Hey, big man!

After we ate dinner in downtown KL the other night, my brother in law Gan wanted us to see some of the city, so we drove around for a while checking out the sights. One of the stops was China Town. It was nearing 11pm when we got there so some of the hawkers were starting to close up, but there were plenty left. The photo to the left gives you an idea of how tight the press of humanity was, I took it in a rare gap in the crowd. As we walked along, there was the occasional other gwai-lo walking around like me, but for the most part, only Chinese folks. Every DVD you can think of was for sale, and they weren't shy about trying to get you into their stalls to look. Shouts of "hey big man!", and "yes sir, right here" rang out from all sides. I quickly learned to just shake my head, which usually worked to dissuade them. Failing that, you pull out the ubiquitous right hand shake that means something to the effect of "nothing, no, can't find it, don't want it". You do this by extending your hand out in front of your body a bit, with your fingers splayed, and your thumb & forefinger sort of towards each other (I think). This seems to be a universal gesture. While waiting for a plane to Langkawi several days later, I watched the airline staff using to to indicate that they couldn't find a missing passenger.