I was posted to Seletar Air Base in July 1974 after completing my Basic Military Training in Changi. Now what am I trying to recall... Let me see. Yes. We (my old friend ET and I got to know each other in April 1974 at Maju Camp) were on our way back to camp after watching the 9.30pm movie "Devil Woman" (Famous movie at that time) and we watched it during the Hungry Ghost Festival to make it more scary and exciting. We were riding our motorbikes along Yio Chu Kang Road back to camp just before the old Woodbridge Hospital (In case any one of you don't know what Woodbridge Hospital houses, yes, the hospital houses Mental Patients. It has now shifted and is known as IMH).
I was riding my Honda CB175 (Reg: AJ5755)with my good friend on his Yamaha 100cc (Reg: AN1512) following behind. Anyone interested in 4D are free to place their bets. You are guaranteed to lose the bet anyway because I have never strike these numbers. But to be kind to me, please contribute 20% of your winnings to me for giving you these numbers. Very soon, I will copyright it, just like the movie "Where got Ghost?" About 1 km before reaching Woodbridge Hospital, some sand got into my left eye. At that time it was close to midnight and the road was supposedly quite deserted. We are suppose to reach camp by 23:59. That is a common term in the army. I rubbed my eye with my left hand (of course you use the left hand dummy. You can't rub it with your right hand, comfortably) unaware of what was about to happen. Suddenly, I felt a very cold hand clamped around my forearm near the wrist and guide it to my motorbike's handle that I have momentarily release to rub my eye. At that moment, I got the shock of my life as I opened my eye and came face to face with an oncoming car overtaking another car with total disregard that he is driving in my lane. My quick reaction by swerving to the left to avoid a frontal collision have saved an otherwise fatal accident. Thanks to the invisible hand, I am still alive today.
Shivering from that incident, we proceeded straight to the traffic junction of Yio Chu Kang Road and Jalan Kayu. We are based in Seletar Airbase. As we stopped at the traffic lights, ET stopped beside me and asked me what the hell am I doing dreaming away when there's an oncoming car driving straight into your path and I was apparently doing nothing to avoid a collision. At that moment, goose pimples appear and I told my friend I will relate the whole story to him when we reached our barracks. Not only did the goose pimples appear, they appear every time I tell this story. I showed the goose pimples to my younger daughter as I told her the story yesterday night. (hey, I have already told you the story in the 2nd paragraph but I will be kind and repeat it again and inject something new).
After parking our motorbikes, we went straight to our barracks. Ok, I will start with the part when I started rubbing my left eye when some sand got in. It was precisely at that very moment when the car in the opposite direction driving at quite a fast speed and was trying to overtake another car. The eerie part is the ice cold hand that grab my forearm near the wrist. Now where did that cold forearm come from that saved my life. It was then that I remember it was probably my father. You see, I kept a Black & White photo of him with me for many many years in my wallet as a remembrance. And I can only make an educated guess that it was my father who save his son's life by guiding my hand to the motorbike's handle.
When I went home the next day, I related this story to my mother. She agreed that probably my father saved me at that moment and I must offer my prayers to him burn incense and thank him for saving my life. Mother told me the praying has to be done at that place where the incident happened to which I responded by saying if he is around us, he would be around anywhere. So we did the next best thing, pray at home where we have an altar.
Well, more stories next time when I can find the time provided I am not lazy writing.
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Walking In The Rain
It's been a long while since I last blog on 11 August 2008 and I can't wait to follow up with the next one. So here goes.
24 August 2008. I remembered that date. It was a Sunday afternoon after having a lunch of Hakka Tea Rice at a nearby coffeeshop with my wife at about 1pm. I had planned to go for a brisk walk. My walks on a Sunday usually last at least 2 hours and above. The distance would generally be between 10 to 15km, sometimes more, exceeding 20km. But on this special day, that is the 24 August 2008, I am writing something that I have not done for something like 40+ years. Yeah, come to think of it, it's a long time coming.
As we finished the lunch, I accompanied my wife to our block, handed her my hp and bidded her "bye bye, I am going for my long walk". I had with me a few dollars worth of coins, an EZ-link card and a bottle of water. Why do you think I bring this Easilink card along? It will come in handy when the need arises. Why do I bring the coins you may ask? Er, I am not exactly sure but I am sure it will do me some good too or help in one way or another.
