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Just like many of my local friends who are from Atlantic Canada or the west coast, I too identify my childhood with growing-up next to the sea. I can remember putting dried shrimps 蝦米乾 into a glass jar tied to a rope and lowering it into the deep green harbour water to catch minnows. At around age eight, I graduated into using bait and hook and would spend many hours after school casting my line to catch little rock bass石九公. If there was a run on sticklebacks 泥鯭 (stingy fish with poisonous barbs that thrived near sewage outfalls), I would be among the line of anglers all trying to jostle for the best positions to maximize our catch. Being small, I would have to stand on tip toes, lean over the railing, and whip my 8-pronged octopus hook 八爪鈎back and forth trying to snag up as many as three fish in one strike. The challenge was to take the wriggling fish off the hook without being stung. I am always amazed that I did not die young of blood poisoning from the fish poison, or the virus that came with what the fish had eaten.
Anyway, I survived into adolescent, avoided being a "Darwin Award" recipient, and started dating. Naturally, the seaside at night was the favourable necking place for hormone-rich young lovers. Since there was no drive-in and no cars for any back-seat hanky-panky, many a nights were spent enjoying the sea, listening to the waves, and watching in dreamy state the city lights reflecting off the harbour front. As my relationship with the sea intensified, so was the tension with my father who obviously did not agree with adolescents dating. Temper erupted, angry words were exchanged, and the parents almost gave up. Meanwhile, the inexperienced young lovers did not faire any better, temper flared, hurtful words were exchanged, and the relationship ended.
Even up to these days, as I lie in my bed at night, far away from where I was born, I can still hear the sea calling - the sound of lapping waves, the smell of a thunderstorm, the taste of salt in the sea breeze, and the reflection of the harbor lights at night. Although many years have gone by, the sea will always be there, listening to the young lovers' secret vows of eternal love. In exchange, the young ones will always remember the sea and the memories of those youthful days, when life was full of promises, joy and tears. And time stands still.
(Source: YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooqDc0Ig174 張惠妹 A-MEI 唱 【聽海】)
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12 comments:
I love Ah Mei's 听海, will usually sing at karaoke too ^^
How envious that you lived by the sea. I do vividly recall spending my childhood in some kampong (rural) areas, playing with games like 5-stones, fire crackers, catching fishes in the drains ...
Hard to live by the sea/ coast in Singapore. I lived in a flat that has a corner facing the sea but i'm pretty sure that very soon, the government will be buidling some condominium or sell the area to private developers to build some high-rise buildings that will block my "sea view" =(
Thanks for childhood sharing…
A professor from psychology department while my schooling once lectured a class of human’s memories, and commented that we are selective memorizing creatures. We keep/need absorbing new knowledge and accumulating experience daily, some memories may fade and some may totally loss. Taste, smell and sound are all effective elements helping us in memories recalling.
That helps explaining why a reflection of past-memories keeps flashing when sea is re-visited = )
Haricot,
Your writings keep me coming back to read more. Sometimes you share your life experience and your wisdom; sometimes you are funny. This piece of Sea Calling is so beautifully written (nostalgically poetic) that if your ex-young-lover ever see it, she will throw herself in your arms again, for just one more hug, one more kiss :o)
Eden: We are lucky to have memorable childhood (even tho it could be selective memory). Memory is something that you can hold on to inside and no one can take it away from you, not even the land developers.
Hyacinthus: Now that you mention it, I remember smell was ranked by scientists as the number one memory stimulus. No wonder the perfume industry is so profitable. And, of course in gourmet cooking, we always focus on 色、香、味 !!!
Keith: I doubt very much if I am actually offering anything of significance, let alone wisdom. As the old Chinese saying goes: 我只不過是『野人獻曝』。 As to my ex young lover (if indeed that was love, and not youthful interpretations of curiosity), I am sure some things would be thrown my way if we were to meet again - not necessarily hugs and kisses though =:O
Exactly, some girls/boys have habit of perfume using and the uniqueness of the smell somehow is a sign of personal identity recognition. = )
Here is a song of smell recalling, they broke but the smell helps memories recalling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3OF95j6ElM
Thanks for the song abt scent of a lover, although that too will fade away with time.
The scent of a lover is no doubt a potent aphrodisiac. I love a hint of perfume in women, but the natural scent is ten times more powerful. I have always curious about Shakspeare's description of Juliet's breath that Romeo so crazes about until I met a girl who has that sweet fruity breath. When you love someone, the smell of her hair or skin will associate with the joyous center of the brain. It may sound dorky; once I doted on the smell of the sweat of my ex-girlfriend after we jogged.
Keith: Scent 香 is one of the 六慾(欲),是凡人的七情六慾。The other five are associated with our eyes, ears, tongue, body and mind. They are probably included in a Buddhist monk's no-fly zone ;-)
Ha, ha, love your "no fly zone" metaphor. I may be a dork, but not a monk ;o)
善哉!
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