The Alice Smith School is a British international and independent school. It was started by Mrs Alice Smith at her home in Jalan Eaton, Kuala Lumpus, in 1946. She was determined to educate her daugher, and also other expatriote children. Mrs Alice Smith left Malaysia in 1950; which is when the parents of the school formed the Alice Smith Schools Association; the founder nationalities of Britian, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. It is a none-profit education foundation, with around 110 pupils per year group. There are two sites for the school, the primary school is on the Jalan Bellamy site, and the secondary school is on the Equine Park campus; which are around 40 minutes away from each other. The school follows the English National Curriculum however it also includes additions to reflect its multicultural and mulitiracial student intake.
The school has absolutly amazing facilites - since all the money from the students fees are put straight back into the school. Years 3 and 4 have a whole block to themselves - along with a computer room filled with mac computers. Years 5 and 6 have the same. Be prepared for the scale of the school! It is so huge - I was very overwhelmed on my first day! The children do lead very privledged lives - a lot of them come from wealthy families - so this is another thing to be prepared for. Having a "maid" out here seems to be very normal - so sometimes I have noticed children who have probably grown up much slower than British children since a lot of them are still babied for a long time.
I have been lucky enough to be able to stay with my Auntie while out in Malaysia, however I know that there is a lot of hotels within Kuala Lumpur itself. The exchange rate is really good. I managed to get 400 ringgit for about £100. Therefore I think the hotel rooms would probably be fairly cheap compared to the UK depending on where you stayed.
There always seems to be taxis about on the roads, and there are also some local buses and trains.
As a girl however I have been told to be careful of just getting into a taxi I have called over from the side of the road. Id recommend asking your hotel/hostel to call a taxi for you; or even just to be very aware that not all taxis you get into will either 1) not know where you are going to. Id also recommend having an address written down of where you are going, or 2) might not be as honest as you'd like to think. Also make sure you always get taxis on the meter since it is easy for them to charge you way over the price! My advice is to be very careful!
Flying out here i flew with Malaysian Air - it was the best price and had the best flight times for me. The flight is around 13 hours; bring lots to do on the plane!
Eating out is very cheap and there are some really lovely restaurants within the shopping malls and streets. Alcohol is expensive since Malaysia is mostly a Muslim country - but probably around the same price as the UK - except without all the student deals!
The shops are amazing - shoes especially are so cheap! I love megamall and 1 utama malls, Bangsar village is also lovely. If you get a chance definitely visit the shops!!
Things to do, things not to do
Be prepared for the heat - even in March it is so hot. Wear cool but smart clothes - but there are so many shops here that if what you bring isnt suitable you will definitely be able to buy some!
Also make sure you have lots of mosquito spray with you; you should wear it all the time..especially outside.
British Citizens can enter Malaysia for 90 days without a visa so you dont need to worry about that! I also didnt have any injections - if you are coming to the capital Kuala Lumpur there is no need really. It would only be if you were going to more rural areas you may want injections such as malaria.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.