#mesahills

Welcome to The Mesa Hills!

Around 1:45 p.m. on February 1, 2018, two taxis dropped us off at the North entrance of Mesamall in Nilai, Malaysia.  After dropping 150 RM/ringgits ($38.01) in one of the driver's hand, we set off to meet the owner's father, who was tasked to lead us to the place we would spend the next month; a two bedroom, one bath, apartment with a mountain view. All located over Mesamall. 

After getting everything settled, I wanted to rush downstairs to the mall which offered a blessed grocery store.  For an hour, we walked around but didn't find anything exciting.  The reason could be that the mall is still new and not fully occupied.  Although the mall is not what we expected, it is still an excellent place to hang out.

Like the other places, this one did not come without its own set of problems.  On the second day, the toilet wouldn't flush thoroughly, but the host sent someone over within a couple of hours to fix the problem.  The internet did not work, but the host called the provider to upgrade the service.  It took eight days before the Wi-fi kicked in.  The washer went out on the second day, but the host replaced it within the week. The electricity went out on the third day (no fault of the owner).  He came over to check it out but couldn't fix it.  He called the building maintenance who came over within three hours to fix it from the main breaker.  A few hours without electricity did not bother us because at night there was a fresh mountain breeze. 

Even though we experienced these issues, it did not deter us from enjoying this place.  The owner was on top of everything.  He did what he could on his part and left the rest for the building maintenance or the internet provider.

It is now day 9 of our stay, and we are still enjoying our stay despite the resolved issues.

On our first weekend, the mall began celebrating Chinese New Year with dancers, live entertainment, contests, and street food starting at 1 RM ($.25).  I spent 36 RM ($9.14) on all our goodies (mostly on fruit).  We enjoyed the festivities for three hours before heading back to our apartment.

We spent the next five days at the pool, gym, sauna, and mall.  The only complaint I have was that we still didn't have internet and I was unable to order groceries online.  I had to convert USD to RM/ringgits to pay for everything opposed to using a credit card online.  I spent my free time playing spider solitaire.  A sad way to waste time in a different country.

I want to talk about what we are eating.  At the last apartment, I was able to order groceries online and cook on a portable cooker.  Now,   we can hop on the elevator and walk to the store.  Since we didn't have a way to prepare food, we had to be creative with the microwave.  So far, our microwave creations are scrambling eggs, rice, hashbrowns/eggs/cheese casserole, and stew (precooked meatballs, mixed vegetables, baked potato, and stewed tomatoes).   Finally, in March, I requested a cooker and received it without questions. 

During February, I decided to give my girls 70 ringgits ($17.94) each to purchase their dinner for a week.  I took care of breakfast food.  With their ringgits, they would buy waffles with chocolate for 4 ringgits each ($1.03) and chicken sausage on a stick for 2 for 5 ringgits ($1.28).  They would usually get one waffle and two sausages on the stick which would cost 9 ringgits ($2.31) for a meal.  Some days they would venture out to subway for the 11.50 ringgits special ($2.95) that includes a six-inch sandwich, cookie, and medium drink.  I would always get the same thing (2 pieces of fried chicken) for 9 ringgits ($2.31) and pair it with ramen or a salad.  We don't 't have a lot of options when it comes to eating.

Welcome to The Empire

Ten days into Malaysia we were on our way to our third destination, Empire Damansara.  The hotel called an Uber to transport us.  The fare was 10 RM or $2.50.

When we pulled up to Qliq Hotel, we were impressed with the area. Two employees met us at the curb with the luggage cart and wheeled our luggage into the cool hotel.  When they found out that we weren't guests to the hotel, they quickly removed our luggage.  When I booked our suite, I didn't know exactly we were supposed to meet the host.  I provided the Uber drive the directions, and away we went assuming the host will meet us at the hotel entrance for check-in.   We began to sit down on one of the sofa's in the lobby, but a staff member informed us that the area was only for the hotel guests.  I provided one of the employees the address and tried to explain that we didn't know where to meet the host.  I spoke with host earlier, but she didn't give any specifics. 

Eventually, one of the employees from the hotel called the number of our host (I still didn't have any minutes on my phone).  The employee stated that she was not supposed to make calls to host and that it was against their policy.  Goodness, I thought.  It was only a freaking phone call.  I didn't understand why she was making a big deal out of one phone call.   She was irritated, but she made the call anyway probably just to get rid of us.   She called the host and spoke with her in their language.  When the employee finished talking with the host, she told me that the host said that check in wasn't until 3:00 p.m.  It was about 1:00 p.m.  We already knew we were going to arrive early and was willing to sit back and wait in the lobby.  I informed the employee we knew we needed to wait. 

