Laughs & Love from Shanghai to Toronto Part 1

Irene Tsai sends the following report on a joyous gathering with Malcolm & Vicki Au in Toronto.

Date: Mon, 2006-10-02
Place: Dragon Dynasty Restaurant, Metro E
Time: 7:00 p.m to 10:15 p.m.
Present: Fay Lo (Malcolm, Au Man Chung)
Fay Lo’s lovely wife, Vicki Au
Fay Jai (Tsui Sun Man, Sexologist)
Fay Ju (Irene, Tsai Yan Ying, retired educator)
Ho Kit May (May Bartram, Ms. President)
Lau Yuk Hing (better half of Chui Tak Shing)
Chui Tak Shing (worse half of Lau Yuk Hing)
Lau Bak (Stephen, Lau Ki Chun, Salm Jee Ging)
Lau Bak’s better half (Fedelia Lau)
Cheung Kwok Ying, Dancing Queen
Lit Jai (Wong Hin Shing – former ENG teacher)

Regrets: Chow Kam Fong
Lee Lai Chu
Siu Wan Lau (Peggy Wong - former ENG teacher)

Yes, it was the beauties and the beasts at the feast Monday night. Let me try to recap some of the evening’s memorable highlights for you. If you haven’t seen Fay Lo for decades, perhaps it’s worth your while to spend the next minute or two to sit back and check out this Bak Gwa news below.

This all over the face of the planet business tycoon, not only squeezed out time on the last day of his Toronto parents’ visit to be with us, he also managed to sweet talk his pretty wife to come along. Giving up time they both hardly had, the jet setters even relaxed their Shanghainese wallet to surprise us with a delicious feast, called “eat now pay later, no payments or interest until year 2050”. We, the Toronto bunch must have done something right and lucked out. Our rendezvous was simply educational, enlightening, fun, stimulating and yummy from the beginning to the end, a total of approximately 3 hrs. 15 min. We were the last patrons to clear the restaurant.

You see, from our last Toronto alumni Yum Cha in August with Kwong Hoi Chau, I was cautioned by Lau Bak that Fay Lo only takes a bath once in a blue moon. And from my own first-hand experience in high school, Fay Lo had always scared the shit out of me as he was big and tall despite his baby face. He always had this pissed off looks either in school or on the bus. He was that big boy with the rosy sweaty cheeks, wet rolled-up sleeves, he and his basketball and his obnoxious God’s gift to math. To me, he was definitely an unfriendly, a stuck up superior breeding big boy with very few words. I don’t think he had ever spoken to the girls in class, at least never even once to me. He was quite the total opposite of Lin Jeh, who always mingled with the girls. Where the girls were, that’s where Lin Jeh would be found. Hey, I am not talking or doubting Lin Jeh’s sexual orientation here. Lin Jeh was virtually like a benevolent Dai Gar Jeh or a kind shepherd to all throughout our Jubilee days. Bottom line is, I found Fay Lo quite intimidating growing up.

I was the 2nd last one to walk into the restaurant. Fay Jai was a bit behind the grand schedule as he’s forever tied up with his studies and research in Sexology, but we were all forgiving for we could not have a Fay Lo party without Fay Jai on site, seated right next to throne. From a distance I could spot a friendly, smilie Fay Lo, far from intimidating. So, what was the ice breaker then? Hey, a shake of hands and a glass of Tsing Tao Beer did it.

When I sat down, I noticed the girls have already all broken in, they all appeared at ease with Au Man Chung. Fay Lo has now become a BOON FAY SAU gentleman, who has the friendliest looking face (mind you, still retaining a trace of his original baby face), he’s one of the most caring, considerate and sensitive men from Class of ’67. I stood next to him a couple of times that night and smelled sheer clean air. Lau Bak must have either mixed up Fay Lo with some other fatso from somewhere else or have truly misinformed us about Fay Lo’s personal hygiene. Actually, on second thought, Fay Lo may have a hidden foolproof dry clean formula which I have forgotten to ask him for it. In fact, he may be the most successful, real business tycoon from our lot, something we can all be so proud of. In a way, we have to give SEE TAU POR some brownie points who pushed him to take a detour (LUM BARN) to join our class somewhere in the ‘60s, otherwise how the hell could we possibly have ever met up with this exotic tycoon? (Sorry, once named Fay Lo, always a Fay Lo even though he’s downsized to a BOON FAY SAU LO).

The now Fay Lo is a classy gentleman of wisdom, endurance, passion and principles. He philosophies and devises his own unique algorithms under all circumstances to get ahead in life. Throughout the evening, he happily shared his secrets, knowledge and insight with us over the dinner table. We bounced from topic to topic, scene to scene, aspect to aspect, no time was wasted. Mind you, no topic was quite finished before another one popped up, and yet another one. We were doing the Oh, Hey, Wow and laughing all night, because both SEE TAU POR and GOON CHOY HARM were in absentia. We were just having fun yaking and just hanging out without clock/authority watching. What a great way to spend the evening.

Fay Lo certainly had captured our full attention the whole time as he was bubbly, insightful, unboring and hilarious at times. I sat there thinking to myself that this can’t be the same unfriendly, pissed off fatso in the class or on the bus. How time has changed, shaped and polished children to rise and shine in front of our own very eyes. The Gods must not be that crazy after all.

So, what the hell were you guys yaking about for over 3 hours? Well…

Irene will tell you in Part 2 of this report.