Malaysia
Passport and visa story
Malaysia, so called true Asia, is the first country I went abroad in my life. It was a winter in 1999, Shanghai was already very cold and I was informed to go Kula Lumpur for CMS/Lotus Notes training.
There was no more than ten days left, I even didn't have passport yet. No one can easily get a passport that time. Even for the application form, you have to have a invitation letter from foreign company, a introduction letter from the archive holder, which normally was a state owned company. After that, you need fill the application form, get the archive holder chopped that application form means that the company let you go. It looked like the company has the ownership of the employees, a very bad feeling.
Shanghai Foreign Service Company, which is my archive holder, had a related company, which did service for getting passport and visa. The official period will be two to three work week to get the passport, and the company can get the passport in one week. It was said that the son in law of the director of Shanghai Foreign Affair owned the service company, which was why they can do the job so quickly. All the employees for Shanghai Foreign Service Company have to go through that related company to get the passport. The price was 200 RMB, several times higher than the normal price.
Even though, I need faster service. There was only less than
ten days left, and I need get Malaysia Visa also. Even worse,
Malaysia only had consulates in Beijing and Guangzhou can issue
business visa that means I had to fly
Beijing or Guangzhou after I got my passport.
Eventually, I got the passport in three days through my “powerful” friends after paid 2oo RMB to that service company. I mailed my passport to FCS Guangzhou through EMS. Ned Quistorff, the PCO of FCS Guangzhou, sent the passport to Malaysia Consulate in Guangzhou by himself and got the visa. I flew to Guangzhou that morning, got my passport and visa back and flew to Kuala Lumpur that afternoon.
I went there with the same flight of two Guangzhou colleagues. We took cab to the Mandarin Oriental hotel. I had no any idea of Kuala Lumpur, which I knew before I went there is the famous Twin Tower and hot weather.
I didn't see the twin tower that night. I decided the first thing I will do at the next day was to look for the Twin Tower.
Next morning, I woke up and open the window frame. I found that the Twin Tower is just there about 200 meters away. The Twin Tower was really high; Shanghai didn't have Jin Mao Tower that time.
We had training in the hotel for three days. I didn't go anywhere at daytime. Bill Lawton, Huang Zhiqiang and I went to Chinatown free market after supper. I bought a Seven Years in Tibet video CD, which Sam and I wanted to watch it for a longtime.
The only thing I still remember is that the weather was really hot. I even cancelled my following trip and escaped to Hong Kong.
First time visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1999.
Second time visit Malaysia
This is my second time to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is also the first time I did OCIO (Office of Chief Information Officer) Windows 2000 network upgrading by myself only.
Malaysia isn't the place I like, so I set the itinerary end at Friday. It was not only I can avoid weekend in Malaysia, but also I can get more per diem.
I felt Kuala Lumpur didn't change anything in the past three years. I could still recognize the street and shops there. Bill Zarit arranged me stay at Regent Hotel. It was a very good hotel at the best location, but it was also the only five stars hotel without broadband connection in Kula Lumpur. I had to buy the Internet dial-up card to access Internet.
There are three racers in Malaysia. Indian, they are very smart, lazy and dirty. I even met a cab driver can talk about the mathematic with me. Indian are famous of their bad smell. And I did feel they are very lazy. I remembered that I asked an Indian to move something for me, once the first item moved; the person will just stay there. He won't move if you didn't tell him to move the next item. Malay, they are very clean, honest and slow. I don't want to say they are stupid, but slow is a word to kind for them. Chinese, they are very hardworking, smart and bad. I still remember my experiences for taking cab. If the driver is a Chinese; he normally will ask more than the meter.
Batu Cave
Click here to read the details of Batu Cave.
I and CS Kuala Lumpur SA, in the server room. U.S. Embassy in Malaysia.
Twin Tower.
Twin Tower.
At National Islamic Museum.
At National Mosque.
At Kuala Lumpur railway station (old).
