Have Car, Will Travel.

Damn this convenience that cars give.

Its been a long time since I went for a drive to Punggol point. Not since my dad sold his car many years back... and definitely not since I started university and work.

I'm not quite sure why I feel so nostalgic about the place. Technically, its unwarranted. Maybe its because I know that my Mom's entire family (and hence half of my roots, so to speak) grew up along Ponggol Road, where she trudged along in the darkness at night and in the morning to school, where she raised her dog Blackie who didn't survive the shift to HDB in the 1980s.

Until today, my mother still occassionally runs into fellow neighbours around Hougang who used to live in the same kampong. Its amazing.

Ponggol or Punggol? It used to be the former.

My own memories are largely confined to stories that I hear about the Before-Electricity-And-TV-Era and my own memories of family dinners at the old Ponggol Seafood restaurant, when sotong balls was a MUST and chilli crab a treat. I've no idea why food tastes better outdoors, but it does.


But yes, cars. Without one I wouldn't have made it to Ponggol Marina and wow-ed and ah-ed at the dramatic shadows the boats cast in the huge holding bay where they were stacked up in tiers. Wouldn't have sighed contently watching the darkness while standing right at the tip of the pier, eyeing the beautiful egret perched silently at the other end.

Singapore is always so much more beautiful in the dark.

And I wouldn't have gone to the end of Ponggol either. Ash believed that it was still walled up and under construction, and I was so glad to see the same old pier (probably renovated though) and an actual beach.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm so glad Singapore can create our own beaches.

It looked like its been there a while. The shallow waters, surprisingly, were clear and almost pristine. I'm sure that daylight would yield a different look, but it really did look clean tonight. Some grass had already grown over a few patches, and two mongrels were snuggled in the sand in their own makeshift sand-cot.

I've not seen stray dogs in Singapore for quite a long time, and when one of them actually woke up and came over to sit with me I wanted to give it a big hug. I would, but for all my post-bangladesh-very-very-low-hygiene-standards (according to Mother) I still have some sense.

So lovely. I hope it remains quietly undiscovered. Let everyone else think that there's nothing left anymore.



No car, nevermind. I got good bicycle.




-------------------------------------------------


Oh, and I still love Jon.

"On a personal note, I am a comedian who makes fun of what I believe to be the absurdities of our government. Make my life difficult.
Make these next four years really shitty for me."

- prior to the US's voting day in 2004.