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Monday, June 14, 2010

Umbrella story

I was escorting the missus and daughter around the town in a hot afternoon on a short shopping errand. As the missus don't know how to drive and the daughter normally tags along with her mom during such Sunday forays into the town I am always the family chauffeur by default.

Although it was a Sunday it is usually difficult to find free parking in the town centre because people who work during the weekdays are only free to come out to do the following week's shopping on Sunday. But today I was lucky. I spotted an empty and shady lot in front of the BSN bank. Even in the shade the afternoon sun was blazing hot.

As I was locking the car with the remote I noticed daughter already holding up an umbrella beside her mom and both of them were standing by the the shade waiting for directions from me.

As it was a sunny day I asked daughter why she was holding the umbrella. Besides I didn't see any woman except the two of them carrying umbrellas in the street.

I always think that the umbrella's main use is to protect you from getting wet in a thunder storm. I do carry a foldable umbrella in my bag when I go to work and only use it to during rain so that I can walk to the LRT station without getting drenched in water.

"The weather's extremely hot today," daughter answered as if it was the most natural thing to do. How come other ladies I saw going about their errands in the town were not using umbrellas, I just wondered. Then I noticed some beads of sweat running down her face slightly flushed pink by the hot sun rays.

Then I understood. The hot sun was only part of the reason. The other reason is probably she didn't want her fair and smooth complexion from getting too much tanning from exposure to the sun. Probably it is also a mother and daughter bonding thing as the missus also has the habit of using the umbrella to shield herself from the sun rays. Perhaps having a fair complexion and smooth skin is a big thing for many Chinese women. The obsession to associate fair complexion and smooth skin with beauty probably explains to some extend the rapid mushrooming of marketing of  women' beauty products such as whitening creams in recent years.

Looking at the three photos the reader will be inclined to think that many Chinese women are the same in their desire to be beautiful whether they are in Beijing or in Kuala Lumpur, or whether in modern times or in in yesteryears.

The three pictures show Beijing women of different eras holding umbrellas to shield their complexion on sunny days. The first picture shows a tall woman dressed in a stunning red cheong sam with a matching pink umbrella standing in the shade beside a tree-lined boulevard.  The second, not so flattering image shows a tired woman squatting in a public square desperately covering herself under the shade of the umbrella. The last one in black and white captures the typical dress sense of women in a busy street scene in old China.

It is in the nature of woman to be looking elegant and beautiful all the time. There is nothing wrong with that. It is just that in matters of beauty man and woman may have different perceptions. In the case of the ubiquitous umbrella to most guys it is just a utility tool to shelter from the rain and probably think it silly to use it to keep out the sun rays. To the lady apart from taking cover from the rain, the umbrella is also seen as a beauty and health accessory to upkeep her fair complexion and also to protect her skin from being damaged by the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Dreaming of Fantasy Island.

Today is the King's birthday, a national holiday. After returning from work in the office I came home to an empty nest. Not that I really mind being home alone, like the poor kid in the "Home Alone" movie. My wife has gone to visit relatives in Klang. My son has gone to Ipoh and my daughter is in Melaka.

Being home alone may not be a bad thing after all as I am now free to indulge in my favourite pastime, fantasying of course. Maybe I should also go away to some dream holiday. But where shall I go? Whenever I am fantasying one name always crop up - Fantasy Island of course, the resort that I used to visit weekly during the period 1978 to 1984.

Mr Roarke and Tattoo
welcoming guests
What is Fantasy Island? Fantasy Island is a paradise resort hidden somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, only known to the privileged few. It is a mysterious island where the lucky visitor is granted his or her every wish and desire with no limits. You want to become the Prime Minister? You get it. You want to be the richest person in the world? You get it. You want to be pleasured by a harem of voluptuous and beautiful women? You get it. You want to be seduced by a horde of macho and handsome young men? You get it. You want to be anybody you wish for? You get it. The fantasies of all man and woman visitors to the island will be fulfilled. Guaranteed 100 %. "Semua boleh," "Everything can Kau Tiam" the way Malaysians would like to say it.

The resort is so exclusive that you can't just take any boat to the island but you have to be invited and flown in by a special sea plane fitted with water skis. When you step onto the island you will be welcomed by none other than Mr Roarke the overseer of the island and his loyal side kick called Tattoo.

Mr Roarke who always wear his white suit is a gentleman known for his cultured demeanor. Together with midget Tattoo, his energetic and similarly white suited sikekick, the two form a impeccable pair to welcome the guests to the island and also to grant the guests their fantasies.

Each time a guest arrives at the island Tattoo would run up the main bell tower to ring the bell and shout "Ze plane! Ze plane!" in his French accented English. As for Roarke he would always welcome his guests with a warm smile by lifting his glass and saying: "My dear guests, I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island."

That was years ago during the period 1978 to 1984. Today going there is THE problem. Fantasy Island is not on the mainstream tourist map and you can't google to find it on the internet. It doesn't even have a tourist agency to represent it. As for Mr Roarke he passed away in 2009 while Tattoo passed on 16 years earlier in 1993. Due to neglect the fabled Fantasy Island is no more, lost like a myth and probably gone the way of Jurassic Park, only to be inhabited by man-eating dinosaurs. Still interested?

In reality there is no such Fantasy Island. Fantasy Island was a highly-rated and long-running television series show aired from 1978 to 1984. The two main stars of the series were Ricardo Montalban, a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor who played Mr Roarke and French actor Herve Villechaize, who played Tattoo. During its run from 1978 to 1984 I used to eagerly watch the weekly Fantasy Island show on local television, and that is how I came to know about this show.

Montalbán died on January 14, 2009 of congestive heart failure at his home in the Greater Los Angeles Area, aged 88. Villechaize committed suicide by shooting himself as a result of suffering from depression due to his chronic health problem in September 4, 1993, aged 50.

Rrrrrinnngggg! Suddenly my hand phone fired up. "I am on my way back to KL from Klang. Can you please come over to pick me up?" dear wife's high-pitched voice on the other end of the line boomed crisp and clear, rudely snapping me out of my afternoon fantasy. Oh dear! So much for this home alone guy's indulgence in his afternoon fantasy. End of Fantasy Island and back to reality, except that reality is not so hot and fantastic as I had to make this madcap run in the Sat night traffic snarl to my brother-in-law's house in Cheras to pick up the wife.
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