Accomplishments and other things

I am beginning to figure out how to navigate around this place. Still can't find a newspaper to read but I do have Singapore Asia News channel so catch up there.  In my travels today I bought some socks, bins, and paper for the printer.  You should see how people wince when I ask for bins.  It is kinda fun. You see, every man here is named with his given name and then Bin and then his father's name.(women follow the same pattern with Binti in the middle). So when I ask for a bin, the clerk thinks I am looking for a man.  Anyway, after sorting all that out, I got my bins and saw the famous KFC in the corner of my eye.  I was dying for some salad, and sadly was completely satisfied with a carton of KFC coleslaw.  In fact, I think I will go back tomorrow and buy a couple of big ones for the week. It uses the franchise recipe but I wish it was the non creamy one. But beggars can't be choosers.  Also very difficult to get the clerk to understand that all I wanted was coleslaw.  I drove away and parked the car and ate the entire little cup right away.  Now heading back to my neighbourhood I have figured out a route that you don't have to close your eyes to navigate the crazy drivers. I crossed the bridge and found myself driving toward one of my new Chinese restaurants.  They prepared me some great gai lan last week so went back for more.  I also asked for bok choy and like all others in Malaysia, they don't seem to know what the heck it is.  So I told the lady that I can buy it at the Econsave. She said, you can buy some and bring it back and we will cook it for you.  Not so shabby huh?  While the gai lan was tossed around in their wok, I headed to Econsave and picked up the baby bok choy.  So now I have 2 veggies in the larder and have ingredients for more gazpacho.  I think it will leave this Chinese vegetable cooking to the experts -- why mess up my own house with cooking and pots and pans when they gladly cook it for me.
Oops, before I was doing this food thing, I passed some furniture store I checked out in the past. They had a small aluminum table I thought might work well for my kitchen.  Thought I would go and barter a discount, as it was a second hand item in their store.  No longer there, I was ready to leave when I spied a small round wicker table outside. No price on it, so I asked the vendor 'how much?'  Somehow I think I bought something that was not his, because he kinda fumbled, and spewed out RM50.  Being a negotiator, I responded with ' I'll give you RM35' and now the table is in my living room beside my new lawn chair. They were far too quick to get it into my car, which makes me think it was not really theirs to sell.
BENEFITS OF BEING A LOCAL:

• gas man lets me pump my gas before I pay
• a man at the pump pumps my gas for me and waves when he sees me elsewhere
• clerks at Econsave come up to me in the store to say 'hi' and ask if I need anything
• man making screens for me has offered to come by and change any lights i need changed (because the ceilings are at least 15 feet high) - just have to call his assistant and he will come over
• local Chinese food restaurant will cook whatever I bring to them

Many accomplishments today, but I think it only fair to mention my fox paws too.  At Econsave I was buying Kleenex when I saw a bottle of some product called whitening cell repair for fair skin. Absolutely every product of women skin  products here are labelled whitening.  I don't need further whitening, but my face is getting burned with all the sweating that removes my sun screen regularly.  So, I thought, who cares about the whitening component, maybe it will repair my skin from the sun damage.  I was too lazy to get my glasses out to read the product so bought it and took it home.  At home I opened the package and thought it odd, but rolled it on my face (much like a roll on antiperspirant).  Didn't sting, kinda sticky, but otherwise ok.  Looked at the label and could read that it had aloe vera and witch hazel in it, so got my glasses to read more.  At the bottom of the label I read "antiperspirant".  I had just rolled deodorant on my face!  But I left it on. I am gonna see if I can get though a few hours without a sweaty face.
I think I have admitted enough for today.  Now I think the schewpps tonic I picked up will be a nice malaria medicine for the weekend.