2 Locals and A Jap

the irony, when we have japanese for lunch, we meet a japanese later. an authentic japanese, not like those behind the local sushi bar.

unfortunately it was a guy. but still, the irony.

of the tens of people around him, he chose to walk up and ask us. yes, us! that's including ME!

its really rare to find a stranger walking up to you and speaking to you, let alone a foreigner. or maybe not, coz they seem to be more friendlier hahaha...

besides, the hoots about how those locals will jampi you, where you'll find out later you've been stunned and ripped of your belongings! its seriously not safe to talk to locals, so i've heard @_@

yea so we were walking out of the photo shop/entrance of Mcd, and he comes up to us! MAYBE we looked liked the kind of people that spoke english. MAYBE he thought wrongly, coz he asked:

jap: do you speak english? (with a faint jap accent)

me: yes.

obviously he wasnt interested in me, coz he kept staring at the GorgeousOne beside me. and she just nodded. soooooo

jap: do you speak english? (eyes on her)

me: yes.

GorgeousOne nods again with a smile.

jap: you speak english? (eyes STILL on her)

GorgeousOne laughs and says 'YESSS!'

hahahaha it was funny la. he must have thought she was one of those show-offs who just nodded.

you speak english?
*nods*
you stupid?
*nods with a smile*

luckily she wasnt. but i think he was just perverted since he kinda ignored my existence XP

anyways, it was kinda sad situation. the poor fella wanted to SEE the malaysian lifestyle. he was dismayed to be in rainbow plaza. seeing it being all moderny.

the saddest thing of all, i couldnt think of anywhere malaysian-y in JB to suggest to him! closest was town, but i dont want him to be ushered then frightened by the mamasans of WongAhFook.

he kept on saying market. gosh, takkan i wanna tell him go TebrauWetMarket rite? thats JUST a market. then GorgeousOne said pasar malam, malaysian-y but the sun was pretty much blazing.

we cracked our heads, but to no justice. there just wasnt a malaysian-y place enough that would wow him, since he didnt want malls or modern stuff.


now i begin to wonder, maybe i wasnt the sad case. maybe he was wrong to think he'll find a kampung lifestyle in JB. sure its not crazily developed, but its still rather urbanized, dont you think so? i mean its not a place where trishaws and cow crossings are a norm, nor are paddy fields and sarong clad people. its pretty much malls and badly managed buses.

maybe he should take a bus! thats kinda un-modern.

but we dig it. the malls i mean. not the buses! we're rather westernized. since when hang tuah took hang li poh to a mall or *oooh wow* Segget Walk? things have changed since then.

tar-ed roads. LAMP POSTS. cinemas. MAMAK SHOPS. fences. HANDPHONES!

see, we're not that different. you're just at a wayyyyyy higher degree of standards i presume. but still the same.

its like the book i'm reading,

"there's food everywhere. but its still just food."
(or somewhere along those lines)

or is it really sad that we're not so asian anymore? shedding it for a more western society? hedonistic perceptions rule us i guess. its hard to fight, BUT WE DIG IT.

now is that really sad? or is it just a whole lot easier? cutting all those tradition lines of sorts...

think about it.

on another note, he saw me carrying a maths book and quizzed:

jap: you mackintosh?

OMGGG i had no friggin' idea wth he was taking about! seriously, i was gonna spill out:

No, i'm a microsoft windows user!!!

-_-"

fortunately i saw his eyes on the book and i quipped:

me: oh i just finished my A-levels. (like la he'll understands wth is STPM)

but he gave a wide mouthed "ooohh", which kinda consoled me into thinking mackintosh was some kinda education programme. or maybe he just thought i was a loser who didnt know wtf was 'mackintosh' and replied me with a complimentary pathetic "ooohh".

he did ask me though what i majored in.


CERTAINLY, as GorgeousOne said, NOT tourism.