2006 Malaysia/Australia Trip... Funny Memories

I thought I'd put some funny memories down, before I forget to ever record that (test on Friday we learnt that firstly information needs to be knowable, then recorded, then accessible,etc,etc.) Was looking at the pics today and thought about these funny memories...

Firstly what has stood out in my memory was the 2 moments, that could have given others a funny but slightly warped perception of South Africans. But before I tell you those memories, let me first tell you that though I love cultures, and places, I am a very finicky eater, (they even joke that I'm white sometimes because I dont like the typical coloured young person gatsby meal - extra large chip/frenchfries roll with lots of sauce, and other stuff on,eg. viennas (the pink muslim type), steak,etc.) So eating was especially hard for me in Malaysia, cause I dont like asian spices... Although the others were so happy about it, at least Miriam had a hard time just like me. Also point no. 2 seeing that chicken doesnt look like Chicken in SA in Malaysia and the little fastfood stores we walked past...I am slowly beginning to become a vegetarian (slowly).

Funny Memory no.1 - Australian Ham/SA Perception

Now having said that, the first night staying at the Moses family in Sydney's house we were quite happy being able to make our own food in the kitchen. They were quite late because they were in the ushering team at the conference, so had just left some food out for us. Well the others started frying them burgers, and rolls, but when I came into the kitchen I spotted Ham! And I was so excited, cause it was for me just a taste of home, so instead of making me a burger, I sliced some tomatoes, made me a cup of coffee, and made a lovely fresh roll with ham, tomato, lettuce, salt and pepper, sandwhich to drink with the coffee, It looked quite nice so some of the others also made them. Well the ham was thicker than normal, and especially I like shaved ham, so I was prepared for extreme hammy taste, even though I dont like thick slices, I prefer it to the not eating for 3 days in Malaysia. Also it was a much longer slice than in SA, but again, there everything is bigger too! The cereal boxes, the coke cans, etc., etc. Anyway, the other girls begin to eat their rolls up and I take a bite, and it's not entirely nice, because its thick,or at least thats why I thought it wasnt tasting nice, but I continue to eat half up, the rest finished theirs. Just then Denise walks in back from the conference, and takes one look at me with the roll in my hand and the others busy finishing their last bites, eyes with a horrified expression, and says "Why are you eating the raw bacon???" Knowing me, I didnt finish my roll, even though it didnt taste much different, knowing it was raw bacon and all our lessons on the tapeworm in std. 9 was enough to scare me. However I went to bed really canning myself. Becuase I know that probably what went through her head was Dont us South Africans know what bacon is??? Lol. Well it was news to us too that bacon looks different in different countries, and no ways would we eat raw bacon if we knew it, but their raw bacon looked and tasted exactly like our cooked ham slices. But of course that's not what it looked like, and we would have had the same reaction if we saw someone from overseas eating our raw bacon :) I laughed till tears came into my eyes :) (My mother told me afterwards, it's because our bacon is smoked thats why it looks different)

Funny Memory no. 2 - Malaysian Airport/ SA Perception

This is similar to the one above. We were on our way back to South Africa, having arrived from Sydney at the Malaysian airport, and waiting for our flight from Malaysia back to Cape Town. I was terribly thirsty and went to a pub to buy me some cooldrink. I asked for some Coke, but then some other people arrived and because I was paying with my credit card, I let them go first. Then they were taking so long and I really really wanted my drink. The moment they left I asked the Guy if I could start drinking my cooldrink so long while he swiped my card,[[disclaimer, according to overseas people we look very different, esp. in Malaysia we got lots of Where you froms? Even though to us we looked similar to eveyrone else. Ok not eveyrone, but in Australia at the conference too I realised, people are used to White, and Black, but they couldnt place brown skin, I thought it would be obvious that I'm from South Africa but some of the answers I got was Saudi Arabia.]] So with the waiter I was very much aware that I was different, and he probably noticed that,and he says Ok, Of course and turns around immediately after that. I take the can open it, turn my head up and take a swig of the drink, man I was so thirsty wasnt really thinking straight,and also have been told lots of times I need to be more lady like (thats what happens if you grow up hanging alot with guy cousins) He turns back at that point with a straw in his hand, turning just in time to see me with my head turned up, in a very unladylike position. And his eyes also was wide. I realised then, ok maybe drinking without a straw sometimes may be normal, maybe not lady like but not somehting to be shocked about. But maybe there, he sees this lady walk in, pay with her credit card, and gets her a straw, only to see her drinking it like a man! And maybe that isnt normal there (or elsewhere for that matter), lol. I found that funny too. Dont worry I am more careful in public now and do use my straws, but I was desperate that day for a sip, lol.

Funny Memory no. 3 - Malaysian Hotel/Accent and Food Troubles.

