Jun Gloom

"Drink it. It's good for you."

It's funny how the human tongue works. The front and sides of the tongue allows you to taste sweet, salty and sour, while the back of your tongue is used to taste bitter. So by the time Mom's homemade bitter concoction hits at the back of your throat, it's too late to pull out. All you can do is twist your face till it looks like a well wrung towel.

It was early in the morning on Saturday, and I was on Dr Jun's massage table. Only because they told me it would be good for me.

We weaved through a sea of people, beautiful people on all flanks. Everyone had either a drink or a cigarette in hand just so they would not feel out of place. Colors flashed, swirled and twirled on a veil of second hand smoke. The music was thumpin', the people was bumpin', the whole place was jumpin', and booze crossed freely from bottle to glass. To accompany me on this wild and crazy night was Yun Wai, a high school friend I had not seen in about 6 years.

Away from Malaysia for so long, I did not ecpect to meet anyone I knew at Viva but I bumped into Joan at the bar. And into Kok Chun. And into no one else until much later.