Catherine wears Prada

Catherine wears Prada

by rick olivares

114pm 

Harbour City, Kowloon, Hong Kong

“I say Prada looks good on you. Not those unfashionable things on you.”

That was roughly the English translation of what this young Chinese girl told me outside the Prada store in Harbour City this afternoon.  At least that’s what I learned she supposedly said when I told her that I don’t speak Chinese.

“Oh, I thought you are! Taiwanese. Vietnamese.” She said with a giggle.

“Very funny. I’m Filipino. Fi-li-pi-no.” I enunciated for her in a friendly manner.

“Oh, okay.  Salamat, pare.” she countered as her smile lit up to another level. No doubt she’s met or probably interacted with one too many Pinoys in her lifetime.

This lady was growing on me. Either she’s a smooth operator or she’s Jennifer Aniston or maybe she’s both.

“What do you say? Wear Prada. I think it looks good on you.”

I was wearing my Derek Jeter New York Yankees shirt that’s like four years old. I mean, I know they got beat by the Texas Rangers but that doesn’t mean that pinstripes is going out of style! I wore grey khakis and Nike kicks. I can’t say no one even called me a frumpy dresser. I eschew branded stuff, ah, wait. I do wear a few ones but I can never be associated with the fashion conscious.

“Oh, me my. I forget to introduce myself to you. My name is Catherine,” she said as she extended her hand. I took it and quite honestly, I am not sure what I said. Who knows? Maybe I said I was Sasha Vujacic.

“Are you in Hong Kong to do shopping?”

“Nope. Am here to look for a rich Puerto Rican girl I can spend the rest of my life with.”

Now it was her turn to laugh.

“Where will you discover her?”

“Probably in the casinos of Macau.” I answered in a coolly efficient manner.

“So now you have to buy a Prada suit if you want to impress this rich Puerto Rican girl of yours.”

What a sales pitch! Only… no cigar. “Ah, Catherine. That is why I am looking for this rich Puerto Rican girl so she can buy me Prada. I can’t afford it. I’m just a (pointing to my get up) simple beer drinking baseballhead.”

“Yes, I am a baseball fan too. Chien Ming Wang is my favorite New York player.”

Wang hasn’t pitched for the Yankees in over a year but this girl gets an “A” for “A-fort.”

“Look when I find her…”

“Your rich Puerto Rican girl?”

“Yes, my rich Puerto Rican girl… I’ll be back.”

I bid her goodbye and headed for Page One with a smile on my face.