Foot in my mouth

I've always been the type of person who is cautious of what i say to other people...especially to people who i seldom see and people who i meet for the first time. But last night, my cautiousness backfired me and totally blew my cool. I made quite a fool out of myself and coulnd't help but laugh at myself when i think about it.

We were invited to a prestigious dinner last night, one which i never dreamt of to be invited to in my life. It was in conjunction with the Ruler's conference in Melaka and the dinner was hosted by HRH The King and Queen. When we got to know where we'll be seated for the night, we proceeded to a room where they served drinks prior to the dinner and there we spotted some familiar looking faces, mostly menteri besars and chief ministers. Me and hubby were whispering to each other "ohhh that's so and so...and ohh look that's the menteri besar of ______). "

After seeing enough of these faces, we went into the banquet hall to find our seats. Our name cards were neatly placed on the table and me and hubby were seated side by side. It was a rather small hall, for i've attended weddings that were held in bigger halls, and the table arrangement was longish, instead of the round table ones. There was a man seated on my right and his wife on his right. We just exchanged smiles and nodded...without changing pleasantries like hello or trying to strike a conversation. (maybe both of us thought it was still early to start a conversation).

We all stood up for the national anthem and not long after that, our appetizers came....but there was a glitch with the waiter and numbers of plates that he had to carry as i did not get my appetizer when everyone else did!! (At this point of time, the man on my right acknowledged that i didn't have a plate, and so did everyone else around me) I was alright with that, just had to wait a while till they brought me my plate. (still have not really talked to the person beside me). I noticed his name on his name card and i automatically knew that he was a police officer, but since i'm not really familiar with the police ranks, i didn't really care what level he is at. But i know he is a Dato' for his name card said so. so amin suggested me to say to him "Dato' punya office dekat *** ke?" just to get the ball rolling...which i unwaveringly followed. And he replied "ye.." and i continued with a "my husband's office is quite near there too". and not long after that...the ice was broken, and we talked about where i work, where we stayed and the normal things you would talk to a person whom you've just met. my curious mind brought me to ask him this question: "Dato' dekat *** bahagian mana?" (in my mind, he could be from either traffic, or forensic or criminal dept...so i'm just trying to keep the conversation going ok) and his reply was "Saya ketua polis melaka" and i was like "oooooohhh...sorry...minta maaf..."and from then onwards, i kept quite for a good 5 minutes. and i quickly turned to my husband and said "eh..dia tu ketua polis melaka laaa" and guess what his reply was? "ye laaa you tak tau ke???" NO i did not know that if you are a Dato' in the police in a small state like melaka you ARE the ketua polis!! ohh shoot...now it makes sense..of course he is the ketua polis..and there i was thinking since there are so many Dato's around, he could be any high ranking officer in the police..The ketua polis was nice enough to talk again to me after that :) and he was cool about it. :p me and my cautious mouth...

Anyway, the food was nothing to shout about...the steak was undercooked (too raw for my liking). After salaming with the head of states, (which included the dashing regent of perak :)) we were ready to go home. (sorry, no pictures taken of this event as my husband thought i would look out of place snapping pictures here and there)