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Any Nestie's in KL, Malaysia?
Hi Ladies
I was wondering if any of you live in KL, Malaysia?
DH might have an opportunity to move there at some point soon. We are trying to figure out if it is something we want to do. I was an expat kid, have lived in the far east but only as a kid and not in the cities really (well Bangkok but only school holidays, Miri) and lets face it going as a kid and as an adult are different!!... We are both originally from the UK but have spent the last 8 years in North America - Canada and now Texas... and now we have a baby to think about too! So moving isn't really an issue... but Ive become to like life in N America!!
So how easy was it to move out there?
What is the healthcare like - we would like to have another baby at some point soon probably, but DS wasn't a completely straight forward pregnancy, he was 4 weeks early, rolling on cord, cord not attached in the "right place", had weekly appts from fairly early on. My first pregnancy also resulted in a missed m/c... so healthcare is a thing of concern for me anyway.... DS is fine now though 
I would need to probably have a c-section for another pregnancy...
What is the housing like? I believe nice housing is quite expensive. DH would be on a package, its just a question on how good the package would be!! The one here is not great!!
How is life in general? Shopping, driving, kiddy entertainment etc?
Im sure we'll have many more questions if we do decide to make the move. We're just trying to decide whether to move to SE Asia (and most likely KL) or stay here and potentially switch jobs... or move somewhere else... KL being the most likely place at the moment!! I have been to KL... but only to the airport really on the way to Miri!!
TIA for any insight!!
Re: Any Nestie's in KL, Malaysia?
Publius lives there. I'm sure she will be around eventually to give you some advice.
2012 Reading Challenge
Now Nesting from Chicago, IL My nail blog:
We do. We're Americans who moved here from Switzerland last summer. Before Switzerland we lived in Prague. By far, KL is the easiest place we've ever lived. I'm not sure how else to describe it. It's just very easy. There are a ton of expats here, the functional language is English, life is cheap, and it's surprisingly Americanized. We're trying to extend our stay here we like it so much.
I don't find the rents here to be high. Granted, we moved from one of the most HCOL cities in the world, so my base of comparison in way off, but the rent on our 3,500 Sq ft condo here is slightly less than the rent on our 900 sq ft apartment was in Geneva. That being said, we're cheap and wouldn't live here if the company wasn't paying for it. I know a lot of expats without housing allowances and they get by just fine though. Even in the super expaty neighborhoods like Mont Kiara and Bangsar you can find a nice 2 or 3 bedroom for 3,000-4,000 MYR a month. I believe rents are slightly cheaper in the city than in the expat suburbs too.
The biggest expenses here are cars and booze. The government owns a car company and to protect it that slap a massive import tariff on all non-Malaysian cars. For example, a Honda CRV starts here at $50,000. One of the Malaysian car companies (the one not owned by the government is decent and their cars are significantly cheaper. You don't technically need a car. Cabs are cheap and plentiful. It just makes life easier to have one. If you get one the good news is that the government also owns an oil company and subsidizes gas prices in the country. Right now it's $.50 a liter.
As for healthcare/kids. I don't have any kids, but KL does have a reputation as being a place where people go to have kids. I've gotten a lot of, "well maybe you should just have a kid while you're here because it's so easy." I haven't heard any complaints about the level of care from OBGYNs from my friends who have had kids here, although they all seem to go to the same three or four OBs at the same hospital (Gleneagles). Malaysia is really child friendly. All of the malls have a dedicated kids play area, and most of the moms I know have a live in helper because it's so cheap to have one here. There is a blog you might check out written by a Chinese/Filipina girl with a French husband who had a baby two years ago. I stumbled across it when we first found out we were moving and it gave me a good sense of what life is like. Most of her posts from the past year or two talk about what there is to do with kids. The address is: http://chinesepinkaddict.blogspot.com/
Let me know if you have any more questions. I'd be happy to help.
Thanks so much for all the info
That makes me feel a lot better about potentially going. Although who knows at the moment what is happening!!
We would get a housing allowance or housing paid for, and I believe it is better than here... although we still have to see that! Here we couldn't find a lot in our price range that we liked. Maybe we were being a bit picky though!!
Cars, funny... my first car in the UK was a proton! That wasn't really by choice but my parents were living in Miri at the time and had a proton and my grandparents liked it so brought one in the UK.... and I ended up with it when they brought a newer car later! It was a good car but drove a bit like a bus! Im not sure about the driving over there though... DHs boss said well get a driver.... so I guess that is always an option and then we would only need one car, we need something though, babies have a lot of stuff... or maybe I just put too much stuff in the car....although being able to maybe walk to places would be nice. Not a lot of walking around here...
Good to hear about the healthcare
Live in helper sounds nice too... especially if we were going to have another baby. Its pretty hard with one, especially with no family close by! My parents would actually be closer too in the winter as they "winter" in Thailand.... so Im sure they'd be coming over all the time to see their Grandson! That would be nice 
I'll let you know if I have anymore questions when we have figured out what we are doing. I just needed to hear that it was ok there, I can't really let friends know that we might be going yet which makes things a little complicated to talk about in "real life"!
How long are you hoping to stay there?
Thanks again for all the info!!
Our visas are valid through July of 2013, but who knows what might happen as no one has specifically told us an end date. Geneva was supposed to be permanent from the moment we moved there and I've stopped thinking about my life more than a year in advance.
Feel free to ask as questions come up. I know how stressful this time can be with the need to talk to someone coupled with the inability to say anything to anyone.