Malaysia!

It was a very nice ride from the airport to our hotel. I was quite amazed at the beauty and infrastructure in Malaysia, and started wondering why it was taking India so long to get to this level. One of the monuments caught my attention, and I asked the driver about it. He told me it was a mosque (it was quite big for a mosque), and also mentioned that Malaysia is 70% Muslims. My first learning about this country.

As we neared Kuala Lumpur (I also realized that there are more 'u's than 'a's in KL), the twin towers became visible. In fact the towers are so tall, that they were visible from almost any part of the city - including our hotel room, from where we had a very nice view. I was quite intrigued by a green arrow on the ceiling of our hotel room, but when I saw a similar one in another hotel room, I could figure it out myself. The arrow must be pointing to Mecca, to help Muslims align themselves for their prayers - how thoughtful! (I confirmed this one only after coming to India though).

The local cuisine was mostly sea food and you could smell it from quite a distance. After some hunting around, we decided to catch a taxi and asked the driver to take us to a good Indian restaurant. The driver was apparently Chinese, but to our utter delight, he suggested Saravana Bhavan, and that too with impeccable pronunciation! We treated ourselves to some authentic Indian food and coffee. Otherwise, coffee in Malaysia is quite boring. Apparently Teh Tarik ('pulled' tea) is more famous. But, the one I had at the airport, tasted more like a chocolate drink. However, tultimate treat to our taste buds was at Annalakshmi restaurant, which had a very calm ambiance with mellowed lights, classical music, and the occasional clink of cutlery on plates. It was an all you can eat buffet and pay as you wish.

Malaysia was a very interesting mix of India and US. The roads were like US, but the driving was like India :-) One could drive anywhere on the road as long as there is space to squeeze your vehicle in, and park almost anywhere too. And yes, on a busy street you can hear enough honks. People could smoke just about anywhere. At a bus stop, at restaurants, inside a mall, at theme parks, and even in Underwater World! I just realized what a good move it was to ban smoking in public places in India.

Apart from the twin towers, there appeared to be not much in KL There were a few other places of interest, but the highlight of our city tour definitely was the National Mosque. It was my first ever entry into a mosque. And the ladies were allowed too - provided they wear some kind of robe or scarf over their dress - and unlike what you might imagine, the robe and scarf were not black. There was a choice of pink and light blue. In fact, the head scarf was quite a fashionable accessory for many of the local women. There were not many people around at the mosque and I really enjoyed the calmness - just as in a Temple or Church (when they are not crowded). The main prayer area was breathtaking.

I first thought it was a spelling mistake or someones ignorance when our hotel address said 'KL Sentral'. But I soon realized that it was not Central, but Sentral everywhere! And my surprise soon turned to amazement when I started noticing some of the other words on road signs and other banners. I'm sure you'll recognize some of these. Teksi, Tol, Tiket, Telefon, Notis, Stasen, Klinik, Polis. They have actually simplified the spelling! :-)

Check my Facebook profile for photos : http://www.facebook.com/bhaskarns.

Sold our Mangalore flat

Yesterday, we finally sold our Mangalore flat. What a feeling it is!! No flat, no more worries on what shape it would be in, no more reminders or follow-ups on maintenance or electricity bills, no loan nor EMIs, and no more calls with brokers or buyers ... :-)

But it has been significant work on negotiating the price, brokerage, payment terms, arranging for a whole bunch of documents (whose need we hardly knew before), fixing the registration date, travel to Mangalore, collecting so many documents from the bank, builder, broker and society, and the entire process of document verification and registration, settling final accounts, handing over the flat keys, and finally getting back to Bangalore in one piece.

We now know a whole lot more about Sale Agreement, Sale Deed, Khata, Encumbrance Certificate, Property Tax, Occupancy Certificate, and Land Documents. Selling a flat is definitely a very different experience compared to buying one, especially if you bought it from a builder, where you may not be informed, involved, or worried about getting these documents. Now it is time to worry about these documents for our Bangalore flat!

At the same time, it is sad that the flat that we built almost 'brick by brick' is no longer ours - each tile, each door or cabinet, each handle, every power point, phone point, music speaker point, sanitary-ware, that we meticulously selected. The number of times we have climbed up and down the 9 floors, the detailed instruction and follow-up with mason, plumber, electrician, carpenter ... phew!

But in the end, it has been a terrific learning experience on buying, building, as well as selling the flat.