barney and the dyslexic alien

for the longest time, i have been busy.

no complaints mind you.  busy is good; i'd rather be busy than idle. and you know what they say about idle hands.

but being crazy-busy for extended periods of time has a way of turning people's brains into bowls of soggy raisins.  and i for one am just thankful for the (relative) period of calm this holiday season has afforded me.

this weekend in particular has been quiet. and i am quick to take advantage.

saturday morning saw me drag myself out of bed and out into the streets of my new neighborhood, sengkang: i had wanted to see what the place was like, and i haven't been on a photowalk in ages.

after a quick goodbye to my sleeping wife, i hurriedly made my way to a curious section of the neighborhood, through which i passed by daily.  the place intrigued me, because i had seen not one, but three temples built side by side in the same block.

we'll have to skip the first temple since none of the photos i took were useable: bad framing, underexposed, and just plain fugly.

photos of the other two however, are much better.

a resplendent, all-white temple, with an equally imposing gate

the big red sign is for those who can't read hanzi.
it reads, "forbidden temple"

the other temple seemed more inviting.  for one, there was no big red "do not enter" sign hanging right out the gate

beautiful temple but i think i'll pass on the discourse, thank you

across the temple was a large empty field, with some flats being built.

and even if i had gotten out of bed later than i shouldve (really, they should start selling alarm clocks that do not have a snooze button), i was still lucky enough to catch a bit of sunrise.  throw in some silky smooth clouds and already i'm glad i mustered enough will to get out of bed so early on a saturday morning.

there were curious marks on the ground in the empty field which reminded me of crop circles.  in fact, i was going to say that they *are* crop circles and then realized, i am in land-scarce singapore, so it's hardly a field, more like an empty block.  and the "field" i was looking at had no crops, just grass.  and if indeed an alien created this crop circle, the poor creature must have some severe form of extra-terrestrial dyslexia because these must be the least intricate, fugliest crop circles i've ever seen.

the truth is out there.

walking a bit further took me to even more empty fields

there's something sharp and stark about seeing a field of green on one end, and a pile of construction materials on another

and a tree-lined road leading up to a bridge

of all the trees along the road, only this one had a vine with heart-shaped leaves wrapped around it.
if anyone needs an inspiration for a story...

which overlooked a large highway

and beside the highway was a squat, windowless, industrial-looking building, which reminded me of an entrance to a secret underground laboratory.

don't let the flowers fool you: those are mega cyborg robot orchids guarding the entrance to a super secret laboratory.

by then, i realized that i was out and about, walking around in sengkang in clothes i had slept in, without a shower and a shave, nor any breakfast in me.


so i turned back, and meandered back the way i came, and encountered even more empty plots of land (something tells me we moved into the wilderness at the edge of singapore)

and a strange little road that lead to a tree.  

if i was a super villain, and my arch enemy was approaching my secret hideout, i would stand
beside the tree and in my most imposing and evil voice, i'd call out to him, "this is the end of the road for you".
"no really, it's the end of the road.  there's no more pavement. see?  keep off the grass, you caveman."

on the way back to the flat, a parking lot caught my eye

and a wall that reminded me of Barney.

finally, i find my way home.  i take a quick shower, washing away whatever thoughts of Barney and secret laboratories i had and go back to bed.


and that's how i spent the last saturday morning of 2011.