Warning: Long post
So yes it has been a long time since the last update but I really can't help myself. I went to Singapore for 6 days starting from the 15th to the 21st January and I tell you I was loving everyday of it. It somewhat got to the point where I thought on the flight back home that 6 days really wasn't enough and, like I've told a lot of people, I really like Singapore. *shake fist*
So, from the previous entry, I had a problem with accommodation. Key word is "had". So thanks to a certain recently married friend, I got to stay with a friend of his that has been housing an OCFer whenever he goes down to Singapore for a visit. The catch is that I would have to sleep in the living room but that is really no catch at all. This person that I was staying with is also married and has a 3.5 year old daughter and plays bass for a very large church. I'm liking it already. So I make my way to this family's condo and met the wife. So she showed me around the condo and have a relatively brief chat. Then when she showed me the daughter's room, she said this is where I will be sleeping. I was in complete shock and quickly tried to reject the offer. In an unusual twist, it wasn't on her word that she insisted for me to set up bed there but her daughter's word. While I was very very grateful that I have a literal bed, I was also thinking what kind of a 3.5 year old would give up their own bed to a stranger that she's never met. As a by product of that, I can imagine how cute this daughter of theirs is (she was playing with one of her neighbours next door, so I didn't see her when I came in the house). Chatted a bit more with the wife and quickly she has shown herself to be a very nice and generous person.
According to the mother, Shannon has been taught to share with other people but even her own actions surprised her. One example of course was the bed incident stated above. The other one is that she will give her last favourite sweet to her friends. Every time. Obviously I was speechless and I'm sure that the mother was too when she found out about it. What happened to us in going from a child much like Shannon to now being adults where sharing is such a rare thing? This is probably the best example to the term child-like faith.
Then Shannon came in.
She is so cute! And a lot of my good friends know that I have a very weak spot for cuteness, especially 3-6 year old girls and animals. She is remarkably chatty and smart for a girl her age and continue to amaze me with her cheeky-ness, intelligence and values throughout the week I was crashing at their place. Continued talking to the wife and occasionally playing with their daughter before I went out to have dinner with a childhood friend. But just as I was gathering my things to go out, Shannon asked me "Kor kor, where are you going?" which I promptly replied that I was going to meet my friend. She replied "Don't want" and she started getting a bit restless and gave a gesture for a hug. I gave her a hug and she latched on to me. I said I really have to go already but she keep saying don't want and getting more restless. I put her down and she ran towards the grilled front door and she used both her hand to cover the keyholes on either side of the door and said "Don't want, don't want". Think about it for awhile. At that age she knew what was needed to open the door (using a key to the keyhole) and to prevent the door from opening she did what she thought best, block the keyholes. She has thought and formulated a solution based on the current problem, me leaving, and the observations she's had. That is remarkably clever. And how terribly cute. With a heavy heart I still manage to leave the condo to meet a friend because she's forgotten one thing. The grilled door was already unlocked and all is needed is to pull the handle. She was clearly unhappy.
I did manage to meet the the husband and he is really a cool person. There was one time where we just sat down and jammed on Christian songs with him on the guitar and me using his 5 string Fender Jazz bass *drools* at 1 am. So not used to playing a 5 string bass but I somewhat got by. But the even cooler thing was that after we finished jamming, he looked at me and with a strangely stern look and asked me if I was hungry. I replied I can eat but if not I'm also fine. So he brought me to have roti canai at 2 in the morning while we chatted a bit more and he still goes to work the next day. My brain has been officially been blown to bits by this family.
Singapore has changed so much since 2 years ago. All of the sudden more shopping centres appeared along Orchard Road, most of which apparently opened within the past 6 months. And these are no ordinary malls. They are big, bold, "exciting", upbeat malls we are talking about. If Singapore had a recession, one look at the Orchard Road environment tells you otherwise. The new Circle MRT Line is well on its way to completion which now makes transferring between the 3 existing lines a lot easier. More low-rise condos are being built for those who can't afford houses but rich enough to afford a little more space. Plus a whole lot of other things that are pretty much terra-forming the Singaporean land. But there are aspects of it that hasn't changed, some for decades. That will be another story.
