Scent of Woman

Al Pacino's "Scent of Woman" was one of my all-time favorite movies. Oh, I don't remember most of it, but I am going to talk about scent. I used to think the medieval Europeans must be mad, they would exchange a ounce of peppers for gold. They sailed into the uncertain angry sea in search of fresh exotic spices and fragrance. Who needs those stuff? Growing up in a Chinese family, my parents never used colong, perfume. My father smelled of ciggarrete, toothpaste (in the morning) and tea. My mom smelled a bit of sweat and light body odour. Our clothes smelled of detergent and camphor. The most exciting spiece we used in our foods are ginger and chillies.

After turning 30ish, I start to rediscover my body, It is perhaps we were so distracted to explore the surroundings when we're young that we had no time to see (really seeing) ourselves. Now we were to bored with the world, so we look at ourselves to find some entertainment.

I do not think I have strong body odor, but perfume has become something I must wear before going to work. It is almost a statement and a hint of my existence. It is part of the dress that day. Of course, it has a percentage of attention attracting purpose. I started to realise why those Europeans were obsessive with scent. Before all the chemical engineering makes fabricating smells easy, what they can do about creating a good smell? Right, colonize the tropical lands! Oh well, it is all economics, business men found it is lucrative to sell the spices and parfume, let's lobby the royal family to build a big ship, money can be a pretty strong motivation.