Hi From KL

I am in Kuala Lumpur with Hub. Our interview at the American Embassy took less than 3 minutes.We took a 2 1/2 hours flight here.

"You two are husband and wife?"
"Yes"
"What do you do Sir?"
"I'm a (blahblah)."
"What firm?"
"My own firm"
"And you?"
"I'm a homemaker...but I was...a banker.." (waste of words for he already started on the next questions)
"How many kids? Where are they?"
(blahblah"), I replied.
"You are going to the States for ONE month? One month? That's a long time. What will you do there for a month"
("Er, work as a maid, a fruit picker, dish washer? nanny? pole dancer?" Wild thoughts) "Travel, travel with my daughter." (Grinned, tried to look humble, ignorant and innocent)
"Any friends, relatives in the US?"
And so on. Anyway, he told us that our visas were approved but can only be picked up the next afternoon. Please, I said, can we have it same day? Sorry, NO. (All US Embassy staff and Immigration people--the Americans, not the locals--have that same polite standoffish no-nonsense attitude, have you noticed.) Aiya, how come the Americans are working like Malaysians? So slow one. My daughter got her visa approved on the spot right after her interview in Shanghai.

Anyway, getting a visa to visit the States is not that hard. They don't ask for proof of financial competence or other documents but it's best to bring, just in case. Also, make sure to bring an extra photo. For those of us who have to travel to KL for the interview, it is inconvenient and costly. For once, I wished I was Bruneian or Singaporean. They are exempted from visas to most countries.

We received a few calls from friends about reports of our daughter's latest art installation in several local newspapers. We will be back tonight but here's a clip from Shanghai's English TV channel. ICS. Notice that they made several mistakes. My daughter's Malaysian, not Indonesian and she's been in SH nearly 11 months, not 1 1/2 years. Finally, she's going to a conference in the! States, not a workshop. And yes, that's Doo Ma in the video. 89 years old and very cool.