Hovite

More important detail - Hi Bluenose1 again, regarding your second question, yes you can study online while in Malaysia but you might be better seeing if one of your local colleges runs a TESOL course. Take a look at the web site of the accreditation body - actdec.org.uk and see if there is a centre near you. I note from your profile that you are an IT consultant. You will also find that there may be openings for you to teach IT at an international school where they use the international GCSE curriculum however it is worth doing the TESOL course or other internationally recognised teaching qualification. When you visit the NRD ask about employment under LTSV. It seems a bit confused – my understanding is that the LTSV visa does not allow you to work and you will need to get it endorsed for work.

Bluenose1

Hi Hovite,
Many thanks for all of your useful replies. I don't think I will have the same problem as you re my marriage as we were married in Melaka and the marriage has been registered there. Insofar as me being an IT Consultant, that term is slightly misleading as I was actually a SAP Financials Consultant, but IT Consultant is usually easier to explain
Our problem with the TESOL learning is the timing...... if everything goes according to plan, we will be emigrating within a couple of months of returning to the UK at the beginning of September and will be too busy packing and arranging for a container to ship everything over. We will be moving to Melaka and I'm not sure the courses run by the Business Council will be of much use as they seem to be based in KL - hence the question re online learning.
I think you are correct about the LTSV Pass - need to obtain that first and later get an endorsement to allow you to work but I will of course check this next week when I am over.

Hovite

Hi Bluenose1, many thanks for responding to my posts and for the additional information. It seems you are about to go through the same process that my wife and I did last year. We used ICM Gerson to move our house contents in a 40' container from Herts to Sabah and we were very impressed with their performance and price. They were recommended to us by another Malaysian.
Regarding TESOL it sounds like it is better to do this online with an accredited learning centre once you settle down in Malaysia.
My son took the 160 hour TEFL/EDI course as a foundation course.
You also might like to have a chat with these people http://www.gec.net.my/ I know they are in KK but they are likely to have contacts in West Malaysia

Bluenose1

A quick update..... we contacted ICM Gerson and they sent a representative round last week. Received their quote this afternoon and Sea Freight is going to be £7,995 for a 40' container plus Insurance plus possible storage!!! . Might not be so bad if we weren't paying for it ourselves. We are now looking around for someone that will hopefully come in at less than half that! Not counting our chickens (not that we are shipping any, of course, nor eggs, come to that !) just yet.

Hovite

Hi Bluenose, that does seem a little high. Ours was 6.8k with 40ft container insurance, storage and door to door to KK. We could have not shipped some stuff and used a 20ft container but decided to go for the larger size and ship stuff we had intended to leave behind. Storage was our choice as we wanted a delay between selling UK house and arriving in KK. As you are peninsular it should be less. You could try haggling.
We have also used Crown Ace to ship about 40-50 separate boxes as our son relocated before us. They do not do whole house removal service but might have a contact - http://shippingtomalaysia.co.uk/ . Worth a call.
Some have mentioned Pickfords.
Hope this is helpful.

Bluenose1

Thanks for that, Hovite. Pickfords coming for initial inspection tomorrow. We have also contacted Arcadia, but they keep their costs down by not providing any packers/unpackers and only seem to have marine insurance. Have looked into shippingtomalaysia as well, I think they might be a bit like Arcadia, but we'll still follow that up.

julian1968

Bluenose

Did you end up taking the training for TESOL or similar and if so, did it help you in terms of work.

Same question to forum in general. I am still planning a move to Penang in January and am still thinking of which route to take for work (if there is any) :-)

Thanks

Bluenose1

Hovite,

No I haven't looked into that any more yet. I am still hoping to stay retired if I can get away with it!

mikemike

We just got back from a very nice relaxing 6 day visit to KK

We arrived in the early hours about 1:30am to Terminal 2. There is nothing open at this terminal at this time except the airport taxi stand that took 45 Ringit off us to get to the city less than 10 minutes at that time. Fortunately I had my HSBC ATM card with me to draw Ringit to cover this expense as no money changers are open. So Bring Ringit if you can!! Airport taxi back was 40 Ringit booked through the Hotel, not prepared to negotiate after midnight with my two year old in tow!!

