jenmin1314

The other day behind me on the bus were 2 men. One was really weird asking this malay guy about muslims, islam, where can he buy the middle eastern white traditional clothes for men, where to buy the quran… I was really sleepy cos i slept at 4 and was also getting tired of him being so loud and annoying that I put my head on my hand and turned away to close my eyes. that guy was sitting all the way on the opposite side of the aisle but got up anyway and lean over to touch my hair asking out loud “what’s wrong with her ?” (or her hair, I didn’t hear carefully) so i lifted up my head, turnaround and fiercely give him the ‘WTF are u doing??!!!” death stare and he quickly sat down. Then his friend was saying, “if you did that in older times, that would be considered polite” (I can’t believe he said that! since when is weird men touching random women’s hair POLITE????) and continued “but now it’s just wrong man.” those clueless dirty wild countrymen with no teeth!!! Good thing they got off the bus at central bus station otherwise I would have to change bus just to stay away. I felt sooo polluted and dirty the whole day till I had my shower.

My bus stopped at Chinatown. Unlike usual, only a few boarded, including this young black man who once sat next to me.

That time, he boarded (at Chinatown again) and saw me stting in the front row. I thought I saw a hint of  excitement in his eyes and felt uncomfortable. I looked away and ignored him, waiting for him to walk past me. Unfortunately, he stopped where I was and gave me a creepy smile. He asked if he could sit next to me. I thought maybe I was just unintentionally being racist or something to have a bad feeling about him, and since the bus was full, fine. Take a seat. Throughout my journey home, he only read his book quietly. I let out a sigh of relief when I got off at my stop and felt bad for how I judged him the moment I saw him.

Today he boarded I was uncomfortable again for some reason. The bus was pretty empty at 4pm. He did not sit with me. He sat next to the young asian girl behind me. He greeted her and talked. Maybe they knew one another. However after 5 minutes his conversation started to piss me off.

Him: CAN…YOU…SPEAK…ENGLISH…WITH…PEOPLE…FOR…30…MINUTES?

Her: (soft answer…)

Him: CAN…YOU…SPEAK…ENGLISH…WITH…PEOPLE…FOR…30…MINUTES?

Her: (soft answer) I can speak english.

Him: Blah blah blah blah blah….

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Him: How old are you?

Her: 19

Him: Do you live with your parents?

Her: (soft answer about her family…)

Him: (More annoying questions)

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And this is where I started to worry for the poor girl…

Him: Can I have you number?

Her: No

Him: WHY?

Her: I don’t give out my number.

Him: haha! Who asked you to do that? Your mother? Your father?

Her: My boyfriend.

(I laughed a bit thinking that was a nice answer from her, but I knew she was getting uncomfortable)

Him: HAHA!!!! BOYFRIEND!!! HAHAH!!!! What’s his name huh? What’s his name?

Her: (soft answer I can’t hear)

Then I comtemplated so hard on whether I should do something to protect her. So vulnerable and too kind to ask him to stop being rude. But I was afraid that this guy would get all “It’s not your business I can ask her whatever I want” and then proceed to track where I live and stuff like that. I was so afraid to tell him to leave her alone all because of my safety and face. And I am not confrontational. I dare not imagine what would happen if he started attacking me verbally on the bus in front of everyone.

My stop came up. I got up and got out without turning around to look at her so Iwouldn’t risk making eye contact with him, even though I really wanted to see her facial expression and make sure she was ok. I feel very helpless about the situation. I just hoped she managed to get rid of him and safely return home.

At home I thought about it and tried to come up with options to help her that would not threaten my own safety with this creep. Type a message on my phone in chinese and hold it high enough for her to know that she could get off the bus stop with me to catch another one in 15 minutes? But my australian phone didn’t have the chinese writing feature. And even if it did, what if she wasn’t chinese? Turn around and give him a fierce angry look to intimidate him?  Turn around and ask her to sit with me? Tell the bus driver when I left to keep an eye on him?

Any advice? I feel so bad T_T How can we help other people when they are caught in such a situation?

After the incident I realized the gut feeling I had about him the first time was right. He really was creepy. Always follow what your conscience/gut feeling tells you. It’s there for a reason.

Funny video about getting a girl’s number but not so funny anymore in real life.

Thanks to all you lovely people’s kind advice and suggestions!! I appreciate all the helpful tips.

Yesterday I cooked a successful chicken and potato dish. Housemate Chloe said it was really good. Previously I cooked masala curry and that was good too so tomorrow I will be doing that again yay! Tuesday housemate Kerrie will be taking me out for lunch at a nice restaurant which I’ve never been to. And Friday sister Yen Fen will have me over her house for cooking and dinner!

Everyone is so kind this week I will be well fed and happy.

Been struggling with a lot of work the past week. 2 assignments 3 tutorials 1 practical to be done within 8 days. So sad but I got through it. Now finishing the last tutorial for tomorrow =)

I’m doing Computer Systems this semester. It’s a really interesting subject, studying how the computer system works at such a low level in binary form. Never knew I would one day understand how 1s and 0s would make up low level programs. But sadly the assignments are so crazy it literally gives me a painful headache just staring at assembly language for more than 2-3 hours just trying to test it to find one stupid bug. In the end I gave up cos I’m only lacking in 2 marks which if you convert it to upon 10 it’s really just 0.25 marks. So yea! It’s successful, since considering at the beginning of the week I was so convinced I would be failing this assignment. In the end I managed to get 68/70 LOL. My sister is right. I told her a few months back that I was convinced I’m going to fail an assignment and of all things she said,

“You are on the right track!”

“Why?!”

“Cos everytime you say that you are going to fail, you end up doing really well!”

LOL… so cute. But I guess I just need that fear to drive me. Anyway she is returning to Adelaide with me in July yay! That will help me settle down better when leaving Penang. Maybe I will go to SF with her this year end haha… although the thought of flying 20 hours again really scares me!