Angkat Bakul, Masuk Dalam

I plopped down on the booth seat opposite Khalis at Bubba Gump, Shrimp & Co. in Navy Pier, excited about my first visit to the much celebrated restaurant. There was so much hullabaloo about Bubba Gump back in Malaysia during the summer, so I was pretty delighted about this first visit. As soon as I got settled in my seat, down jacket and gloves aside, a waiter in a gray t-shirt passes by our table, and I noticed his eyes widen as he passed our table. I thought he was just acknowledging my presence, and saying hi in a non-verbal way since his hands were full, as I was sure his thoughts were as well. I got to reading the menu and didn't give that any other thoughts.

Having ordered our dishes, Khalis and I got to the main core of our existence: camwhoring!
As we snapped pictures away, I couldn't help but notice the same guy behind the bar beside our table. Apparently he was the bartender of the night. I didn't look at him because he's exceptionally cute, buff, or handsome in any way. In fact, I only looked at him because I noticed him looking at our table. Not once, not twice, but thrice! Thankfully, he wasn't glancing at Khalis; which must only mean one thing: he was looking at me! And that set this horrible perasan phase in motion.

Nj: Khalis, khalis, aku nak cakap ni. Kena cakap dalam BM dowh. And make sure, kau jangan pandang terus lepas aku cakap ni tau.
K: Apa hang nak cakap? Hang nampak orang handsome lagi?
Nj: Tak tak! Kau nampak tak mamat waiter kat bar tu, bartender pakai gray t-shirt tu? Dia usha aku, sumpah, dowh!
K: Whattevah. 'Pelacur dunia ketiga' kowt.
Nj: Sumpah, sumpah. Cuba kau tengok dowh!

I pretended not to take any more notice and got occupied enough once I was served my Cajun Mahi-mahi something something. It was sinfully delicious, and lick-worthy, I tell you, that the $25 bucks I paid for the meal was certainly worth it even if my $$ in my bank account is slowly reaching that dark, deep abyss. But back to the main point of the story; if looks could kill, this man's persistent gazing certainly could have rendered me deformed, the very least.

Nj: Khalis, sumpah dowh, mamat tu usha lagi.
K: Heh, SS kowt.
Nj: SS? Apekah?
K: Syok sendiri lah hang.
Nj: Owh, but no, seriously.
K: *turns swiftly into the bartender's direction*
Nj: Heh, tak perlu kowt pandang terus. Obvious lah like that!
K: Apa-apa jelah.

. . . 11 minutes later
K: Nj, okay. Aku nampak. Tadi dia usha kau siot!
Nj: Hah! *Gives K a triumphant grin* Kan aku dah cakap. Sumpah ke? Bile? Macamane dia usha?
K: *rolls eyes*
Nj: Ala, layanlah aku. Sekali-sekala maa, mane ade orang slalu usha aku!
K: Haha, hang SS lah tu.
Nj: Haha, takdelah. Flattering dowh!

Uh-oh, the evil perasan devil was then unleashed and that dinner's discussion revolved around Mr. Bartender through and through.

K: Kau tengok hidung dia, aku rase die Jewish siot.
Nj: Haha, takde kaitan.

Mr. Bartender came over to the table behind Khalis and I saw him glancing at me several times as he took their orders. Determined not to show I realized his eye-games, I focused on my dish; until he came to our table, asking us if "everything was alright" and specifically looking at me and only me.

K: Nampak sangat dia pandang kau sorang jelah kan. Slut betul, nampak sangat nak flirt ngan kau.
Nj: Haha, well, better daripada dia nak flirt ngan kau kan. Euw. Ooh, aku rase dia pandang aku 'cos aku datang ngan engkau kot.
K: Ha, yelah. Baguslah. Add one more reason Nj should hang out with Khalis. Dapat menang $25 Wicked tickets, dapat orang minat . . .
Nj: *laughs and flips hair in a very blonde manner*

Mr. Bartender certainly tried his best. He went to our table twice, once before we asked for the check, and another time after, just to grab one item each time. He could have waited to clear the table all at once, but we hypothesized he just wanted the chance to mengada-ngada come to our table.

K: Oooooh, kot-kot nanti dia slip kau note tulis number dia.
Nj: *Gasps* Heh, takkanlah!
K: Hahaha. 'Pelacur dunia ketiga' gila kau!
Nj: Haha. Sumpah tak bangga *Dalam hati, kembang gila; hidung macam nak koyak, hati macam nak jerit, tekak macam nak gelak*

I blatantly confess that I enjoyed the whole spectacle and attention by that time. I took time to finish my glass of plain water, just so I could catch him looking at me. Since Khalis called me a 'pelacur dunia ketiga' (no, don't jump the gun, it's quite an affectionate term the knoxes came up with, not as bad as you think it sounds), I decided to put that to a test, and made sure Khalis took a picture of me with my shades, because I thought I would look even (bear with me here) cuter. And he did, but I didn't get to see what effect that had on Mr. Bartender.
As Khalis and I got up to leave, Mr. Bartender stood next to our waitress and I had a hunch he was there specifically to see me leave. Our lady waitress called out "Thanks for coming, have a good night" and Mr. Bartender looked at me the whole time I said "Thank you. You both have a great night, and Merry Christmas". I decided to have the last look, and Mr. Bartender certainly did not let me down. At the corner of my eye, I saw him looking and smiling at me until I was out of sight, or rather, in the souvenir shop section of Bubba Gump.

If baking cookies the other night gave me a pinch of self-esteem, this was like overdosing on it! I was a real 'pelacur dunia ketiga' who enjoyed her little moment of perasan-ness. After all, every woman needs a reminder that she is pretty, cute, elegant, stylish, attractive or whatever nice adjectives there are to describe her, occasionally. Hm, but really. . . If anybody in Chicago wants to eat at Bubba Gump, Shrimp & Co., call me! It'd be my pleasure to take you there! *winks*