Colours

There is light and there is dark
and I suppose knowing what you have
isn't as good as knowing you could lose them
in the blink of an eye, and cherishing it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Depressive as I was, I went online
to seek solace in my newfound wi-fi
there I found my Penang Aunt (PA) online
I had just been planning to email her.

But seeing as she was there, why not use the new MIC?
(thank you!)

I beep her, she answers
Japan Aunt (JA) is there to, so is the little Coro
the connection is bad ..*static static*..
all because of the Taiwan quake they tell me
one is talking..breaking in and out
the other is typing, I can hear her
but I see no words in front of me

"Eh," I say into the headset "Why can I hear your sister typing
yet not see the words?"

"Huh?" says my aunt in the static

"Okay, I will type what I speak," I say
My aunts chorus an 'OOOhhhhh'
"Are we like parrots? Aren't we like parrots?" they squeal
behind them, the little Coro, my 5 year old half Japanese cousin
who is trying to watch TV,
screams "URUSAI!" at them.

"What's 'urusai'?
"Urusai means 'noisy'", explains JA, "the dog is telling us to shut up!"
"Don't call me dog!!"
my pint-sized cousin squeals in jap accented english

"Your mother is on her way over, stay online," they tell me
as we switch from Google Talk to MSN so that
we can use the webcam and mic,
so that I can see them.

At this point I would lobby for someone who cares
enough to send me a webcam, but I already did that with my aunts.

Mom and 2 aunts are now,swooping in and out
of webcam vision as they all chat at the same time to me
The little Coro is curious about how I can see the same
things he can see onscreen
"Show me your teeth Taka! Show me your teeth!"
I shout.
He bares gums and neat teeth, as my mother explains the workings to him
and my aunt calls him 'dog' again and he screams "Don't call me dog!"
(dog is an affectionate term my family uses)

My cousin is now standing on the chair
having figured out the mechanics, he does dances for me
as the others all talk in tandem;
he then starts lining up his ultramans in front of me

"Beard Papas," they are saying,
"Have you had?Its come to Penang! Remember when we saw it in Paragon
Bangkok and went crazy?"

"I wasn't at Paragon," I say

I remember that Aunt Mill was talking about them
when we were in Tokyo but I can't get a word in
because these 4 won't stop talking.

"Anyway, your mother has come to collect the
Beard Papas that we bought her" JA says

"Eh, can I have one ah? Let me just pop it in my mouth
and show her onscreen how good it is lah.." says PA

With that the 3 of them are crowded in front of the camera,
mother opening the box, JA adjusting the webcam view
PA taking out a plump puff and biting it so that I can
see the fluffy cream ooze into her open mouth.

Bitches.

"Is it better than Ritz?" I ask

In the background JA says "Its better than Chinese Devil Curry!"
PA shouts "She said Ritz la dog! Not Ribs!"

My mom looks into the cam and narrates
"You see Ja, they thought you were talking about
Aunty Mill's ribs, not Ritz cream puffs!"

The 3 of them are laughing, howling hysterically into the mic and camera,
so am I.
The dog is still waving his arms like a maniac.

Then my family turns serious
'Tropical storm warning, so if you come online and don't see us tomorrow,
we're all gone!" they tell me, ominously

I get a sudden good view of PA,
"Eh, what happened to your hair?"
behind her, JA shouts "SEE? I told you!"
"Ja, as soon as I walked in the door, I told her she looked like a
PONDAN!"

PA turns the spotlight on my mom instead pushing her into view
"Look, don't you think she needs a haircut?"
"Yeah, needs some shape" I mumble
"You're just jealous cos my hair is longer than yours!" retorts mother to me

"What about me, me, me?" says JA pushing through her sisters
"You see Ja, I just woke up and look at my hair..don't you think it looks good
for someone who just woke up?"

"Er, I feel like I am being put in a spot.."

"Well I am the one with the most money here!" says JA
"Besides, the truth prevails."

"Hmmm, yes your hair looks best amongst the 3!"

"Look!" says JA pulling up her shirt
"I shaved my armpit hair!You see now no luck already!
come here, buy number also never kena once!"

At this point I am laughing so hard my sides hurt.

Then JA sighs and turns to her sisters "Eh, how long do I have to entertain this dog?"
My mother and PA raise eyebrows
"You're the one who pushed in front of us to
show off your hair!"

and with another flash of naked armpit, JA is gone.

Later, they all crowd around again to say good bye to me
(after demanding to know why I had to go).

(=

Nothing like crazy family antics to cheer things up.