大咖福利影院

Should I take vaccinations before I fly out?

Absolutely, yes.
Get everything the doctor suggests, that info will come from his computer. If they don't recommend tetanus, make sure you're up to date on it anyway.

5. Accommodation - my research tells me I'm better off finding a place in Bukit Bintang close to work due to the traffic congestion.

Yes.
Traffic can be pretty bad so living close to work will make life easier.
That area also has excellent shopping and restaurants so plenty of places to wander if you don't fancy the four walls.

I'm not too keen on living alone as I've tried it before and I get too lonely and depressed. How and where can I find a houseshare, preferably with non-alcoholic/smoking people?

Malaysia is about 60% Muslim so non drinking is easy to find. Non smoking could be harder.
Expats tend to be well paid so your gaff might be out of reach for locals. As for dating, it's easy to find lovely girls as long as you stay away from the bars.聽 You might find some places are Muslim only, Chinese only or Indian only - separation of the races is pretty common when it comes to local accomodation - something I found out through bitter experience.

Note: I'm 32, single. I love the outdoors, football, cycling, hiking, scuba diving, and motoring.

Outdoors in KL is just a city but once you're out hiking is easy.
Places around Ipoh and Malacca have great open countryside to wander around and it's clean and safe to walk (not at night in some places).
I know bugger all about football but diving places are all over Asia, just take a peek at the adverts or have a quick google,
Air Asia and other 'bus company' airlines have very good services that'll get you anywhere in the region pretty quickly. Take sandwiches - the on board food is atrocious.

WanderLife wrote:

Hi All

I hope you are all in good health.

This is my first post. My apologies if I was meant to introduce myself elsewhere, but I hope this is the first of many posts to receive and share knowledge and information.

I've been stuck in my bubble in the UK for my entire life but I've decided to take a plunge.

I have been offered a position for a company in Bukit Bintang, KL. I've been there before on holiday and have done a lot of research and reading online about KL in general. It's not meant to be a full expat position but more a "local expat". I know Bukit Bintang is more expensive to live in but I've accounted for that in my offer, and it's still cheaper than living in the UK.. I can sometimes overthink and overplan things, but I have a few questions that I'd appreciate your responses for (apologies for the listed question format):

1. Being in love with travel, I'm a little surprised by the 15 days of annual leave offered. However, it seems that might be normal: Is this true?

2. I also understand that there are many more public holidays (nearly double the UK i think), which will balance things out a little. Whilst I'm here, I'm very keen to explore Malaysia and surrounding countries in the region during my time off. Additionally, I'd like to visit my parents and siblings who'd be scattered in different places in UK, Middle East, and Asia. Time is more important to me than money (within certain limits of course), and I like to strike a good balance (or maximise) between the two.I noticed some public holidays fall on the saturday or sunday, which are already days off as weekends:聽 Do you get the next weekday off if the holidays falls on the weekend?



6. I may purchase a car for weekday evenings, weekends and regional travel. I have a clean UK and motorcycle licence. My international driving licence expired around a couple of months ago. I could purchase another one here for a small fee. Would I need to pass a driving test in Malaysia to be able to own and drive car?



Thanks!

1. 15 days working days or calendar days? 20 working days annual vacation is the norm.
2. With 3 religions to contend with, there are lots and lots of national holidays and quite a few of them coincide with the week ends. If the national holiday falls on Sunday in states which observe Saturday and Sunday as the week end (Kuala Lumpur does), then Monday is declared as an "in lieu" holiday. For national holidays that fall on Saturday, some companies will give Friday as "in lieu" but others may not.
6. You can get Malaysian driving license based on your UK license without giving a test.

safety81 wrote:

Driving license can be authenticated through the British Embassy in Kuala Lumpur also.

No this is not the case any more - the process has changed. There is effectively only an advisory and trade section of the British High Commission in KL these days. There is no consular section. Even for visas into the UK, they are handled in the Philippines now. The DVLA letter is the only accepted document.

The same process of authentication by the issuing authority is now required for all various national driving licences. The Indian HC, for example, details its process on their website.

In addition, it was mentioned on another thread (/forum/viewtopic.php?id=172084) that the DVLA letter needs to be authenticated by the聽 Legalisation Office, Corporate Services Centre, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Milton Keynes. To be honest, I have never heard about this ever before..... But the .gov link does talk about driving on an International Licence, obtained in the UK.

safety81 wrote:

1. 15 days working days or calendar days? 20 working days annual vacation is the norm.
2. With 3 religions to contend with, there are lots and lots of national holidays and quite a few of them coincide with the week ends. If the national holiday falls on Sunday in states which observe Saturday and Sunday as the week end (Kuala Lumpur does), then Monday is declared as an "in lieu" holiday. For national holidays that fall on Saturday, some companies will give Friday as "in lieu" but others may not.
6. You can get Malaysian driving license based on your UK license without giving a test.

Its 15 working days i understand.

Thank you all for your feedback so far.

Good to know there is a new train link!