aZLiNa sPeaKs.. tHe WoRLd LiSTeNs..

oh my god im experiencing another warning!! like rite now!! (oh im back)

its a lazy sunday.. and we spend the day recuperating from saturday's volunteer/ hard-cheap labour work (wic im supposed to blog about so ppl dont think its all FUN here.. but i havent gotten around to it yet) this is more exciting..
dinner is amazing maggi (just felt like showing the pic) and no, that is NOT all that we eat here, so save ur pities :) we actually eat pretty gud food when we cook (another story, another time)

i had class at 8 tis morning, so i slept at 12. next thing i know, my hsemates are frantically knocking on my door yelling at me tat its an emergency. i wake up all groggy (n in my baju kelawar) to hear them desperately try to get the msg across that its a tornado warning, n i need to put on pants n shoes n run to the shelter hse. tis is at 2 am in the morning.

well well well. im not a morning person.. nor am i a wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-nite-to-face-emergency sort of person. so it took a whole longer for my muscles, amygdala n thalamus to spring into action. (and apparently, if the tornado HAD been in our way, those precious few seconds could have well cost us our lives)

n its funny how we think we'd be cool in the face of emergencies, but turns out we're not??  last nite stupid irrelevant worries like what about my laptop?? or should i bring anyhting?? and what about my money, my phone, my clothes?? were rushing to my head.. or even things like surely this must be a joke or is this a drill?? this MUST be a practice drill.. i had to sternly remind myself to get out to safety first, tat even things like passports are insignificant when compared to ur lives. a valuable experience indeed.

the people at the tornado shelter

we stayed at the shelter for about 15 mins i think. lots of ppl were already there, most of them seasoned to these type of emergencies (they had the tornado alarm clanging, but us malaysians had no idea wat it meant, obviously) we went back n i switched on the radio, the reports were coming in n warnings for shelter were progressively being aired as the tornado travelled (south i think) damages were reported, but no lives were lost, thank God for that.

i went back to sleep at 430am.. typical Malaysian.. after stressful encounters we must eat.. hahaha.. even more so for me, as my adrenaline was belatedly pumping through my veins n i cudn go back to sleep.. needless to say class was a blurr at 8 :)

My first driving lesson in the States!!!!

no time to take pictures.. no time to react.. just enough time to close my mouth before my gapping had saliva drip from it.. curtis LET ME DRIVE HIS CAR!!!!!!! (even as i write it now i cant believe i did it) wooohoooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nothing much to tell actually.. i needed to pick up a book from my lecturer's hse .. it was at 10 at nite, n we were dead tired ( from the horrible experience stated in the blog above ~ wasn about to diminish the excitement by putting them together).. n curtis sed he din mind dropping me off..

but when we get there.. he turns around n says in what i believe was meant to be a mean, seargent- like voice "do u have a driving liscence??" n im like, yeah i do.. n before i know it, hes like holding up his keys n goin : do u want to drive??

hell YES.. hahahahha.. (he din need to know tat i was somewat blind at nite w/out my glasses, nor did he need to know tat i din have my liscence wif me..)n its a gud thing icky shut his trap too, tho i knew he was prob freaked out with the idea of getting into the car wif ME at the driver's seat.. hahhaah..

not bad, driving in the states. its somewat freaky cus ur on the wrong side of the road, n parking is a bit scary cus i cudn estimate the car's size (esp parking on the right side of the road) but heck, I DROVE CURTIS'S CAR IN AMERICA!!! (n in case u dont know the emphasis in that sentence, its THE car, n driving in AMerica.. NOT Curtis.. ) hahahaha.. he has a galfren (Gasp!! Oh no!!) but yeah.. pretty green eyed becka she is.. hahahah..

well. end of story.

next phase of our american life

we are now embarked upon the phase where we 'experience the working culture of the american society'.. n lucky me, i get to work at a convenience store.. as a cashier. wic really, isn be a big deal for ppl like icky, ferroz, isk n syaz cus they are working at the 'better' part of town..

(different store, same job) maybe easier job =)

me n salwa.. hahahhaah.. we work at the GHETTO.(definition courtesy of manager, mr sandon).. so u get all types of ppl walking in.. when ur real lucky the ones with ties n shirts.. no suits so far tho.. but when days are 'normal'.. u get a mixture of druggies n alcoholics n lottery freaks (or the politically correct term ~compulsive gamblers).. people wif chemical dependancy n psychiatric disorders..

well i guess it is somewat an experience for me.. never in my life wud i imagine talking to, let alone associating myself with 'those people'.. it may sound harsh, or snobbish, but that is the reality.. i, like most ppl i know, was brought up to mix around wif wat our parents define as 'civilised'.

1) we dont deign to reply when someone who rank (pungent foul smell emitting from him.. not necessarily BO, but because taking a bath is not a near possibility for him) talks to us..

2) we are not accustomed to have people swear AT US (not around us, mind you) when they dont get somethin they want.

