Back From Eat Wind

In late January, we bought tickets to KL because they were cheap. A couple of weeks later, we looked again to see if there were any cheap fares to another destination from KL and BINGO, we scored two 0 fare tickets.

We flew to KL on the 6^th of March with Air Asia. We arrived at LCCT very early in the morning around 1:30 am. Shortly after our arrival, we were forced to wait outside the airport for our next flight. This experience of waiting at the airport is not to be repeated anytime soon. People were sleeping on pieces of cardboard on the floor. Interestingly, a toddler was spotted sleeping on a mattress so new that it was still wrapped in plastic. Another lady was spotted sleeping with a facial mask on – it was hilarious. The sitting area was filthy. My Mum was fussing but I just surrendered and accepted the reality. What is a bit of dirt to compare to a possibility of becoming homeless/stateless if the foreigners really do take over Sabah?

People were allowed into the airport again shortly after 3 am but the shops were still not operating due to fogging. By 5 ish, I was not only sleepy but super hungry as well. Travelling with my Mum is quite tricky. Upon arrival at any airport, my Mum likes to turn the whole process into her version of a game show / competition. She has a need to race around like the plane is about to leave us behind and our future will be doomed forever. I learned from a young age to not moan about this. It is safest to just rush along with her like a fool. This time though, she was in such a hurry that she was ready to board before checking in our luggage. I kept quiet because I know that I am apparently stupid and inexperienced in such matters. We somehow managed to get everything done in time and had ½ an hour to watch Mr. Bean before actually boarding the plane.

It took less than an hour to reach our island destination. I had a window seat and got to see the island from up high. I saw the cargo ships heading presumably for the island in the same direction as us. I prayed quietly for a good time and I wasn’t sure if God would answer my prayer but I found out later that He had agreed.

I recognized Changi the moment we landed and I saw at least 6 Jet Stars waiting for passengers. As I was stepping out of the plane, I told myself, “This is it, P. Say goodbye to dirt for now because Singapore is pretty much dirt free.” Cynical me wasn’t too convinced. Memories drifted back as soon as I saw the travelators because it was from Changi’s Terminal 1 that I used to fly to Australia or wherever. This time I fell instantly in love with the sign boards above each section of the travelator indicating “Keep Left”. I love such ‘rules’ because it keeps things moving smoothly. I was set to stick to any rules until I was queuing for my passport to be stamped. My Mum doesn’t like to queue unless if it is absolutely necessary. She pushed me to a shorter line but I didn’t protest because I was still blindly in love with those ‘Keep Left’ signs. As it turned out, the shorter line was for the crew and I got told off by the Malay officer for not reading the screen. It was downright embarrassing because although I am from Sabah, I am literate.

We took the MRT to get to Chinatown. As we approached Payar Lebar, I saw footpaths outside buildings and I was even more instantly in love. They were similar to the style of footpaths in Melbourne. I was thinking, “The authorities are very considerate in providing such footpaths.” Singaporeans are obviously not too posh to be seen walking. The journey on the MRT was quite packed. I observed the people around me and they seemed to mind their own business. They weren’t staring at me like I was some kind of a freak.

I was wide awake by the time we got to Chinatown. We went to look for my Mum’s friend living near People’s Park Complex. We caught a cat’s nap after breakfast. After we got up, we went to look for a particular branch of OCBC and I saw a row of really fancy looking Mercs and Bimmers. I haven’t seen cars like that for a long time. Once we got the banking done, we were off to Vivocity in a taxi. On the way there, I caught my first sight of Pinnacle @ Duxton. The reason that we were going to Vivocity was to visit Toys’R’Us and Build a Bear Workshop. If anyone is looking for Schleich animal figurines in Singapore, I could tell you now that the Toys’R’Us store at Vivocity stocks them. At BABW, I was hoping to buy a t-shirt with a Merlion printed at the front for my Mascot (K) but they didn’t have any. As we were both hungry, we ended up having fish and chips at a place looking quite similar to a place in KK. The shop turned out to be Fish & Co and there really is one in KK. Also while we were at Vivocity, I got the opportunity to point out a Kompan Supernova to my Mum at the playground. I didn’t get to demonstrate how it works because there were a couple of expatriate children playing nearby. Their Mummy might feel terrorized if I barged in (without kids) and accidentally bust their security bubble. There was also a big Daiso hiding inside Vivocity. Everything is SGD $2 and they have stuff that are not available here in KK.

We moved out after just one night in Chinatown. We slept well probably because we were dog tired. I do admit that I was more than a little unnerved by the pieces of paper scrolls dangling at the front door. They were for warding off evil spirits. We were simply too sleepy to even realize if any spirits visited during the night.
 

Note: The Hakka slang 吃 风 means to take a holiday. It literally translates into English as Eat Wind. The Malay slang for this is Makan Angin.