Destiny

I didn't really believe in destiny. I used to believe that humans have full control upon their living. Though, after making the decision to try something new in another strange country, I started to believe in destiny. I couldn't help it. The encounters I had made me think that maybe in this unpredictable universe, there's a fixed natural order to the series of things that occurred in our life. Nope, I am not a religious person, however, maybe, there's a predetermined course of events.

There are designed paths, waiting for us to pass by and walk on. Though,the destinations are not going to be the same for everybody. The decisions that we made determined the end. Hmmm.. so, I guess we still have certain controls, right? :p

Forget about that. Now, I wanna tell you all how the fate led Protocol and I to meet some interesting people in New York City last weekend. Spare sometime to read our story.

Last Saturday morning, I met Protocol in New York city. We wanted to find some good food, shop for some unnecessary girls' stuff, watching movie and so on, mainly to hang out with each other. It's always nice to spend time with her. And, like what she used to say, "We have been to New York City for a lot of times, but still, everytime I just feel like snapping some pictures of this gorgeous city. I will never get tired of it..."

Here we go, two random pictures of New York City

Yup. In this amazing city, destiny led us to the junction, which intercrossed with some interesting people.

First of all, about 10 o'clock that morning, we went to one Hong Kong restaurant in China Town to have 'dimsum' as breakfast. Since it was a nice Saturday, the place was crowded with people. We had to sit with some other strangers as we were not allowed to occupy a huge table for six. After settling down, we ordered A LOT of food and then we asked for some 'chili sauce' (typical Malaysian way :-$). As usual, the waiter looked kinda suprised and it took him sometime to serve us the extra small plate of hot sauce. Meanwhile, two other middle-aged Chinese women who were sitting next to us were laughing after knowing ours order for hot sauce. But then, they did the same thing, too. I thought they were crazy or something, didn't really take their action seriously.

Later, while we were scrambling for food, the two women were dicussing if they would be able to finish the whole plate of 'chu chong fan" if they were going to order it. They conversed in Mandarin, sounded like Malaysian's type of accent. Still, Protocol and I weren't sure. Anyhow, the following sentence spoken by one of them had proven that they are Malaysian.

"Why don't order one plate and then we share loh."

BINGO! Malaysian! hehe.

So, afterwards, We tried to start a conversation with them. You know? When you are like thousands miles away from home, it's really awesome to meet someone who's from your homeland. Four of us had a really good talk. We chatted about KL, New York, malaysia, their past, ours past, the present and also the future. I couldn't explain it, it was like seeing your own relatives in a foreign land. It was a great meal as besides Protocol, I met another two Malaysian (even though now they are legally the citizens of US as they have been here for more than 10 years!)I think they had the same feeling, too. Before leaving, they gave us many kind advises, one of them even left her cell number to us, saying that maybe we can ask for help in times of emergency. That was warm. Thanks. Too bad, we didn't manage to take any pictures together...

Again, in the evening, we went to hunt for food again. We have been crazy about Malaysian food ever since they day we left for US. So, we walked around and tried to figure out the location of the few Malaysian restaurants. While we were walking, out of the blue, one tall and good-looking middle-aged white guy approached me and said, "erm.. May I know where can I find good restaurants to have dinner?"

I was kinda surprised. I looked at him for like 3 seconds and then I replied, "It depends on what kind of food you want to eat. There are all kinds of restaurants in this area."

He smiled and said,"Well, we (He had his two friends following him) are thinking of eating some good Chinese Food. Do you know any of them? We are actually from Holland and not familiar with this place, if you don't mind, maybe you can show us?"

I answered, "Ohic, There are alot of good Chinese restaurants. erm.. My friend and I are actually heading to eat Malaysian food. But, never mind, I will ask my friend to show you.."( Then, I ran to Protocol)

Afterwards, the three guys followed us and we passed by numerous Chinese restaurants. We told the three white guys but one of them insisted of eating Malaysian food with us. He tried to persuade the other two guys. At last, five of us ended up at one Malaysian restaurant, namely 'xinma'.

In the begining, Protocol and I were worried about eating together with them. You know? The eating habit, the table manner, the awkward moments that could be taken place and some other unnecessary stuff. After sitting down with them around a huge table, the worries gone. They were just three nice middle-aged men who looked for some guide in New York City. We talked about everything and had a certain kind of cultural exchange.

We ordered a lot of Malaysian and Chinese food, like: Fried Spinach, Sweet slices of Beef, Sweet and Sour Pork, Satay, Roti Canai, Hokkien Noodles, YangZhou fried rice, fish, cendol, ais kacang... and, the greatest thing was, Protocol and I DIDN'T have to pay AT ALL!

Yeah! Free dinner. hehe. :p

By the way, the meal was expensive and not all of them liked it. Never mind, they said they wanted to follow, we never forced them.haha. After dinner, time to get a drink. They invited us to hang out for a little bit while. Since they are just three nice middle-aged gentlemen from Holland, we went for a drink. We drank some white wine and they had coffee and beers. Dutch people, great drinkers. :p

Here are the photoes we took together.

In the Malaysian restaurant with Nico, Mr. don't know who, and Martin (from the left).

Martin was the guy who approached me in New York City. He's really charming at his age, radiating with another kind of subtle charm. Protocol was deeply attracted by him..hmm..too bad, he's married with kids. His has nice dimples, which definitely catch your attention when he smiled at you. Nice. Plus, he races bike. WOW! Cool Man! It's just amazing!

The nice Italian cafe that we went to have wine. There were a group of European performers...

The owner of the cafe, who resembles the God Father, Al Pacino. Martin insisted of taking photo with him... I don't know why he ended up taking photo with us, too.. erm.. anyway.. Yeah! GodFather! hehe...

After that, we say goodbye to each other. They flew back to Holland on Sunday.

In fact, this kind of friendship is precious in someway. We don't really know each other. However, after traveling thousands miles away from home countries, we met each other along the roadside in a foreign land. Then, we had a few hours of great time together. hmmm... That's fate. We won't remember each other's name after days and might not be able to recognize anyone of them again even if we one on the street in the future.

But, who cares? we need nothing permanent. Sometimes, just a brief moment, we will cherish it forever...