Malcontent

[QUOTE=shriver9] Thanks very much I've booked the flights and I'll start looking for hotels. I hate 5 star hotels where the manager is more important than the guests, any suggesdtions for good hotels to use as we check out your suggested areas?

Regards

Malcontent

shriver9

There are many hotels in KL. Just as in HK, from the airport, you can take an airport train to the city center. ( Its called KL express and it takes you to the main train station at KL Sentral ). At KL Sentral, a new Hilton hotel has opened up. Close to the KL Sentral is the Mid Valley Megamall shopping complex and it has a 3 star Cititel hotel attached to it.

Most hotels in KL are located at or near the main shopping areas of Bukit Bintang, Ampang and near the Petronas twin towers. Don't knock the 5 star hotels here as the rates are dirt cheap when compared to comparable hotels in HK. Nevertheless there are many 3 star and 4 star hotels here as well.
Decide what you want to do in KL and then choose the nearest hotel.

With regards to property in KL, check out Bangsar, Mont Kiara and Ampang. Condos and houses here are popular with the expats.

At KL Sentral you can buy a tourist bus return ticket to Genting Highlands at the Genting counter. Its about 45 minutes from the city center. A cable car ride up the Highlands is worth it on a sunny day. Genting is actually on the highway to Kuantan. If you are driving, its a winding road up to the cable car station.

The drive to Kuantan on the new highway takes about 2 and half hours. You can also take a flight there from the KL airport. Take note the rainy season is on from Oct to Feb. A collegue recently stayed at the Hyatt at beach in Kuantan ( called Teluk Chempadak ) and said it was fine, but could not enjoy the beach as much as it was raining most of the day. This is a 5 star hotel, and there are many other 4 star and 3 star hotels in Kuantan city center itself. Check the web for this.

At Cherating, there are numerous hotels and chalets along the long beach stretch. We stayed at the Legend and found it okay ( not super fanstatic but okay ).

Penang is about 4 hours drive from KL. You can also take a flight there. If you drive, you can stopover at Cameron highlands and spend a cooling night there. Also on the way to Penang by road is Phuket island, a popular tourist spot for it beaches and jungle treking. ( Joan Collins had a secret honeymoon there, and Mark Thacther described it as paradise ).

Great variety of hotels in Penang. The popular beach resort area is called Batu Ferringi and we stayed at Golden Sands hotel it was excellent. Do not confine yourself to the beach area. Do take a drive around the island ( avoid the peak rush hour traffic).

Hope this helps.

Malcontent

Hi


Thanks very much for your time and trouble in answering. my wife and I will spend some of the weekend fixing a route based on your advice. If we can do anyth ing for you in return just ask.


regards


Malcontent

viceice

Hi Malcontent. I'm not an expat but a natural born Malaysian raised in Kuala Lumpur. I saw this thread while surfing by and thought I’d chime in.

The concert hall in the Petronas Twin Towers (a.k.a KLCC) shriver9 referenced is the ‘Dewan Filharmonik Petronas’ (Petronas Philharmonic Hall). It’s home to The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, or MPO, that performs most of the year. See this linkfor its ’04 – ’05 calendar. The MPO consists mainly of expats from the world over and it currently has vacancies if your wife is interested.

That aside, KLCC itself is built along Jalan Ampang (‘Jalan’ means ‘Road’). Heading east along that road, about one kilometer away is the British High Commission. The area around the High Comm. and the areas along Jalan Ampang for the next 5 km or so have a high concentration of expats, as many foreign missions are located in the area.

Here is a very useful online street map of Kuala Lumpur. It’s very detailed, and also points out landmarks, shopping etc. You can also download a version of the map into your PDA if you have one.

On Cherating, there is a Club Med there. I believe they are now back in business after being closed for renovations. It’s off season there around now, due to the east-west monsoon.

So if you want sand and sunshine, stay on the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia. There’s Pangkor Island, Langkawi Island (which is also a Tax Free haven) as well as Penang Island, as shriver9 pointed out. The former two are basically resort islands, and Penang is a thriving historic city (it’s a former British Strait Settlement), with many attractions and a wide range of mouth watering local fare, so don’t miss it.

I hope the above has been useful and enjoy your visit to Malaysia.

paddythepilot

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Malcontent,

I see we both live in Hong Kong......and I have send you a Private Message.

Cheers.

Malcontent

Hi Viceice

Thankjs very much for all your info.

I looked at the programmes for the Malaysian Philharmonic and I have emailed them to ask if I can book for Sat 18th Dec. Cannot find a booking web-site for them. But it looks a good programme.

Also booked for Penang and then we will just have a quick look on the East Coast . Is it feasible to drive from Penang to Kuantan in a day or should we stop somewhere for a night?

