The other half of my once short-lived 2-piece boyband came
back from Singapore
and called for lunch. In Sunshine market foodcourt, we had random chats about
old times and new. Most of us are from the “lu siao” gang. The literal
translation of “lu siao” in hokkien would be quite distasteful in writing here.
Let’s just say the “lu siao” gang is a gang of mostly annoying, mischievous,
crude-speaking, sometimes foul-mouth office brats or pranksters. A more
accurate definition of “lu siao” in my context would be to try to push as many wrong buttons of your target as you possibly can,
in a fun and humorous way, of course. No one should get upset and defensive.
The only offensive move is to “lu siao” back. If one gets hostile or defensive,
he/she is definitely not “lu siao” material. Most of the gang is married
barring me, the eternally unlucky in love and the other one, the eternally
searching for perfection one. At some point, I heard aLan bringing up lines
like “you already can afford sao bei liao mar”, or “not going to buy sao bei
ah?” I couldn’t figure out what the word meant at first. I thought “sao bei” is
some kind of famous roast duck thigh or the like. I didn’t want to interrupt as
I’ve been criticized by aLan before for barging in a conversation I didn’t
understand so I kept listening intently. Not till the word “SP Setia” cropped
up in the ensuing conversation did I realize “sao bei” refers to some landed
properties called “South
Bay” … well, I guess … pheww
… luckily I’m still kinda smart! As usual, TCBoy did try to drive the
conversation of a distant subject into enticing me to respond to and reveal some
elements of my romantic interest. I tried not to react. It would be totally out
of place and context. And aLan, again, mentioned a film that he probably didn’t
watch. I’m beginning to think he must be one of those people who read more film
reviews than he watched films. It’s been really nice to see everyone. I drove
my former boyband mate home. We talked about the dilemmas and predicaments
facing graduate research students. It was just like old times, as if the 4
years in between hadn’t quite happened. Maybe nothing much has changed since we
left. Or it could be that many things have changed. One thing is for certain:
everyone there can now afford a “sao bei”. I cannot afford “sao bei” … sigh … if
only it is roast duck thigh …
