a trip to the edge of my (singapore) universe


on the first weekend of the new year, i managed to convince the wife that a walk along punggol beach would be a great idea: i get to take pictures, we both get some exercise.


there was a catch though: i had no idea where punggol beach was, except that it was somewhere near an yet-to-open train station somewhere in punggol town.


but when did ignorance ever stop anybody?


so i pack my camera bag and haul off the missus, reassuring her that we'll be okay ("it's impossible to get lost.  we're in singapore and i have a perfect sense of direction, and google maps on my phone.  yes dear, the phone's fully charged.").


we make our way to the train station, where promptly we end asking the train officer how to get to punggol beach ("exit the train station, bus station to your right, take bus 82").


bus 82 arrives and takes us to punggol beach without incident and i scramble off the bus, certain that the next pulitzer winning photo has my name on it, just waiting to be taken.


then, with just the right amount of dread and forboding, my wife goes, "we're at the edge of the world."





i look at the sign and tell her, "look it says 'outward bound singapore'. the edge of singapore is still in singapore even if--hey is that malaysia?!"  she checks her phone, "at least my carrier is still singaporean.  i wouldn't want to be paying roaming charges."


so we walk around (actually, she's was walking.  i was scrambling about snapping photos left and right, getting sand in my sandals, on my tripod, and on my shorts) and take in the sights and sounds and smells of punggol beach.



















while i wouldn't exactly call our punggol beach trip an adventure (it was a little too laid back for that), it did have its moments, like when something cold and wet landed on my wife's foot (it was liquid, but we couldn't tell much more than that), and when i very nearly stepped on a rather large and very dead fish being eaten by ants (i didnt have the heart nor the stomach, mostly the stomach, to take a picture)


we also had moments that did not involve anything cold and wet and dead







along the way we saw a number of like-minded souls (or like-souled minds)







and all in all it was a good trip but it was soon time to head home




on the way home, we decided to drop by this restaurant that was smack in the middle of nowhere, figuring, we'll have a quiet dinner.


only problem was, it seemed like half the people in punggol thought of the same thing and we ended up having to line up for what felt like 10 million years before getting just some of our food (we had to wait another 10 million years for the other half).


so we were hungry, wet, cold, and tired, and were waiting for our food in a crowded restaurant, and it didnt help that this girl kept coming by asking, "are you philippine? can you speak english?" (i wanted to reply "no, as you can see i am not a country and yes i can speak the language just fine, thank you").  not quite the quiet dinner we had hoped for.


we made it through somehow, without being overly nasty to the other half a million people inside the restaurant, and finished our meal in relative peace.


not bad at all, for a trip to the edge of the universe.  and i didnt even have to look at google maps even once.

No comments: