Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Could I have it spicy please?

Kristi honey, as if you didn´t know before that never ever order a spicy food in oriental place!?
It should be kind of obvious that their normal is your spicy anyway and their spicy is WAY TOO SPICY for you.
Well, thanks for reminding me. I kind of know but yes, after today I am absolutely convinced :) I had tears in my eyes when eating my spicy vegetarian noodles today.
Even the half a litre of water which I was drinking while and after eating, didn´t seem to relieve the "fire" in my mouth. Heh, anyway, it sure was lot of fun and it was really tasty food in general ... so, I have actually no regrets for mentioning the "Could I have it spicy please!" thing :)


I am not sure if it is my notebook and the fact that I have a habit to start writing whenever I need to wait for something or maybe it is just a coincidence but the minute I take it out, people around me start behaving differently.
Maybe this a way how see things myself but I have every reason to believe that at least in today´s place they seriously thought I was some kind of journalist, writing reviews or whatever.
Well, when I think back, maybe my today´s bit weird behaviour gave them every reason to believe so.
In the beginning all this asking for spicy thing, then ordering it as a take-away because it was already more than 10pm in the evening but after going to bathroom, I went back to the girl who took my order and let her know,
"Sorry, I changed my mind - if possible, I would actually eat here. So, there is no need to pack it after all."
I am sitting behind the table, taking out my notebook and start writing down some stuff.

After what the girl behind the counter is giving me a super BIG smile which seems to brighten up the whole room - maybe because of the open notebook in front of me or maybe because she was just such a sweet person, I don´t know.
Cammoon girl, since when it is not allowed to smile without any particular reason?! ...and look who is talking about this kind of thing. Do you have any idea why you are smiling so much, do you do it in order to impress somebody? Or do you do it to get something you want? You see what I´m trying to say here, there is no reason behind most of the smiles. Many people, like yourself, just smile because they like to do so or because they just feel like smiling. As simple as.


..anyway, never mind all these kind of dialogues, there are parts of the very important "discussions" between ME and me :)
There are 2 of the staff members eating not far from my table, one of them the main cheff of the place. Both of them using shopsticks - something which I`ve always had trouble using but because this food is both - hot and HOT (in terms of spicy:) and I am able to eat only small pieces at a time anyway, I decide to give shopsticks a try.
They are kind of big and the paper bag around them says, "Harbin Beer. Welcome"
The fact that they are made of plastic, makes them really slippy and it won´t be long until one of them "flies away" - literally really :) - and lands on the floor.
Before I am able to react, without talking about picking it up, the cheff of the place is already standing next to my table and is handing me the new set of chopsticks.
I think I may look bit surprised at first because it was something which I hadn´t been expecting at all but after few seconds I get myself together and say something which all the people would in the circumstance like, "Thanks a lot!"

Once again. I am not entirely sure whether they are so nice and welcoming with everybody or does the notebook which is still on the table next to me, really hold the "Magic Key" of this kind of excellent customer service :D

When I am finally finished, being almost in tears - because of the "could I have it spicy please!" thing:) - and start putting my coat on, the girl behind the counter is literally staring at me, waiting to make a friendly, kind of "Good-Bye!" eye-contact with me and the same does the cheff behind her.
It is a nice place and they seem to be lovely people but their way of treating me as some kind of V.I.P quest, is getting bit weird and makes me feel awkward.
The minute I step out from the place and think about crossing the street, the first car stops and the driver inside shows me with the polite gesture that the road is all mine.
Wow, what a night! Only the red carpet is missing! I smile, kind of wave with my hand to thank him and keep on walking.


Only thing is that my mouth (and pretty much everything inside of me really:) is still as in fire and as I mentioned before, water doesn´t seem to be helping.
I need a bite of something really sweet. Maybe it will kind of neutralize it?
The same way how they did in India. At first it was really spicy something and later it was sooooooo very sweet piece of dessert and after that everything was back in balance again.



I stop in the random shop and buy a small pack of chewy toffee. It is few minutes after 11 pm ... there should be two last buses coming and actually one of them I can see already BUT at the same moment I see the sign "Irish Coffee 5 eur" and even though I´ve only drunk it once before, I suddenly feel that maybe this, combined with my toffee I just got, would be perfect match to "cool down" the "spicy fire" inside of me.

