Part 2 Mexico aha! so i see....someone has been rajin-ly checking my page out everyday just to see if the mexico story came out alr onot huh? hahaha....anyways, continuing from where i left off,
ok, so i was crying and crying, thinking i dont hve anyone in mexico and i dont freaking speak a word of Spanish, how the hell am I gonna survive there? Well, minus Gracias(Thank u) and Bienvenidos(Welcome)....So, I was asked to sit awhile...Then tibe-tibe he call me again..And told me that I have to pay US275 for him to kau tim my paperwork. Either that or he has to call the Chicago immigration to confirm that Im a student. It was 5pm alr. Offices are closed. It's a Friday. What does that spell??Overnight in Mexico??? AHHHHH!!!! *cries cries cries* (I know....im a such a crybaby right????) Then he told me to sit down again. Then I started crying again. I thought I had to stay over at the immigration center since they cant reach anyone. Then the Mexican lady told me that she paid US275 for them to check the database to confirm that she is a GreenCard holder since she left her GreenCard at her sister's house in Mexico.
So, my tearing went on. Then I started praying and saying all the prayers I know. From "Our Father" to "Hail Mary" to "Glory Be". I was desperate. I just prayed for God's help hoping that he would hear me. Then, I regretted the times for being lazy and not going to Sunday mass because it was snowing outside and it was cold and windy outside and all that jest. Damn! So I was begging for his mercy and forgiveness so that He would let me out of that dungeon.
Then, I was called upon again. I stopped crying. Everytime I get called upon, I stop crying. hehe..i know..it sounds dumb, but it just gives me a teeny-weeny ray of hope. teehee =) So, there I went, walking up timidly, then he started questioning me.
Jerk: So, how long have you been in US?
Me: 1 1/2 yrs
Jerk: What are you studying?
Me: Advertising
Jerk: What courses are you taking?
Me: ????!!!!! Advertising *wtf?nvm, just be nice and smile. I dowan to go to Mexico*
Jerk: How long were you in Mexico?
Me: Since this morning
Jerk: Did you travel alone?
Me: No. Came with my housemate. She's American.
Jerk: What's your street address?
Me: six-ten North seventeenth Street, Carmel Apartments, Number one-O-one, Milwaukee, five-three-two-three-three, Wisconsin.
Jerk: Hmm, ok.........when you travel, you must remember to bring 3 things. 1: Passport. 2: I-94 (form that allows multiple entries into the States) 3: I-20 Ok? Understand?? After this, clip your I-20 to your passport. If not, you cant come in to the US.
Me: Ok. Yes.
Jerk: Ok, you're lucky today. Im gonna let you off without paper work but CLIP your I-20 to your passport in future!
Me: *WHAT??@?@?@?omg omg omg!!*takes time to breathe and calm myself down*
Ok, Thank you, sir.
Jerk-turned-nice-guy(JTNG): Do you know how to get to the bus and taxi waiting area?
Ecstatic-me(EM): No............
JTNG:Ok, she'll show you the way out.*points to female officer*
EM: Ok, thank you. Do you know how much it costs to take a cab back to San Diego from here?*Just didnt wanna get conned la*
Female officer: No, sorry i don't.
So, she brought me out through the side gate since I didnt have proper documents to walk through the immigration. Walk, walk , walk and there!! I saw a couple of buses and cabs.
wOw! felt like I just walked out of jail a free woman!
Btw, the jerk-turned-nice-guy's name was Cinco. Worth putting up here since he let me off. And, the earlier officer who brought me to him said sth like he's also from Malaysia or sth like that? straight away I look at his name tag, Cinco. Doesnt sound like any Malaysian name. Well, maybe Chinese-ish a bit if you pronounce it as Chin-ko*no offense to him but when I first saw that name, the first thing that came to my mind was CHIN-KO-NUT!!* wahahahahh!!! even at that crucial point of time, I still make fun of ppl's name, and it's the name that's gonna get me out of that retarded office!
But he looked totally Malay. Totally the typical Malay man working at immigration offices with the black misai-dark skin-mean looking-short-plump-physique.
Then, i started to look arond to see if my original bus was there, just this slight hope that they would be humane enough to wait for me.*crossed fingers* But nope, they weren't there. Next, looked around for Jannah to see if she might be waiting for me.*just trying* Tried calling her though I know her phone died. *just hoping*
So, I did the next smart thing. Asked the bus drivers first instead of taking a direct cab. Cz tipping the driver heavily would be so much cheaper than pying the cab fare. And, they would be more trustable since they are carrying a bus load of tourists too.
Off I walked to the first empty tour bus.
Me: Sir, are you going to San Diego?
Driver: No, sorry, I am going to Anaheim.(DisneyLand)
*For a split second, I thought of taking the chance and then take a cab back to San Diego. But that would be just plain dumb*
I walked again to the second and last bus filled with 3 passengers.
Me: Sir, are you going to San Diego?
Driver: Yes, you need a ride?
Me: Yeah, I got detained at he immigration and the bus left already.
Driver: Yup, sure I will. I know how it is. I have left people behind before, so fetching you would make up for it. Why were you detained?
