Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Amazing Malaysia

One night I went to 7-11 to pick up some stuff for my little fridge. The newspapers were just inside the door and a slightly disheveled looking Chinese gentleman in shorts was sitting on the floor with a Mandarin paper spread out in front of him.

I did some shopping and when I left he was outside waiting for me. He greeted me warmly and offered me an English language newspaper, he had two. I smiled and told him thanks anyway, but I have one already. He started to go on about his hotel across the street, it was small and rather untidy. I told him I was all set up. He followed me when I tried to leave and kept up the pleading about his hotel. Finally I stopped and shook his hand to try to get rid of him.

He gave me a secret handshake, tickle the palm with a fingertip, I thought maybe he was a Mason. I returned the handshake to see what would happen and he leaned in and whispered, "I love you, I love you." As in I love you long time, over at my hotel.

I made my last apologies and left, and when I looked back I was relieved not to see him standing there.

1 comment:

Ollie said...

When we were at the Mayom Palace they had just opened up a new nightclub across from it close to the bus station... I went by myself in spite of the reputation it was getting already of being a, "Man on Man" bar and the reports of fighting after it closed. I'm glad to have grown up understanding that homosexual doesn't mean, "Man-rape". Thanks Dad. I just went up to the most "In charge" lookin guy in each group and asked... "So where's the girls?" as if I were fresh off the boat... and I was... so it flew far. They just wanted to practice their english after that... and of course some of them might have noticed that the cop in the back of the room had already tried to buy me beers. I just told him no and kept taking his hand off my leg. No harm: no foul.