My wife is Head of Music for a big school here so she does not want a job with the Phil but she will defintiely want to teach music (piano harpsichord, xyuophone etc) when we move to Malaysia if at all possible.

The coast near KL sounds nice so we will spend a few days looking around there as well Cannot work out which hotel is a good balance between convienient for the KL City Concert and even more driving out to explore along the coast looking.


Thanks again


Malcontent

viceice

Hello Again!

I believe the Malaysian Philharmonic has yet to establish a proper online ticketing system, so your e-mail to them was the best course of action.

It is possible to drive from Penang to Kuantan. However, there isn’t a direct link between the two places. To drive, you have two options.

The first option, which is the longer of the two routes, is to head north into Kedah state, then south east to the town of Gerik in Perak state. There you will take the East-West Highway to the town of Jeli in the state of Kelantan, then head eastward to coastal roads that go south to Kuantan, 2 states away. This route is very long, but very scenic. It will take you into the Malay heartland states and along the East West Highway is a magnificent dam, though I’ve never been there personally.

The other option is to drive south to Kuala Lumpur then drive directly east to Kuantan. This route is possibly driven without an overnight stop. It’s about 4 hours south and another 3-4 east.

If you don’t feel like driving, it’s possible to fly to Kuantan, or for a more economical and enriching experience, you can take an express bus. There are many bus companies that ply routes to many towns and cities in Malaysia, and you have the option of taking luxury coaches with very wide seats (much like 1st class in aircraft), or regular coaches.

One such express bus company is Plusliner, check out their website for routes, contact details and online ticket booking (they also accept payment via online money transfer, though I’m not sure about offshore accounts).

On work teaching music, there are many establishments in the country that offer training in music. From small time centres, to Performing Arts faculties in universities. Performing Arts in Malaysia is slowly moving into the mainstream, the industry is still young but growing and the pace has picked up in recent years, thus the opportunities are there.

There isn’t much in the coastal areas near Kuala Lumpur. The sea front closest to KL is a port, rather a set of ports and isn’t developed for tourism (unless you count docks for cruise ships). My recommendation is that you spend the nights you want to go around KL city in KL city itself, and then move on. Malaysia isn’t a very big country, the distance between KL and Penang is only around 360km, about 4 hours drive, so it is entirely possible to leave KL after breakfast, visit a few places in between, like Ipoh for instance, and be in Penang for dinner.

As for staying in KL, there are too many hotels to name. A nice one in the city would be the Nikko hotel, situated along Jalan Ampang between KLCC and the British High Commission. Built right beside it is a Light Rail Transit station. It’s convenient because 4 rail lines run around KL city and all major shopping areas are connected by one line or other. Plus the line that stops beside the hotel also lists KLCC, the City Air Terminal, Bangsar (with a feeder bus that goes to the largest mall in SE Asia), Central Market (where Chinatown is) among its many stops.

You are very welcome and do ask if you have any more questions. Cheers.

Marc C

We too are thinking of retiring to Malaysia.

My wife has spent quite a bit of her life in Asia especially Indonesia but, from the point of view of retirement, Malaysia seems the best place. We had thought of the south coast in order to be near Singapore for health care in our old age but the comments about Kuantan have given us pause for thought.

I would be grateful for any suggestions on:

1. locations - probably on the coast but near a town for some local culture (I love Asian music)

2. how does health care in Malaysia compare with Singapore?

3. a good estate agent

4. assuming we like living in Malaysia (and I cannot imagine why we wouldn't) we would anticipate spending the rest of our lives there. What would be our chances of getting permanent residency in the long term?

Thanks for any help.

shriver9

1. Locations - Kuantan would be the ideal small town will all the facilities and beaches nearby. In fact the Teluk Chempadak beach is only about 7 to 10 minutes drive from the city center. Cerating beach ( where club Med is ) is about 45 minutes away and along the route are 3 other beaches - Beserah, Balok and Batu Hitam. Heavy downpours which can sometimes flood some roads occur between Oct and Jan, but don't let that put you off checking this town. Property prices are cheaper than KL or Johore Baru.

Penang island up north is also popular with expats. More things to do and see, has its share of beaches but generally bigger than Kuantan ( hence more traffic ).

Malacca south of KL is a historical town is another place to consider. If you need to have a cool climate, then you need to check out some of the highland areas that have apartments or condos eg Bukit Tinggi ( about 40 minutes from KL, near Genting highlands), Cameron highlands, Maxwell Hill or Fraser Hill. These areas are quiter but obviously bit isolated and you may not find the large shopping malls or hospitals here.

