Guess my age....

Well.. no one seems to be able to do it. Correctly I mean. I have had guesses ranging from 27 ( which to me is also a bit too far fetched) to 32 (which is as young as it gets).

I was at a function two Saturdays ago when this "auntie" (She may be just as old as me only but I didn't ask) who sat next to me and proceeded to give me a lecture about relationships and marriages.

Auntie : You got boyfriend ah ??

Me : Yes, but none serious ( which is the truth.. I have a hubby instead)

Auntie : How old are you ah ? Twenty Seven ? Aiya you young people must have faith in marriages. No point pak tor so long and then also break up. In relationships, you must give and take......drones on and on

She proceeded to then take my palm and gave me a life reading.

Auntie : Wah, you have a very good career line. You very intelligent and everything you touch will turn to gold one

Me (thinking silently to me self) : Yahoo, I have Midas touch.. sighs, how come I don't enough to retire yet?

Auntie : You are a born leader and every time you open your mouth, people will sure listen one

Me : Hmmm... maybe I should consider a career in politics.

Auntie : You have three siblings.

Me ( springs up up right, hey : she's right! maybe she does have psychic abilities after all) : Yes, I do have three siblings..

Auntie : Whom you are not close to at all..

Me ( whoosh, down comes the interest level again...) : Actually, we are very close...

Auntie : I mean they live far away and you don't see them very often..

Me ( trying to pull back hand now... I do see them often except for one brother who lives in London) : Actually I have a brother in London and I actually see other siblings quite fre.....

Auntie : See , see... I am right. Aiya but your love line ah... not so smooth ah.... A lot of bumps ah. All your relationships with men ah... sure got problem one ah..

Me : What kind of problems ah ?

Auntie : You have a lot of men interested in you ah... So, you must not give all your heart to one person .... otherwise, you sure get disillusioned with love .

Me (thinking to self) : I thought you just told me to have faith in marriage ?

Luckily I was rescued by my girlfriend just then.. Anyway, I digress ... Back to my age.

Was at a club (let's just call it Club V.. shy to even say I was there at my age...my daughter's friends goes there) at Jalan Ampang a couple of nights ago with some girl friends from Singapore. Will not have picked that place but the Singaporeans insisted. I was like... hey, that's like a young place and we, or rather I would feel really old and out of place..

So there we were, inside the club(my first time there, btw). I looked around and saw... much to my relief, that there were a handful of men who were much older than us ( but hey, they most probably are sad desperate old men trying their luck to pickup some sweet young thing ...). Other than that, most of the patrons were probably in their mid twenties to mid thirties).

Was just drinking and dancing and chatting with my friends when a bunch of guys came over ..

Guy : Hi... never seen you around before ....

Me : That's because I've never been here before.

Guy : How come ? You not local ?

Me : Not my kind of place (... thinks .. please leave me alone)

Guy : So.. how young are you ?

Me : Older than you.

Guy : Cannot be ... you must be like .... 30 ?

Me : Trust me, I am older than you...

Guy : So.. where is your boyfriend ?

Me : Which one ?

Guy : Wah... you got so many ah ?

Me : Ya.. I am a mistress of a big time gangster tai ko and if you don't stop trying to pick me up, his bodyguards will come beat you to a pulp. I won't want your cute little face to be rearranged..

Guy : Slinks away...

I guess I should be lucky that I am getting mistaken for a 32 year old but what IS the obessesion with age anyway ? It's just a number.

Rachel will always tell me : Mom....you should tell them your real age.... You look damn good. Yes, I do but why bother ? Short of making them gawp in disbelief or making them feel bad ( if they are younger but look older) there really is no point.

Come to think of it, even when I was way younger, I always had the problem of being mistaken for being younger.

I remembered this incident during one trip to Genting Highlands Casino. A group of us wanted to get in ... Keith wanted to try his luck at the one arm bandit. I was quite reluctant cos I hated the place... Full of China men in bad batik shirts borrowed from the counter over pot bellies and equally bad T shirts underneath and a hint of desperation in betting away their hard earned monies and striking it rich..

Anyways, we were going through the security gate when it was my turn ..

Security Guard : Amoi, Umur berapa ?

Me : Dua puluh tujuh.

Security Guard : Mana ada dua puluh tujuh? Kalau umur lapan belas, tak boleh masuk.

Me : Memang dua puluh tujuh ... bang.

Security Guard : Tunjuk IC.

Me : (hands over IC) : Nah... tak tipu bang.

Security Guard : Gave me the once over and waves me in.

Guess I have good genes to thank for it. But hey people, age is just a number. The important thing is that you have lived life to the fullest.

So.. stay young people.