We left the hotel lobby and found seats at this small restaurant.  We were exhausted from wheeling and holding luggage and coats.  I went inside the small restaurant and ordered something cold to drink.  Besides, the employee inside the restaurant was looking at us as if we committed a crime by sitting in the seats meant for patrons only. 

While we were having our drinks one of the security guards came over to us with someone who spoke English and explained our situation in their language.  I provided the man with the phone number of the host, and he used his phone to call the host who provided him with our location.  Hallelujah!  Thank God for small favors.  The host arrived an hour and a half later and led us to our temporary home.

When we arrived at the unit, I was confused.  In the description from Orbitz, it stated that there were two queen beds but the first thing I saw when the door opened was floor mats.  I didn't complain because I knew that we didn't have anywhere else to go.   I looked in the kitchenette and asked about a microwave and stove.  She stated that we were not supposed to cook in the unit.  I'm thinking ‘what's the point of a kitchenette.'  After showing us around, she left and came back within the hour with some extra toilet paper, two towels, a microwave, and stovetop cooker with a pan.  Okay, this might work out.

While she was there, I asked about the nearest grocery store.  She provided me the information and called an Uber for us and off we went to Tesco.  When the driver dropped us off, we walked into the store expecting to see an actual ‘grocery' store, but this was more like mini-mall.  We eventually found the grocery store upstairs and was shocked at the prices and products.  I was hoping to buy essential items like salad mix, canned vegetables, canned chili, lunch meat, water, etc.  Our experience at the grocery store was depressing.  We end up with water and ramen.  They sell lunch meat by the piece.  Who does that?  We also had to pay for bags. 

We went back downstairs to the main entrance.  I pulled out my phone to contact Uber since it only required internet but the internet at the mini-mall wasn't working.  Frustration had built up again.  I had my girls go back upstairs and see if one of the women we met earlier (they were working at a table trying to get people to sign up for facials) would call an Uber for us.  Fifteen minutes later, my girls and the lady came down to the main entrance to get me.  Since it was raining outside, the driver was going to meet us in the covered parking lot.  Again, thank God for small favors.  The lady was nice.  Even though I was going to go back to sign up for the facial, the opportunity diminished when two of my daughters and myself end up sick.  What a pity because the promotion was only for that weekend for 20 RM or $5.13.

We got back to the hotel and plopped down.  The bottled water (8-1 liter) was heavy, and the humidity was unforgivable. 

The next day I went downstairs to one of the convenient stores and purchased minutes for my phone.  Now I was able to communicate with Malaysia.  I'm not sure if I mentioned this in one of my other posts, but I signed up for a Skype number as well as phone service.  I paid $13.99 for phone service for a month and $18.99 for the phone number for three months.  That is how I communicate with my family back in the U.S.  This works great if you have excellent wi-fi.

Within a couple of days, we kept seeing bugs.  I went online to see if they had grocery delivery services and found one called HappyFresh.   I have included the link you will need to access the store.  After you are on the site, you will need to click on a store; click on Tesco.  You will also need to add an address to verify if they deliver to your area.  You can use the address for Empire Damansara (Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor 47820 Petaling Jaya Selangor).   I placed an order which included more food and bug spray.

I contacted the host, via text, to let her know that the place had bugs and the water from the upstairs bathroom was leaking so badly that your feet end up soaked when you use the sink.  I also informed her that she received a disconnection notice for the water and that we couldn't get the stove top to work.  She came by and did something to the pipe under the sink but said that she would send someone to fix it.  The water stopped draining on the floor, but the water flowed slowly.  She also mentioned that a queen bed would arrive in 3 weeks and would that be okay.  I was wondering why she asked because we wouldn't be there in 3 weeks.  The booking was from January 20 – February 1, 2018.  Big mistake on my part.

