A Curried Life

The Cheongsam. Photo by Doris Lim The dare? A themed ball: Shanghai Night. Shanghai the Paris of the East. The dress? Cheongsam: a figure hugging one piece Chinese dress for women. In Mandarin, it is known as qípáo. Often stylish and tight fitting, it was created in 1920s in Shanghai, made fashionable by socialites and upper class women. How wonderfully giddy. So there we were; six of us packed in a deluxe room at the Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur. Our beautiful Cheongsams were hanging in the closet. Mayhem and laughter abounded in our room with shrieks, greeting each other with hugs and air kisses. We had planned our trip. We planned detox diets. We grew our hair out, dye it. Tie it. Bun it. Sweep and fix it with hair spray. We glue moth wing eye lashes on our mono lids. Arch our eyebrows with pencilled in brown. Our fingers and toes perfectly manicured and pedicured. Scarlet. Added extra gloss to our lips and smacked kisses in the air. My best in the worl...

Old men and their iron horses. Photo by Doris Lim “Ah Kit hasn’t been his normal jovial self of late. Doc, I think he’s melancholy, depressed. Worried and withdrawn. He overeats, has stopped exercising and seemed to be nursing an invisible wound.” I blurted out. “Seriously, Doc. Why do men become like that? I don’t think it’s something that I’ve done, or didn’t do, say or didn’t say. He imagines things and is slighted over the littlest perceived snub. I really don’t know what’s wrong with him,” I threw my hands in the air. Totally exasperated. “He refused to talk to me. His silence is deafening. In fact, the kids would say, he has unfriend you, “I complained loudly to Dr Ava. My GP struggled to supress a giggle at Ah Kit’s childish behaviour. “Dee,” she began calmly as always, pausing for effect, “just because men don’t have periods, doesn’t mean they don’t feel all the touchy feely things that we women do.” “They do? Doc, do you mean they cry inside tears?” That sounded t...

Photo of Old Couple Kissing from Time Magazine Marriage is like a public toilet. Those waiting outside are desperate to get in and those inside are desperate to get out. ~ found on the cover of a senior’s bulletin. The other day, some girlfriends were having a little natter over an extended lunch that rolled to tea. Three marrieds, 1 divorced and 2 singles. A nice group to exchange jibes and lament our mutual predicament of menopause, men, children and lost loves. The marrieds (we’re talking high school and college sweethearts hitching up, here) have been married way too long. They’re beginning to look like each other. A pair actually looked like cousins or siblings. Flamboyant Sam is suddenly a grandmother at 40. She sighed nonchalantly, lifted her eyes and waved her hands in the air. “When my son started seeing this girl, my husband and I were so worried. Gary’s was 17 then and she’s 15. I took a look at her and the alarm bells went off. Healthy, frisky and ovulat...