Friday, April 24, 2009

Memory Lane at Changi Village

The food was good but lunch at the Changi Village hawker centre was hot and stuffy. I wasn't feeling too well and had a loss of appetite. The weather was hot as hot can be. We must be crazy to go to the beach in this weather. Yet, how refreshing it is to be by the sea.
Peng Mun and I strolled leisurely on the boardwalk while Dee wandered on the sandy beach a little distance away delighting in little finds: a little pearly shell became my keepsake, a tiny crab in perfect shape until we broke its dried and brittled pincers trying to move it, a small starfish on a stone step was dried and spiky to the feel.
Our 2 hours' stroll took us from Changi Point Ferry Terminal to the Changi Sailing Club. Along the stretch we passed the Civil Service Club where the Singapore Cheshire Home used to be from 1976 to 1984. I was admitted to the Home in 1983 and had a room with the front veranda looking out towards the cape, the Changi Beach Park. Many of our staff back then were the local Malays who had to take the bum boat from Pulau Ubin to come to work; a good thing the Ferry Terminal was so near.
Dark clouds gathered in the horizon when we looked back the way we came. Anyway, we could go no further. The boardwalk continued beyond the Sailing Club begining with a step up; accessibilty denied to wheelchairs users.:(
We made a U-turn and took the pavement by the road. This took us pass the old Changi Hospital and once again my memories was brought back to the old days when residents were sick and admitted to the hospital. Some residents needed special care and the hospital being so near to the Home, the caring attendants went the extra mile to bring them back for bath and toileting needs. Many residents had travelled this same path to the hawker centre to get kopi-o, roti john, fishball mee-hoon and the likes either for themselves or for their fellow residents.
The pavement here are lined with old angsana trees that are home to many parrots. We spotted green and red Eclectus (males and females) and white cockadoos and almost bumped into a hunging spider. It was a walk amid nature.
We didn't want to go back to the stuffy hawker centre, so we settled down at Milli's for dinner. The food didn't meet our expectation. I was running a fever then and Dee cooled me down with ice and a fan blowing directly on me. I didn't want to go home yet. I haven't seen fireflies flashing in the night all my life and the previous time when we went to Changi in the day, I saw many bugs that could possibly be fireflies. Transport would come at 8 and I held on to my hopes of seeing fireflies. We crossed the bridge to Changi Beach Park.
The sun had set and a gentle breeze was blowing in from the sea refreshing everyone. Strangers exchanged friendly smiles. Relaxed, everyone was feeling happy. The transport came puncturely at 8 p.m. I didn't see a single firefly but happy, relaxed and feeling much better, I sang with Dee on our way home. We would go there again, I promised.





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