Funny how the more dread I churn up about an upcoming trip/outing/occasion, the more mind-bogglingly amazing it turns out to be. It’s kind of like biting into a candy that first coats the insides of your mouth with the flavor of anxiety, but as it trickles down your throat, it suddenly bursts into the sweet taste of exhilaration and ecstasy.
I would always find myself sliding down the curve of bubbling anticipation just hours before The Event, like experiencing the plunge in the stored potential energy, killing all possibility of drinking in the zinging kinetic energy. As appalling as it might sound, I would even make up excuses or unfathomably seek ways to extricate myself from it, just because my guts felt squirmy thinking about it. But, as if following a written script, the cart I was loaded in would unfailingly climb its way up the slope, excitement growing with each inch upward till the event ended with the heart-stopping roller coaster rush down the tracks.
So you’d probably guessed that I wasn’t really enthusiastic about last night’s master plan and had to almost physically push myself onto the LRT to get to Jo’s. It started out fairly good, with the both of us checking out and treating ourselves to little knick knacks from the flea market. Then Sarah arrived and we bewitched/piratized/zombiefied ourselves.
During babysitting the kids
After a 20 minute-stint babysitting an adorable pair of children (their father called us the Halloween ladies!), off we went to unleash the freaks in us onto the unsuspecting victims of Mid Valley!
Oh, we were the fashionable belles of an aristocratic ball; the armor-clad gladiators in a cheering coliseum; the exotic models on a runway lit by explosions of camera flashes; because like them, we were the centre of attraction: we commanded an entire shopping mall’s attention, baby! There were those who whispered, not too softly, behind our backs; who pointed; who ogled and stared wide-eyed; who glanced out of the corners of their eyes DISCRETELY; who tried to swallow giggles; who boldly asked where was my broom and many more amusing reactions from the strong Saturday throng of mall-maniacs. We didn’t really give a shit what people thought (we didn’t bathe long enough for muck to collect and thicken the skin on our faces), Halloween was here and we had every right to celebrate it. Amen to that.
Of course, there were a couple of saints who didn’t regard us as freaks, namely the Tony Roma’s staff. They welcomed us into the restaurant with spread arms and huge goofy grins, and a promise of a free pumpkin pie each, so long as we ordered something from the menu. We chose the cheapest dish, no doubt. Oh. Did I mention they took our photo for their faceboook page? Cool stuff, eh.
FREE PUMPKIN PIE! Such sinful indulgence!
Ain't the skeleton a friendly fella?
Our precious loot (the fried mushrooms we had packed to takeaway)!
Making acquaintance with the miniature inanimate witch
And what better way to end the evening by chilling out at a bar to the music of your friend’s band?
“Table for three?” The waitress was stunned for a split second at our outfits before she could recover and ask us the question. What’s new.
“No, it’s okay. We’re with the band.” Okay. So that wasn’t exactly the truth, but I did know the band, at least Kevin, Emmanuel and David, which counted for something.
And the tunes were wicked. A cover of one of Incubus’s songs (memory fails me yet again), an upbeat version of Just the Two of Us, some song in between, and we left the place to the soundtrack of My Girl by the Temptations.
Cinco live @ Library 2, Mid Valley
Yes the pumpkins were HAND-CARVED! By Quek! I salute you for taking the effort! They were breathtaking works, hon'!
Quek, whose mom made this awesome witch hat I'm wearing
David and Hooi Ching
Talk about eye-popping
Happy Halloween, my fellow readers!
How perfect was this night?
