KZ: Jalan-Jalan in Blizzard

Once I reached the hotel, changed and went straight to bed. I woke up at 8am after a short but good sleep. I was thirsty and needed to get some food. I thought KC to serve light refreshment before landing, however, I was wrong.

Went down to Sulu Restaurant for a buffet breakfast. Basic breakfast i.e. omelet, yogurt, choices of fruit juices, coffee, tea and bread. Nothing interesting. Enough to fill me up until lunch. After breakfast, I planned to continue my sleep, however, I guess I can cover my sleep later. So, I took this opportunity to walk around the hotel. One thing bad about this country in relation to tourism industry is the lack of map and information. Although there is a copy of Kazakhstan yellow pages in the room, the map is in Russian. If you asked the front desk staff (I am talking about this particular hotel I am staying), they were not any good. One question will be responded with one useless answer. No voluntary information. My observation is that the Soviet era mentality still persists. I think it takes time for people to appreciate freedom.

Without any guide, I stepped outside the hotel under the blizzards. It was cold and the roads were covered with thin layer of snow. Thanks to a friend for lending me his winter jacket. My indicator for my walk was the crowd. Watched which direction they were walking from and which direction they were going. Snapped few photos along the way and after 15 minutes walking, I found a small mall, Promenad. This is a pretty small mall and fair to equate the Promenad with the Center in Doha. There is a supermarket, Gros and also a King Burger food court. Bought few drinks to bring back to the hotel and had my lunch at the food court. Lunch costs me 725 tenge (RM20) for a plate of grilled meat, oily rice and a coffee.

Later in the evening, Andrew called me saying that he will be picking me up at 5pm to go to one of the company’s top management house. There was a surprise party for his boss’ wife. This was a top management social gathering (which I heard that they normally organize this among themselves) and frankly, I was not that ready to blend into it. This was also a surprise to me since it was not part of the itinerary. The crowd was a mixed blend of world nationalities. Malaysians, British, New Zealanders, Colombian, Indonesians, Filipinos and Australian. All of them are directors and partners. And they are pretty young.After the party, we went to Lime Brew for dinner. The restaurant reminds me of Blaubart in Frankfurt/Main since it shares the same concept. A bar/restaurant in a medieval set up. Good food. Over there, I met another two people who I will be working with should they offer me the job. These two are based in Astana, so will I if I being offered and accepted the job. Astana is 1:30 flight north from Almaty and a capital city of Kazakhstan.

After the dinner, majority decided to enjoy themselves at this “Sweet and Spice” club. Since I am new, I just followed them. This is one of the many exclusive men’s clubs in this city. A country where I was told majority is Muslim having many such clubs are quite surprising. I let you figure out what it is :-)

~ MT @ Kazakhstan
~~ Astana International Hotel, Almaty

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~