shaz200

hi there.
will be moving to malaysia this weekend. is there anyoneone living in seremban or nilai - would like to meet people and make friends and not feel like a total stranger. ibe been surfing the net now for over 2 months and cant seen to find/make any friends in these areas, there seem to be a lot of "meet ups" in KL, but when i type in Negari sembilan, nothing comes up. Am getting a bit worried that i may not be able to make friends or fot in there.

bakedbean

Just to say Hi. I'm afraid I'm in Penang, so cannot help you there.

shaz200

hi BB. i just woke up - been up nearly all night reading posts on this forum.lol. trying to find a good place to settle - read all yours & atillas posts from last year about good places to live. you sound really nice and helpful. love your posts, you had me smiling and laughing all night.
My Husband and i have sold up house and this weekend (11th March) will be coming over on mm2h (hopefully, havent sent in the application yet, but all paperwork is ready to go). We have no children, only 3 cats, and are hoping to retire early, in Malaysia. So, we're not working, and are looking for a nice peacful, friendly community to settle in. Ive been researching on the internet almost daily for the past year at locations that i think will suit us, and have come up with seremban - purely because it has a train link into KL and property prices are affordable there as opposed to KL. You see i dont like heights and prefer a garden so the cats can chill out there while i potter around. Landed property in KL is too expensive for us. So, seremban seemed ideal - have even seen some great houses there - i thought nearer the time, once we have sold up, i would surf the net and try and make contact with ppl so that we have friends once we get there - but guess what...no one has ever responded from seremban - nothing - cant even get much info on the place socially wise. so i googled the district (where seremban is) Negari Sembilan. And guess what...NOTHING also! Port Dickson - Nothing!...so am a bit scared now. our flights are booked, we are renting a place in serenbam for the first 2 months and in that time i hope to meet someone, or else we start looking further a feild. am worried we're going to feel like total strangersand wont fit in.

ajw

If you are Googling with no results then its probably a good indication that its not really on the expat map. Does mm2h have any stats on where visa holders settle?

ex reg

iirc Seremban is a railway town.
I remember one of our guys going up there to look for some stuff, sleepers etc and coming back and saying 'not exactly a lively place'.

I love looking around these 'small' Malaysian towns.
Recently we've tried Kluang and wanted to go up to Segamat but the missus had had enough of Kluang although I liked it.
I think Seramban is the next step up in size from these places.

You'll obviously get to have a good look round Seremban in your 2 months there and may find you like it a lot.

Be neutral until you've seen the place.

Good luck.

bakedbean

I've heard that Nilai is nice but not been there myself. As Ex-Reg said, just keep open mind and see how you get on. I suspect it's not an expatty type place but so what. Malaysians generally are friendly and easy to get on with so..... who knows.

If you don't like it or want to keep options open, hire a car and go travel around a few places on the mainland. The North-South highway will be very close to you and you can get around the mainland very easily.

Are you planning to rent long term or buy? If buying there are different minimum limits for foreigners in certain states. And in P Pinang state they differentiate between "foreigners" and "MM2Hers". MM2Hers can buy at a lower limit than other foreigners.

Strider24

I can confirm that Seremban is not an expat town. I do a bit of consulting there off and on for a friend. However it has good shopping both in old town and Seremban 2 (there is also a Seremban 3) Jusco etc at Seremban 2 has other good shopping around it and the new housing estates in the area are very pleasant. Old town if also nice and has "The Store" and other excellent shopping. Mostly a Chinese town, has good eating places and a good market. Market breakfast there is superb. Easy train to KL and Mid valley shopping...but DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE TO KL ON A FRIDAY AFTER WORK. 3 hours to get to north side of KL.

Nelai used to be famous for satay dog and was a 1 street town in the 70's. Now it is an industrial hub, with Nelai 1, 2 &3 and the biggest carpet and factory outlet market probably in the world. Acres of it, but again don't go on weekends or public holidays. Frankly I'm not that fussed with houses I have seen in Nelai, but then I wasn't looking out for property.