Stayed at Best Western Daya, simple but location was OK to access most of the old down on foot.

Eating out was more expensive than expected and that was without a beer or three!!

Malls are small and ever so quiet!! I was convinced that there must have been a mass exodus. Bars along the Waterfront during the day have a very relaxed attitude to opening on time made Pinoy time look positively regimented. Prices of a beer at happy hour was very expensive, not sure what it was like during the evening or even if they are busy at that time. In saying that it was nice to have draft beer.

Towards the Jesselton ferry end, there is construction going on, there is a Place called EDGARS which looks like it has been closed down by Local City Hall. anyone have any info on what this place was and why it is closed as the City Hall signage is in local language.

This leads me to be surprised at the poor quality English being spoken we often had to find a Filipino to communicate with in English, very different from the Peninsular. Took a trip to the wildlife center, very clear tourism is key here as the premium rates for getting us there and back were very high end my wife was having fits. The highlight of the trip other than the elephant ride for our son was his throwing up in the van on the way there) All in all it was a nice break and has confirmed our thoughts about pursuing Malaysia as one of our preferred destinations. I tried to explain to my wife that this was the cheap option as Hong Kong disney land in February for the 4 of us, as baby girl will travel then as well is going to be more on the expensive side than KK could ever hope to be lol

bakedbean

Did you find it expensive compared with peninsula Malaysia?

Bluenose1

Hovite,
I've been looking into the TESOL a little bit and, to me, it looks as if the English they are teaching might be American-English? Certainly, given the amount of words in their blurb that end in -ize, and spelling programme as program! I am afraid that would be total anathema to me, even as a Scot! I am afraid that I am an exponent of the Queen's English (even if I do tend to make the odd mistake myself!) - I think the Americans have a different interpretation of a queen.

mikemike

Accommodation costs V quality were on par with KL. Costs of eating out were more expensive in KK than KL. Beer is not cheap anywhere!!

This was my first family excursion prior to that it was a solo traveler, so comparisons are hard to make
I think Kuching may be next on the list of places to jaunt to

Hovite

Bluenose1 I have checked one module in my wife's TESOL course and it is definitely written in British English. She bought it from a website named English Training Centre and they are based in Birmingham - http://www.englishtc.co.uk/. TOEFL is similar and there are lots of TOEFL books in the bookshops here in Japan and that one seems to be American.

Hovite

mikemike, glad you had a nice time in KK. Not sure about Edgars but there is a lot of building going on all around KK. Suria Sabah mall is often quiet but others are very busy at weekends, especially City Mall. Did you go to the Gaya Street market on SUnday? Yes, tourists do pay more than locals at tourist attractions but the prices are still cheap by comparison.

mikemike

The busiest Mall was Center point and probably the largest followed by Suria which had the best food court.We hit the night market and I picked up some clothes.We added 15kg to our return luggage so we did ok in that department and no excess baggage feeBeing used to very large malls and they are often packed liked sardines from lunch onwards, it was very odd to walk into a mall and stop to ask if they were open !!I was very surprised that even the busiest one which was Center point by a long way, was still quiet.We did not get out for any late night entertainment, as baby sitting was number 1 and he is a party boy at age 2 without any more encouragement the costs of tourism attractions was ok it was the hotel organised costs that are the silly side of sanity, it would have been cheaper to hire a vehicle for two days than do this short there and back run etc. Anyway looks like Kuching for our next jaunt just have to sort out Airasia.com routes into KK and on to KC and back etc. Yes the old town does look like it needs a makeover and I am sure that the construction will go along way to doing that. I did feel sad for those who had bought their riverside.seafront hones and business only to find that a new development had the wedge to get planning permission to block what was once magnificent views. The Chinese restaurant near Edgars is going to have to change its name from Jetty View to back of Jesselton apartments viewAll in all it was a pleasant break and whetted the appetite for more.