Okay, my intended route would be to start from behind Church of St. Mary along Bt. Batok East Avenue 6, towards Old Jurong Road, turn right at junction of Upper Bt. Timah Road, Upper Bt. Timah Road, straight pass the junction of Bt. Timah Road and Clementi Road, pass Ngee Ann Polytechnic towards Holland Road junction, turn right into the Ulu Pandan Park Connector which comprises of passing through, er, under Clementi Avenue 6, under Commonwealth Avenue West, straight down towards Faber Gardens, towards AYE, cross the now disused railway track over the Pandan River, towards IBP, cross the road of Boon Lay Way, cross the road of Toh Guan Road East, over PIE, towards Bt. Batok Industrial Park, then pass Keming Primary School and home. My guess of the distance would be about 13 to 14 km.
The weather was somewhat unpredictable. I have been fooled a number of times into giving up the walks by the weather thinking it would rain which eventually did not. This time I am determined to sit, er, see it through, regardless of the weather outcome. Well, it is a bit windy with slight overcast and it was a good day for a walk. At least it not too hot considering that it's about 1.15pm in the afternoon.
The walk was quite enjoyable, though, with less than moderate vehicular traffic along the roads. How do I measure the distance? Well, generally, my pace is about 50mins/5km. So technically speaking, I will cover 1km/10mins. That should be a good gauge for the distance covered.
As I walked down Old Jurong Road, heaven seems to be playing the mind game with me again. These words seem to be playing in my mind. "You should give up the walk. Go accompany your wife at home." No, this time round I am determined to go ahead with the walk and not be fooled again by the weather. Usually, I can see monkeys in Bt Batok Nature Park, just before the junction of Old Jurong Road and Upper Bt Timah Road. No, no monkeys around today. I press on until I reached the junction of Hindhede Road (Bt. Timah Hill) and saw some people coming out from the road. Some are from the church while the others have probably just completed their hike in Bt Timah Hill. They don't seem bothered by the overcast sky. Well, why should they in any case since they have different objectives from me? Well, neither do I. Hee! Hee!. The only thing I dislike about walking the roads are there are traffic lights that I had to stop, look left, look right, look left again before I cross. Sometimes, I jaywalked (not a good idea though). (I am trying to change that lazy mentality, no not really lazy but impatient. If I am lazy, I wouldn't be doing this walk, right? However, if there is an overhead bridge, I will use it to cross over the other side of the road.) Meaning, I cross the road even when the Red man is still watching me. I disregard the angry look of the Red man when I crossed the roads. It's as if he's telling me that I should show some respect for him. Hah! There are no vehicles and you expect me to behave like a goon. Well, I read somewhere in a magazine some time ago in USA that Jacky Chan (I am sure there are many other like him) will wait for the Red man to turn Green before he crosses a road. Yes, even when the street is deserted. But then again he is Jacky Chan, I am "me" and that's the difference.
Now where was I? Oh yes, I passed Hindhede Road. You know, deep inside Hindhede Road, there used to be a granite quarry. It brought back fond memories during my younger days. I spent quite a number of years visiting that place back in 1976 and became a regular when I owned my first Mini Cooper in January 1977 and continue to do until around 1985. There was an old mechanic friend of my late mother whom I had known since 1964 or 1965 where he was a vehicle mechanic working for his brother who so happen to own the Mobil petrol station (next to the road called Pasir Panjang Hill, I think) along Pasir Panjang Road before the famous Haw Par Villa. Can't really recall the year but should be around that time. Ok ok ok, I will not talk about my passion for cars in this blog. This will be revealed in my subsequent postings of how I came to own the #16 car (I mean my 16th car not 16 cars) in my current possession, that is when I can find the time to write again. I must really push myself real hard before the weather changes its mood. I should know myself.
As I make my way up the inclined road towards the exit of PIE, some of our very distant relatives from millions of years ago were monkeying around, foraging the litter bins at the linkway and bus stop. I didn't have my hp with me (I handed it to my wife as if expecting the rain to come) for this occasion and could not take any pictures. I managed though to take one on top of the linkway during my other Sunday walks.
Now as I was walking towards the pedestrian light along Dunearn Road outside the previous Yeo Hiap Seng Factory, the sky started to turn unfriendly. The mean-looking clouds casting their displeasure from above. By now I should be walking about 20% of the intended distance. I pressed the pedestrian light button while waiting impatiently for it to turn green. Haiz... Couldn't wait. Since there are no vehicles coming down from the slope on my right I hasten my pace (Hey, this road is extremely wide and the Green Man do not wait for you, you know) and ran to the other pedestrian lights and waited for the traffic lights to change before crossing towards MacDonald's. I sensed the Red Man anger when I dashed across the crossing.
