I was just three-years-old and staying in Kepong in a single-storey home. I had no siblings yet at that time…in fact, my sister was on the way out into this world. So, all alone, I had no one to play with since my mom was a pregnant housewife struggling to keep the house intact. But all was not lost because Uncle Alan was there.
I call him Uncle Alan because I was 3 when he was 20-something. He rented a home in the house that we were renting and I guess I have very fond memories of him staying at our place because he was a gwai-low and he had hair all over the place! And he was my only playmate.
Yes, yes, yes….that little girl is me.
I remember storming into his rented room early in the morning. My mom told me that she was most afraid of the fact that I would one day walk into his room and find him naked. Ha ha ha ha! I don’t remember anything like that ever happening, so, I guess that never happened. Memories of Alan is very vague but in my heart, there’s this fondness that I have of him because he played with me.
I’ve waited 30 years to tell him that he almost killed me! In what way…here’s the thing. I remember very clearly till this very day the time he showed me a magic trick. He took a twenty-cents coin, pretended to swallow the coin and then it came out of his belly button! I was totally awed by this ‘magician’. So, I found a twenty-cents coin and tried to swallow it and choked on it for ages! I remember this clearly because I was very puzzled with how he could have swallowed a coin that large…and thought that maybe since he was bigger, he had bigger throat. I decided to grow up first and then try again.
And last night, I got the chance to tell Alan just that! 
I just can’t describe how it feels like to see my playmate again. I think it’s really special to him too and gosh, I hope that I will one day head on to his place in California. Plan in the pipeline. After that Hong Kong trip, broke like nothing, so, have to start from ground zero again.
But last night was totally memorable for me.
Oh Marsha, I’ve only just seen this. How cute.
I must have been 22 when I lived in your house with my girlfriend (now wife) Phylis. I think we were there for about six months. I remember this all very well. Do you remember I had a stereo set that you weren’t supposed to touch? I learned enough hokkien to tell you: “Picee giah, lu tiong chi leh, wah paht lu!”
Your blog is wonderful and you look so glamorous! Singer, writer, designer. Wasn’t lawyer in there somewhere?
Sorry to gush, but its wonderful to rediscover my playmate. I hope you’re going to visit us in California soon…