Tuesday, March 16, 2004
March 16, 2004
Pictures from Erika's visit are now online here!
Encounters
*A Cypriot who has never been to Cyprus, born and raised in Singapore: "I've met people from different races, religions, ethnicities, nationalities, and the Chinese Malaysians make me want to vomit." Nothing like such wonderful GENERALIZATIONS...right after "The sky is blue everywhere, people are the same everywhere. There are good and bad people in all countries."
*A few days ago a woman working at a food stall asked me if I was Iranian. Next guess was Saudi Arabia. That night, a Tunisian man told me he thought I was Jordanian. What's wrong with these people?!?
*Today I saw this tshirt at a store here. How bizarre!?!
Two Pleasant Surprises
I went to the Cambodian Embassy last week to get my visa, showing up at 1 pm and noticing on the gate that the Consular was only open from 9-12. I had called the day before to find out what I needed to bring and no mention was made of the hours of operation. I held my breath and went in. At first, it seemed like I was going to have to come back...but then, miraculously, I was allowed to fill out the form and leave my passport.
I picked up the passport today and took it to the Vietnamese Embassy. I hadn't been able to get ahold of them by telephone, so didn't know what I needed or their hours, but I was just crossing my fingers. It was open (thankfully), but then I noticed that I needed to pay 180 RM. I only had 130. Now, I was sure that if any country would cause me problems it would be a communist one. I flashed a smile and politely asked if I could pay the extra 50 RM when I picked up my passport. NO PROBLEM!
I had been prepared for red tape, bureacracy and procedure to override sensibility, but was happily proven wrong!
Money Matters
You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Walking down the street with L., he asked me for a 4-digit number, from my heart. I throw out something, only then learning he was looking for a number to place a bet on in the 3x-weekly Malaysian version of the lottery. Within two blocks, he noticed a motorbike's license plate lying on the sidewalk---four digits, 5875 I think it was. This causes him some inner-turmoil, thinking perhaps this was a sign. He kicked it over so no one else would see it and we continued on. We met up with some friends and they went to place their bets. I decided to play along once---don't worry, it was only 1 RM, not like the shell game in Italy or my loses at Foxwood! Api pointed at the board and showed how last week he was only one digit away. It was something like 4924 and he had bet on 4944 (you don't win if it's not exactly right). (This one-number away thing had also happened to another friend after he bought a new car and followed superstition-procedure of betting that number). 15 minutes later, walking down the street, we saw the aftermath of a car accident--the car had smashed into a stoplight, bending it. The license plate of the car? 5875. We only had 2 minutes until 7pm when the numbers were chosen, but fortunately there was a place right across the street to make additionally bets. When the ticket is printed, they could somehow tell that that number had been bet--a lot. Seems everyone else took that poor guy's bad luck as an omen. So then they decided they needed to scramble the numbers to make other combinations and proceeded to make about 6 more bets.
In the end, the license plate number was a loser.
But Api, once again, was one number off. Again with combinations of 4, 9 and 2! Aiya!
Spring?
In a blog entry, Andi mentioned waking up to find a gorgeous spring morning...and I thought: spring!?!? Oh yeah, in the rest of the world, it is just about that time of the year...The Schnoebelen Family Farm Lamb count should also serve as a reminder (21, last I heard).
Remind me to go somewhere I can wear sweaters next time (besides in the movie theaters!). Well, AFTER Africa.
Pictures from Erika's visit are now online here!
Encounters
*A Cypriot who has never been to Cyprus, born and raised in Singapore: "I've met people from different races, religions, ethnicities, nationalities, and the Chinese Malaysians make me want to vomit." Nothing like such wonderful GENERALIZATIONS...right after "The sky is blue everywhere, people are the same everywhere. There are good and bad people in all countries."
*A few days ago a woman working at a food stall asked me if I was Iranian. Next guess was Saudi Arabia. That night, a Tunisian man told me he thought I was Jordanian. What's wrong with these people?!?
*Today I saw this tshirt at a store here. How bizarre!?!
Two Pleasant Surprises
I went to the Cambodian Embassy last week to get my visa, showing up at 1 pm and noticing on the gate that the Consular was only open from 9-12. I had called the day before to find out what I needed to bring and no mention was made of the hours of operation. I held my breath and went in. At first, it seemed like I was going to have to come back...but then, miraculously, I was allowed to fill out the form and leave my passport.
I picked up the passport today and took it to the Vietnamese Embassy. I hadn't been able to get ahold of them by telephone, so didn't know what I needed or their hours, but I was just crossing my fingers. It was open (thankfully), but then I noticed that I needed to pay 180 RM. I only had 130. Now, I was sure that if any country would cause me problems it would be a communist one. I flashed a smile and politely asked if I could pay the extra 50 RM when I picked up my passport. NO PROBLEM!
I had been prepared for red tape, bureacracy and procedure to override sensibility, but was happily proven wrong!
Money Matters
You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Walking down the street with L., he asked me for a 4-digit number, from my heart. I throw out something, only then learning he was looking for a number to place a bet on in the 3x-weekly Malaysian version of the lottery. Within two blocks, he noticed a motorbike's license plate lying on the sidewalk---four digits, 5875 I think it was. This causes him some inner-turmoil, thinking perhaps this was a sign. He kicked it over so no one else would see it and we continued on. We met up with some friends and they went to place their bets. I decided to play along once---don't worry, it was only 1 RM, not like the shell game in Italy or my loses at Foxwood! Api pointed at the board and showed how last week he was only one digit away. It was something like 4924 and he had bet on 4944 (you don't win if it's not exactly right). (This one-number away thing had also happened to another friend after he bought a new car and followed superstition-procedure of betting that number). 15 minutes later, walking down the street, we saw the aftermath of a car accident--the car had smashed into a stoplight, bending it. The license plate of the car? 5875. We only had 2 minutes until 7pm when the numbers were chosen, but fortunately there was a place right across the street to make additionally bets. When the ticket is printed, they could somehow tell that that number had been bet--a lot. Seems everyone else took that poor guy's bad luck as an omen. So then they decided they needed to scramble the numbers to make other combinations and proceeded to make about 6 more bets.
In the end, the license plate number was a loser.
But Api, once again, was one number off. Again with combinations of 4, 9 and 2! Aiya!
Spring?
In a blog entry, Andi mentioned waking up to find a gorgeous spring morning...and I thought: spring!?!? Oh yeah, in the rest of the world, it is just about that time of the year...The Schnoebelen Family Farm Lamb count should also serve as a reminder (21, last I heard).
Remind me to go somewhere I can wear sweaters next time (besides in the movie theaters!). Well, AFTER Africa.
