DJ Tiësto in Malaysia

Besides going to the office and meeting businesspeople, there's also some room for having fun. I've met some Dutch students here in KL, one of them is actually from the same year/class of my studies back in The Netherlands. So he and a couple of others invited me to do some fun things for the last two weeks. A big succes I might say, because it saves me a lot of time exploring the bars/clubs/parties/other fun things on my own. Although I must say, it's really cool to just go downtown and to your own things, meet your own new friends, get to know some locals, etc. But when you just want to tagg along, it's easy to have some (Dutch) friends over here aswell. So this guy called me, just a few days before the weekend, if I wanted to join him and his group to a concert where DJ Tiësto and some other DJ's were playing. The costs would be around RM 88 for the ticket, RM 4 for the busride and around RM 10 per beer @ the concert, totalling around RM 200 for the whole thing. That's just €40,- for a really cool party! So I sayd YES, and a couple of days later we were on our way. The busride towards Port Dickson, small town at the beach where the concert was, was already packed with fun.

We were just sitting in the back of the bus, like little children, but then with a couple of beverages with us.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a small bang, combined with some bumps. The bus had a flat tire.

Although the flat tire wasn't part of the plan, the bus just went on, with a bit lower speed. On the highway, you might think? No, on the emergency lane, next to the highway. So after the bus arrived at the terminal, we missed our connection with the next bus. So, we called a fex taxi's to continue the journey. Meanwhile, there was some room for more pictures.

After the taxi's arrived, we continued our trip, but not without taking more and more pictures! We had so much fun in the taxi! The cabdriver also, by the way.

We still had some resources left, as you can see...

After all of that, we arrived at the party. It was a really big event, larger then I expected. Some European guys, spinning records, with a funny Dutchman named Tiësto as the main event, how many people would attract that? A lot. This one is from the front.
This one was a bit later, after a lot of fireworks. The opening was superb!
And, I also enjoyed it!
So, that's it, the party was great! Can't wait to tell the people in Holland about this, although some of them may have already seen everything here. Thanks for watching, because this is my last blog here in KL! Next one will be in The Netherlands...

On the move

As I already told in my former message, I've been quiet on the internet for the last few days. The reason was that I wasn't around the office from wednesday untill this morning, because of several appointments downtown KL. Usually, I go on the internet when I come home straight away. But, for the last few days, there have been some problems. All of the sudden, I couldn't connect anymore. The hotel said it was a problem with my laptop first. After that, it was supposed to be the cable that refused to work. After that, they would take care of the problem. What I have learned here, is that if you want to do business for real, you need a Chinamen to get the job done. The Malay are not the most efficient people, the Indians are usually given a bit lower function and the Chinese are on the top. As it has been like that in the businessworld over here, I thought it would be the same in my hotel. So I called and looked, trying to get myself a Chinamen to take care of the internet problem. The problem is that the Chinese are not the ones you get to speak easily, because they are all upper management. So I had to deal with the people at the reception. This was continuing for three days, so I was quite fed up with it.

Yesterday, one of the hotel managers called me on my Malaysian mobile to invite me to dine together tonight. I accepted his invitation (free dinner + free drinks!) to get to know him, and to adress my internet problem. One hour later, I was moved to another room. There was a problem with the internet connection on my room, so I had to move to another room - I thought I told them the same thing over the last three days, but who am I to believe?

To make this (not so interesting) story a bit shorter: I moved to another room. Funny thing is that it's the exact same room as before, only it's on the 13th floor, instead of the 11th. Besides that, it's exactly mirrored compared to my old room! Although that doesn't really sound that radical - it is! Literally everything in on the other side now, even around the sink in the bathroom. Left = right and the other way around... I already bumped into walls and doors, because they open the other way around, etc. I'll survive, but it's just... new.

How things are going

Although it was a bit quiet on my blog for a while, I'm still alive (and kicking). The last days I've been at a big exhibition here in KL, to search for some other players in the market and to widen my network. So far, I've spent my first ammunition of businesscards, already reloaded two times and still had to reach foy spare cards in my other pocket. Man, what a businesscard culture! Even when I was sitting in a bar, just taking a breath from the whole exhibition experience and all, I still needed to spread my cards all over the place. I've been invited to join in for rock climbing next sunday, to go to everyones homes, clubs, etc. I was even invited to meet up with a businessman and take a look at his factory. That was supposed to happen today, but he canceled at the last moment. Too bad, because I was really interested in seeing a big steel processing factory here in Malaysia. Monday I get to see another one, so I can't complain too much.

The way people do business here really differs from what I'm used to in The Netherlands; first you eat, drink, just make an easy conversation. After that, It's business time. A funny thing is that almost everybody wants to be your future partner, or has a brother/friend/family who would be able to become "my" businesspartner. Even if people are in a totaly different ballgame, they still know everything about everything and still want to become partners. At first, it looked interesting and fun. But after a while, it's just too much. Some really big consultants say it's best to have a local partner, some say you really don't have to. Other ones just want a grasp of the loot by already proposing a good price for offices, land, etc. I had it a couple of times: I just started a conversation, and after a minute or two I was able to buy a whole factory, including officespace, staff, etc. I really need support from professionals, otherwise I could end up owning half of the Klang Valley... No serious, people talk about setting up companies very easy, like it's just playing poker. So I really have to be carefull and look for the right people to talk with, because everyone has a double agenda over here.

More about that and a lot of other stuff, coming soon! Have to go now!

Ow and, tomorrow I'll be at a very cool Freedom Festival, where DJ Tiesto will be spinning records for two whole days. Lots of fun, lots of expenses... You'll here everything ASAP!