I want to take a brief break to talk about the ink-marked sofa sleeper.  This thing was so old that when you sat on it, you fell into a hole, which is why there were three pillows to cushion your "cush" and to prevent you from sitting into a hole.  It was very hard trying to lift yourself out of that hole.  I just gave up and sat on the floor mat located on a cement floor.  Everything was uncomfortable.  The bed was lumpy and hard.  The bed didn't sit on a bed rail but on those cones used to lift the bed off the floor.  Let's not forget the single bean-bag chair in a corner under the stairs.  I'm assuming it was there because some of the stuffing was coming out.

The next week around 2:30 p.m. the water was disconnected.  I contacted the host who said that she paid the bill.  After an hour and a half when the water still wasn't on, I called her.  She said that the water would be back on that day.  After three hours, the water was back on.

Everything went downhill after that.  On January 27, 2018, the water was off again.  I tried to contact the host, to no avail.  She ignored all my texts and phone calls.  We didn't hear back from her until 10:00 a.m. on February 1, 2018, when she called to remind us that check out time was at noon.

We were out of water from Saturday until Tuesday and not once did she respond to my messages.  We were stuck.  I tried to find another place to live but everything was out of my price range, and we would have to move again because I had already booked another site that was cheaper and newer.

In case you're wondering how we survived without water - well, there was this water faucet in this small room where we placed trash.  We filled buckets and did what we had to do.   I also ordered some bottled water for cooking and drinking.  On late Tuesday evening, January 30th, the water was on.  February 1, 2018, we moved out with a ‘friendly' text reminder from the host informing us of the check out time.  Wasn't that sweet of her?

On the day of our exit, I used the apartment's internet to schedule an Uber.  Sounds easy, huh?  Nope!  When the driver arrived in his small car, he looked at us in astonishment and said that I should have ordered two Ubers.  He asked if I had another phone to order another Uber.  Apparently, you cannot request separate Ubers on the same account.  I asked him the price for two Ubers, and he quoted around 200 RM ($50).  When I initially ordered the Uber, the quote was 66 RM ($16.76), but when he pulled up the address to our destination he came up with a different quote.  Of course, I was skeptical.  He said it would be cheaper to order 2 Ubers instead of a taxi.  Well, since I didn't have another Uber account or Wi-Fi to set up another account, he left.  So, here we were in the lobby with no internet service or transportation to our new location.

After the Uber driver left, I sat down on the lobby sofa to do some thinking.  It was hot, humid and I was getting frustrated by the second.  We are unlucky when it comes to traveling.  Five minutes later I decided to go to another part of the building that offers free WIFI.  I left the kids and luggage in the lobby.  I didn't make sense to drag all that luggage around.  My first stop was the laundry facility.  We've visited it a couple of times, and I knew that it offers the free WIFI service.  When I got there, I looked around for the guy who works there, but he was nowhere in sight.  I began to look around and found a bulletin board.  I walked over hoping that the WIFI password would be listed somewhere on the board, but it wasn't.

Frustrated again, I walked out and toward the hotel's lobby.  I knew that taxis are always lingering around and by heavens, I found a couple of men standing by their taxi vans looking eager for a customer.    I gave them the address and asked how much.   They put the address on their phone and said that the address doesn't pull up.  I called the host of the new place and passed the phone to one of the drivers.  Remember, I'm still trying to communicate with people who speak limited English.  After the driver finished the phone call, he gave me a quote of 63 RM ($16.76), which was cheaper than the Uber and with more space.  I told him that my luggage was in a different location, so he drove me to where my kids were waiting. 

I jumped out of the taxi van to summon my girls who were waiting patiently in the cold lobby.  We got all the luggage outside and began stacking luggage in the taxi.  The taxi driver said that the luggage was too heavy, that there was a weight limit for the toll.  He said if he forced the bags, it would cost more because he would have to go a long way around which would charge more; 85 RM ($21.58).  I shrugged.  I just wanted to get to my destination.  When we tried to force the luggage in the back of the van, there wasn't enough room.  He suggested that I use two taxis.  He called the other taxi, located in front of the hotel to make sure it was still available.   I asked him how much it was going to cost.  He stated 170 RM ($43.16), which was double.    He said that rate would pay for everything.  In a couple of minutes, the other taxi parked behind the first taxi.  I told the first driver that I didn't have 170 RM.  I lied.  My RM's were getting low.  The driver said they would do it or 150 RM ($38.08).  Two taxis, 45-minute ride, four passengers, four large suitcases, four carry-ons, and four oversized winter coats. 

After packing everything in the two taxi-vans, we were off with 500 RM ($126.94).  This dollar amount is only an estimate.