Saturday, January 03, 2004
A BAll of a TIMe
I knew it was a mistake the moment I laid eyes on the rest of the guests . It all started by my poor dad being forced to accept an invitation to my cousin's concert.
" Of course, you'll need a formal dress," said my 3rd uncle excitedly as he jammed a gaudy looking batik shirt into my dad's hands. Dad put it again himself and looked at us miserably. The colours of the shirt were simply out of this world.
Dad felt even worst when he found out his 6th brother was planning a surprise birthday party for his sister.
Formal dress? hmmmmmm.. the last time we were invited to my cousin's concert, we were dressed to kill and everyoneelse looked like they were going to the beach.
So the afternoon saw us hurrying thru the mall next door to clad ourselves in the appropriate gear, or so we thought. As usual, we were late for the event and we were met by my 3rd uncle who was pacing impatiently in the hotel lobby. Hmm.. I spied a bevy of dolled up females in elegant gowns disappearing into the elevator but I didn't give it a 2nd thought.
The moment we stepped out on the 2nd floor, we were frozen in horror. Everyone was decked out as though they were ready to go for their high school prom. My gaze fell onto our attire. I was wearing a cotton halter and my giodarno pants, my mom was in a red top and a skirt with mocassins and my sister ( horrors of all) was in a denim mini and white tshirt. Well.. presentble enough for an afternoon tea event I guess, but I think we should have just stayed in the elevator for this dinner. We all tried to squeeze behind my father ( who looked presentable).. but being the chubby females we were, the act was without much success.
I scanned the seating arrangement while trying to appear nonchalent. What I saw did little to improve our initial shock. I thugged at my sister's sleeve and pointed wordlessly to the seating... The press, the chief minister.. the big companies.. I couldn't locate the words.. " unknown underdressed family" anywhere. Oh well, guess they left us out. My dad caught me creeping towards the elevator and directed me into the ballroom where I was greeting by a skinny, miserable looking santa , minus white beard, who wrung our hands with his sweaty palm and wished us a merry Xmas.
I took my seat next to this stuffy looking excutive lady who was eyeing my outfit with distaste. My cousins-in-law, clad in a gorgeous black evening gown, came to greet my parents. I was squirming uncomfortably in my seat by the time the dinner started. I thought that perhaps the toilet would be a better place to spend the night, but it became clear that my outfit was the object of curiosity in the toilet while my counterparts waited to use the loo. So I returned to my seat and tried to cover myself with my napkin.
The arrival of the guest of honour was heralded by my cousin WT leading a line of violin prodigies into a latin song. THe theme, i had realised, was a latino christmas. The evening started off with a big bang ( literallly) . And so came course after course prepared by the top chefs in penang.. song and dance. I had braced myself for a miserable evening of cantopop ( which i hated and did not understand) but it immensely enjoyable. I watched WT lead teh penang symphonic band into familiar english pop songs. His brother WG then came onto the stage with his pop band and ( to my relief) burst into ricky martin tunes. It was amusing to watch the 2 brothers perform together on stage. ONe dude was clad in a tux and wielding a conductors baton, cutting a dashing figure on the stage. The other, was in a rather punky top and was prancing around the stage singing and rocking on his electric guitar. Both were as different as night and day, but one thing was certain, they were extremely gifted in music. Determined as we were not to enjoy ourselves that night, my sister and I could not help but admit that the evening yielded more charm than we expected. The songs were all the latest english hits, and the dancers were so infectious, I was tempted to get up and start grooving myself. But my dad remained brooding in his seat, thinking about his sister's birthday party that he was missing.
After 2 hours of glitzy dance and song sequences( complete with transversite prancing around), my dad received a call from his bro.
" They're waiting for us," he whispered. my family slid out of the room just as they were bringing in the Xmas Log cake.
Only when we had reached the tea house did my dad snap out of his brooding mood. The smile on my aunt's face as we sang her the birthday song, was probably the best thing that evening.
