“The last few Christmas decoration pictures from Pavilion. I think I only have the decorations at Times Square and Sunway Pyramid as the last two places I should stop by to take pictures of.”

“Taken the same day as the ones at Suria KLCC, I was on my way to Low Yat to check on my monitor and hard drives. So I stopped on my way there at Pavilion to take some pictures of the decorations there.”

“Still going around taking pictures of Christmas decorations around the malls in KL. Managed to get these pictures while waiting to meet an ex-classmate of mine.”

“More photos of the Christmas decorations at Mid Valley Megamall. I believe by the time you read this I should be making my rounds to KL proper and to Sunway Pyramid as well. Problem with not having a car here is that I’m kind of bound to certain paths and time that I can actually go out and take pictures of those places.”

“The second shopping mall that I went to to take some more pictures was at Mid Valley Megamall. I think the decorations there were much more impressive than what was at 1 Utama Shopping Centre. It focused more on toys rather than just nondescript European looking buildings and some Christmas trees.”

“When you go to some place new, especially when you’re gonna be staying there for a very long time. It might be a good idea to start laying down some roots. Family relations, extended families and the such. So I kinda had the opportunity to see who some of my “extended” extended family members would be when one of the elder members of the family had a birthday party.”

“Been going around taking pictures of the Christmas decorations here in KL. The first I’ve been to is the one at 1 Utama Shopping Centre. It’s the most accessible to me as it’s the place that I have to pass through to get home.”

“This picture was taken near a place where I might be spending a majority of the time for the next few years.”

Ecclesiastes 12: 1-7

¹ Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— ² before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; ³ when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; ⁴ when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; ⁵ when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets.

⁶ Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, ⁷ and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

“I actually had these verses drafted earlier on, like a year or two earlier ago and it was still in the system. So I thought that I should at least put them to use. Although I’d forgotten why I looked it up before, these verses will continue to remind me.”

I looked around to give my sense of direction a good grounding. Not that it helped with the scale of the place being multiple times the size of the places back in Brunei. I felt small, maybe not insignificant, but small. As I made my way to the immigration counter, the crowd began to grow again. My eyes were directed to this less crowded area in the middle of this funnel-like shape formed by human bodies. I looked at the sign under this barren land and it said “local only”.

“Wait a minute, I’m local” for once I could utter those words after many years of being a foreigner. Not that it had mattered much to me. However, it had mattered enough that the word “foreigner” would put a stop to my future prospects that I had to leave the country to pursue other avenues.

Having my fingerprint scanned provided a little amusement as well as a moment of reprieve as I then had to get my bags and finally go home…

“Trying my best to keep this blog updated. Been going out a little and it takes hours to get to places so I get home late most of the time. Traffic here doesn’t help either.”