Malaysian habits

This is one of those days when I feel SUPER DUPER proud that Malaysia is my country.

Well this is how the story goes:: it started with a letter d.

Date.

With who?? My dearrrrrr cousin Pia-san.

:))

Last time she came here we went into story mode the whole time and I had unknowingly made a promise.

And like all promises;; this one is also accidental;; unintentional and unexpected.

I promised to go to Masjid Jamek with Pia-san to a henna session together.

BAM!

That's how I end up fighting through the sea of different colors and odours along the streets around the Masjid;; bumping through every race imaginable.

This is why KLites macam dah tak heran whenever they see foreigners. My ears caught some Arabic;; Indian;; French;; and even Russian.

Decking the streetsides are shops with clothes poles and display racks placed right outside their doorsteps;; even spilling into the streets. This is why I advise car drivers to stay away from this area:: unless you have a secret fetish of sitting for long periods of time inside your car while crowds leisurely walked in front of your vehicle.

A line of motorcycles made an unnatural divider halfway along one street.

It's so lively there;; even though in just three days muslims would be celebrating Eidul Fitr. Most customers here consist of Malays;; Indians;; Bangladeshis and Pakistanis:: in short;; it's Malasysian Muslims' meeting spot. But it's quite popular in tourists' checklist of interesting places in Malaysia.

In a sea of 160cm-ish bobbing heads;; there's always the occassional 180-ish foreigners with blonde hair and high nose and khaki shorts. I think Europeans love their white shirts:: almost every male European tourist is a white shirt believer;; walking around in their shades with their defined jaw set and their enormous backpacks the size of two gulai kawah periuks stacked on top of each other slung on their backs.

It is ironic that the Masjid Jamek area is one of the most popular tourist attraction spots in KL;; because of the bargaining culture that's widely practiced around there and of course because of the array of choices in merchandises and hawker foods;; which means it is one of the most economically successful places in KL;; but it's also junkies' hangout spot. Not to mention the area is in abundance of beggars.

Being KL;; the Masjid Jamek area also have things to offer at night;; but that is when you'll see youths mingling not-so-innocently in the streets.

I think it's a shame to the term Masjid (mosques);; which means a place where muslims perform religious acts to achieve pahala (rewards). Masjids are built to be madrasahs;; or schools;; not a place for couples to make love and throw away their unwanted babies.

This place is always pulsing with life;; there's always movement. Pia-san and I arrived around 12 o'clock on a hot;; sunny Friday. Despite the heat these bargain-seekers are relentless in their search. Most of them are doing last-minute Eidul Fitr shopping.

I laughed at myself because this situation practically screams MALAYSIAN HABITS!! It's no secret that Malaysians are hardcore last-minute shoppers.

It felt so good to be back in Malaysia! When I was in Jordan for two months;; I did fell in love with the country but weirdly;; my love for Malaysia did not deteriorate at all;; NOT A LITTLE BIT;; but it actually grew.

I had just saw something amazing today!! :DDDD

These people were performing Jumaat (Friday) prayers outside their shops.

I think this culture comes from Islamic countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan;; because generally

Malaysian men don't really pray except in the comforts of their homes and in mosques. It's because in Malaysia;; we have alot of mosques.

Disebabkan tempat ni tumpuan pelancong;; so the mosque can't tampung jumlah orang yang nak solat. This is a really refreshing sight;; and I was informed it only happened once a week during Jumaat prayers.

Another habit that we Malaysians have is that we LOVE to demean our own country.

>:-O

It PISSED me off!!

Sometimes I heard the pak ciks in kopitiams comdemning Malaysia;; saying it's not good enough because it doesn't offer free education for youths like in France;; saying that we don't have much and it's better to go overseas where the grass is greener and yadda yadda yadda YADDA.

That's all just bs I tell you;; bses with a plural term!!!!!!!

Malaysia is lik