laundry day

As far as I remember, back at home we do the laundry with our 20-year-old washing machine and our own hands for soft stuff and hang them around the garden to get them exposed to the sun.

Here, we have sophisticated machine at the underground and since we share it with everyone in the building, we have a schedule to use it within 24 hrs (clean, dry and leave the room as clean as you can) and approx. twice a month. I quite enjoyed myself to see how smart this machine is. You can set the temperature (40, 60, 90 degrees), set the type of cloths (sport wear, wool etc) and it will tell you the time to come back when it is ready (40, 60, 70 mins). We started at 7 pm and we went to bed at almost midnight, watching cloths hanging at the windows. Well, you can leave your cloths at the basement and got them dry by a giant fan, but the risk is the next person will start using the laundry room at 6.

On the next day, I was tempted to operate the machine by myself. I locked the door, turned around and met this retired lady who was walking out of her room.

"KrÜzi, @%4jf? k&%" ah...Swiss German.
"Parlez-vous Francais?" I asked. I learned it for years (though for a long time ago), I should recognize some words.
"Ah oui! .......cle......" I looked confused. She continued, "$%&x... Schlüssel", "@$%&...chiave"

I think she even tried Italian with me...

She took my arm gently and we went down to the basement. Apparently she asked me if I had a key to enter to the laundry room and whether I was confused if it was my laundry day because today was hers. I tried to explain, mixing English and French or even German (or maybe Thai) that I still have time until 6 pm. Well, I guess the whole story of that day was like that.

Some days later, we met again at the elevator. She spoke to my boyfriend for awhile and turned to kiss on my cheek, smiled and then she left. He told me she tried to speak with me in all languages she could think of, but English. He joked with me that maybe she liked me now. Yea...right..

dreams

It has been 2 nights that I dreamt...

I dreamt about my childhood, primary school, relatives, parents, high school, friends from university, AIESEC, conferences, mom & dad again, my dog, shopping complex, books I have read, exams that I sat in, professors, friends from Malaysia, friends from uni again....

When I woke up, I forgot where I was..

I am in Switzerland...my master program will start in 2 weeks...

I have to do my laundry, I have to study Italian, I have to finish 2 chapters of accounting in a week, ...oh...don't forget to clean up the dishes and you will meet Alex at the museum in the evening and remember to text him when you will be there...

It's almost evening in Bangkok. My friends are about to shut off their computer and go home. I need to stop being lazy and begin my late day..

all by myself

"Don't be afraid to get out today," he told me before he left.

I have run through the list at the back of my head for the things I should have done - a few small laundry, a bit of unpacking (can't do it so much as I will move down to the new place soon), getting myself connected to the online world (my friends are looking forward to hearing from me), a bit of reading and course preparing etc. I woke up again when it was already late for a morning walk, so I started cleaning up his room (in the way I wanted my mom to least touch my stuff in my own room). Not so long, he was already there in the front door for lunch. Of course, he cooked for me. It was roasted pork with maccaroni. Yummy.

We went together to get a city map at the Hauptbahnhof (Main train station), walked him off to his office area and then, I was all by myself.

I always have a problem reading map and remembering street names. I only recognize buildings, stuff in the stores and big signs. I prayed so hard that I wouldn't get lost. No worries I had a cell phone, a phrase book and money to help me find my way. And I have an iPod, a camera and my diary to entertain myself throughout the journey.

Then, it rained.

I went in the Church. I didn't expect to enter something important, but I did. It was Grossmünster, the 12th century Romanesque architecture. The domes of its towers are symbols of Zurich. I didn't expect to climb to the tower, but I, again, did. The view from the top was breathtaking and my breath was literally taken, exhausting from climbing many stairs, but it was worth it. I couldn't believe my luck to live in such a beautiful city..

It was still dizzling, but I decided to walk out anyway. Having taken many wrong turns, I found myself back to the Hauptbahnhof. (I know the city route is a piece of cake, thanks for laughing you head off if you live here/ have been here before)

The direction of the Statue of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (the most important teacher who promoted the notion that a good education should be available for everyone) was still a mytery for me. Alex has never taken me here before. I walked there and found my paradise - the whole Bahnhoffstrasse (street) was full of brandname shops and Asian tourists who never fear of rain.

As I decided to go back to the apartment, I felt that my own handbag was so wet. I didn't believe that it was because of rain. It was lemontea pouring out from the bottle which was not close properly (yes, it was me). There go my cell phone, my phrase book, my wallet, my passport, my diary, my camera and my iPod, they were all soak with sweet lemontea.

I cursed and sneezed at the same time.

10 things I love about KL

1. It's less than 2 hrs away from Bangkok by flight. I can make a spontaneous escape any time...

2. I'm fascinated with lah, loh, ah, etc which are blended so well to the English sentences. For some reasons, these make Malaysian look soft and friendly :-)

3. Roti tissue at Mamak

4. Diversity - Malay, Chinese, Indian and Westerners

5. Most Malaysians I've met so far are bilingual, trilingual or more - English + Malay, English + Malay + Cantonese (+ Mandarin + Hokkian + Hukka etc if you can speak any dialects, just try)

6. Vincci shoes are half the price of those in Bangkok!!

7. Most friends from AIESEC I'm close to live in KL

8. Food and drink are so similar to Thai's - satay, lok-lok, Num tao hu, Chao Kuay, all types of Kuay Tiew etc.

9. The Malaysia Megasale Carnival Seasons. I love Mid Valley and 1 Utama!

10. The view of the Petronas Twins Towers right in front of my company's office