Friday, July 08, 2005
The Fall of TampinesI had the very great satisfaction of marking off Tampines on my wall map of Singapore yesterday, after having completed a hare-brained cycling odyssey from Yio Chu Kang to Ang Mo Kio to Hougang to Tampines and back again (approx. 39.6km)
on the very same day as my scholarship deed-signing session. How much more suicidal can you get?
As though I couldn't be content with personal masochism, I had to drag Woon Teng into my insane plan to cross the wilderness beyond Hougang and conquer Tampines. Fortunately for her, her bicycle was falling apart even before we got out of Hougang and she had a pressing appointment, so she did the sensible thing and turned back while I continued my merry way in the scorching afternoon heat, past road works and bemused construction workers, down the treacherous Old Tampines Road (2 lanes only, no pavement, -long- uphill stretch,
and heavy vehicles), all the way to Tampines Central. Visited Tampines Mall for the first time, but could only afford to spend 1/2h there. Tried to speed up the return journey so as to be in time for the deed-signing -- ended up half-dead from exhaustion, drenched in sweat, sunburned and thirstier than I'd ever been in 38degC Beijing. Came home, looked at the map and realised with infinite joy that
Pasir Ris was within reach, being adjacent to Tampines.
But then again, Singapore is a very small place. When I was a kid, I used to think that the 2-lane street outside Little Guilin was impressively big. Now, of course, having seen broader vistas, the street of my childhood has shrunk to its proper size. The world expands with growing awareness, shrinks with travel, and expands again with the realisation that there are always new places to explore but never time enough to achieve complete conquest. And then there's still the universe beyond.
I'm definitely not sleeping enough these days. And I'm behind in my visa application process, plus a zillion other things screaming for attent- you know the drill. There's just not enough time left, damn.
words were spilled on Friday, July 08, 2005
