#1. Malls/ shops open till late - By late here, I mean till 9pm or 10pm. I really appreciate this fact especially when I travel and malls/ shops close at 6pm or even 7pm, and I would be scrambling to get what I needed in the store. Here, if it's 830pm and I see that I'm out of milk, there's still time for me to go to the nearest convenience store to get it, or anything else and don't feel like I'm being harried.
#2. No durians allowed in hotels - Though we love durians, the smell is strong and can linger. I've driven past a roadside stall selling durians, and even then, with the windows up and AC blasting, I can still smell the durians outside. This is why hotels have signs banning bringing durians onto their premises. Also, because the strong smell of durian is unmistakable, there's no point trying to sneak it past concierge.
#3. Not every building has a 4th floor - In Malaysia, the digit "4" is considered unlucky because it sounds similar to the word for "death" in Chinese. As a result, some buildings skip the fourth floor, instead numbering that floor 3A.
#4. When we want to settle the bill at an eatery, we call for the "Boss" - This is common at mamak/ roadside stalls. When you're done eating, you put your hand up and say "Boss! Kira!" which translates to "Boss! Count!" Of course, when you call out "Boss", it isn't really the owner of the establishment that you're asking for, it could be anyone who works there who's authorized to tabulate the bill. So, in one establishment, all the workers could be "Boss"
#5. We use an umbrella when it's not raining - It's quite common here to see folks whip out an umbrella when it's hot. I think it's because we're not really hat people because it can get quite muggy under one's hat which would leave your hair matted down, so the alternative protection against the sun rays is an umbrella.
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