Let me share with you a phrase.
[Not all heroes wear capes.]
Yeah. In fact, i shared this phrase in my twitter saying that a hero doesn't need any capes, masks, or a unitard-ish uniform. Just enough with having a warm smile, a kind heart, and a charming attitude.
And now let me share you a story.
Of how i met such a hero.
I went for a business trip to attend an exhibition in Shanghai, China recently. And as I do not know, China has its very own unique culture and social attitude, which shocked me to the bones. (huh?) At first, we are asked to tip the limousine driver that took us from the airport to our hotel with our country money. So being such a cheapskate, i gave him rm5. But being an extra ungrateful person, he asked for more, 10 to be exact, and so my dumbfounded partner gave him the remaining notes. And he didn't even return my rm5 when he asked for the rm10. puih. And we don't even speak because of language barrier, and he asked us for tip through google translate. hmm (of course i gave tip to him because he looked like a professional bouncer and we might be left stranded in the middle of Chinese speaking population with tiny chances of one being able to speak english ngaaa)
So we arrived at the hotel, and as the usual procedure, we head to the front desk to check in. (all i think about was lying in bed after hours of flight, and stretching my feet would be an absolute bliss) So we gave the receptionist the deets and guess what?
THERE IS NO RESERVATION.
What? How can it be? My boss have already paid for the rooms. And he even get the receipt. What kind of sorcery is this?
She checked for quite a few times while babbling in Chinese. When numbers of customers add up, she gave up on entertaining us and brush us off by sending us to the lobby area to figure out our bookings. Yeah thanks, that would be great. We do have experience in facing this kind of situation so don't assist us at all. Also, we can fluently speak in Chinese so we can absolutely settle this on our own.
NOT.
So my partner called our boss and asked for some kind of confirmation and our boss sounded worried (as how a father should be feeling) and promised to quickly contact the agency that arranged us. So during this long and boring waiting, a friendly person (a supplier for our company) approached us and asked,
"Malaysia?"
"Yes" we both replied almost in synchronization.
And then he introduced himself as Ma. Ma something something i could not remember.
And then we sit at the lobby waiting for the next arrangement. With Mr. MA.
After a while he asked,
"Tak lapar ke. Jom makan? Mesti kamu lapar."
Being the lost bunnies we are, yes, we agreed to his invitation. But halal food, where got?
"Oh no, but where can we eat ey? Can you eat chinese? But you might not allowed to eat it hmmm. How about sushi? You can eat sushi?" he asked us again. My partner gave me the eye. I looked at Mr. Ma and nodded.
"Good. Let's go. Kesian you both. All the travelling, you must be hungry." While my partner asked him how much will it costs for the dinner, he insist on paying.
Yeay. Free food.
And so we arrived at the restaurant, Japanese, to be exact only that their waitresses speaks Chinese ONLY. But the ambiance do remind me of my uni days. It feels familiar.
So we sat at a four seat table, and Mr. Ma hurriedly showed us the menu and make us order first. He said to order anything, but even if we could order anything, we cannot eat all in the menu. They still use some unknown ingredients we can't be sure of the status. So I ordered fish, and salmon makizushi, while my partner takes the Tendon. Mr. Ma ordered eggs and sushi, and tempura some more, just to make the table look...festive?
Anyhoots, we devour our dinner but not as savage as hungry lions in Africa. With some conversations between each bites, made us forget about the reservation problem. In fact, I kinda starting to enjoy this trip even though I can't wait for it to end the moment my feet is on the plane.
We get to know each other and Mr. Ma is actually from Malaysia coming to the same exhibition we would be going. Only that he's been there for 4 days. That day would be his last night and he was totally free so hearing from a friend that we need help, he was delighted (being someone who have nothing to do). Eating dinner alone is quiet lonely so at least having us will accompany him, he said. We also found out that he actually studied and stayed in Japan for 12 years! Whilst I was only for 4 years, but we have something in common so I can converse comfortably with him. (while leaving my partner finishes his food and deals with our boss and reservations and other stuffs.) Mr. Ma even fill up our tea if ever it was to be empty. (Such hospitality I can't even >.<)(But the egg rolls was the best!)
After quite some time, we get the reservation info and we would love to head to the hotel and just freshens ourselves up, pronto, because tomorrow would be another loooooong day.
But this Mr. Ma even insist on showing and escorting us the way to our newly reserved place because he worried that us bunnies will get lost again or be the victim of wild foxes out there. (huh?) We thanked him soooo much for his help and said that we are lucky of getting to meet him in the middle of this tiny weeny crisis. (Cry) He EVEN helped us to check in. And waited for a few minutes some more. After we finished, I, the shy person as I am, asked for a photo as a keepsake so that I will never forget the face that save my day on 28th September 2016, and for me to show others that that is how a hero looks like.
No capes, no masks,
just a warm smile,
with a kind heart,
and a charming attitude.
Mr. Ma in the middle,