Me: I didnt have my I-2o.
Driver: Ohh, yeah...international students need that but not many tour companies know that. Where do you live?
Me: Holiday Inn-Bay View on First Avenue.
Driver: Okay, I'll see where's the closest place I can drop you off.
Me: Alright. Thank you very much.
*Hops on bus and waits for other passengers*
Ready to leave Tijuana, Mexico.
To my horror, after everyone boarded the bus and it started moving, he told everyone on the bus my story...AHHHH!!! Embarassingnye. Luckily I was sitting alone. These were the exact words he said:
"I picked up a STEALAWAY bcz she got detained and her tour bus left her."
What came next were audible pity sounds "AWWWWWW, poor little girl!"
Then he proceeds, "That's why I cannot stress enough the importance of having your documents bcz I dowan to leave anyone of you behind."
He called me a damn STEALAWAY!!! omg.....then i started crying. again. on the bus. well, he off the lights. I don't know why I cried.
Then, I tried calling Jannah's handfon again *just hoping okay?????* Well, voice message.Deng! So, did what I could. Thank goodness I took the hotel's card a coupla days back. Pulled out the card and dialed Front Desk. Ask them to connect me to my room. I figured that she should have been back alr. Just wanna let her know that I'm safe. Well, guess wat? No answer. Just great! Maybe she is showering, so I left a voice message. Waited for her to call me back.Nope, didnt happen. 20 mins later, called again. No answer still. Hmm, well, Jannah takes an hour to shower. So, not surprised.
So, yadda yadda, reached right at the doorstep of my hotel, kind soul..kind enuff to do that for me. Tipped him HUGE. $20. The whole trip costs about $27. But just for one ride back, I tipped $20. Honest lil guy, he wldnt take it. He was like "No. Honest. You've been through enough for today."
So, he thought and so I thought.........................Well, thanks then.
Walked into the lobby, saw a coupla policeman, the thought that crossed my mind FIRST was if it had anything to do with me going missing and Jannah called for a search or sth.
*Dumb, i know!*haha...
Well, skipped up to my room on the 5th floor, was so happy, until I opened the door...........................................
*Pitch Black*
It could only mean ONE thing.......
*to be continued*
btw, my phone also died. But, I have two phones. One HOtlink, one T-Mobile. So, I switched to the Hotlink fon and took out the Hotlink SIM card. This is for carrying 2 phones since the day I stepped into US. SMART-NESSS!!!
*to be continued*
btw, my phone also died. But, I have two phones. One HOtlink, one T-Mobile. So, I switched to the Hotlink fon and took out the Hotlink SIM card. This is for carrying 2 phones since the day I stepped into US. SMART-NESSS!!!
0 dress with ribbons only?:
jumping post Yo peeps! ok, so i know, cass, i potong stim...but guess wat?? now ur not gonna get the story till later...hahha!! cz i found sth more interesting and humourous to post... go here to read bout the GM-Proton Ungainly Union. I'd like to highlight a coupla stuff. U definitely wont get such reads in the Malaysian magazines or newspapers. I think their opening paragraph is a killer. Enough to kill Russell Peters.
To quote Businessweek, "It would seem the last thing GM needs is to invest in an ailing company 8,000 miles away. "
Uhhuh....yup...
1. Proton is an ailing company.
2. Americans...just love poking their noses where it doesnt belong.
3. Is Malaysia 8000 miles away? I really don't know.
"GM and Proton do have a couple of things in common: they are both steadily losing market share."
1. Comparing GM and Proton, and wow! miraculous! Largest car manufacturer inthe world has a common thing with our very own Proton.
2. Yup, sadly, its the decreasing market share.
3. To put M'sian's Proton name so high up there with GM, just to bring with down with equal height of shame.
"But while generous government subsidies and tariff barriers ensured Proton a commanding lead, the company remained a cosseted carmaker turning out mediocre products. "
1. Oh gosh, finally, someone putting it out on the table. After all our parents tell us. Someone slaps it right in our faces.
2. Ya, our government is so murah hati. Banyak duit taxpayer so subsidize subsidize subsidize. Then in return, government naik naik naik tariffs for cars our parents love to drive.
3. And ya, mediocre is a suitable word.
"In 2005 it launched the four-door Myvi—costing as little as $8,000—that "has been such a runaway success that it has left other cars launched by Proton behind,"
1. omg..did i tell u i love the myvi? its the first malaysian car that i love so much, other than the gen 2. but then hor, now i become unfaithful alr..i think Myvi is the greatest invention Malaysia had, apart from VCD cetak rompak.
2. oh ya, and Savvy, is um, 0dd-looking. I would describe it with the impression in mind that a cow has 5 legs and has 3 horns. (This is a real story. A girl in class today says her family drives across the country to California every yr. and every year, they will alwis pass this farm with disabled cows. They have 5 legs and extra horns and i duno wat.) So, hmm...its true that disabled living beings are shunned throughout the world. Cows have their own disabled farm. What say u?
"Now, even Mahathir, who is still an adviser to the company, has acknowledged that things are badly in need of a fix. "It is quite obvious that this management team has destroyed Proton completely," he told a press conference on Jan. 8 in Malaysia. "Foreign, local, whatever."