I knew it was a mistake the moment I laid eyes on the rest of the guests . It all started by my poor dad being forced to accept an invitation to my cousin's concert.
" Of course, you'll need a formal dress," said my 3rd uncle excitedly as he jammed a gaudy looking batik shirt into my dad's hands. Dad put it again himself and looked at us miserably. The colours of the shirt were simply out of this world.
Dad felt even worst when he found out his 6th brother was planning a surprise birthday party for his sister.
Formal dress? hmmmmmm.. the last time we were invited to my cousin's concert, we were dressed to kill and everyoneelse looked like they were going to the beach.
So the afternoon saw us hurrying thru the mall next door to clad ourselves in the appropriate gear, or so we thought. As usual, we were late for the event and we were met by my 3rd uncle who was pacing impatiently in the hotel lobby. Hmm.. I spied a bevy of dolled up females in elegant gowns disappearing into the elevator but I didn't give it a 2nd thought.
The moment we stepped out on the 2nd floor, we were frozen in horror. Everyone was decked out as though they were ready to go for their high school prom. My gaze fell onto our attire. I was wearing a cotton halter and my giodarno pants, my mom was in a red top and a skirt with mocassins and my sister ( horrors of all) was in a denim mini and white tshirt. Well.. presentble enough for an afternoon tea event I guess, but I think we should have just stayed in the elevator for this dinner. We all tried to squeeze behind my father ( who looked presentable).. but being the chubby females we were, the act was without much success.
I scanned the seating arrangement while trying to appear nonchalent. What I saw did little to improve our initial shock. I thugged at my sister's sleeve and pointed wordlessly to the seating... The press, the chief minister.. the big companies.. I couldn't locate the words.. " unknown underdressed family" anywhere. Oh well, guess they left us out. My dad caught me creeping towards the elevator and directed me into the ballroom where I was greeting by a skinny, miserable looking santa , minus white beard, who wrung our hands with his sweaty palm and wished us a merry Xmas.
I took my seat next to this stuffy looking excutive lady who was eyeing my outfit with distaste. My cousins-in-law, clad in a gorgeous black evening gown, came to greet my parents. I was squirming uncomfortably in my seat by the time the dinner started. I thought that perhaps the toilet would be a better place to spend the night, but it became clear that my outfit was the object of curiosity in the toilet while my counterparts waited to use the loo. So I returned to my seat and tried to cover myself with my napkin.
The arrival of the guest of honour was heralded by my cousin WT leading a line of violin prodigies into a latin song. THe theme, i had realised, was a latino christmas. The evening started off with a big bang ( literallly) . And so came course after course prepared by the top chefs in penang.. song and dance. I had braced myself for a miserable evening of cantopop ( which i hated and did not understand) but it immensely enjoyable. I watched WT lead teh penang symphonic band into familiar english pop songs. His brother WG then came onto the stage with his pop band and ( to my relief) burst into ricky martin tunes. It was amusing to watch the 2 brothers perform together on stage. ONe dude was clad in a tux and wielding a conductors baton, cutting a dashing figure on the stage. The other, was in a rather punky top and was prancing around the stage singing and rocking on his electric guitar. Both were as different as night and day, but one thing was certain, they were extremely gifted in music. Determined as we were not to enjoy ourselves that night, my sister and I could not help but admit that the evening yielded more charm than we expected. The songs were all the latest english hits, and the dancers were so infectious, I was tempted to get up and start grooving myself. But my dad remained brooding in his seat, thinking about his sister's birthday party that he was missing.
After 2 hours of glitzy dance and song sequences( complete with transversite prancing around), my dad received a call from his bro.
" They're waiting for us," he whispered. my family slid out of the room just as they were bringing in the Xmas Log cake.
Only when we had reached the tea house did my dad snap out of his brooding mood. The smile on my aunt's face as we sang her the birthday song, was probably the best thing that evening.
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