Traffic at that moment is light. Anyway, it's the least of my concern. Weather was cool and slightly windy, and it helps so the walk isn't that tiring. Tiring? No! Not at all. Actually, I was beginning to enjoy it. The road ascended towards Ngee Ann Polytechnic and down again passing a nursery.
That's when the sky turn really gloomy. I can see that heaven is showing his displeasure at me for, probably not paying due respect at the initial warning by whipping a few lightning lashes across the greying sky followed by thunderous boom. Yeah, it was scary but not enough to discourage me into turn back.
I pressed on and reached the nursery as it start to drizzle a bit. I was in two minds by now. Should I continue with the journey or should I swallow my somewhat injured pride, cross the road and take TIBS bus service 61 home? Then again, it's only a small drizzle. It will past pretty soon and the weather will be fine and sunny again. That is a real Sagittarian thinking. Always optimistic. Yes, I managed to convince myself to press on. And I am so proud of the fact that I managed to convince myself and nobody could have done a better job at that than myself. And soon I reached the bus stop no. 74 opposite Clementi's Sunset Way. By then, I was already more than 75% wet. Okay! Since I am already 75% wet, I might as well get 100% wet. No, it's more that 100%. It's 110% wet. Now, why would I say 110%. Because when your whole body is thoroughly wet it's 100%. But when you are drenching wet with excess water dripping like mad it's 110%. So there.
There must have been many strange looks and stares from the motorists. "What the heck is that silly guy doing walking in the rain?" Hey, I miss walking in the rain since childhood ok and this is one way to relive it. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I stood waiting for the traffic light's green man to wave me at the junction of Clementi Road and Holland Road. The green man beckoned and I cross quickly, sheepishly looking down at the road as I walked briskly knowing the many eyes form the motorists staring at me.
So I reached the Ulu Pandan PCN (Park Connector). The track is practically deserted. Of course it is deserted. Who in the world would want to come out and exercise in freaking weather? There's only one person that I know would do it and it can be none other but me. I continued with my walk, but Heavens seemed to demonstrate His unhappiness, striking the sky with flashes of lightning and booming thunders. It soon dawned on me that this is going to be very very risky and somewhat foolish if I continued walking in this inclement weather. But I have to continue until I find shelter. I can't just stop walking without looking for a shelter. And the shelter is quite a distance. No actually, it's only about 400m away. I then saw an overhead pedestrian bridge linking Clementi Housing Estate to Sunset Estate.
At that moment, Mother Nature beckons. And when Mother Nature beckons, you had better respond, appropriately and without questions. I reached the overhead bridge but found no consolation. This is not the spot that I wanted to communicate with Mother Nature. There would be prying eyes from people using the overhead bridge linking Clementi Housings to Sunset Estate. Remember, this is suppose to be my private moment with Mother Nature and I am sure she would want me to keep it that way. I risked heaven's displeasure and continue until I reached another overhead bridge about 450m down but it's not an overhead bridge. It's a flyover bridging Clementi Avenue 6. Looking around to ensure there were no prying eyes, I start to communicate with Mother Nature.
Short, fast and much to my relief. The communication process lasted the full 45 secs and it was simply very enjoyable. My body shivered and I ended the small talk with Her. All of us have responded to Mother Nature before though in a magnitude of ways. We men, I belief communicated with Her more often than women do in her playground. You guys know what I meant do you? Let's put it this way, it's more convenient for men to communicate with her than for women. Period.
Following the completed communication process (The Communication Process from what I learnt is when one party sends a signal to another party and that the receiver receives it and respond correctly) with Mother Nature, I look for an exit to escape Heaven's unhappiness. The next point of exit is another flyover linking Commonwealth Avenue West. That is another, perhaps 400m away. I plodded (Appropriately termed as my shoes were filled with so much water that I could probably keep some guppies in it.) on in the heavy rain while the lightning continue with it's flashes in the sky. By now, I am feeling more threatened for my safety than I had earlier felt at the start of the walk. About 4 minutes later I reached the spot for my escape plan from the rain.
