I reach the door of Sifu Sabrina's office in Low Yat Plaza, knock three times on the solid nyatoh and swing it open inward. Cool air from the air-conditioner feathers my face as I step inside.
With one stockinged leg resting on her desk, Sifu Sabrina (pix above) flicks her gaze from the feng shui book she is reading to me. "Ah! Ewe! I've seen neither hide nor hair of you for quite a while." Her meticulously drawn brows lift in question. "Been busy?" She puts the feng shui book away and lowers her shapely leg down to the floor. "Come, take a seat."
Her husky voice heats my skin, and a smile curves my lips. "I've been preoccupied with travel writing." I plonk my butt in the visitor's chair at her desk. "Any tips for readers of my blog?" The scent from her perfume arouses my senses. "I haven't posted anything about you for some time."
Sifu Sabrina gives a slow sweep of her eye lashes. "My tip for today, exclusively for your blog, is to advise students, especially those taking important examinations, to pray to Confucius. They can also crawl in a figure of eight under the sage's altar for good luck and intelligence."
"Oh? But where to find a statue of Confucius?"
"Go to Seen Hock Yeen Temple in Chemor, north of Ipoh." She pulls open a drawer, takes out a note book and flips to a certain page. "It's a beautiful temple with ponds and sculptures (pixs below). Address is Railway Station Road, Kampung Cik Zainal, Chemor. I was there last week to pray to Yue Lao, the Deity of Marriages (bottom pix) -- some call him the Deity of Romance."
"Why did you pray to Yue Lao?"
"What else?" She draws in a deep breath and her cheeks burnish slightly. "To find my Mr. Right."
"What! A sex bomb, er, I mean, a charming woman like you having difficulty in finding a life partner?" I scratch my head. "If I recall correctly, you've gone to Huat Tian Kong Temple to pray to Yue Lao, isn't it?"
"No harm in praying a second time." Her gaze holds mine for a second, tugging a frail sigh from her lips. "I'm born in the year of the Tiger, that's the issue. I've had a few boyfriends but things did not work out." She crosses her legs and leans forward in her chair. "The last boyfriend I had was a man-about-town, lively and sophisticated but... I guess I turned him into a mouse-about-town!" A wry smile hovers on her lips and she chews on her forefinger (pix below). "Naughty me!"
"Oh? How?"
"Women born under the Tiger sign are dominating, independent and are alpha females. A weak man cannot handle me. Only a Dragon or another Tiger will be compatible with me. There's more. According to some silly superstition, a man under born under the signs of Rat, Ox, Goat, Chicken and Pig will have a short life if married to a Tiger wife because she will eat him up!"
"What about an earlier boyfriend? His name's Zachary, if I recall correctly." My brows crimp in curiosity. "Why didn't things work out?"
"He's the worst of the lot." A scowl invades Sabrina's face. "One day, when I told him that I'm a Tigress in terms of the zodiac animals, he fainted from fright!"
My jaw slacks open.
/end
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