And, so it’s been a full week. And it’s been a beautiful and exciting week.
On Wednesday I visited the Botanic Gardens and strolled around for a good 5-6 hours. Well, I came to know about this place after a certain friend (let’s call her Meep) texted me saying she had visited that place.
As soon as I entered, from the entrance near the Botanic Gardens MRT, it was a little unimpressive. There were a series of giant trellis-inspires structures but well, the plant growth was minimal and it wasn’t quite good. But as I trudged on, I found a cool bamboo forest area, with the wind gently rustling and there was shade! Mind you, I had reached the place by 4pm, so you can imagine how sunny it had been. I sat there, to cool off, drink water, and just look at the people walking by with their dogs. So many different, once nuzzled my knee (He must have been a Labrador or so) but I still don’t count that as touching a dog. With the map still in my hand, I walked further only to see a beautiful lake with a lawn around, some benches and sunlight streaming in in such a way that it was not too hot. It was just beautiful. And the scene was so inspiring that I had to sit on a bench overlooking the lake and write in my little notebook. It made me feel so literary and it was one of those insanely beautiful moments of writing and bliss. Among looking around the other areas, except the paid ones, I can say that it was overall a much better place than my initial impression. You hear that, SG folk?! Try to spritz up the entrance, you guys. So, more walking, exploring and wandering (I took pictures to make sure of where I’ve been etc.), I figured I’d head home. But not before relaxing by the lake one more time. It wasn’t just a novelty, it was a beautiful place with happy people. It is definitely a photographer’s paradise. One teeny kid walked over and asked me if I wanted some snails he’d been catching (pretend of course! And he had an American accent, so thankfully, much easier to understand!) and I took it obviously and placed it on the ground. His sister came over (twins, perhaps?) and they were racing their snails. So all said and done, I had one of the most gorgeous Red Velvet cupcakes at a patisserie just outside and left. It was gorgeous, squishy, yummy cupcakes.
Saturday was when I met Meep. She’s amazing folks! We knew each other as reading/writing friends and she has an insane cartoon-creativity. After getting my pass from the MoM (with no hassles!), we met at the Clarke Quay mall and headed to eat Thai food. Now, I’ve had Thai food here, but the one I ate there was a lot more flavourful and it had this balance of sweet and spice but not hot-spicy, just the spices flavours. It was a thrill finally speaking to her and we rambled on and on about culture, food and the different life styles!
And she took me to a beautiful paper-craft store called Paper Market. If you have a fetish for pretty paper and embellishments and all the pretties, you have to visit that place. It is just heavenly! And there are just so many sheets to look at!
She also took me to the Central Library which, is a huge expanse of literary goodness. I mean, there are books and cutely designed chairs to lounge and read. The libraries there are well connected and very user-friendly. That strengthened my resolve to visit a library whenever possible. The closest library for me was the one at Clementi mall, which is just as amazing, but not quite huge.
And I spent the night and most of Sunday with my friend, who shall henceforth be called Banana for reasons unknown and her friend. She clearly enjoys cooking, which kind of makes me feel like I do not know a single thing. Her room is a pretty purple-accented room (she studies over at NTU) which has pretty curtains, and a great view outside. The three of us toured the NTU campus, which is absolutely beautiful. If you ever get a chance to visit NTU, do look around. The highlight of it is definitely the ADM building. I also had fun with those water-fountain taps that were mean and squirted water on my face. They hate me and are against me, they want me to dehydrate. And we spoke of Octopuses (-pi?) and other randomosities until we dozed off and had a lazy Sunday after that.
Jumping Gene 