Charming Lines

Angie and I had a chat yesterday about how foreign men just seem a little more attractive than Singaporean men. In saying "attractive", I am thinking along the lines of how they are better able to flirt without making us squirm at lousy pick-up lines and lame conversations.

I may not have seen the whole world, but I've travelled and met enough men of various nationalities to draw this conclusion: Most Singaporean men can't throw a decent pick up line or engage in proper verbal flirting.

Imagine, two men approached you at a party. To be fair, both men are decently dressed, smell good and look equally fine. Guy A greets you with, "I can't help but notice this: you are like a piece of moving art." Guy B greets you with, "Hello. Can I have your number?"

Which one will you most likely carry a conversation with thereafter?

What sort of girl gives out her number to complete strangers, anyway? Of course both men may have the same motive in mind, that is to get the girl. But at least Guy A puts in a little more effort to charm the girl.

Guy A's pick-up line is not fictional. A Greek journalist said that to me at a trade party I hosted in Bangkok. He came up to me while I leaned against the bar, catching a moment's rest in between fluttering around with my press photog to capture shots of the guests and coordinating the stage activities. "I can't help but notice this: you are like a piece of moving art," he said with his palms on his heart and a little furrow in his brow like he was in some pain. "You took my breath away."

Ain't that sweet? The Greek guy was not the best looking dude around, but for that creative line, I granted him a brief chat.

Then there's the Egyptian hotelier who is at almost every trade event I went to, and each time I see him, he would invite me to dinner. I would turn him down each time. He was never pushy and would ask me to just call him if I ended up without any dinner plans. I never did call him.

Eventually, he figured that I was never going to dine with him. When we bumped into each other in Bali in September this year, the first thing he said, "So how long is the queue line this time, Karen? At least give me a queue number, so I can gauge when it would be my turn to have dinner with you. Is it over 2000 already?" He then chuckled, patted me on my back and moved on.

In Bangkok this October, he invited me to come to Eygpt and said he would host me for free in his hotel and put me on a luxury cruise he own. I told him my schedule is too tight to allow for a personal holiday. He moaned, "Oh come on! I am at every trade show you are at. I've planned my schedule to match yours, so I know when you are busy and when you are not. I've spent thousands on air fare to track you around the world. Give me a chance, please. For that amount of money I've spent, my mom have been giving me a hard time. Please come to Eygpt with me and let me show mom that you are real!"

Then he reached into his jacket and drew out a chunky Bvlgari ring which was obviously a man's cut, and said, "See! I even have the ring ready!" I could not help but burst out laughing. And again, we left it as that and went on to our meetings.

Then there was the cute Swiss fella who suddenly popped, "I don't care, I want to have babies with you" when we were discussing how cost of living in Singapore is too high to have kids despite Singapore government's financial grants.

I've observed the difference. These foreign men are subtle. They toss a few witty, funny openers, then proceed with a decent conversation about work, latest movies, interesting snippets on their travels, or something completely normal. The conversation allows him - and you too - to see if there could possibly be a spark. If there's no spark, both moves on.

Singaporean men, however, hits on a stranger girl with a blunt, "Hello, can be friends?" or "Hello, can I get to know you?" Even more hilarious, they send their buddy over to the girl to get her number. Doh! So amateurish.

Unfortunately, I'm still getting "Hi, can I have your number?" from men of my age!

So can you local boys really blame us girls for getting weak-knees over foreign men?

*Thank you www.cartoonstock.com for the funnies.