Strange. Not a great fan of coffee nor whiskey at all, here I am, missing one of my buses to get an Irish Coffee :)
I suppose that´s the way it starts, doesn´t it? One drink and then one more then missing the last bus and ...heh, anyway.
My notebook really deserves the title of today´s ICE-BREAKER :)
Why? Because the minute it was on the table again, the guy who had just finished performing in this pub, was suddenly standing next to me, smiling and saying "Hi" ? Yeah, or it could have easily be that he wasn´t actually smiling to me but kind of laughing at me because who is sitting in the pub at 11.30pm with a notebook while drinking Irish Coffee??
Coffee, Kristi, are you nuts - you don´t drink coffee even in the mornings, you hardly ever drink it at all and now you are having one right before midnight.



Well, yes, but guess what. This is the only reason why all those lines are getting down here right now because even though it is already 2.20 am, I am still awake and don´t even feel like sleeping at all ;)
Still, no worries, next time I will skip the midnight´s coffee, I promise.
Before I leave this pub, I stop next to a big piano to read a sign which I find really cute :)
"Please respect me.
I´m old.
Please refrain from placing drinks on top of me."
*

Bus comes straight away, is quite empty and the minute I sit, I can hear somebody calling from the back
"Miss, miss...."
I turn around and 5-6 seats behind me is the same guy who I was writing about not long ago. The drunk guy who was telling me how important it is to be who you are :)
Guess what? He is drunk again but strangely enough he recognizes me and it is so funny how he approaches me, asking politely if he can come and sit closer to me.
Once he has landed on a seat behind me, it is very weird and sweet at the same time how he is making his confession, "I have had few drinks again!"
"Yes, I can see that. How often do you drink?" I ask.

"Too often. You´re allowed to give out to me. I don´t mind," he is telling me, looking straight into my eye and it makes me feel as if I was his wife or something. I mean, why should I give out to him because he is drinking? I´ve seen him only once in my life before :)
Once again he starts talking how important is to be who you are. How important it is to have a craick, to have a great laugh with someone.
He himself thinks that he drinks so much because he is lonely. Suddenly he starts the familiar monologue again when it is only him talking, "Do I like you. Yeah, I think I like you. It actually takes a really nice person to even talk to me. It´s great. I really enjoy talk. If you would like to call me, it is alright but if you don´t, it is alright as well....it´s the worst thing to ask a woman´s phone number. It is always better to give mine. If you don´t want to use it, it is alright as well ...yes, I know, I drink too much. Do I like you? Yes, I think I like you, you´re a great girl! I know, I am honest. Maybe even too honest. But I am who I am and I love the craick."

Last time, even though I did listen to what he said, I paid no attention to his looks and therefore, when I reread the post I had written about him, I have written he was a man in his fifties, completely drunk. Today I actually looked into his face and realized he is not as old as I had thought.
He is no more than 40, maybe even less but the huge amount alcohol has obviously played its part and makes him look older than he actually his.
*
Strange, just an hour or two ago, while walking past all those pubs in the centre, instead of my regular kind of "Why is it necessary to drink so much?" I found myself wondering, "What if there was no alcohol, what would all those people, who are in pubs right now, be doing? What would they be like?"
*
Why? You were there as well? Do you think that because you were just passing the centre after a day at work and decided to just wander around a bit, makes you any different or better than rest of the people in the city centre? Or do you feel that because of instead going out for a cigarette, you are taking out your notebook, you are somehow superior over others? Or let´s put it other way around, do you think they are worth less only because they are drunk?
Do you mind me asking WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE ANYBODY ELSE?

Yes, yes, I know, this inner "conversation" thing kicked in again and yeah, I know, I´m slightly losing it. It is 2:47 am.

*
By the way, it is almost the end of November and it was 14 degrees outside this evening. Nice and warm and really mild - it was wonderful to just wander around without any direction.

Still, because it was really cold yesterday, I had my coat and scarf and leg-warmerers, which were bit too much for today though :)


Despite of being packed myself, I occasionally still feel cold when looking all those girls who are walking around the city, literally half-naked with their 10cm heels. Jesus Christ ...are they really nit cold at all and how can they even walk with those kind of shoes? :)
It will be 3 am any minute now. At least next time I know that when I need to be awake longer than usually (not that I needed it today:), it is advisable to drink one Irish Coffee right before midnight ;)

Pictures are from:
i.rosaceans.com
robsworld.org
barewalls.com

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