'Twas a no-throw
Foiled by the rain.
There I was, all prepared to throw mandarin oranges into the sea in the hopes of finding a good husband... and it rained. Nooooooo! How could this be???
As I was for once in my life actually in Penang for Chap Goh Meh, I thought this was a prime opportunity. Hey, maybe my luck would change in the love-life department. Oh wait, I don't believe in luck. And perhaps it was good to miss out, since throwing oranges might give me negative karma for polluting the sea. Oh wait, oranges are biodegradable, and I don't believe in karma either. Oops.
"You came at the wrong time," Fuong (pronounced 'fang', with the 'a' as in 'far') said to me. Turned out that Thaipusam (a Hindu festival) and Chap Goh Meh happened to fall on the same day this year February 5 and some of the roads in town would be closed for the Thaipusam procession. To make matters worse, the following morning, more roads would be closed for the Tour de Langkawi bicycle race!
Despite this, another friend said it would still be possible to go to the Esplanade and throw oranges. There was some discussion on what the guys should throw. Ordinary Sunkist oranges, as opposed to mandarin oranges? Apples? Or, as Dr Liew suggests, bananas?
But it rained, so all the discussion was moot, and I didn't get to do the deed, after all. *sniff sniff* My friends and I ended up walking around a shopping mall instead. How... predictable of me. At least I didn't buy anything apart from some scrunchies for my hair.
Unfortunately, the following day I spent a FORTUNE on books in Chowrasta Market's second-hand bookshops. As I'm utterly horrible at bargaining (too soft-hearted and too naïve) I'm sure I paid more than I should have for those musty old books, but was delighted to find out-of-print authors like Leslie Charteris, so willingly paid the few dollars per book. I mean, how do you bargain down from $4 without looking like a veritable miser?
So now you know where I've been the past week: in Penang, attempting to throw oranges into the sea and making a good start on bankrupting myself through book-buying. Oops.