Seremban good points. Close to KLIA (LCCT), has good train link...Seremban is also a train link going south as well as north to KL. Easy to go a back way to east coast and an expressway west to Port Dickson. The Royal Sungai Ujung Club http://www.rsuc.com.my is an old institution and the most likely place to find expats. In the days of "white" plantation managers is was "The Club" for a great distance around.

If you like peace and quiet, friendly locals and good food and close enough to the big smoke...without breathing it in, then Seremban is as good a place as any. Min house price RM500k although I have heard individual cases will be looked at if you want a more rural setting and there are no RM500km palaces around.

columbine

Never been down to Seramban, but twice to the NW part of Putra Nilai. Researched it for future reference
http://www.bbndev.com.my/overview.htm
http://www.bbndev.com.my/Development_Vision.htm

We're MM2H stationed in Penang and are interested in that location as it's a new township closest to KLIA and Putra Jaya and has good medical facilities.
http://www.nci.com.my/News-Events/Ev...ng.aspx?page=3

I think Seramban is more a local town and Putra Nilai might have more expats due to the colleges, universities, an international school, teaching hospitals....
Also a Tesco and Giant Hypermart.

There's a medium size mall in PutraJaya within easy driving from Putra Nilai.
http://www.alamanda.com.my/mall-services/

The KTM Commuter network map: eg Nilai to Mid Valley Mega Mall.
http://www.lcct.com.my/transportatio...6392c41615129d

There's a forum for residents of Nilai Impian, but many threads are in Bahasa and a few English ones:
http://nilaiimpian.forumotion.com/forum

bakedbean

Great info Columbine and Strider

the troubadour

I only have experience from many years back of Seremban but rather liked the place. It is quiet and I have my doubts if there are many,if any ex pats actually living there, but always found the local folk there accommodating and friendly . You have chosen a pretty good location geographically wise.
Good luck and you'll be fine.

Atilla

Hi Shaz. You say moving to Malaysia this weekend. Where? Are you moving near to KL because KL has a draw for you OR is it one of the positives about Seramban (e.g. KL being not too far away by train)? If you are coming to Malaysia and renting or holidaying maybe you should visit KL and Penang and see what you think. Both much more on the expat radar.

Landed property is pricey in KL and Penang. That said, you can buy landed property in Penang state 'off-island' in places like Juru, Butterworth and Auto-City for VERY reasonable prices IMO. Lots of new developments too. For that you get your landed property, access to the very bustling and thriving Penang and the expat community if that's important. All but 2 of my friends here are Chinese local so the expat aspect doesn't really bother me, I've mostly tended to stay out of the expat scene wherever I've lived TBH, mostly because I've tended to make friends quickly (being a social sort) and the diary tends to get too full to leave me much free time.

Some people have opted for Melakka also, more removed from KL but perhaps slightly more on the radar than Seramban. I did consider it, I've not been there myself yet (going in April for a photoshoot I've been asked to do) but for me I think it's STILL a bit too low key for what I want. Others look at places like Johor Baru and Sarawak but for me Penang just ticks all the boxes.

As for KL, like any capital, it has limited appeal to me. Great to visit, great to leave. Busy, hectic, impersonal, traffic, aiyooooooo!!! No thanks.

I think it's really important to fathom exactly what you need (versus what you think you might need) and what you want, balancing that by visits to potential options, preferably for longer than a few days. Renting first gives you the chance to change your mind if you get it wrong initially. I've certainly changed my mind about what and where I want having been in Penang 10 months now, not drastically, but enough to be grateful I didn't jump in and buy where I first thought.

ex reg

Atilla, be sure to post your Malacca photos on your blog so I can make a comparison with mine, which aren't posted anywhere

You do need to get to know Malacca to see the best photo places.
That's why I want to compare to see if a newby has found places I haven't.

Are you doing a wedding photo shoot.
There's always a few going on when we are there.

Atilla

Hi, no it's a glamour shoot / car show. Models. Not much time for any other scenery

ex reg

Glamour shoot, then you deffo must post the photos

I don't understand why cars can't just be photoed wherever they are.
What difference does background or models make.

Must be an age thing.

columbine

I was at the car show at Gurney a week ago. I find the models quite distracting, blocking my view of the cars
Maybe because I'm not of the male species