1. Can you imagine Mahathir saying "W-h-a-t-e-v-e-r" in that teenage way? like what....EVER!! u know...with emphasis on the WHAT. comical.
2. uhhuh, super obvious. He is apologizing. That's great.
"GM has problems globally, and I don't think Southeast Asia is the solution,"
1. And finally, like most Americans, they think that no matter how bad they are, they cant be as bad as the Asians. After all, the Asians are kampung-ish. How can they even be successful in their own car industry?
2. So, they turn to the Asians, like they are the tai kor or sth, then try and say "hey, look, we'll help you out here" *big, husky voice*
3, yaya, cream my ass with cherry in the butt crack. go settle ur own probs first. uhhuh, SEA isnt the solution to ur probs.
Now, maybe the Metro in Washington DC needs to collaborate with Putra so they can start earning money........
0 dress with ribbons only?:
fine story... peeps! im blogging from office now so i dont have pics that i can post up. but ya, ive got a mexican story to tell..wheeee..!!!
i have been to mexico!! wowhee!! heheheh!! wanna know the story??? i went to Tijuana, Mexico. for a day trip. since San Diego is like 20 miles from Mexico. So, Jannah and I took a bus tour and went down to Tijuana..for some really good shopping as well...and also for the experience where everyone around u speaks Spanish and Spanglish..and everything is written in Spanish..it was an awesome experience..oh ya, and i managed to duplicate my apartment keys there..sth that i cant do in US cz my key has the words "DO NOT DUPLICATE". Therefore, Americans, being ethical would not do it. When i went to Mexico, I passed by a key shop n i got them to duplicate them for me...Wheeeeeee!! 3 keys for like US8..i know its expensive by malaysian standard..but oh well, it'll help me save a whole lot of cost for my apartments next semester...hehe!!
So, we shopped and we ate and we talked to mexican guys and we took plenty of pictures and bargained with the shop owners and we answered just bout 999 ppl that we are from malaysia. and we bought souvenirs and we got conned for 3 photographs with a tatic mexican zebra..and we enjoyed the sun!!! and soon, it was time to part with Tijuana...so we got to the immigration point...Jannah went first...bla bla bla...
Officer: "Where's your I-20?" (I-20 is a form that your university issues to prove that you're a student there with all your complete details)
Me: Erm, not with me right now.
Officer"Ohhhh, then i have to deny you entry into the United States
Me: WHAT?!?!??!?!? Um, i have my student ID..
Officer: Oh no no..u have to have your I-20 to prove that you're a student. Ok, now you have to go to the office behind this building and get your paperwrk settled.
Me: WHAT??????!!! I c..a..n..'t...Im here with a bus tour company and they are gonna leave soon...*shouts for Jannah as she scans her bag*
Jannah:What???
Me: I cant go back with u. they are gonna detain me!!!
Officer: Well. Im sorry, but I cant just let u in like that. If u hurry now, they might be able to do it for u quickly enough and u wont miss ur bus.
Me: erm...o..k..a..y.....*being dumb and actually believed the stupid officer* Jannah, u go first la...
Officer: Ok, u go around this building u will see another building full of ppl lining up...dont line up..go straight to the counter and tell them i sent u there and bring this piece of paper along...
Me: o..k...a.....y...
*Walks really quickly to the other building..got a lil lost in the process of it..as usual*
Reached there and I saw a looooooonggggg queue..its crazy...its like in KL where ppl wanna go make IC...its nuts!! So i past the queue and went to the counter straight..Then this Mexican woman was yelling at me.."Hey!! u cant go there!~! u have to line up back there" And i said No and pretended not to hear her anymore...
So, at the counter, the guy looked at my paper, and he was like..ok, u wait here..outside this one door...waited 1 minute...then i got brought in to this private area...where only me and another mexican lady was there...and i told the guy my problem and he started saying that it was my fault i didnt bring my I-20 and all..i was like ya ya...my fault..ok...
then i started a conversation with the Mexican lady..she cant really speak English...somewhere in between, she managed to tell me that she has been there for 40 mins. At this point, I started tearing. That would mean that i would miss the bus.and I have to take a taxi. And that's bad bcz the roads there are so lonely and its like border road lah....scary...duno where those cabbies can take u....
Then, the officer called me and ask why I forget to bring my I-20, where is the nearest immigration to Wisconsin, how long I've been staying in Mexico, bla bla bla....then he started saying that if he sends me back to Mexico, it's my fault cz i don't have my I-20. He asked me who told me no need I-20. It's those blardy tour agencies. Then he said they dont work for the government, they duno nuts! Then he ask me who i have in mexico. I said no one cz im here for holiday...Then he asked me to sit down again. When i heard that its not my fault if i get sent back to mexico, i started crying and crying...and my fon had no reception for some reason.maybe its bcz im not in mexico, not in US..so neither here , nor there...couldnt call jannah...anyway, her handfon had no battery also....ok, pause here....continue for more....however, i can assure u its a hapy ending story, as u can see, im happily blogging here...teehee =)
