Monday 26 November 2007

Nostalgic journey

After sending my car to the workshop this morning, I decided to take the 45-minute walk back to the office. I have done it several times before... it gives me an opportunity to walk through my old neighbourhood, the one that the kids spent their childhood.

Contrary to what many will think, I have nothing but good memories of those years (it's wonderful how my mind can filter out bad and bitter memories). Our apartment was big and always bright and breezy. I spent many lazy afternoons reading on the couch while the kids played with Lego blocks and toy dinosaurs. I was always baking cookies in the kitchen, often delighting the kids by baking their deformed creations in the oven.

Of course, how can I forget the many birthday parties for the boys and their friends, including the cherubic Korean kids next door? Or their first day at pre-school? Or spending hours with the kids in the pool and the spacious yard below... riding bikes or hunting for spiders and caterpillars amongst the bushes.

Today, the neighbourhood looks familiar even though many old buildings have been replaced by spanking new ones. Our old apartment block has already been redeveloped into hundreds of smaller apartments. I was intrigued by the changes around me....


This is where our 7-storey apartment block used to stand.


The old swimming pool is replaced by a huge one surrounded by tall buildings. No more privacy!

One thing that remains unchanged is this little house next door. I remember the little girl Nurul who used to attend the same daycare center as YK. I wonder if she still lives here with her grandparents?

Soon, ominous dark clouds started moving in as I walked down memory lane. Lightning was flashing in the distance yet I was determined to continue walking to the old daycare centre up the hill. That's where YK spent his formative years since he was barely 2 years old. Alas, the daycare centre is no longer there. In its place is a new house.

The daycare centre was torn down and rebuilt into that tall building in the background.

It began to drizzle as I quickened my pace. In the end, I had to abort my walk and run to the bus stop far away. I should know that I can't control the weather or outrun the rain.

I ran past a school ...

...and the row of shophouses. The old MuayThai school where I used to learn Thai boxing is now a Montessori school.

Finally I arrived at the bus-stop and it started pouring!


I boarded the bus in the pouring rain and alighted 2 stops later....


So happy to arrive at the office, safe and dry.

Looks like I made the right decision to give up walking or I'd be drenched (and sorry)...

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

lovely pictures..in a happening place like singapore..things change quickly..not like my ole home town..where that cow standing there only moved a couple feet from where he was standing during my childhood!

Blur Ting said...

Ha ha! I prefer those places actually where the cows don't move...

Unknown said...

nice to see your (new) old neighborhood.

WaterLearner said...

It's good to be able to enjoy and relive memories of the past in a positive spirit. It's a clear sign that you have moved on and learnt whatever lessons in life that you were meant to learn from the episode.

Blessings!

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

You took up Thai Boxing? Cool. How come you didn't carry on? Btw, lovely pictures. I thought it was a great idea to walk back and reminisce about your past. Great post!

Blur Ting said...

Seagrapeh - Yah, I enjoyed it too.

Water - Oh yes, I is Ms positive!

Nick - Yah, I learned because I could just walk to the training centre but gave up after they moved away. I didn't learn very long though. The coach always made me run around the neighbourhood to warm up and do alot of skipping!

The weather was dull and hazy today, so the pictures turn out better than I had expected.

The World According To Me said...

I love your pics, and the memories you wrote about. It's good you can push some bad stuff away and concentrate on the happier times.

The Real Mother Hen said...

You know after enbloc and the new developer rolled out the plan (in your old home), we went to see the site and "new" development. As we walked around the area I told Robin where your house was, where the pool was, and we ate at the Malay store, it was a good memory lane too :)

Amel said...

Ah...memories...LOVE the pics and I can't believe everything changes so quickly tsk tsk tsk...

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