Looking at the slope beneath the viaduct of Commonwealth Avenue West, I made my way up the slope. Not a soul in sight. I took the right side of the viaduct and soon reach the top and main road. Man, they said "When it pours it pours" and it was pouring like nobody's business. By now I have lost my enthusiasm in the walk and simply want to get out of the rain. It's too dangerous to enjoy the rain with the lightning flashing across the sky. I don't mind the thunder. It seem's like "Stick and Stones may hurt my bones but words will never hurt me". Yes, thunder is nothing and all the noise from the thunder it won't hurt either. Lightning is another thing altogether, you know what I mean?
I reached the bus stop just before the traffic light junction of Commonwealth Avenue West/Boon Lay Way and Toh Tuck Avenue. The next thing that I wanted to do was to remove my "T" shirt and dry myself up. Now why would I do that? Don't forget I was drenched to the skin. There are 2 bus services that I can take to go home. TIBS Service 963 and 106. First to come off were my shoes and socks then my T. No, I didn't remove my bermudas.
Gave the socks a hard twist and out came about 20ml of water. When I gave the T a hard twist, how much water do you think will drip off the clothes? If my estimate is correct, it should be about 0.8 litre. Mind you it's not sweat (If it's sweat I would be most happy) but rain water. You don't think it's a lot of water right, do you? As I twisted the T-shirt, I kept a lookout for any of the 2 approaching bus. I quickly put on my socks and T before wearing my wet running shoes. Man, it really isn't as comfortable as when the attires were thoroughly wet. Mainly because my semi-naked body have been exposed to the wind and this makes wearing the damp T-shirt and socks uncomfortable. And I am beginning to feel the cold. But what to do?
Just then, bus service 106 approached from afar. It's a long twin cabin type. I hailed the bus with my outstretched arms and started thinking; "Will the bus driver stop for me?" By now you should know why I brought the EZ-link card along. Like many people used to say and continue to say into th future, "You have to be prepared for a rainy day". A very appropriate saying I think.
The bus isn't crowded. Only about 20 or so commuters in it. I can see I am the centre of attraction at that moment. Many eyes were on me. Hey, you have never seen a wet man in a bus before? I got caught in the rain ok. But sheepishly, I moved to the centre of the bus where the link and pivot was. I couldn't bring myself to sit on the seats and wet it. Not a nice thing to do. So there I stood. It's only a few bus stops away. Let me see, we have one at the Ulu Pandan Incinerator, one opposite the SMRT Sub-Depot, one just before the traffic junction of Bt. Batok East Avenue 3 and Bt Batok East St. 25, one opposite Yusof Ishak Secondary School, one just after the Caltex petrol station and the next one is the destination. So all in, I am only 6bus stops away. After just one bus stop from where I boarded the bus, the strange eyes returned to normalcy. Thank goodness for that.
My stop next. I press the bell at we reached the traffic junction of Bt Batok East Ave 3 and Ave 6 to indicate my desire to alight. Got off the bus and used the overhead bridge to cross to the other side.
There is a bakery and I intend to buy some bread home. The bread were good. Soft and tasty. Took 2 loaves. One a sugar sprinkled twisted loaf and another a plain pandan bread comprising 6 square pieces. As I was about to dig out the coins I had in my pocket to pay for the bread, I overheard one of the bakery aunty complaining about her wet shoes. Yes, I know the aunty as I am a regular customer. "Aiyo aunty, you only got your shoes wet and still complain, look at me, I am wet from the very top to the bottom, including my underwear." We all had a good laugh.
I quickly make my way home. You can imagine what my wife said when she saw me drenched to the skin. "Huh! Heavy rain and you still walk in the rain. You are really mad and had me worried with the lightning and thunder out there. A warm shower sort of made me feel sleepy and I did take the afternoon nap but not before I have my teabreak of the bread I just bought.
Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed it (the walk in the rain) very much. Have not played in the rain since childhood way back in the 1960's.
Note: The pictures that I posted were taken a few weeks after the "Walk In The Rain". I do not have my hp with me during that walk remember?
Cheers!
24 August 2008. I remembered that date. It was a Sunday afternoon after having a lunch of Hakka Tea Rice at a nearby coffeeshop with my wife at about 1pm. I had planned to go for a brisk walk. My walks on a Sunday usually last at least 2 hours and above. The distance would generally be between 10 to 15km, sometimes more, exceeding 20km. But on this special day, that is the 24 August 2008, I am writing something that I have not done for something like 40+ years. Yeah, come to think of it, it's a long time coming.
