The day began ordinarily enough even if the air seemed particularly bad for that perennial smog. Argh!
After capati and milk tea at Restoran Bukit Merah opposite the Ipoh Garden Post Office, I happened to see Denis's bomb of a KIA behind his shop and decided to drop in for a chat. Martin was there: the late great Michael Yeh (who BTW has a nook named after him) had introduced us a couple years ago. So was Peter Chong Hoy Wah - who's even more blur over computers than I am - and whom I'd worked with in an architect's practice back in Ipoh late '60s.
Denis was regaling them with his travel yarns and had his laptop open to Google Maps displaying Thailand and Cambodia.
"See how large they are, Malaysia's nowhere compared to them," he exclaimed, scrolling the map down to make sure we all knew what he was driving at.
"Hey Denis, someone told me that your shop is known as the Cheers of Ipoh," I teased, and suggested he look at Alex's last Navel Gazer column January. He didn't make any comment but Martin offered that Alex knew Terry 'Orgynizer' Yip, which made her laugh when I SMSd her.
"Small world, he's my neighbor!" she confided.
Just about then, Adrian and Julie turned up for lunch at Woolley, so I went along with them for the company. They were out looking for 1 of those large industrial fans, the sort you might see in almost any coffee shop: plain-looking but bearing an 'honest' appearance with no pretensions to style whatsoever. And so, mixing banter between designers who'd known each other since the 80s and window shopping, an hour quickly passed.
Back home and alone in my sarong (which ha ha has space for 2), listening at 8 to BBC World Service, I suddenly began rocking in several axes, throwing my arms and legs about in some sort of epileptic seizure. And almost shouting incoherently.
It wasn't completely unexpected of course. I had earlier entertained thoughts of visiting Kumar's temple but decided against it for that infernal smog. But it seemed that Kali decided to visit me instead.
What an entertaining half-hour it was!
My everyday ego remained whole and intact but my personality had 'expanded' to include another, one that was much more ebullient and who spoke in tones and rhythms quite unlike my demure ones. Kali, or at least what that rush of energy claimed it was, offered warm greetings and information of an intensely personal nature.
During a quiet pause, Paul next door thanked me for switching on my porch light to help him see his way to his gate, but Kali eventually left me to the dulcet tones of the news announcer.
Now in previous weeks I had been following Steve G Jones's pitch for his Astral Projection products. So was I somehow imbibing and interpreting ideas and feelings of transcendence unconsciously?
Perhaps, but I'll wait and see if that personal message pans out. Until then, I'll just have me a loud guffaw and keep on keeping on as best I can.
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