Much of the trip to Singapore are characterized by 2 main things; food and friends. I've had a lot of good food in the past 6 days that I am convinced that my parents brainwashing that Singaporean food is bad is completely wrong. Sure there are some things that are similiar to Malaysian food, there are enough differences to set itself apart. The most important food item that I must have and indeed I did have it was Bak Chor Mee (BCM). I suffered cravings for BCM ever since Boba Pearl in Melbourne closed down more than 2 years ago. It was the only thing that was good there apart from their bubble tea. Also, I managed to find a very good coffee place that is pretty near to the coffee giants in Melbourne like St. Ali, 7 Seeds etc and it is even complete with the culture of Melbourne. This place is tucked away in some relatively obscure laneway occupying a very small but relaxing area. And it seems virtually everyone there were in one way or the other related in Melbourne. This is the only place for good coffee in Singapore. I can pretty much guarantee it for the moment.
I've had a big problem with the dynamics of friends in OCF in Melbourne last year and I yearn for a deep and close relationship with friends. I found it in Singapore with the OCFers. That was quite strange but that has thrown a spanner in the works. Regardless, I have buckets and buckets load of fun with them; going out to church with them, travelling in search of food and many other activities. In particular, I've spent a lot of time with two girls who have taken the time to exhaust me bringing me around the island for two days straight. We might not have done much per se but I've gained so much from the conversations we had and the stupid, funny, random things we did. I'd say that this was the jump start that I needed so desperately in the second half of last year when I felt very "useless" (for a lack of a better word). I never got this from most of my fellow country men in OCF which to me just highlights the social differences between Malaysians and Singaporeans. But that is for another discussion. Point is, I'm happy for that spanner.
After being exhausted for 2 days, I crashed and rebooted with 12+ hours of sleep and I was determined to spend some time with the family that I was staying with because I essentially treated the place like a hotel. And they are really really really epicly nice people. So for most afternoons until I came back home, I played with Shannon. She loves to play some games on my iPhone and likes toying around my camera that I have brought along for the trip. It was quite sad that I didn't have a tertiary camera with me since the iPhone and camera were occupied by Shannon. It is quite fun playing with this little girl who has like the energy output of a nuclear power plant. It's quite hard to keep up with her at times but you feel like there is nothing else you would trade for. I guess that's how parents feel about their children.
But alas, the Singaporean trip must come to an end. My one regret was that I didn't have the time to at least have a meal together with the whole family. I will come back and do that. Also, I left on a rather bad note to Shannon. I left for the airport at the time when she was napping. So I left without saying goodbye to her. I really felt quite bad about it. Again, I'll visit them again next time. I've thoroughly enjoyed my trip there that some of my Singaporean friends have started pulling me to stay and work in Singapore. *shake fist*. Don't tempt me...
After coming back home, I thought it was going to be another very normal but boring week but no. Some of my Singaporean friends that I've met when I was down came up to KL. And so begins 4 more days of insane food hunting, shopping and talking. The same 2 girls who brought me around Singapore were part of the group and so it was my turn to return the favour. I also followed them for shoes, accessories and clothes shopping.
Yes, you heard me right. I tagged the girls for shopping. It is actually quite fun if you take the time to talk to them and analyze what sort of things they like. Also, I'd have to thank my sister for passively educating me in fashion and accessories because that helped a lot. Once I have somewhat proved my worth, they'd asked me for second opinions. Again I have to thank my sister for the training. I think my sister would be proud =P There was also another day where I spent a day trip to Ipoh with 5 girls, food hunting and talking. Again it's more fun than you'd expect if you take the time to talk to them and analyzing what's going on.
In short, I had a blazing time over the past 2 weeks. No amount of words used here could have described the events, feelings and thoughts that have occurred because that is simply impossible to picture it in its entirety solely with words. I have this renewed faith in my OCF friendships, oodles of fun and lots to think about for the rest of the year. 2010 has just barely started and I've got off to such a high note. May it be as good if not better than this. One event that I am looking forward to is the trip to Turkey this Friday for 10 days where I will embark on a personal project of mine. Photograph Turkey solely on film. I am not going to bring my digital SLR along at all. Everything manual.
This will be fun.
I can feel it...
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