THE UNLIKELY BLOGGER: July 2014

As the title so aptly suggests, this post is about my JOURNEY from one point to another, thus making the final destination (stop thinking about the movie) quite irrelevant. Keeping this in mind, I step out the door on the morning of Hari raya and breath in the fresh air- crisp and cool. I close my eyes in order to assimilate my surroundings with my other senses. I hear the usual racket from the construction site next door and the smell of damp soil and tar reaches my nostrils. I inhale smiling. I think the Earth smells her best after a good rain.

My ever obliging and concerned friend, Pallavi accompanies me to make sure i don't get hopelessly lost and of course to keep me company on my long and treacherous mission.

And so it begins, We walk down the road leading to the MRT station (Patong Pasir) engaging ourselves in mindless conversation as we listen to the birds chatter loudly and the occasional 'whoosh' of a car rushing past. I am determined to make this trip worthwhile by experiencing it with all my senses heightened and attentive. But my determination gets momentarily side tracked as I spot a McDonald's ahead of me.

I decide that I need a break from the arduous fifty meter walk and I drag Pallavi who looks gives me the 'stay-focused-you-have-work-to-do' look into the small but cozy restaurant. As soon as I enter, the smell of freshly made pancakes and waffles hits me nearly making me drool.A second breakfast wouldn't be such a crime would it? We sit at a table for two in the corner. I look around and observe the stark red and orange walls with a bunch of quotes written on them. There's something about McDonald's that makes you feel at home. I don't know if its the food, the people, the ambiance or all three, so I lean back in my chair quite pleased with myself for making this pit stop. I order a stack of pancakes with maple syrup and extra whipped cream (Hey, I need to keep my energy up for the rest of the journey) and I demolish the stack in five minutes.

With my hunger sated (for the time being) we continue down the road and I enter the all too familiar station. I always thought of it as a silver box with a throng of people going in and out of it. I mechanically take out my card and place it on the sensor and I have no idea why but I always get excited when the barricade moves aside to let me pass. Maybe its because of the fact that I feel like the silver box has granted me access to its depths? Yes, I'm weird and NO, there's nothing wrong with that.

We wait patiently for the train that will take us towards Harbour Front. Pallavi and I have an animated discussion about how the music scene has changed so dramatically from the seventies (the golden era of music in my opinion). Music is something both of us live for and hence, there's never a boring conversation with Pallavi.

We board the train and find two free seats. The seats are pale bluish-purple with a band of cream yellow on the back rest. These seats are host to the bottoms of thousand commuters everyday. I feel a wave of sympathy towards the smooth plastic seats... Okay moving on, the sides of the train are plastered with colorful posters and adverts that you can't help but notice (that is, after all their solitary purpose). About a minute later we arrive at Farrer Park station. We disembark from our steel steed and walk towards the exit. As expected there is a huge crowd around the escalator. Pallavi and I contemplate using the stairs but quickly dismiss the idea simply because we're lazy and we're in no hurry.

We finally make it to the entrance and I have officially been regurgitated by the silver box. It is mid morning and the sun starts to unleash itself on us. After a bit of grumbling about the heat and how we could have been sitting in the cool comfort of our air conditioned home if we hadn't ventured out, we start walking aimlessly down the road.Traffic is pretty calm since its a national holiday. We keep walking making sure we remember every turn we make so we don't end up losing our way. But even if that were to happen we could always use this space age technology called the internet and find our way back. Just saying. But we didn't want to resort to that.

As we walked around, we noticed that the trees on either side of the sidewalk form a canopy so pedestrians are shaded by a huge green, all natural umbrella. It makes the path look like a beautiful boulevard. So obviously i whipped out my phone and clicked a quick picture. We continued to stroll along the road taking pictures of buildings that interested us and all the while talking about a plethora of things ranging from cake to capoeira. The air around us started to get humid as the day dragged on and before we knew it it was late evening and the sky took on a scarlet hue. We decided to head back feeling utterly spent. Who knew using all your senses could be this tiring..Hm..We manage to find our way back with relative ease and hop into the train back to Patong Pasir, narrowly slipping through the doors. Nothing like a near death experience to give an air of finality to a journey.

Before we know it, we find ourselves back at the Patong Pasir silver box. We walk towards our house but I suddenly realise that I'm famished, so I dutifully walk towards my McDonald's that seems to welcome me with open arms. Pallavi shakes her head but doesn't hide her amusement. We both order oreo McFlurries for ourselves and relish the cold ice cream against our parched tongues. My stomach purrs with satisfaction as i swallow the delicious desert. As we eat, we reflect on our journey and talk about finding beauty in things that aren't in plain sight. It all dilutes down to how you perceive things and open your mind to your surroundings. We leave satisfied and enlightened. We enter our house and I don't waste a moment to start blogging about my day. Mainly because I'll probably forget if i procrastinate.. Kidding. I really am excited to share my experience with whoever takes the time to read this.

To conclude, I would like to share a beautiful quote-"Don't just look, see. Don't just hear, listen. Don't just touch, feel. Don't just inahle, smell."

You never know when you could lose all these simple pleasures so enjoy it to the fullest.

Thank you,

Samyuktha Chandar