Day 1 @ 16/04/2008
I took an Aeroline bus from One Utama early in the morning, and reached Singapore in the afternoon. Nothing much as it was mid-day and I checked into the Lion City Hotel, went to the corresponding area to be briefed on the training schedule.
Again, visiting Singapore brought mixed feelings, and the first day that I was here, it was also the date that when we met again after the first meeting, and the first time we held hands, walking on the Clark Quay (the correct pronunciation is Clark Key, which created a joke on my side as the taxi driver was confused on where I wanted to go) area, laughing on silly jokes, and exchanged our phone numbers, and promised to call each other, which we did.
At night, when I was back at the hotel, I was laying on the bed, thinking about the good old times and the sweet memories. I managed to fall asleep in the smile since months ago.
Day 2
I woke up early in the morning and went to the cafeteria area for the hotel breakfast. It’s not too bad (translation: its bad, but not too bad) and it was crowded. Basically the whole cafeteria was filled by tourists from China, and I had problem locating a table for myself and the people were basically ignoring the courtesy of queuing. After the breakfast, I went to the office to start the first day of training.
In the evening, I went to meet up with one of my best buddies, Jason, at Dharby Ghaut (the “correct” pronunciation is Darby Got, which is confusing to me). We had our dinner at a small but comfy and homey restaurant near his office, and we talked about life, update each other on the latest development in our life, and of course, talking about good old times like a two old farts, over dinner and beer.
Day 3
On the 3rd day, I woke up early as usual and then went for the training and meeting, and that is nothing to shout about. At night, I met with Jason again at Bugis and our meeting point was McDonald’s. Well, once I reached only then I realized I had been there before. It was during one of my visits that I had to leave early in the morning, and we were at the Bugis McDonald’s, having breakfast and stuff. It didn’t change much, and I still remember how we used to sit at the outdoor area, talking, holding hands, and feeling sad that I had to leave.
Anyway, after meeting Jason at Bugis, we decided to have drinks again, so we took the MRT to Clark Quay. Now, Clark Quay has transformed a lot from how I remember it. Last time it was a fun place, but now, it is THE happening place.
We stopped at Fashionbar and had around 6 bottles of beer (or was it 7? I can’t really remember). We talked about many things, laughing at the jokes, looking at the people, and cursing the Singapore government for banning smoking in pub/bar. Basically, Singapore is a smoker unfriendly territory, but they are still selling cigarettes (and making loads of money from the tax, as one pack of cigarettes cost around SG$11.60). If you want to smoke, you have to go to the “designated” area to smoke. Damn!
After that, we went to Ministry of Sound just around the corner, had one glass of beer, one glass of whisky, and two shots of tequila. Now, the crowd at Ministry of Sound was great, but the music was even better. It had been years since I dance, and that night, the 3rd night in Singapore, I danced for the first time in 3 years.
But there was a problem. The real women1 didn’t even look at me, and maybe I was over-dressed as the men in the club were dressing something casual, whereby I just got off work so I was still wearing my working suits and pant. Or maybe because I was wearing my glasses instead of contact lenses since I forgot to bring them. Or maybe also because I was (just maybe) one of the oldest men in the club. So these girls got a problem. Or maybe the problem is me2.
Anyway, we had fun until around 3am, and when we left Ministry of Sound, it was raining heavily. I wasn’t sure if the sky knew how I felt deep inside or what, but it was raining as heavily as my heart rained.
Don’t be mistaken. I had fun, but deep inside, I felt lonely.
After that we bid our farewell and I took a cab back to Lion City Hotel. It was an experience to remember as the taxi driver couldn’t even drive a straight line, the cab was swaying left and right constantly, and he kept honking other drivers but he was the one who cut into other people’s lane.
Once I reached hotel, I was so tired and exhausted, mentally, that I fell asleep almost instantly.
Day 4
On the day of departure, I took my time to sleep in. I didn’t wake up until at around 11am, and I checked out from Lion City Hotel. Then I walked to the nearest MRT station and headed to Harbor Front (or is it considered Vivo City? I am not too sure as it’s the same building) to wait for the Aeroline coach for Singapore.
I went for lunch at Burger Kings, which surprisingly, serves only small burgers. I mean, compare the size of the burgers in Malaysia and U.S., it’s small. Is it because Singapore is a small country, so they serve small burgers? Or is it because the government wants everyone to be slim so they don’t want the citizens to be stuffed? Even when I went to KFC to take the Mushroom burger thingy, it was miniature!
Oh well, enough about the small burgers. After lunch, I walked around and sipped my coffee at Starbucks near the dock area, enjoying the sea breeze, watching the birds, smoking my cigarettes and checking mails.
En-route to Malaysia, I met this lovely family from Finland (and the wife is Malaysian) and we talked about many things, like world economy, local politics, Singapore job opportunities, and stuff. The family is spending 1 year traveling around and the guy is interested in landing a job in Singapore or Malaysia.
Sorry people, I didn’t get your names except the kids’ names.
When we reached 1 Utama, no one was there to greet me nor welcome me home. I walked to the taxi stand to get a cab to go home, and when I reached, it was empty and quiet.
Oh! How great it was if there was actually someone there to greet me and make me feel welcome upon coming home.
REMARKS:
1. There were a few transsexuals looking at me, smiling at me, and flirting with me. Mahai!
2. There is an old say, “If one person has problem with you, the problem might lies in that person. If two people have problem with you, the problem may lies in them. But when everyone has a problem with you, then you are the problem.”
sometimes i hope the same… ppl the same, feeling stay the same… memories lingers. i lost someone dear on 19 Apr… well, that i wish i still remember how he smile… 11yrs ago.
dear bluesky, I can understand how that feels like, but the most important thing is not to remember how he smiled, 11 years ago. It is important how you felt like when he smiled. That is the essence in capturing the whole thing, on the things that he has done and how those things made you feel during that time.