SG Fairy

Spent the night in KL on Friday and of course I went to check Zouk KL out. I've heard so much about it, how it's better than the original one in Zouk (which I don't really like anyway), how there's lots of drugs around (exciting mah!) and so on. So ya, I went to Zouk KL.

It's really like the one in Singapore in that you have Pleasure Dome, Phuture, and Velvet Underground. We thought the music in Phuture was the best, but apparently so did everyone else and there weren't any tables around by the time we got there near midnight. So we went to Velvet which was also quite good, managed to get a table, and got our bottle opened. What I found really interesting was the tvs around the dance floor, showing the mtvs of the songs being played.. if you're damn bored, there's always that to watch.

But it's much much better than Zouk SG (I think I'm just prejudiced against the mambo dancers and the shitty bartenders and their crappy diluted drinks). The clubbers really dressed up. Guys would probably like the place coz the girls were really slutty-looking, and seemed real easy to pick up :P

But anyway... the reason I brought Zouk up is because I noticed while there that there was a lot of hugging going on. I'm not talking about the hugs in dark corners - it's the hugs when friends meet, chilling around and just giving a quick hug now and again.. there was a lot of physical contact in a friendly non-sexual way.

And it reminded me a lot of Brazil, and how the people I saw in Sao Paulo were always hugging, arms over shoulders/ around waists, a touch on the arm to emphasize a point, and so on. And beyond all the food, drinks, etc, that was what I had enjoyed most about Brazil: that I was being touched a lot.

Oh, stop those polluted dirty thoughts now!

It's scientifically proven that hugs (physical contact in general) are good for one's health. If you don't know yet, when you're emotionally/mentally down, you end up affecting your physical health (aka. stress and heart attacks, strokes etc). So it's important to keep your emotional and mental state doing pretty ok at least.

And that's why hugs are important. Stop thinking about 'hugs-kiss-foreplay-sex'. Not all hugs have to lead towards that direction, you know, and it's sad that so many people think of physical contact in that manner. A hug shows that you care; more importantly, it shows someone that he/she is being cared for, is significant enough to be getting a hug, is not some speck of dust unworthy of the slightest body contact.

Just think about it: when was the last time you were hugged in an entirely non-sexual way? When was the last time you hugged a friend? Or for that matter, your family? Think about the time a friend hugged you.. how did that make you feel?

I used to get hugs from friends back in uni. I'm not sure if it was just coz it was the in-trend, that people thought hugging someone you bumped into seemed the grown-up thing to do (of course we undergrads were all eager to prove we were adults). But yup... I'll meet someone and there'll be a hug. After a long lunch, chatty time together, we'll go, "take care, dear!" and hug. And it was great! I felt great!

Then we all graduated, lol, and I don't get many hugs these days.. actually, I get none. And that's coz everyone's preoccupied, and we were all brought up in a culture that said body contact was only for sex, and so we worry: he/she looks sad and could probably do with a hug, but if I gave one, would he/she misinterpret and blah blah blah... how could we make something as simple as giving a hug so complicated?

I think Singapore society is in great need of that: hugs. We're so focused on getting that rat-prize at the end of that rat-race that we forget about the really important things in life.. and that has made us all cold hard bitches who behave like we've wedgies permanently stuck in our buttcrack.

We should be hugging. Nevermind if the receiver seems a little shocked, totally stunned, unable to move coz he/she is so surprised. Or if she/she steps back a little when you approach. Just grab that person, give a hug and say, "How are you? Hope everything's great!" They'll eventually come back for more.

So, have you hugged someone today? Will you hug someone today?


PS: You might find this interesting - http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/personal-growth/hug/hug-therapy.asp