Butterfly And His Sushi

When the Western men fell under the ‘Yellow Fever’ plague, it takes very little comprehension on our part to understand why. ‘Yellow Fever’, the term coined to describe the Western man’s obsession with the exotic females of the Orient plagues even the local men.

Forget the Vietnamese mail order brides. For the local hot blooded males who grew up to the wonders of Japanese AV’s with a secret checklist that includes a stellar list of ‘must fucks’, the pinnacle of their conquest surely would include the words, ‘Japanese Girl’.

I can hardly blame them so, for we have a pre-conceived notion on them of superior sexual prowess, audibly and maneuverability. And from what I’ve experienced, everything seems to be true. I even truly believe they are born with blow-job starter kits.

Japanese ladies have for the longest time been my kryptonite, along with a whole list that runs from sharp noses to perky ass to ample bust-lines. So when you combine three or more of the above factors, you have a recipe for downfall.

When I first met Minori, it was a cordial introduction that lay dormant at the back of my mind. She was attractive, dressed awfully well, had a C cup bust and was bona fide Japanese. I was however drunk, had my eyes on some other girl and told specifically not to have any designs on her.

So when I was eventually entrusted to be her 'caretaker' for the day, it was almost like the burden I didn’t mind taking. It made perfect sense to leave her in my care. After all, she was a single young attractive woman and I was a single young attracted to attractive women man. We were already giving Bonnie and Clyde a run.

When we ended the day at KM8 with the entire group, I proposed taking her out with us for the karaoke session. It was after all, her last night here and I couldn’t possibly let her stay home. I ahve the perfect attributes of an STB officer, they should hire me. Disclaimer: I didn't bring her out because I had ulterior motives. I was legitimately being a nice person. I heard Karma's been a popular debate as a pre-requisite to being rich in the future.

12.43am: We enter a huge room at K Box.
12.44am: I feel totally uncomfortable because I don’t know majority of them very well. 12.46am: Minori's super short skirt is totally distracting me.
1.10am: The drinks come. My immediate response to that is to get Minori to drink. Sensitivity is not my forte.

I coaxed her into singing but she was initially shy because the room was huge and giving a concert was the last thing she expected. She finally caved in to my request and Flower did a great job by making her feel comfortable by proposing to do a duet with her.

She sang Utada Hikaru’s First Love, mainly because it was at that time the only commercial Japanese song that everyone knew. I thought she was great but I was probably also the only one who thought so. I could very possibly be under the influence of the short skirt.

2.28am: We ditch the joint to find somewhere else to drink.
2.40am: Indochine is close. Everywhere is close and the people at Swensen's refuse to serve alcohol in their ice-cream. I hate Singapore.
2.48am: My brilliant date processor mind suggest we go to Mt Faber, since I remember them having a bar there.
3.17am: I reach there and realize I have the IQ of an idiot. Apparently it is Sunday, and everywhere closes early.

The alcohol plan failed and I was stuck with the contingency of a romantic discourse, of which I have the experience and ideas of a seasoned romantic but the execution enthusiasm of a fat fuck training for a marathon. I decided we shall take a walk to the topmost point, since it would buy me some time to find discussion topics and a itinerary to last the night.

3.20am: We start walking to the top. I park my car at the parallel lots by the road just before it starts to head downhill.
3.24am: We reach the top.

What the fuck?! The walk was absolutely elementary and I hardly started on my thoughts. Mt. Faber blows.We started talking about everything under the stars, about the stars, and beyond the stars. The last time I made such a lengthy conversation, I was taking my English oral exams.
You’d probably thought I’d have said "Fuck it, I forget and pay absolutely ZERO attention to sentences without key words like Fuck, Sex, Take Me home". Wrong, because I was actually paying attention. Something about her was just drawing me. It could be

a) The cleavage
b) The skirt
c) The super seductive Japanese accent.

Minori eventually got tired and she wanted to sit, so we headed to the benches where more talking ensued. I was running out of topics I half considered having to bring in Harry Potter and ask if she played Quiddich.