As we finished the lunch, I accompanied my wife to our block, handed her my hp and bidded her "bye bye, I am going for my long walk". I had with me a few dollars worth of coins, an EZ-link card and a bottle of water. Why do you think I bring this Easilink card along? It will come in handy when the need arises. Why do I bring the coins you may ask? Er, I am not exactly sure but I am sure it will do me some good too or help in one way or another.
Okay, my intended route would be to start from behind Church of St. Mary along Bt. Batok East Avenue 6, towards Old Jurong Road, turn right at junction of Upper Bt. Timah Road, Upper Bt. Timah Road, straight pass the junction of Bt. Timah Road and Clementi Road, pass Ngee Ann Polytechnic towards Holland Road junction, turn right into the Ulu Pandan Park Connector which comprises of passing through, er, under Clementi Avenue 6, under Commonwealth Avenue West, straight down towards Faber Gardens, towards AYE, cross the now disused railway track over the Pandan River, towards IBP, cross the road of Boon Lay Way, cross the road of Toh Guan Road East, over PIE, towards Bt. Batok Industrial Park, then pass Keming Primary School and home. My guess of the distance would be about 13 to 14 km.
The weather was somewhat unpredictable. I have been fooled a number of times into giving up the walks by the weather thinking it would rain which eventually did not. This time I am determined to sit, er, see it through, regardless of the weather outcome. Well, it is a bit windy with slight overcast and it was a good day for a walk. At least it not too hot considering that it's about 1.15pm in the afternoon.
The walk was quite enjoyable, though, with less than moderate vehicular traffic along the roads. How do I measure the distance? Well, generally, my pace is about 50mins/5km. So technically speaking, I will cover 1km/10mins. That should be a good gauge for the distance covered.
As I walked down Old Jurong Road, heaven seems to be playing the mind game with me again. These words seem to be playing in my mind. "You should give up the walk. Go accompany your wife at home." No, this time round I am determined to go ahead with the walk and not be fooled again by the weather. Usually, I can see monkeys in Bt Batok Nature Park, just before the junction of Old Jurong Road and Upper Bt Timah Road. No, no monkeys around today. I press on until I reached the junction of Hindhede Road (Bt. Timah Hill) and saw some people coming out from the road. Some are from the church while the others have probably just completed their hike in Bt Timah Hill. They don't seem bothered by the overcast sky. Well, why should they in any case since they have different objectives from me? Well, neither do I. Hee! Hee!. The only thing I dislike about walking the roads are there are traffic lights that I had to stop, look left, look right, look left again before I cross. Sometimes, I jaywalked (not a good idea though). (I am trying to change that lazy mentality, no not really lazy but impatient. If I am lazy, I wouldn't be doing this walk, right? However, if there is an overhead bridge, I will use it to cross over the other side of the road.) Meaning, I cross the road even when the Red man is still watching me. I disregard the angry look of the Red man when I crossed the roads. It's as if he's telling me that I should show some respect for him. Hah! There are no vehicles and you expect me to behave like a goon. Well, I read somewhere in a magazine some time ago in USA that Jacky Chan (I am sure there are many other like him) will wait for the Red man to turn Green before he crosses a road. Yes, even when the street is deserted. But then again he is Jacky Chan, I am "me" and that's the difference.
Now where was I? Oh yes, I passed Hindhede Road. You know, deep inside Hindhede Road, there used to be a granite quarry. It brought back fond memories during my younger days. I spent quite a number of years visiting that place back in 1976 and became a regular when I owned my first Mini Cooper in January 1977 and continue to do until around 1985. There was an old mechanic friend of my late mother whom I had known since 1964 or 1965 where he was a vehicle mechanic working for his brother who so happen to own the Mobil petrol station (next to the road called Pasir Panjang Hill, I think) along Pasir Panjang Road before the famous Haw Par Villa. Can't really recall the year but should be around that time. Ok ok ok, I will not talk about my passion for cars in this blog. This will be revealed in my subsequent postings of how I came to own the #16 car (I mean my 16th car not 16 cars) in my current possession, that is when I can find the time to write again. I must really push myself real hard before the weather changes its mood. I should know myself.
As I make my way up the inclined road towards the exit of PIE, some of our very distant relatives from millions of years ago were monkeying around, foraging the litter bins at the linkway and bus stop. I didn't have my hp with me (I handed it to my wife as if expecting the rain to come) for this occasion and could not take any pictures. I managed though to take one on top of the linkway during my other Sunday walks.