3) we sure as hell dont care for yellowed teeth-torned shirt(or wats left of a shirt)-leering looking-scraggly hair-drippy nose-and filthy hands guy smiling at us.. what more when they try to hit on us..

so u see.. hypocrisy takes a whole new meaning when it comes to dealing with them. You not only have to smile with some degree of sincererity, you have to hand in change in their bloody freakin hands and then wish them a pleasant day ahead. (if you could imagine a big hard rock and a brick wall with my head in between.. good.. you're feelin me) n owh.. their hands are not literally bloody.. and its not freaky, its actually disgusting.. hahahahahah...

aside that.. there are a few light hearted moments at work.. like when you serve a blind customer(who comes in wif his guide dog).. or when you serve ppl who have heard of malaysia.. and talk about beautiful Penang with a wistful voice.. or when you serve old people who miss their grandchildren (they talk a lot ~ them americans)

the WORK itself is not hard to master..get the hang of lottery tickets..ur gud to go..

then ciggerates n cigars.. they got more ciggerates here than in msia.. n boy, i din know smokers were picky ppl.. menthol lights 100's in a box is different from a packet of menthol lights 100's.. hahaha.. n who taught me that?? a customer cus i was fed up in not getting the right one..

they got more overhead the counter..

beer.. hahahah.. i never seem to remember how much they cost.. diff brand diff costs.. summore got 10 oz, 20 oz, 1L, 2L..die la wanna hafal.. i always ask the customer themselves (kan most alcoholics perr.. so they oredi know the price)..

the array of choices for beer

ps- cigars go out quick cus druggies buy them, slit it n fill it up wif wateva crap they want, then smoke it..

pps- only have videos of me working, no pics.. so cant show you no dodgy people.. il try to get some (tapi takut gak aa.. wat if they think im undercover cop or somethin?) hahahahah..

visiting BAss Pro shops.. << tat rite??

so we headed of to someplace today.. im not the best person when it comes to remembering names (unless its a cute guy involved.. hahaha.. i will ALWAYS remember matthew thomas)

nways.. we all take the bus.. 21 of us n curtis.. (jeff at the last minute finds an 'errand' tat needs to be settled..) hahaha dont blame him.. no way id take the bus if i had my own car..

when we get there me n icky head straight for the guns n had the salesperson hand over guns so we cud get pics wif them. N while we there there was this mother- son pair getting a gun.. N blessing of all that is holy.. THEY LOOKED HAPPY!!! you wud think that gettin a gun is serious business.. especially if ur getting it for .. say.. protection.. but NOOoooo.. they looked like they were shopping for a pair of jeans with the silly smiles n joking around..

that really gave a harsh realization on just how the on- the- edge life in america is.. n tis is just springfield, a kampong-ish area much like parit raja.. wat more in places like chicago??!?
guns have become so much a part of their daily lives that the salesperson was taken aback when i asked him why wud ppl own guns.. and i guess they were pretty amused at how appalled i was when i learnt how easy it was to purchase a gun. i mean, ive read bout it before, but to hear it straight from the horse's mouth was a bit disconcerting..
N to think in malaysia only a selected few EVER get to hold a gun, much less shoot from one..

then we went to the wildlife rooms and saw stuffed animals contorted in a way that amplifies their best qualities. picture taking haven for crazy ppl like us =)

heres a classic... HAHAHAHA.. salwa really pulls it off!

n icky bonds well wif the deer.. HAHAHHAHAHA

we also met a guy who's Apache, n he sung a song for us in one of the 500 languages they have (he speaks 47 of them)..

later we went to see the real animals.. the normal stuff u do when u visit new places. learnt a lot about hunting deers (useless information i know, but hey..) n elk's horns (dont ask why elks).. n a bunch of other useless information that u just carry around in ur head to use during awkward moments at parties when everyone is quiet.. like, for instance, did u know, pumas, cougars, wildcat and panthers are different names for the same animal?? and the fact that wolves, contrary to popular belief, DO NOT eat humans?? hahahaha.. i must be pretty desperate when i blurt all these facts at parties..

later at nite watched old school the movie in a theather like room. no matter how boring an activity it may be, it becomes fun wif the ppl ur wif... im beginning to realise tat now.. til later

this is where the fun begans!!! fun at the Lake hOuse

regardless of how things turned out, the trip gets 3 thumbs up just because the starting was perfect (how cud it not be.. i was sitting up front wif curtis) =)

the view throughout the journey, hard to describe with mere words. the blue sky.. the green oaks.. the cold breeze from the windows.. tiny hills tat majestically frame the lake.. even the clouds were sitting just perfect at those times when u catch the occasional glimpse of the shimmering water. it was just breathtaking.

and when we arrived (after shopping 4 groceries, curtis bought me sandals.. awwwww) i was even more enthralled.. the hse was right by the lake and it was even more gorgeous up front! the hse itself felt like a hotel tat u pay dearly for to enjoy (wic come to think of it, Jeff's family prob did)

but we din waste much time.. straight on to cooking sedap giller babi punye hamburger (or as us malaysians MUST clarify, BEEF burgers)heheh.. sedap giller babi sebab curtis y masak??? hehehehe..

nways.. after tat we get on the boat! (actually get on the truck n then to the boat, they park it elsewhere).. feeling of the wind in ur hair (cold wind) while the sun tries its best to bake u alive (no brownie points for banana boat's spf 50 protection) is just phenomenal. sitting there while Jeff expertly manouvered amongst the other boats was just surreal.. i kept thinking tat i was prob the luckiest gal to be able to have a taste of such luxury.. cruising on a private boat on a lake so tranquail tat ud think its fake

And it gets better.. we docked at a corner and jumped in!! not freezing- ass cold like cape town, but cold enough to make ur nipples cringe =) n after climbing up n speeding into the wind.. tats just crazy.. it was so cold i almost cried..

we got home n after a quick change headed back for pizza (went by boat!) pizza in the woods!!

and it was fun cus we sat outside and watched this cop go crazy in a ticket marathon.. he mustve got wat?? 3 or 4 guys when we had dinner??

next morn woke up after the best sleep in 2 weeks (n no, i did not sleep wif curtis) but breakfast was curtis's doin again.. so it was definitely magnifyingly delicious..heheh..

another day of fun, lake n sun!!
(n boy i ate so much junk in 2 days than id ever eat in 2 months back home.. YOWzEEee..