Next node?

It was an unusual spot to say our goodbyes but there we were at the Bugis MRT station, just after yet another round of local coffees at a joint of the Ya Kun chain at the station. We saw kiddo waddle off, and that would be the start of her Singapore adventure.

We left home early last Friday morning and drove to Tullamarine. Heavy traffic saw us take longer than we expected so we headed to the long term car park together and then took the shuttle in to the terminal. Qantas took a long time before they called for boarding but soon we were headed to Singapore.

We spent the next few days shuttling between the Bugis area where we lived, and the western edges of the CBD where NUS was. Kiddo has lodgings at the Cinnamon College of University Town (Utown) and before long we became acquainted with the connection between Utown and the Kent Ridge main campus of the Uni. Tress and I also became acquainted with the Bugis area, meandering through Rochor Road, Queen St and Victoria St through the Bugis Village and Bugis Street Mall. Bugis Junction and OG were the other two shopping malls we came to know well.

For meals however, the hot and messy Albert Centre provided wonderful flavours at really cheap prices. The whole area felt messy and chaotic but there was method to the madness and everything worked efficiently and in spite of the sense of mess and chaos, it was actually relatively clean at the end of each day. Several times, Tress and I would walk past the surrounding areas around 10pm after returning from NUS and we saw sweepers diligently tidying the area.

I feel as though we have nearly gone a full circle. We left Malaysia in 2004 when Kiddo was 10. 9 years later Kiddo is nearly back in that part of the world where she’d live and work (ie be a student) for the next year and a half. Tress and I now live in the land Down Under all by ourselves (other than LBJ) and a part of us has returned to part of our roots. It is akin to that nodal model of life’s journey. Maybe. How this node will connect next is anyone’s guess, and in God’s hands.

Related articles

• Duo Residences (jensenshift.wordpress.com)
• Melukis Langit Bugis Makassar (edvisuals.wordpress.com)
• Singapore on a Budget (funandeasytravel.wordpress.com)
• 24 Hours In Singapore (traveltrailerblog.com)
• a trip to Bugis street (joleensohlf.wordpress.com)