shared narratives

The Gang went to Ah Chew's desserts last night and we had a VERY interesting talk.

It was mostly about eyebrows...and eyelashes. The guys at the table were fascinated by the fact that some of us woman have embroidered eyebrows, some shave, and we also...pluck them when they are overgrown. Well...they are also amazed that eyelashes can be permed (mine!) and eyebrows can be shaved. And fake eyelashes are glued onto the lash line... it was quite a steep learning curve for them last night.

I actually have blond fake eyelashes must go try to glue them on one day...

So we went on to talk about ...relationships. With all (gasp!) at the table being single, at various stages of life - the youngest just celebrated his 21st birthday and the rest of us oldies... the topic inevitably went to the nitty-gritty between guys and girls. I asked them, 'where is your first girlfriend/boyfriend now?' and some were married, some were overseas. Mine...he is still not married I think - afterall he is not that old - but I'm glad that we still kept in touch, albeit not vis-a-vis, but through 'social networking online devices'.

They asked me if I could 'accept an Ang-moh' - and I was floored. It's true that sometimes I'm not really like an Asian, traditional, portrait of a Singaporean, Chinese woman... partly due to my upbringing and scholastic experiences. It's also true that I am very idealistic when it comes to falling in love - so I won't necessarily rule out a charming Englishman sweeping me off my feet, someone preferably with blue eye ala Hugh Grant.

Especially after watching 'Music and Lyrics', who can rule out Hugh?
Although Dr House may be more of my type of ang-moh.

But deep down inside, I think for myself, like the rest, we really need shared narratives. It's nice to imagine a handsome Englishman, or Canadian...(no Americans please) or better still, Swedish!!! hunk coming, falling head over heels... and staying... but at the end of the day we all need someone...closer to our hearts I think. I don't think I want to explain my whole life to him...

He(at Chomp-chomp): "Hej, Sweetheart, vad es de carrot-cake? Es it a cake with carrots? Vy queue is 45 minutes?"

Me: *soft sigh* "Aiya darling! It is filled with a sort of turnip which is called 'white carrot' in Mandarin therefore translating it into the English signboard it says carrot-cake which it has been known as for many years. The white version is chunkier and eggier whereas the 'black' version is drizzled with sweet black sauce; smaller chunks, and sometimes they add 'chai poh' to it -which is savoury preserved vegetables often found on 'chwee kweh'."

He: "Vah! Sweetheart, thanks for explaining it to me. I love you muaks muaks muaks"

Me: "Okay, can go queue for it already anot?"

One angmoh whom I know, who lived in Singapore for like 12 years, actually thought that carrot cake had real carrots in it till I explained it to him in this manner (without the dramatization). He never tried it during those 12 years, because of his misconception. What a waste... ...

...

But you get the picture. Although I've always lived in a city... there is a small part of me that loves the non-city... too. I don't think I'd be able to stand a guy who is like 'Wah, this place no-aircon ah?'... or who wants to spend every date with me going to shopping malls, watching movies. I do like watching movies more than the average girl (movie buff me) but... not so much of sidestepping crowds. My no-shopping malls weekends is actually going quite well, I feel less frazzled completely avoiding stepping into a (singapore) mall for...many weekends now.

I like long car rides and venturing into beautiful and obscure places in Singapore... like Dempsey Road in the afternoons... Punggol Marina at the dead of night... Seletar West Farmway, now one of my fave places too. I like places where you can't hear the traffic and you can actually hear birds chirping. Places where you can go to see stars and talk quietly about life. Places where you can hear waves swishing. Eating prata at JK at 4 am. Missing the retro cake shops at AMK where the peanut bread is chockfull with peanuts...

He doesn't have to like all these things, but it's nice to have someone who...understands. I guess being of - around - the same age is important, too. I always thought that I'd go for guys who are somewhat older than me. Like about 4 years... 6 years. 10 years or 15, also can. That would be nice. I like to be treated as a trophy wife.

Nah, just kidding. But I don't really envision myself with younger guys. Then again, I always like to say that 'love has no bounds'...

It was only towards the end of last year that I became more 'open' towards guys who are same age - or one year older - and I prayed to God about this.

If he lives in the same... vicinity as me, he would have experienced the MRT line being opened - I was...6? and we took the MRT from AMK to City Hall, wow, so fantastic... the MRT later opened at Woodlands onwards... I believe. It was so exciting to take the MRT in the first week! And I believe there were people who just took it so that they can have the bragging power to tell people they took it... yes those were the days.

That's why I'm happy that Mr A lives..near enough. Actually, so near that I am still in shock. What if he has seen me going to the market with uncombed hair and specs and no underwear?

(Then again, I guess he dun go to the market.)

I'm really happy about that (he lives near me! he lives near me!) after mistakenly thinking he lives in the ulu western part of Singapore where people have to drink newwater everyday... hee

Sometimes, I feel like this is all a crush and I'm hopefully waiting for it to disipate. After all, there are so many... ... uncertainties. I'm sure he likes someone else although he refuses to admit it. And I haven't actually talked to him vis-a-vis. I definitely don't want to scare him off by giggling non-stop if he ventures to talk to me.

But also, I feel... like what Ms Cheerful shared.

Ms Cheerful has also met a guy like Mr A and she is... in the same dire straits as me.

She said that:

"Although I sometimes do think that if I wanted to marry a guy, he might be it..I think?Sometimes I find it is hard to decipher if its a crush or if there is really something."

Hee. Although many well-meaning friends have urged me to 'find out more'... I am happy at the small facts...like, if there were not a 'series of unfortunate events' happening, we would have probably walked past each other each week and not known about the other's existence.

I just wonder... ...how it's all going to turn out?