edge of her desk in her office at Love Lane, Georgetown. “What advice do you want, Mr Au?”
“Miss
Ang, c-can you give s-some dating tips for me?” Alvin Au says, sitting in the visitor's chair at Angie's desk. “I-I want to
find a girlfriend.” He covers his face with one hand.
Angie
rounds her desk and plunks down in her swivel chair. “There’re four reasons why some men fail at
the dating game.” Angie raises four dainty fingers. “First, body
odour or bad breath; second, shyness; third; being a cheapskate; lastly, cracking filthy
jokes all the time. What’s your reason for dating failure?”
“I’m
shy.” Alvin raises another hand to cover his face. “When I see a pretty girl, I-I
stammer or become tongue-tied.”
“Shyness
cannot be overcome overnight.” Angie scratches the side of her head with a ball pen. “You’ve to take small steps. For a start, you’ve to look your best, not
like a country bumpkin.” She looks down at Alvin's slippers. “The wearing of Japanese
slippers has never won a girl’s heart. Splurge on nice leather shoes and
stylish clothes. When you look your best, you’ll feel more confident.” She
hikes her chin. “Next, improve your body language. Don’t fidget, don’t slouch. Do make eye
contact with the person you’re talking to, stick your chest out, chin up.”
Alvin
looks at Angie from a gap between his fingers. “H-how do I build up courage to
ask for a date?”
“Practise,
practise, practise!” Angie’s voice flows like honey. “Go to any of the dance
clubs or bars in Upper Penang Road. Say hello to as many strangers as possible
– the bartender, the waitress, the bouncer, a female or male tourist sitting
alone. Exchange a few words on
trivialities like the music, the DJ, the weather, the beach, anything. Also
learn to smile. The idea is to loosen your tongue, so to speak. Do this ice-breaking
for a few weeks until talking to strangers feels natural to you.”
“But
I’m also scared of rejection.”
“You’ll
have to change your attitude toward rejection.” Angie leans back and crosses
her legs at the knees. “Rejection is not of the end of the world for you. On
the other hand, it should make you stronger. You can also learn some rebuttal
lines for nasty rejections.” She rolls her eyes upward for a moment. “For
example, if you ask ‘can I buy you a drink?’ and she gives a rude reply, say, ‘you
misheard me, I said you’re a ratfink or I said your body stinks’ ” Her lips
upturn into a grin. “Get the drift?” She
pauses. “You should also seek out the company of a male friend who’s an extrovert. Go with him to a party or a dance club. When he strikes out a conversation with a group of girls at the next table, try to jump on the bandwagon.” She pauses again and wags her forefinger. “Remember, only one friend, not two friends. When three people are together, and two are talkative, but the third is shy and quiet, the two extroverts will end up chatting between themselves and the third will be left out.”
His
hand covering his face, Alvin looks at the floor.
“Yes,
Miss Angie Ang, anything you say.” Alvin shoves his hands in his pants pocket
to reveal his face (pix below). "I'm
going to Queensbay Mall tomorrow to buy some new shirts to dress me up into a
lady-killer.”
**********
--Trailer on YouTube for my novel "Burma Road Driver, Resistance Fighter
The link is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrU4fJIEBJk
--Trailer on YouTube for my nonfiction book "Pattaya Undercover"
The link is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAD4u589ysk&t=2s
--Video on YouTube for "Malaysian artist Stephie Stephiel's Monochrome-Colour Collection"
The link is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iYicAj6Ar4
--Video on YouTube for "Profile of Malaysian artist Stephie Stephiel"
The link is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZuBlbLsWdM&t=2s
/end
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