What an incredible Sunday. Well, for one thing, I was up almost all night Saturday doing guard duty at camp (which means I get to sit at the front desk of my building to guard from ‘intruders’. This is an extremely indignified part of army life which I will not dwell on), so come Sunday morning, I was not a pretty sight. Not sure what possessed me to decide to head out to Fort Road to try on the new wheels and bearings on my rollerblades, but I did.
The day was stunningly beautiful. The clouds were a combination of white puffy, cotton-wool, and wispy cirrus clouds which made wonderful S-shapes all over the sky. For the first time in a while, I could see the Indonesian islands to the south of Singapore, and all the ships that lay in the harbor (literally hundreds of them). It was a stunning sight, driving over the viaduct, to be greeted by this sight. It was a glorious morning.
The blades were treacherous. I not only changed the wheels and bearings, I also rockered them for the first time. Meaning the contact between me and the road was literally 2 points of plastic resin on each foot. It didn’t help that the roads were a little slippery from the morning dew and rain the night before…which meant I was slipping and sliding all over the place. I got my workout though….and it felt great.
In quick succession., this was the rest of the day. Home to take a quick shower and change, then off to Patrick Walsh’s for brunch (back at Fort Road)…he had a gorgeous view of the beach…and lots of people were there. Peter T, Alan S, Philip B, this wonderful French woman who makes it a point to go to all the Sleaze Balls and Mardi Gras she can (in Sydney)…bagels and cream cheese and fruit compotes and scrambled eggs with mimosas…YUMMY. After that (it was 3 by this time), I had to go pick up my friend Justin to rush to an art exhibition where my friend’s father was showing his sculpture. Spoke with him for a while, then off to Fort Canning Park for the annual Ballet Under the Stars. The Singapore Dance Theatre was putting up a series of excerpts…but seriously, the reason for all of us being there was to celebrate a series of three birthdays for our friends, Justin, Leena and Aamer (coincidentally all architects).
In another strange twist of events, I ran into 2 of the 4 super-butch girls I wrote about in my bio – which was a real coincidence considering I have not seen them since 1984. One of them is about to get married. The strange part was that they knew the people I was with. They were rather unfriendly, so I left them alone. The picnic was FABULOUS, with zuchini quiche, champagne, sandwiches, brie, pate, you name it, we had it. There were probably 20+ of us…with another 2000 people in the park What a great community get-together.
After the ballet performance, we stayed at the park, got drunk, gave each other massages, and played silly charades games. Very nice. Got home by midnight. Every day should be filled with so much fun.
Rant: It struck me during the ballet performance how much I dislike people who are cynical to the extreme. I was rather disappointed that some of my friends whom I would have greatly enjoyed the company of didn’t show up. They NEVER show up to anything I organise. They say that it’s not for them…but I know it’s because they no longer allow themselves to appreciate what’s around them, the culture, the people, the whole experience. We run the danger of becoming jaded so quickly, everything taking on the same grey hues…is life worth much then? Where is the quality of life? There is so much to love and enjoy out there…why spend one’s time hating what’s around us?