Awhile back, when Fran was still in sunny little Singapore, we took a little trip down to East Coast Park. We had the perfect plan - meet at Macs for breakfast (preferably the one at ECP, so that we can sit by the seaside and have nice little picnic), cycle along the scenic route, take in the sea breeze, feel the sun on our skins, find the little private beach, sit down, take pictures, breathe in everything.
HOWEVER. Yes, for us, unfortunately, the However has always been BIG. So HOWEVER, it turned out to be the wettest Wednesday ever possible! You won't even believe our luck.
We battled the sleep monsters and managed to get out of bed at 9.30am, which is really early for our record btw, and met at 10.50am at Clementi Macs for breakfast. Happy and excited, I skipped over to Macs and found the shutters down. It was dark and abandoned, even in the crowd of people milling around it. Lo and behold, Macs was CLOSED because THE BUILDING WAS GOING TO BE FREAKING DEMOLISHED!
Can you believe it?? Not renovation, not temporarily closed, but DEMOLISHED! I mean, what are the chances???
Not quite believing our luck, we hopped onto a cab, rushed to KAP while looking out for Macs along the way. We arrived at 11.10am and were still pretty happy, thinking Macs breakfast ends at 11.30am. But we hopped off the cab and into Macs only to see LUNCH MENUS and to our dismay, the staff announced No More Breakfast! ))): I swear tears welled up in Fran's eyes then and there. She was having one of those cravings, girls you know?
Pretty dejected, we hiked over to Bukit Timah Food Centre and had an alternative breakfast. Duck porridge and noodles, some soupy thingy, and sugarcane! Happy again, we took another hike to the back of Beauty World, to take a bus to Bedok so that we can take another bus to ECP.
Our alternative breakfast.
Passing by Little India!The bus ambled along the whole Bukit Timah stretch and brought us to Little India, and then Geylang and then Kaki Bukit (where Mas Selamat grew up, btw) and finally to Bedok. We were tourist on the ride, taking pictures and wowing and everything we see. And then when we passed by a funeral parlour with wreaths placed outside, and Fran started saying "Oh you know those flowers for SHOPS' OPENING right.. blah blah." I was like, "FRAN! That is a funeral parlour!" Hahaha.
So anyways, after an hour odd, we finally reached faraway Bedok on the other side of the island and went in search of the elusive bus service to ECP. And guess what? We found the bus stand, yes, and also a piece of paper that read: (SERVICE IS OPERATING ONLY ON SATURDAY, SUNDAY AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS). Whaaaaat?! After an hour odd's bus ride???
Left with no choice, we hopped into another cab, and headed to ECP, thinking, "Well, at least it hasn't rained." Hoho, the closer to ECP we got, the darker the sky got! And by the time we got out of the cab, it was drizzling already.
It was a -_- moment, really. No other words for it.
Nevertheless, we managed to get our bikes (both pink, don't even comment) and cycled for a good 20minutes before the drizzle picked up into a steady, decent rain. We sprinted for shelter, and were stuck there for a good half hour playing Stress and Speed with my deck of Poker cards until the cards got abit soggy. Still, the skies didn't show any signs of clearing up.
So the moment the rain let up a little, we ran out - Fran pedaling furiously to the toilet to wait for me while I ran (while pushing my bike) to this electrical box thing (??) near Bedok Jetty so that I can hide behind there and take off my new white Roxy top (just so happens huh) that my classmates got me for my birthday because otherwise the hind wheel of the bike will spray a whole line of ugly muddy stuff on my shirt! Poof, that was a hideously long sentence.
Gosh, you won't know how FREEZING COLD it can get in tropical Singapore until you cycle in the rain in your sports bra and fbt shorts. It was, excuse my French, fucking cold! The teeth-chattering cold. The wanna-crawl-into-warm-blankets-and-sleep-forever. The cycling-in-the-rain-in-your-sports-bra cold. Unbelievable!
Finally we got back to the food centre place, and by then we were starving already. Had our second round of food in the lonely rain and found our energy to battle the wretched weather again. And just as we were leaving the place, I actually thought to myself, "Actually it wasn't half bad already, considering we were actually sitting in a shelter and eating some warm food when it was pouring the heaviest!"
Hur. HURHUR. 2 minutes into our journey back to the impossibly far away rental stall, IT STARTED POURING DONKEYS AND COWS. And me, poor me, I was still only in my bright orange sports bra! Cycling in that damn half piece of clothing may look cool as can be on TV, but trust me, it wasn't one bloody bit of fun! As if that wasn't enough, we had to pass by testoserone-driven army boys who were jogging in the rain who wolf-whistled at me.
To that, I actually yelled back "WHAT THE HELL, DO I LOOK LIKE I'M HAVING FUN? IT'S FUCKING COLD, YOU ASSHOLES!" Okay, not nearly as vulgar as I'd like it to be, but yeah, something along that line.
We eventually got back to the dry little bicycle hut drenched but alive, and just stood there staring at each other for the longest time - Is this day real?
As if to answer our question, just as we were about to make a sprint to the shelter next to the road to get a cab home (before 4.30pm to beat the surcharge), donkeys and cows morphed into SPERM WHALES AND DINOSAURS. That was the moment we gave it up. We still dashed for that huge umbrella in the middle of nowhere, next to the road, and laughed so hard at ourselves that we stopped running and walked the rest of the distance there in the pouring rain. It didn't make much of a difference anyway.
It turned out the umbrella there was to the shelter the carpark charging machine, so every dry person in their dry vehicle would pass us by! One fat moron of a guy actually rolled down his window, and start chuckling at us! What an idiot!
I almost didn't believe it when the first cab we flagged actually stopped and took us in despite our drenched selves at 4.36pm. FINALLY.
And the icing on the cake? 3 minutes into the cab ride, just as we were passing the majestic Singapore Flyer, Mr Sunshine stuck his fat head out of the clouds, said a giant Hello, and painted the whole sky a brilliant blue.
You know those "My Worst Day" essays you write in Primary school? Well, I think we lived it. And none of this is even exaggerated. Now, say "Man, I can't believe your luck!"
We really should have known right from the to-be-demolished building, huh?
Our pink bikes, side by side.
Girly bikers!
Castles by the sea.
Me: "Let's take a photo with the wind in our hair!"
Fran: "And the sand in our eyes right."
HAHA.
We left our mark.
Fran loves Nick!
HAHAHA read this out loud.
Finally at the food centre.
Second meal of the day.
The camera was wet and the photo turned out fuzzy!
Okay kidding, I've no idea why this photo's like that too.
And here's us, drenched and laughing at our sorry day at the bike stand.
You know, Fran and I were saying maybe this is God's way for making her miss Singapore less when she leaves for NZ. Or maybe God wants to test our friendship. But eventually we figured, maybe God just wants us to remember our days even when most of it becomes a blur. (:
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