2. There is a perception that S'pore has the best health care in the region, but I suspect this is perhaps due to more agressive marketing by them. There are many good private hospitals here, and Malaysia has for the past few years been trying to promote health - tourism. I've read of quite a few foreigners coming to Penang for various operations as the waiting time for such procedures back in their home countries is very long. I would suggest you visit some of the larger private hospitals when you visit Malaysia.

3. Here are some e-mail address of some real estate agents ( not sure how good they are, but they may be able to give you some general info. ) :

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

4. Don't have an answer to this one.

viceice

Hi Marc.

To answer your question, if you apply to retire in Malaysia why not do so under the goverments 'Malaysia - My Second Home' retirement programme? Upon fulfiling the critiria required by the programme, you will get a renewable 5 year, multiple entry social visit visa, with which you may enter or leave the country as you please.

For more information, see the official website at http://www.tourism.gov.my/my2ndhome/2ndhome.htm . If you apply under the programme, as long as you meet the critiria to the satisfaction of the immigration officer, they will rubberstamp you in 30 days.

On Permanant Residency, the goverment is quite silent on the affair, as in random cases, applications are quickly approved and others they may be stuck in the process for years. Many of the cases of people being stuck in the process is with regard to people from nations with which we have an illegal immigrant problem, but off and on we sadly have cases of other non-suspect nationalities facing the same issues, though rare.

Marc C

shriver9,

Thanks very much - that's very helpful indeed. Kuantan keeps cropping up so I will need to visit it when I come to Malaysia next year. Would you imagine that the private hospitals there would be as good as they are in Penang?

viceice

Thanks very much. I had thought of the MMSH programme but I am 57 now and I wouldn't want to put down roots in Malaysia and make friends only to have to uproot myself and find a new home in older age so the ability to ultimately become a permanent resident would be quite important to me.

You seem to hold out some hope for PR. I am British and I wondered if there was any bias against British people because of former historical associations?

Marc

viceice

You are welcome. Yes There is some hope for PR, but it's slim. Malaysian Law allows for persons to apply for permanant residency, if they fall under 6 catagories. They are:

A) Persons in possession of specialist or professional qualification
B) Persons in possession of a certificate from the Minister of Home Affairs certifying that their admission would be in the economic interest of Malaysia
C) Wives and children under six (6) years of age of persons falling within Category A or B
D) Wives of citizens who have not been living separately from the husbands for a continuous period of five (5) years
E) Children of CITIZEN under six (6) years of age
F) Special compassionate grounds

I would hazard that if you were to apply, you'd best do so on the ground A. However, (I'm not entirely clear on this) I think that would require that you are employed by an entity in Malaysia and is able to produce a letter stating that you posses expertiese that they cannot do without and connot reasonably find a local who is qualified to do your job.

Generally, Malaysia isn't biased against the British. Socially you are about as welcome to visit and hospitality as anybody. Politically, our goverments have tiffs once in a blue moon (The last one of significance i think was when Margaret Thatcher was in power), but otherwise things are diplomatic. We are members of the Commonwealth, though some mutual priviliges have sadly eroded.

shriver9

Difficult to say if the hospitals are as good as in Penang. I have listed below a couple of private hospitals below ( there may be more ):

1. Kuantan Specialist Hospital at Jalan Alor Akar ( tel : 609-5678588 )
( www.kpj.com.my )
2. Kuantan Medical Center at Jalan Tun Ismail 9 ( tel : 609-5142828 )

You can also check out www.hospitals-malaysia.org for other private hospitals.

Kuantan also has the largest government hospital in the east coast with both outpatient and specialist services. The HTAA hospital is modern; the rates for expats are a bit more than for locals but the outpatient unit tends to be overcrowded. The waiting times for certain procedures may be a bit longer than for private hospitals.

You really need to visit these hospitals to see how they can serve you.

Marc C

viceice,

Thanks again, I will have to do some investigating into the PR situation. I sometimes regret that we gave up the Commonwealth for the EU but as members of the public, we seem to have no say in what our Government choses to do.

shriver9

thanks for the links to the hospitals - I shall go and visit them right now - and thanks again for all the information.

Malcontent

Hi Shriver

Hope you don't mind but I saw your post and took the liberty of emailing each one on the list for details of any land they had for sale but didn't get a single reply.

Does this mean the end of our dream of buying land and building or did I just get the wrong estate agents. I seen to recall having had the wrong estate agents all my life. But that's another story.

We are still very excited about our Christmas trip of two weeks touring round looking for a spot to build.

If any readers can suggest an expat/local haunt for a Christmas drink and a spot of comparing notes we are in KL 17 -19 then Damai Laut 20 -21 and Penang 22 -27 and Kuantan 28-31 Dec

Cheers

Malcontent