Now as I was walking towards the pedestrian light along Dunearn Road outside the previous Yeo Hiap Seng Factory, the sky started to turn unfriendly. The mean-looking clouds casting their displeasure from above. By now I should be walking about 20% of the intended distance. I pressed the pedestrian light button while waiting impatiently for it to turn green. Haiz... Couldn't wait. Since there are no vehicles coming down from the slope on my right I hasten my pace (Hey, this road is extremely wide and the Green Man do not wait for you, you know) and ran to the other pedestrian lights and waited for the traffic lights to change before crossing towards MacDonald's. I sensed the Red Man anger when I dashed across the crossing.
Traffic at that moment is light. Anyway, it's the least of my concern. Weather was cool and slightly windy, and it helps so the walk isn't that tiring. Tiring? No! Not at all. Actually, I was beginning to enjoy it. The road ascended towards Ngee Ann Polytechnic and down again passing a nursery.
That's when the sky turn really gloomy. I can see that heaven is showing his displeasure at me for, probably not paying due respect at the initial warning by whipping a few lightning lashes across the greying sky followed by thunderous boom. Yeah, it was scary but not enough to discourage me into turn back.I pressed on and reached the nursery as it start to drizzle a bit. I was in two minds by now. Should I continue with the journey or should I swallow my somewhat injured pride, cross the road and take TIBS bus service 61 home? Then again, it's only a small drizzle. It will past pretty soon and the weather will be fine and sunny again. That is a real Sagittarian thinking. Always optimistic. Yes, I managed to convince myself to press on. And I am so proud of the fact that I managed to convince myself and nobody could have done a better job at that than myself. And soon I reached the bus stop no. 74 opposite Clementi's Sunset Way. By then, I was already more than 75% wet. Okay! Since I am already 75% wet, I might as well get 100% wet. No, it's more that 100%. It's 110% wet. Now, why would I say 110%. Because when your whole body is thoroughly wet it's 100%. But when you are drenching wet with excess water dripping like mad it's 110%. So there.
There must have been many strange looks and stares from the motorists. "What the heck is that silly guy doing walking in the rain?" Hey, I miss walking in the rain since childhood ok and this is one way to relive it. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I stood waiting for the traffic light's green man to wave me at the junction of Clementi Road and Holland Road. The green man beckoned and I cross quickly, sheepishly looking down at the road as I walked briskly knowing the many eyes form the motorists staring at me.
So I reached the Ulu Pandan PCN (Park Connector). The track is practically deserted. Of course it is deserted. Who in the world would want to come out and exercise in freaking weather? There's only one person that I know would do it and it can be none other but me. I continued with my walk, but Heavens seemed to demonstrate His unhappiness, striking the sky with flashes of lightning and booming thunders. It soon dawned on me that this is going to be very very risky and somewhat foolish if I continued walking in this inclement weather. But I have to continue until I find shelter. I can't just stop walking without looking for a shelter. And the shelter is quite a distance. No actually, it's only about 400m away. I then saw an overhead pedestrian bridge linking Clementi Housing Estate to Sunset Estate.
At that moment, Mother Nature beckons. And when Mother Nature beckons, you had better respond, appropriately and without questions. I reached the overhead bridge but found no consolation. This is not the spot that I wanted to communicate with Mother Nature. There would be prying eyes from people using the overhead bridge linking Clementi Housings to Sunset Estate. Remember, this is suppose to be my private moment with Mother Nature and I am sure she would want me to keep it that way. I risked heaven's displeasure and continue until I reached another overhead bridge about 450m down but it's not an overhead bridge. It's a flyover bridging Clementi Avenue 6. Looking around to ensure there were no prying eyes, I start to communicate with Mother Nature.
Short, fast and much to my relief. The communication process lasted the full 45 secs and it was simply very enjoyable. My body shivered and I ended the small talk with Her. All of us have responded to Mother Nature before though in a magnitude of ways. We men, I belief communicated with Her more often than women do in her playground. You guys know what I meant do you? Let's put it this way, it's more convenient for men to communicate with her than for women. Period.Following the completed communication process (The Communication Process from what I learnt is when one party sends a signal to another party and that the receiver receives it and respond correctly) with Mother Nature, I look for an exit to escape Heaven's unhappiness. The next point of exit is another flyover linking Commonwealth Avenue West. That is another, perhaps 400m away. I plodded (Appropriately termed as my shoes were filled with so much water that I could probably keep some guppies in it.) on in the heavy rain while the lightning continue with it's flashes in the sky. By now, I am feeling more threatened for my safety than I had earlier felt at the start of the walk. About 4 minutes later I reached the spot for my escape plan from the rain.