4.14am: Minori wants to sleep.
4.31am: Minori IS sleeping on my lap. I tell her I’ll wake her at 5am.
5.00am: Minori is still sleeping and I can’t bare to wake her. I think I’ll call her at 5.15am
5.15am: My legs are numbing.. I’ll call her at 5.30am instead because she looks so good sleeping on me.
5.30am: Maybe I’ll make it 5.45 instead.
5.45am: Fearing I might need amputation, I wake her up.
5.51am: She's lying on my shoulders.

After some deliberation and consideration that I had morning classes, we decided to head home. When we finally did get back to her place, she gave me a hug in appreciation for taking her out and next thing I know, we started kissing only to be unceremoniously halted by horrible offensive four letter word which I hate to hear girls say.

Minori: "Stop.."

I stopped and grin

Minori: "No.. why did you stop?"
Me: "You said to stop."
Minori: *grins* "You are mean. LB was right about you. You are such a player."
Me: “So do I stop or start all over?”
Minori: "You are a really good kisser, but you’re a really great teaser you know?"

We got back to kissing because I thought the conversation was an entire waste of time and I began smiling.

Minori: "Why are you smiling?"
Me: "I’m smiling cos you're smiling."

Minori was an absolute kisser, the kind I could spend days on ends just locking lips and twisting tongues together. Teasing kissers was also a viable avenue to score with them. Apparently, LB's words earlier in the night was influencing her judgment of me.

Me: “I live for today, I do not cry and I stop for no one.”

We stayed in the car till 7am in the morning, where we no longer had the cover of darkness to shield our misdemeanor. I left only because BB came back in a cab, and she was frowning.

Minori: “Call me after your class.”

I smiled. Somehow or rather, at a point where I was serial dating and had a disdain for meeting a person continuously over 2 days, I was actually glad to her say that.

Day 2

I called her as soon as my classes ended. She needed to change money and buy liquor to bring back home. I was to be that knight in shining armour for her. We headed to town to run her errands, then went back to my place. I've never lost in my game, but something happened that day that was beyond my cognizance. Somewhere in between the kisses, hugs and smiles, she actually stole a part of me. I wrapped my arms around her,

Me: “Why are you smiling?”
She: “I’m smiling because you’re smiling.”

It was the smile that was melting every guard in my heart. I was thinking about the impossible, about what I would tell her and about how much I didn’t want to let her leave.

The song on my playlist started playing 'Never Say Goodbye' by Bon Jovi. Talk about perfect timing. The Ironies of all irony, a song like this 3 hours before she was scheduled to fly. I was actually mouthing the pronunciation of the lyrics as I kissed her. She smiled again as she kissed me.

Me: "Why are you smiling still?"
Minori: "I’m smiling cos you’re smiling."

Something in me triggered. It’s been awhile. I was moved. We were hugging for the entire song and I was slow dancing to it with her. The silence between use was beginning to drive me crazy.

The song ended and she looked at me. Her eyes seemed to be saying a lot more than her lips was. The gentle silence was tearing through me. I had a barrage of things just waiting to confess but I just didn’t know how. The timing was wrong. I heard her say something about "why did it have to be Sunday and not Wednesday" and realized how thin the ice was for us to be threading on.

I sent her back to what was my longest 7km trip. She was silent for the whole journey, only a firm grip of my hands and an eternity of silence. Then it poured, suddenly.

Minori: "Singapore is crying for me cos I’m leaving, hehe.”
Me: "It’s not only Singapore that's crying cos ya leaving..."

She either genuinely didn't hear it or she pretended not too, because she looked at me and replied "what?" with a grin. Perhaps ignorance was her way of coping. It probably was the best way to do it. To leave impossibility out of the picture and to just deal with really practicality of it. The goodbye kiss was never ending. It was a goodbye filled with kisses that ran on for 17 times. Every one of it just as painful as the one before it.

Minori: "Goodbye teaser." *she smiles as she kisses me*
Me: "Why are you smiling?”
Minori: *she kisses me again* "I’m smiling cos you are smiling baby.."

Minori: “We lived for today, we didn’t cry and you stop for no one right?”

If defeat was the sweet after taste of a kiss, or that uncontrollable tug at the heart, then I might truly have been beaten at my own game. I was actually sad she was leaving. I was really swallowing hard not to say anything that was best left unsaid. You know that feeling you get when someone just touches u emotionally?

She didn’t just take my breath away, she took something more.