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AYL 4 LIFE
Where r u from?
Monday, August 6, 2012
On 23 September 2011 ...

I walked along the rowdy street of Petaling Street looking for only one item: Coconut candy.

Since I was put to be in charge of food during exhibition, I suggested to the team leader that I will look for the best item for the food tasting segment.

I craned my neck at every counter, and found the price for the candy either overpriced or too little in a packet. I was thinking of buying 1000 in quantity.

Amidst of betting off the foreigners approaching me to buy pirated dvds, I found a sundry shop hidden from the main road at the corner of Petaling Street.

There are many local delicacies on the rack, and my eyes moved from one rail to another until I found the candy.

I finally released my breath of relief.

The promoter approached me and tried to guess where I came from, because I spoke broken Cantonese. She was dismay and disappointed to know I came from Kuala Lumpur. I even offered to show her my identity card.

I moved on to the main negotiation: I want cheaper price for buying 20 packets.

I could see her dismay again, for she could not charge me tourist price. She contacted her boss to give me 20% discount off total price, and yet I demanded to be lowered by a few ringgit. The boss gave in, and I happily carried 10 packs on each arm to the LRT station which was 200 m away from the shop.

The candies were killing my arms. I took interval breaks between my walks. For a heartbeat, I felt I blended in with the foreigners at Petaling Street buying bulks of items to bring home.

I sat at the bench while waiting for the train, and came a young man asking me if the following train is going to Ampang in Mandarin. I replied him in broken Mandarin.

And he continued asking me "Where are you from?" in mandarin.

I was somewhat offended, but I decided to hide my expression and replied coolly "Kuala Lumpur."

He was embarrassed.

"You thought I was a foreigner just because I was wearing torn jeans and t-shirt with unmatched cap, buying things to bring back to China?"

He smiled and apologised about the mistaken identity.

We jumped into the same train and conversed in English until he reached his stop. The anchor of the topic was about the function of the candy.

Spinoff: :-) We ended up becoming friends on FB... And we discovered we have a number of mutual friends from the entertainment and event line. What a small world.

I found out he is a stage performer who resigned from his lawyer profession. What dedication! And I never expected to make a new friend from this day.

And yes, my arms hurt like hell for the next few days...
1 Comments.


I would love to learn Cantonese and Mandarin.

I get a lot of the "where are you from?" from people as well. I never sound like I'm from where I'm from, so I go home and people ask where I'm from. I don't sound like I'm from where I visit or live, so people ask where I'm from.

When I meet people in other towns that ask where I'm from, they never guess my hometown, because I don't sound like it.
» ikimashokie on 2012-08-06 09:19:46

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