Looking at the slope beneath the viaduct of Commonwealth Avenue West, I made my way up the slope. Not a soul in sight. I took the right side of the viaduct and soon reach the top and main road. Man, they said "When it pours it pours" and it was pouring like nobody's business. By now I have lost my enthusiasm in the walk and simply want to get out of the rain. It's too dangerous to enjoy the rain with the lightning flashing across the sky. I don't mind the thunder. It seem's like "Stick and Stones may hurt my bones but words will never hurt me". Yes, thunder is nothing and all the noise from the thunder it won't hurt either. Lightning is another thing altogether, you know what I mean?
I reached the bus stop just before the traffic light junction of Commonwealth Avenue West/Boon Lay Way and Toh Tuck Avenue. The next thing that I wanted to do was to remove my "T" shirt and dry myself up. Now why would I do that? Don't forget I was drenched to the skin. There are 2 bus services that I can take to go home. TIBS Service 963 and 106. First to come off were my shoes and socks then my T. No, I didn't remove my bermudas.
Gave the socks a hard twist and out came about 20ml of water. When I gave the T a hard twist, how much water do you think will drip off the clothes? If my estimate is correct, it should be about 0.8 litre. Mind you it's not sweat (If it's sweat I would be most happy) but rain water. You don't think it's a lot of water right, do you? As I twisted the T-shirt, I kept a lookout for any of the 2 approaching bus. I quickly put on my socks and T before wearing my wet running shoes. Man, it really isn't as comfortable as when the attires were thoroughly wet. Mainly because my semi-naked body have been exposed to the wind and this makes wearing the damp T-shirt and socks uncomfortable. And I am beginning to feel the cold. But what to do?
Just then, bus service 106 approached from afar. It's a long twin cabin type. I hailed the bus with my outstretched arms and started thinking; "Will the bus driver stop for me?" By now you should know why I brought the EZ-link card along. Like many people used to say and continue to say into th future, "You have to be prepared for a rainy day". A very appropriate saying I think.
The bus isn't crowded. Only about 20 or so commuters in it. I can see I am the centre of attraction at that moment. Many eyes were on me. Hey, you have never seen a wet man in a bus before? I got caught in the rain ok. But sheepishly, I moved to the centre of the bus where the link and pivot was. I couldn't bring myself to sit on the seats and wet it. Not a nice thing to do. So there I stood. It's only a few bus stops away. Let me see, we have one at the Ulu Pandan Incinerator, one opposite the SMRT Sub-Depot, one just before the traffic junction of Bt. Batok East Avenue 3 and Bt Batok East St. 25, one opposite Yusof Ishak Secondary School, one just after the Caltex petrol station and the next one is the destination. So all in, I am only 6bus stops away. After just one bus stop from where I boarded the bus, the strange eyes returned to normalcy. Thank goodness for that.
My stop next. I press the bell at we reached the traffic junction of Bt Batok East Ave 3 and Ave 6 to indicate my desire to alight. Got off the bus and used the overhead bridge to cross to the other side.
There is a bakery and I intend to buy some bread home. The bread were good. Soft and tasty. Took 2 loaves. One a sugar sprinkled twisted loaf and another a plain pandan bread comprising 6 square pieces. As I was about to dig out the coins I had in my pocket to pay for the bread, I overheard one of the bakery aunty complaining about her wet shoes. Yes, I know the aunty as I am a regular customer. "Aiyo aunty, you only got your shoes wet and still complain, look at me, I am wet from the very top to the bottom, including my underwear." We all had a good laugh.
I quickly make my way home. You can imagine what my wife said when she saw me drenched to the skin. "Huh! Heavy rain and you still walk in the rain. You are really mad and had me worried with the lightning and thunder out there. A warm shower sort of made me feel sleepy and I did take the afternoon nap but not before I have my teabreak of the bread I just bought.
Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed it (the walk in the rain) very much. Have not played in the rain since childhood way back in the 1960's.
Note: The pictures that I posted were taken a few weeks after the "Walk In The Rain". I do not have my hp with me during that walk remember?
Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)