorable.

Regrets?  Only a few:

  • That I didn’t make a serious effort to learn the local language, Bahasa Melayu.

  • That we didn’t organise a visit to Vietnam, or much closer still, to the eastern Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

  • That I never did get around to doing a Malay cooking course.

What I’m not looking forward to:

  • Newcastle’s winter weather.

  • Hearing/seeing John Howard every night on TV (that will be a real problem, from which we’ve had a wonderful respite).

  • The cost of living back home.

What will be good:

  • Having a car to drive around in.

  • Watching a Knights’ home game – even if they are now contenders for the wooden spoon.

  • Walking around our own house, with its verandah and backyard.

  • An easily accessible library.

  • Believe it or not, “decent” TV  (I haven’t switched on the set here for several weeks).

  • And obviously and most importantly, being closer to friends and family.  That says it all, really.