I took the train to the Orchard Station, which is on the same Orchard Road with Orchard Towers that I spoke of earlier), got out, and walked around a spot that Lily and I had agreed to meet. By the way, although this is the first time she shows up in this letter, this is not the first time that we have met.
I heard the roar of the crowd as everybody was off from work and going about and Orchard is especially one of the busiest train stations. But then I heard some footsteps running behind me and towards me. I quickly turned around and saw a short (5’4”) Chinese girl smiling at me. Lily. “Damn! Craig — I was playing your hide-and-seek game, trying to beat you!”
“You can’t beat me babe, I invented the game,” I replied. We then embraced and kissed, and then hand-in-hand, walked off into the crowd. We walked through the train station which is of course underground, and then through connecting tunnels and hallways that lead through all kinds of connected underground shopping malls – no, I’m not kidding. I’m now writing this from back inside – I am going to take a break from writing and go eat dinner that Sabby brought into my bedroom on a tray. Ok – I’m back now from eating. Usually eating strange new but very tasty exotic dishes, tonight I ate pizza, fried chicken, cole slaw, mashed potatoes, a roll and to wash it all down I drank a Coca-Cola! Yep, true. Ok – back to the story...
So Lily and I walked through this subterranean shoppers paradise and then popped out onto the street eventually — far away from the original train station. We walked into a small 7/11 store (yep, they even have those here), where Lily bought us both a drink — ice cold cans of “Chrysanthemum Tea,” and she also bought me a pack of Marlboro Lights ($6.70).
We then walked along the throngs of people on Orchard Road and came upon a band of Chinese Acrobats performing on the sidewalk. We sat down and watched them for a bit, commenting here and there of what we liked about their show and what not. Show being over, we headed on over to a Food Court, where she bought us both some “Carrot Cake.” What!!!??? Craig doesn’t like Carrot Cake! Right?
The first time I heard of carrot cake here, Lily & I were walking out of a nightclub — and she told me that she was “dying for some Carrot cake,” and that it was her “favorite.” Of course, I was a bit confused and surprised. I thought “Wow — They even have that stuff over here, but...
“You have some Lily. I’ll pass. I never really cared for that.”
She asked me if I had tasted it before and I told her that yes, they serve it in many different places in Atlanta, not to mention the entire U.S. She seemed quite surprised to hear this. Once we found a place that sold it, sat down and a plat was set before her – I then realized why Lily was surprised that we had it very common back home in the states.
What they call “Carrot Cake” here is actually a Chinese dish that has very little carrots and absolutely no Cake whatsoever! It’s actually wide egg-noodles with very thin strips of roast pork or beef and some diced carrots thrown in topped with a sweet soy sauce. Some things here are more than different – bordering on the “Eye-popping amazingly strange!” Anyway on this particular Saturday evening, Lily and I both ate carrot cake which now I can say that I really enjoy “Carrot Cake!” Crazy, eh?
By the way, it’s now 9:15pm and I am back outside – over at that Kopitiam that I mentioned earlier– continuing to write, now sipping coffee, having a smoke and watching the people around me, including the little Chinese kids clumsily roller-skating on the asphalt court next door that serves as a place for people to play badminton.
There are tons of people sitting, walking and milling about, most with smiles on their faces – regardless of how hard their day has been. Frequently I hear laughter as well. The sense of “Community” here is amazing. It has to be one of the main things that I really enjoy about Singapore.
Anyway – Saturday (Do I keep going in and out of this story or what?) after we had our carrot cake, we walked over to the corner of Orchard and Scotts Road, where the Shaw Center is. Funny thing about the Shaw Center is that it is named after the Shaw Brothers Corporation, who were the kings of Producing all the Chinese kung fu movies during the 1970’s – so I kinda freaked out when I found this out. We walked over to the clock tower on the corner and sat down, waiting for our friend to meet us there.
Tina is a friend of Lily’s whom I have gotten to know. Tina was born in Taiwan, then moved with her family to Singapore. She lived in Texas for a year to polish her English skills and then came back here, where she now lives with her mother and over-protective bro6ther. She is “dating” Tim, a 36 year old New Yorker stationed here in the Air Force, who has another girl friend in Malaysia and a wife and kids in Arizona... Tina, though, is also “dating” Christopher, a 35 year old German businessman here for work & also has a wife back home. She has told me that there was “No way in Hell” that she loves them – she just enjoys the benefits of their “relationships” until she is ready to find someone for “true love.” Although it sounds like she is a horrible person, I have come to know her; she is overweight, though nothing like Sabby, and Tina has a pretty face. She has a great personality and is very fun to hang out with.
