Saturday afternoon. 15 January.
I set off with a mission in mind. It was hardly planned, half-impromptu, almost impulsive and foolhardy. Briefly mapped the sequence of things in my head and I found myself to City Hall, searching for a florist.
It's been ages since I bought flowers for anyone. The little trinkling feeling stirred up inside like the fizzling bubbles of a soft drink. I didn't exactly know if I'd find what I wanted, but my unimaginative description didn't help much..hahah...but luckily the expert knew what was best for me. And with his deft hands, he took a single Sunflower and some other decorative stalks, and conjured up a lovely bunch. Strangely, what seemed like a typical service to others, looked so fascinating to me...almost magical...especially when he brought it to life by spraying mists of water as the final touch. It's funny how I could write a paragraph on buying flowers...haha
Cradling the little sunshine-filled bouquet, I hopped on the East West-bound train, carefully protecting it from accidental bumps and direct sunlight.
I realised that flowers always draw attention. From young couples to elderly folks, it almost felt like I'm a candidate for a trial of some sort when they threw me with curious glances *lol*
The journey wasn't as long as I expected, though I was more concerned about the rate those tiny droplets of water evaporate from the petals. Foreseeing the situation of potential delays, I briefly browsed the online road directory of the location prior to setting off, and it wasn't hard to paint a visual map in my mind when I got out of the MRT. Crossed over the overhead bridge and the perimeter walls greeted me.
"I'm here to visit a friend."
"Write down your name...who are you visiting ah?"
"erm...Ting?"
As I penned the details in the logbook, the security aided me...
"One six two three"
I noted it in the 'time in' column and proceeded to write the location.
"Block H...that's the one...the tall one on the inside"
It reminded me of my bittersweet army days when I was doing sentry guard duty when I had to clock in details of visitors to the camp.
Hibiscus. That's it. Block H. As I headed towards it, I noticed the stark, beautiful huge full-length windows from the units. In a split second, a mental note of her staying on the third floor popped up and weirdly, my 'cover and concealment' tactics learnt from the army days sprang up and I made a dash to prevent myself from her potential sighting (in case she's standing by the window). Silly me.
What stopped me dead in my tracks was the doors to the building. They were electronically locked for security purposes and the only supposed way to get in was either to have a key card or to notify the resident through an intercom system.
Now, that would ruin the element of surprise. So, I was stuck outside for a moment when lady luck smiled on me and someone came out...and I took the opportunity to slip in.
Took the lift and went level 3. Perhaps my calmness was overwritten as I got closer to the destination, and somewhat caused me to be a little muddleheaded. The sign directly in front of me was gravely missed and I turned right to try my luck. Nope. So, it was the left instead.
Squishy-squashy.
That was the sound of my sneakers as I carefully treaded through the slightly flooded corridor. The dirty water as a result of a choked drainage from the corner unit didn't help in easing my anxiousness...and perhaps even blinded me from pinpointing her unit! So, I made the embaressing move to ask the slightly-agitated lady(not by me, but by the flooding situation in her home!) the whereabouts of the unit...just to find out that I was just standing next to it.
I took a deep breath and pressed the bell. Once again, I subjected myself to the silly gestures of hiding from her peephole so as to maximise the surprise element. As I dodged a few more times, the cruel reality crept in as it showed signs that no one was in!!
Could she be sleeping? Is she out?
As time trickled by, I had to make some decisions. Dialled her home number but it was not picked up. Quick! Plan B! I smsed her despite knowing there was a high chance that it would not be replied. Nope, no response. Just to make sure I've got everything covered, I checked with her neighbour.
"Dunno leh...didn't see her"
Hmmm...Time to execute Plan C. Wait, there weren't supposed to be such plans and yet, I've utilised a couple of them already and failed. So, almost immediately, "Plan C" officially became "Operation: Wait and See".
As I paced back and forth along the tiny stretch of walking space along the corridor, I reassured myself that time was on my side. And she has to return at some given time; Patience was all I need and I was pretty sure I got plenty of it.
Soon, the pacings were reduced to occasional leanings against the wall in front of the lift. And every time the lift lets out a 'Diing!', I'd brace myself to see her familiar face emerging from one of the three lifts. But I've soon learnt that the 'Diings' from the nearby levels were also audible, thus giving me lots of false alarms *lol*
5.30pm.
I got more familiar and comfortable with the environment now. The sunflower sign on one of the units, the shoe racks, the double door to each unit, the laundry hung out to dry...I've noticed them all. People CAN adapt themselves to a totally unknown environment when throw into the appropriate situations.
6.30pm.
Alas, the loudest 'Diiing!' rang out as the lift door slided open, what greeted me was...
...an old lady. Ah well, the disappointment was dissipated by her pleasant warm smile as she noticed me with the flowers in my hands. I think she's the resident of that unit with the sunflower sign :)
7.30pm.
