Gaps

It is our last full day in Malaysia today.

This morning The Man and I were rushing around making sure we had done all the shopping we intended to do, and wore ourselves out a bit (although I am pleased with some of the teaching materials I found). We decided to stop for a break and something light to eat, and since we were close, went to our favourite wantan mee hawker stall. After we'd been eating for a while The Man looked up and said,

"You don't really like me, eh?"

I stared at him. He grinned wryly.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"You didn't really write mail, eh?" he said.

I stared again. He wasn't making sense at all.

"WHAT?" I said, and leaned forward to listen.

"THIS ISN'T REALLY A LIGHT MEAL, EH?" he shouted.

I looked down at my bowl.

"NO, IT'S NOT," I answered. "BUT IT'S A GOOD ONE!"

Chinatown is a very noisy place.

------


In the afternoon we went to KLCC, which felt a bit like culture shock after Chinatown, where we're staying. It is a fabulous place, though.

When we were coming back on the train, at one station a young Chinese couple were running for the train as the doors started to close. They were holding hands. He jumped on the train, pulling her behind, but the doors closed on their clasped hands. To my great surprise, unlike in Japan (where the doors would then open and close again) the doors stayed closed. The couple pulled their hands out of the gap and stared at each other through the glass. Then they waved and shrugged. As the train pulled out of the station the guy pulled out his mobile phone.

The funny thing, though, was that when the doors didn't open several people around me moaned quietly, "Oh, no!" So did I. It just came out. It was like watching a mini-drama with a tragic ending. We were all involved.

He got off at the next stop, presumably to wait for her. If this were a novel she would never arrive and it would be a great mystery, only cleared up in the last chapter. But since this is real life and I don't know what happened next, you can make up your own ending.