Like Father...

My dad, upon his return from a recent business trip, asked me what I was up to in school these days.

"Presentations, dad. It's a dance competition of sorts, and I'm dancing!"

His left eyebrow shot up in an uncanny impersonation of The Rock.

"You? YOU? Dance? Sure lose one."

Ah. Now I have completed collecting a set of parents who value honesty over tact.

Before my shoulders could fully droop and spirit completely shatter, my dad leapt to justify his stand. You'll lose, he said, because there are simply too many dancers out there with more experience and greater talent. What you need to win, and he said this in his most conspirational tone, is to have a unique dance.

"A dance just like the one in the Kung Fu Hustle intro. Find a few friends, wield a few axes, swing to a corny song, and the trophy's yours!" His enthusiastic, sincere, beaming face made it hard for me to balk at his idea. But then again, only by so much.

This, of course, is the same parent who was giving me ideas on how to make my wedding dinner special.

"Dispense with all the boring baby photo presentations! Reject all your friends who want to make you play embarrassing games! Hire 2 horses and a sedan!"

According to him, my wife should make her grand entrance seated in a red Chinese sedan pulled by horses. Every table would have a centrepiece made of firecrackers, the firing of which would coincide with the sedan's entry. In his opinion, it would be far more memorable than the usual fare you get these days at weddings.

Let's just say I am going to make my wedding plans in secret, and very, very far away from my dad.

I just wish one day I would be able to assimilate his other characteristics, in particular his professional work ethics, the way he shoulders responsibility, how he goes about being a dad so confidently. There's so much to learn, especially now that adulthood beckons.

Though it's quite a relief to realize that I inherited my sense of humor and quirky outlook from my dad. It so totally quashes his claim that I was retrieved from the zoo.