katong - freedom

this is the season for divorce. marathon man's angmoh fren ah chris is divorcing his wife, his fren ah wahid also doing the same. not long ago kris used to call back home to talk to his wife and kids, whenever he was away from his home in souhtern cal. he also mentioned his wife very often in his casual conversation. and just out of the blue, as far as marathon man is concerned, he is what most americans are doing. same thing for wahid, an iranian marrying a caucasian, had been living happily for quite some years now...... and he got sacked from the company, and very soon his wife alsi kcicked him our of the house.

well, well, well..... it's time. as the americans said, marriage is not the burial ground for romance. and divorce is the beginning of another new life. so life just go back to its beginning.


marathon man think about it..... why marry in the first place? like marathon man, single and swinging.... no need pre-nup, no need to worry, no need to feel the burden of a family. enjoy whatever he's been working for, himself.

ah huai was jogging with him. he actually met her when he was sniffing around in katong area. then this gal came dashing into him, when the traffic light turned from redman to greenman, and marathon man was talking in the hp, too busy to noticed it.

"sorry."

"sorry also, i was too busy with my phone..."

"i heard there's a new northern indian curry restaurant here, do you know where?"

"at teh junction of joochiat rad and east coast road."

"have you tried it? was it good? i am thinking of having my lunch there after the jog."

"very nice, especially teh spices, the most delicate and refined you can find in this world. it not as hot as the osuthern curries, and not as lemon-grassy as the peranakan, it's smooth and rich in taste, not strong in it's spiciness, but got all the taste of a spicy dish..... i suggest you tried it. since i'm going to have lunch soon also..... let me give you a treat."

"for what? for bouncing into you?"

"why not? it's not so often you got bounced into by a stranger, and a beautiful lady..."

they did not jogged for long, before they adjourned to hamsa restaurant. order some dishes....

"hmm... really good. i like it also."

"are you single?"

"yes. but not until yesterday. i mean i got all things cleared in my divorce, and i'm free now."

"why you want to marry in the first place if you ended up in divorce?"

"i didn't expect it to be this way?"

"are you regretting now?"

"me? regret? no. we don't have kids.... things come and go.... i had my share of romance..... now taking a break."

"why divorce? is he not the type of guy you want?"

"well... i don't know what type i want. i thot i knew. at first, we did what lovers used to do, then after sometime we did what hsuband and wife used to do..... then it dawned on me that, i wanted my living space as much as he wanted his..... we don't clicked any more. we quarreled bacause we thot we both were right to demand what we wanted...... then what supposed to hold us back broken down....no more trust.... don't who started to break it first... anyway.... i got so hurt, that i really wanted to end it all.... but i held back in the last minute, and decided no point in clinging to something expired.... just let it go and have things my old way."

"no counselling?"

"we did. but no use.... we only sought the third-party to hera us out, how right we each were...."

"did you learn anything?"

"there's no such thing as real love in thsi world. it's all in the chemistry of a person. like now, i feel very comfortable talking to you.... does it mean i have feeling for you? yes! i think so. but this feeling that i have not so much that i wanted it, but my hormones make me feel that i need someone like you to talk to.... it releases my anxiety after going thru what i went thru...."

"life should be simple, as eating an apple. you want to eat an apple, just go into the fruit stall and buy one...."

"you mean, same thing for relationship?"

"no relationship, just mutual- exploitation. if you like me and i like you, we can be intimate.... if that's what satisfy us both.relationship need something we call love. as you said, there's no such in thsi world."

"are you a divorcee?"

"no. why?"

"then what made you sound like you have been there and did it many times? are your parents separated?"

"no. i just feel that, i'm a human being, not for the sake of fulfilling the mundane duty of procreation.... i want my life to be full and free."

"you like to come for dinner in my place, tonite?"

"i see, to celebrate your freedom?"

"no.... just giving in to my chemistry."

- oh nite, oh nite, oh nite......