By this time, every footsteps heard along the two staircases at both sides of me were instantly transformed into tiny hopes. And all of a sudden, the lift gave its second loud 'Diiing!'
The image of a beautiful, long-haired lady was rudely intercepted by a moustache-hanged, tanned face, manly figure, along with his burly cohort...led by a middle-aged man in uniform.
"I hope they're not here to get me!"
But as soon as they stepped out of the lift, they wasted no time attending to the frustrated lady and the drainage problem.
Phew.
In a matter of seconds, my mind was interupted by the growling in my stomach and the numbness in my legs. Then I remembered that I only had brunch and nothing else for the rest of the day. Great. I hope I wouldn't greet her in the form of an unconscious fool outside her corridor.
Just when I got more determined to perserve on, the security glanced at me and to explain myself, I told him I was waiting for someone. Now it'd be really bad if the neighour spill the beans on me that I've been loitering outside for the past 3 hours, but luckily, that didn't happen. I told him the situation and he suggested that I wait downstairs where there are benches. Really nice of him.
I got to the bottom again and whoops, the benches were outside the electronic doors. But I guess it beats looking at the three lift doors.
Soon, I found myself not as concerned about the waiting, but more like absorbing the beauty and simplicity of life around. The seemingly neverending cool breeze (strong winds at times) breathed life to me, energising me for a change.
The distant residents playing tennis, young parents teaching their daughter to cycle, kids rollerblading around the internal network of roads, family returning from the nearby pool, etc...all these sights and sounds brought me nostalgic feelings. It was like I was witnessing what 'life' is from the outside. If only the property advertisements could capture this untainted imagery, I'm sure more people would gladly lay down their money.
For the period of time spent outside, I felt like a time-lapse camera of a documentary film, literally capturing the transformation from the bright skies to an dimmed evening hue. It was amazing to actually notice and experience every moment of the change. People often say that time passes with a blink of an eye...but if they were to notice every passing moment, they'd truely relish their time.
As I got lost in many thoughts, I was eventually brought back to the purpose of my visit and seeing how the day has slipped to an end, I figured the chances of seeing her were somehow diminished despite the logical assumption that she'd be a step closer to returning home.
Then the throbbing of my head began to felt more prominent. And the pain in my stomach. As with the dryness of my eyes. I brought myself on my feet from the corner of the bench just to check if I could still walk (it'd be really silly and embaressing if I really faint or something! *lol*)
I couldn't bear to see the now-fading sunflower wither or being thrown into the trash. I made the reluctant decision to inform her that I had been outside her home, in the hopes that she'd reveal whether she'd been home soon. I had wanted to make it a pleasant surprise to say a quick 'hello' to her and brighten up her day a little, but now it was reduced to only distracting her or even giving her pressure. I felt really bad. It wasn't meant to end up that way.
It was clear that a communication blackout had taken place, so I slipped into the building, this time, making it a quick affair. I lodged the bouquet onto her wooden door handle, took a last glance and got out of building at around 9.30pm.
During the few hours of waiting earlier, the nice security fella had made several rounds on his bicycle, and had shown concern by his "How? She back already?" every now and then. They were enough to take my mind away from whatever obstacles I had been facing.
I was also greeted by a very diversified array of residents in that single building. I laughed at the tricks played among the loud, playful Korean kids. I giggled at a pair of naughty sisters from a China family incurring the wrath of their mum. I smiled at the seemingly-rich Indians, Hongkies(I think) who arrive in their chauffeured vehicles. Exchanged acknowledgements with some European folks. Stole some glances at a particular pretty female resident, dressed in a sexy gown as she arrived from a posh car...just to have the same car fetch her again half and hour later with her in a new dress...probably to another party or something *laughs* (though I admit for a split-second, I thought she was Ting!)
Feeling assured that I could make my way home, I received a call from my bandmate as I was in the train. An invitation to watch a free, open concert by various chinese artistes somewhere in Fajar, Choa Chu Kang area. Now sure why but I felt like stretching my day even further, so I made my way down, taking the LRT for the first time...to the an 'ulu' part of Singapore I've never set foot upon before. I managed to catch the last part of the performance by Mayday, and miraculously, the exhaustion was all dispelled.
But sad to say, it all crept back to me at the end of the day as I struggled to make my way home on the last train, just to have the train on the North-East line terminated. Oh well, a cab it shall be.
The day finally ended with 12 hours of 'starvation', aching legs and a heavy head. However, it was quite a special one, despite the hicups and all. I had never really experienced the full-length of the day like this.
And I never knew I could surpass my patience of 2-hr sentry guard duties and extending it to more than twice my capability. Good, cos patience is a virtue...though I'm not sure about the foolish part *lol*
