JYSim for jobless-yokel Sim

Some unshared stories…

The Other Italian Family
When my exchange come to an end on early February, all Malaysian students are gathered in Hotel Princess in Rome. As we were sharing about our experiences for the past 2 months, this girl Myra approached me with a very-tired look and asked me how was my past 2 months. I told her it was ok, and it could be better of course, if i went to other places. She instinctively asked me whether my host family was loud, and before I can answer, she blurted ‘they’re loud, so loud.’ Coincidentally, Eeshwer (whose baggage was overweight, like everyone of us, but hers was actually rejected for check-in on our outbound flight) was passing by and she spoke with her typical Punjabi slang ‘hey Sim, do you know you were actually going to Myra’s host family?’
‘What? Why? How?’
‘One day both of us were shopping and I went home with Myra. Her host Mum actually asked me if I knew this guy name Sim Jun Yi. I said ya, and she threw the student application and there was this Sim Jun Yi’s photo staring at me.’
‘But Myra, why they didn’t want to host me?’
‘Well, they think hosting a girl was easier than a boy.’
‘This is sexual discrimination!!!’
‘You can talk to my host Mum about that. Appearantly she thinks all guys are bad, excpet my host Dad of course,’

The Donated Autographed Miss-Malaysia Book
Some days during March 2006 I woke up naturally (as in without alarm clocks, no Dad banging the door and no people hammering window frames next door. Waking up naturally is such a luxury nowadays). Instinctively I turned on RedFM, a channel I never listened. Miraculously this Yvonne Lee is doing some promotion for her book entitled ‘The Sky is Crazy’. Whoever calls in and speaks to this Miss Malaysia-cum-formal air stewardess will win her new book with her oh-so-attractive autograph. Now I’d have to confess that I already own the book, unautographed. And it was damn good.
‘Hello?’
‘Good morning. I’m Sim from Penang.’
‘Hi Sim! Simon, you realise how sexy his voice is?’ (I apologise if this sounds boastful, I did not lie, she did say that)
‘So, anyting to say to Yvonne?’
‘Well, I personally think the book is very good. The humour and selection of words is very Malaysian, and it actually exposes to us how this seemingly glamorous job is. I was like stunned when I came back from Italy one month ago and found this book lying on the bookshelf in Popular. It was ‘hey, another Malaysian writer!’ And frankly, Lydia’s book (another Malaysian writer) is not as good!’
‘Yeah, people seem to think that this job is easy and air stewardesses make tonnes of money. Actually it is not. And nowadays there are a lot of ah peks out there who thinks they’re in First Class but they actually got the economy ticket free from some competition. They’ll go ‘hey, kopi satu!’ and you feel really like in the kopitiam serving kopi-o.’
‘I like the book a lot because of its humour. And the book is organised in such a way you cover every aspect of flying.’
‘It seem to me you’ve already read Yvonne’s book? Sim?’
‘Yeah, I bought it some days ago. And I finished it one-shot.’
‘Well, since it’s such a good book do you mind donating it to other people?’
At this point I was still half-asleep and I thought ‘donating the book’ as in RedFM send this book over and I’ll give it to whoever I like.
"As you’ve mentioned this is such a good book. So I think I’ll donate it.’
‘Well then, we’ll keep the book for the next caller. Thank you and bye!’
‘…’

The Abandoned Christmas Presents
I got a pair of slippers, a long-sleeve shirt and a glass orb for Christmas in Italy. While the slippers proved useful for the remaining 1.5 months there, the glass orb is just suitable for burning off an extra 10 seconds everyday during my sometimes-boring days in Italy. Appearantly I came with an overweight baggage, and I was worried they’ll charge me when I return. Though I hardworkingly gave away a lot of gifts (including an extra unintended 2 books and some Malaysian bank notes), the baggage is still 30kgs. And I haven’t include the 5 kg glass orb and my slippers and my jackets and my chocolates and my other books. On my flight from Torino to Rome, I suffered aching fingers for several hours. Worst, they don’t have aerobridge to the airplane, and I clutched on my things with 3 fingers while the other 2 I used for attaching myself to the sardine-bus handlebar. I then knew I must discard some of my possessions so that I won’t die during my 5-hour hangover in Amsterdam.
Upon reaching Rome, I met my friends and we chatted a long while. I retrived my baggage and seperated my ‘essentials’ and ‘non-essentials’. Making sure I discard as little as possible, I silently put my ‘non-essentials’, which comprises the glass orb and the slippers, as far from me as possible.
Several minutes later our AFS volunteer gathered us and we were walked to the bus waiting some distance away. Making sure I’m the last to leave, I doubly check if there are any security cameras around (least they should think I’m a terrorist leaving behind some bomb in a package), I dumped them and quickly, stumbly bounced out of the airport.
When I told Mum this she sweared ‘what? People spent money on your Christmas presents and you just dumped them?’
Well, I regretted everyday for dumping these things, but that’s what I have to do if I have 3 flights to catch over the next 15 hours and no sleep at all. I vow I’d go back and look for my things when I’m rich enough to fly.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006 at 8:04 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.