No Place Like Home!

As you adjust to the climate and begin to feel more at home in Malaysia, you may want to take another step in the direction of lengthening your visit by actually renting your own home. It's easy enough to do here. Perhaps you have passive income or savings or a way of making money online to support yourself for a few months. In that case, a little foreign income goes a long way in the exchange rate of approximately 3 to 1. (That's if you're dealing with American, Canadian or Australian dollars. It's even better in Euros.)

So, if you figure an average rent on a three-bedroom house here is about 400 RM, you'll be paying only one third of that every month. Although, if you'd like to go all-out and rent a furnished house, of course, it will be a tad more.

I'm the sort who doesn't mind roughing it to save a few bucks. It doesn't bother me to sleep on a mattress on the floor. But, owning a TV and DVD player sure does add to the quality of life. You can buy those quite cheaply at "The Store" or "Jusco" or even "Carrefore". I think I paid $10.00 Canadian for my DVD player.

One way to keep the price down on a rental is to have a local do the talking for you. Once they ascertain that the rent is as low as it would be for a local person, you can do the paper work and continue to pay your landlord. The banks here allow you to place cash into a bank machine directly into your landlord's account! I thought that was pretty cool. It saves the hassle of queuing inside the bank.

Personally, I find it's a great convenience to have a home base. It's so nice to come "home" after a few days or weeks of gadding about and just relax in your own digs! And cook your own food with no MSG added!