In another world

Since my blog goes by the name that it does, I feel compelled to write something about the tai-tais featured in the latest Sunday Times. Wow, 3 pages in the Lifestyle section devoted to the ladies (and gentlemen) who grace the pages of Singapore Tatler, Prestige, The Peak, etc.

I didn't know that even among this set, there are class divisions. There are the'wannabe' tai-tais and the 'real' tai-tais, the ones who tailor 'copies' of designer clothes and those who wear the real thing, etc. Then there is, of course, me, non-tai-tai, who goes into Prada, Gucci, etc just to look at how much the clothes cost, and the ladies who actually buy and wear those clothes.

I also didn't know that you get goodie bags with stuff like business class air tickets to Shanghai and electronic gadgets at these high society events.

What struck me most, though, was the somewhat derisive tone I sensed in the 3 pages. Sour grapes on the part of the writers?

The part I liked most was the interview with the 'society photographer'. Among other things he said:
'I was taking a break once and this woman kept pacing up and down in front of me. Then she would stop and strike a pose. I finally gave up and took her picture so she would leave me alone.'

So funny trying to picture this in my mind's eye.

I actually find some Sunday Times features rather rivetting. Like this thing about the rich and famous. I'm really fascinated by such stories of people who live in that world of theirs.

There are also a couple of columnists whose articles I enjoy very much, namely Colin Goh (of Singapore Dreaming fame) and Tay Yek Keak. Tay's article, 'Heights of idiocy can put us on the map' had me laughing. It was about the people who went off to Japan in search of the karate master.

I was thinking that Mediacorp should spin a tale out of this escapade and produce a blockbuster drama serial. Even TVB cannot beat this particular search-for-secret-martial-arts-manual story: dying father's last wish, jetting off to a foreign land with which they were, it appears, completely unfamiliar, getting lost, and then finding a Chinese martial arts master instead of karate master.

After all, this story is not only original, as compared to leaning on a rock and having a lost-for-100-years hole conveniently open up for you to fall into and find a lost-for-1000-years secret manual, it also actually happened. Which will make it a lot more believable than finding a martial arts manual in an ape's tummy. Serious. That's what Tony Leung (Mo Kei) did in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre. He fell into this enormous cave (but of course) and met this ape who was having a stomach upset (and who could also understand Cantonese). He did some kind of surgery on the ape (who knows how he managed to do this, being the only human in that cave, with nothing around him but natural stuff like plants, water and rabbits) and retrieved the manual from the poor creature's tummy. I couldn't stop laughing at this part of the show, but my husband tells me that it's in the original story.

Young Tony Leung and young Sheren Tang; couldn't find picture with the ape

Anyway, I couldn't help thinking how these people were really single-minded and persevering in their mission. I mean, one guy was in a 'short-sleeved t-shirt and a windbreaker', and they were climbing up a snowy mountain in Japan at this time of year, and he didn't even think of turning back, not even to buy a more suitable outfit. Really in another world. I'm sure I would have chickened out.

And how did they come to think that 'because Japan looked so small on a world map, we thought it (the mountain on which lived the karate master, I think) would be easy to find'?