So it's 11pm at night, and I realise I need to eat something, I need to take my arthritis meds, and definitely cannot take it on an empty stomach. So then someone mentions that room service is still open. So as I said before, I was really not eating those days in Malaysia, in fact, the others bought me KFC a Zinger, but I just said no thankyou, and when I asked Lucinda if it tastes the same she also said, no it doesnt, and I wouldnt have liked it... So right now, I wasnt terribly hungry, lol I'm a weird one, If I dont like somehthing and there arent alternatives, even my hunger seems to go away. I decide to call him and ask him for a plain toasted cheese sandwhich (what harm can there be in that?). Well the guy struggles to speak English over the phone, and I tell him, I just want a toasted Cheese Sandwhich, only bread and cheese, nothing extra, no spices, nothing, just toasted bread and cheese. I repeated this a couple of times. He asked me Do I want a packet? I said I dont mind if it's in a packet or a plate, but I dont want anything else Just BREAD, CHEESE. Nothing else, No spice, no tomato, nothing...Just the above. While waiting for the meal, everyone in my room was on my case for being prepared to pay R40 for a toasted cheese sandwhich, but I said, i just want somethng that tastes like home, and I'm prepared to pay that for it. And anyway I still had lots of money left, but I really just want to eat something normal! But the rest kept going on with me, also slowly making me feel bad that I made that choice, though I didnt let on. When the meal came, it was a plate, with chips (nothing extra?) and the bread looked burned or funny, and I lifted the bread to double check before the waiter left, and lo and behold it wasnt just cheese, it was ham (packet = PIG! thats what he was saying do I want pig on it!) Also the ham wasnt pink, but a browny red colour...And I was like I'm sorry I'm going to return it, and they said it was ok, because I did state that I want nothing on it clearly, and I wasnt prepared to pay R40 not sure how many ringets for somehting I know I'm not going to like! And it being pork too especially I am not taking my chances...I felt bad though for returning the meal and semi gave into the saving my money plea, and went out at 11h30 to buy next door a packet of chips/crips and a can of coke and biscuits to eat so I could take my tablets.

(well got to australia, discoverd mcd's ate it everyday, and its so much better than our mcd's there, got addicted, and man picked up alot of weight since then!but at least mcd's tasted like home then)

Funny Memory no. 4 - My broken Finger/Jacob Experience

When Jacob wrestled with God, he grew immensely spiritually, but left with a broken hip. I went to the conference, growing in LOVE for God, and receiving his love and a finger broken which is still skew to this day. Why did I break my finger and why is my finger skew? Well, firstly our combi/minivan we drove, had one missing seat, the one where you would normally push forward to get to the back seats, that one was missing. So I sat in the third row (the missing seat being the second row) and kept sitting after many caution comments from the rest, and slight falling forwards, I kept forgetting and sitting on the same spot. Secondly our Drivers (they were great considering the circumstances) were not used to driving automatic, so would always stop abruptly, and no. 3 In South Africa an orange robot/traffic light (lol another funny southafricanism,that gets strange looks when you forget that the rest of the world doesnt know what you mean at the Robot turn left, and I laugh if I think maybe they are imagining big silver Robots, because thats what I am saying.) means slow down, red means stop. In Australia, Orange means stop and everyone seems to know exactly when the robots going to go orange, so everytime it turns orange, our drivers slam the breaks. (to avoid an accident)... So on one of those occasions, the last day of teh conference we were on our way there, and our driver slammed the breaks, and I flew from the 3rd row and hit the first rows back, and put my hand out to break my fall and not break anything else... I felt a little pain and my finger started going stiff, and with 2 nurses in our team they just looked and said its ok, and christine snapped it in another direction, it not making a difference but she saying it will be ok, within an hour, at the conference, we split in different directions, my finger is now twice the size and bloody inside, blue, red and blackspots, I could see in my finger, again the pain was as if I bumped my hand hard, but not unbearable which I thought is how breaking a finger feels, During the worship I clapped my hands, just avoiding that finger, (it was paining, like a pulsing kind of pain, but again, if I could continue and clap my hands surely its not serious so I thought I'd wait and see what happens) aftewards I went to the loo and bumped into an asian girl who I just asked to look at my finger, asking her Do you think it's broken? She was also shocked by the way it looked, but said well if it's not paining then it's not broken. Eventually the swelling came down and about a month later back in SA, having totally forgotten about my finger one morning I look at my finger and it is skew, leaning to the opposite side. I then decide to go to the doc and he confirms that it could be broken and already grown healed. cause you apparantly have to come for it to be in casting, in 2 - 4 weeks. He calls the other doc to just confirm his suspician and they both say yes, and if I want my finger to be straight I would need to have it rebroken again. My doc also reminded me that pain is not the only sympton of broken fingers, or any sickness. And now I have to remember if you taking chemotherapy drugs to walk normal and painfree, of course things wont hurt (same with period pains, i always wonder how come eveyrone around me is cramping and then I remember oh yes, I dont feel pain the way others do, also I have lots of blue marks that i wonder about, same thing, when I bumped myself it was actually harder than what it felt). So Yes I went all the way to Australia to break my finger. The fall was also pretty funny, The others told me the car stopped and they were all still in the seats, but I was flying forward,lol. welcome to my world!

Well there are many more funny moments/great moments, asking random strangers if they're part of my church, but that only after 5 minutes of talking, and the guys wondering which one of them know me, and me assuming they are people I know. Not paying the cab money! (well I really wnat to still pay Joseph and have really tried to contact him!)
Falling asleep on the last day of the conference during the session and the stranger next to me, catching my book before it fell on the floor.(well we ended up being friends!) Falling asleep in other sessions and thinking I'm the only one, and seeing all the others around me sleeping - Well thats what happens if you go to bed 3am and wake up 5 am. Tina and I's great coloured worship sessions in the bathroom! In 40000 people bumping into one guy with a SARugby shirt on, and that group growing to abotu 10 people standing int the middel of one of the routes at the conference. Talking about Joel Houston, and then him walking past McD's right after I Spoke about him, and my automatic reaction was to wave, and he waved back, but a bit embarrased afterwards that I waved. Lots of laugh sessions with Miriam about this and other things. Weird moments, was looking at everyone else as if they are different,when I was the different one. This was extremely weird/funny, when the last monring in malaysia, I was late for breakfast, and went alone in the lift, and there are 10 asian people,and I get in out of breath, and see 10 eyes looking back at me, esp. the little toddler, I could imagine "Mom, what kind of a person is that?" One is all loud when you're in a group, but on your own, you very aware how different you are. Great moments, were meeting Hani in the mall in malaysia. I sat there for 2 - 4 hours!

Oh for the record, I did like the Pineapple Juice in Malaysia!

Broken Finger!