1978, a good year!

The news of our presence traveled fast in Singapore and one of my dad's colleague from office told another one in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). So, we got invited for a short visit to KL. We booked seats in a train entering into Malaysia from Johor Baru. The train ride was cozy. Sightseeing all the way. Malaysia, back then was not as structurally developed as Tokyo, Hong Kong or Singapore, but it was clean, green and on it's way to become one of the most important business hubs in Asia.

We were greeted at the station by my father's friend, we reached his house in a white Mercedes Benz, it was a good place. Our stay was brief in KL, I don't have much about it in my memory bank, so we'll skip this one and move on.

Our trip was coming to an end now and our return flight was from Singapore to Karachi. This was the only trip we had together as a family. Later on, we all had our separated trips, but not together.

Summer of 1978 was great for me. I saw Tokyo, Singapore, KL and stopping over at Beijing and Hong Kong. We brought back many souvenirs, some of which are still with me....... like the Red Crab (mentioned in my last blog post!).

And after 35 years, I still have my tickets with me!

These are archived documents, recently de-classified....... you have my permission to view them!               (ha ha .... just kidding)

Oh my God! I am lost!

During our stay in the Singapore, one evening, my dad gave me a task, he asked me to go down to the reception  and fetch a copy of the news paper. Now, this was a mammoth task for a 8 year old. This meant, go out of the room, push the elevator button, get inside, go down, fetch the paper, come back to the room. As simple it sounds, believe me, for me it was not. This assignment also involved speaking in English…… this last bit was icing on the cake. Oh man! ….. My English speaking skills were not good at that time so I struggled a lot in communication.

My dad could have called to the reception and asked for the paper be delivered, but he wanted me to go down and fetch it. He wanted me to have some fun, some experience.

So, very reluctantly but obediently I got out of the room, reached the elevator door, pushed the button. Waited. Then the doors opened. It was empty. I went in and pushed a button.  I was short and the button panel was a bit high and I couldn’t clearly see the up or down button. I just pressed a button. Very soon it dawned on me that I have pressed the wrong button. As the doors opened I was in front of  a huge hall …….. pitch dark. Not a single light was on. I realized I had reached top floor of the building (one less from the roof top). I was scared. Alone. Didn’t know what to do. I took a step out of the elevator and looked left and right, the doors started to close and I immediately jumped inside, breathing heavily, “Oh My God! I am lost!”. Before I could press a button, the elevator started descending. I was nervous. After a short while, the doors opened, entered 3 gents, one was wearing hotel staff uniform. He asked me where I wanted to go, I was quite, I understood what he had said, I pointed downwards.  All three of them looked like giants to me, looking at them from the height of an 8 year old, they surely looked like giants.

We reached, the ground floor, I ran towards the reception, got the paper, and was on my way back. This time, I did not push the button, I waited, when few people gathered to go up, I simply tagged along. When asked which floor I wanted to go, I simply gave out the floor number.  Relieved…. Man! This time no mishaps. As the door of the elevator opened, there was my dad! Standing there……. With fire in his eyes!

No, he was not angry, rather he got worried. This round trip was 15 minutes long. I was very scared that I will hear some music but that was not the case. He simply wanted me to gain some confidence and he trusted all his children and gave them ample opportunities to explore their surroundings and circumstances.

This might seem a simple task but it turned out to be a huge learning for me. A learning of a lifetime. Main lesson of this experience, don’t panic and keep your wits about when you are in a tough situation.

 

Since that event, I have faced much difficult situations while traveling abroad, but I have held on to my wits and nerve. I owe it to this little adventure in Singapore.

  

Penguins in the freezer!

I remember Singapore for it’s cleanliness, parks, blue colored ice cream, the fines and …………., Penguins in the freezer!  

While writing this I am laughing at my own thoughts, it was my first time ever to see 32 flavors of ice cream all in different colors and all at one place. Blue colored ice cream really caught my attention.  Back home, Vanilla and Chocolate were the only ice cream flavors available in shops and looking at a bonanza of flavors right infront of me hypnotized me. I wished I could have all of them. J

Beautiful, neat and clean, Singapore. It was an interesting city back then and today it has even surpassed it’s own set standards. The good thing about Singapore is that it has a lot to offer to everyone.

We visited the Botanical Garden, Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Zoo and a Crocodile Farm. At the Zoo, the funniest and most astonishing were the Penguins. Why? Because they were in a freezer. Well, not  exactly as a freezer, but in a temperature controlled glass room. I remember I refused to budge from that place, it was my first time looking at the Penguins in front of me. Lovely creatures!

The Bird Park was so noisy, especially near the naughty parrots! It was beautifully designed and really a good treat for a kid whose local Zoo did not have that many creatures.

Did I mention that we had a ride in the cable car too?

The Singapore Cable Car provides an aerial link from Mount Faber on the main island of Singapore to the resort island of Sentosa across the Keppel Harbour. Lovely views and a really good experience.

 The food……. Lovely! In Tokyo we struggled a bit, but here, we had the option of Indian cuisine.

It’s been a long time since I had this trip, I want to go back and explore Singapore again especially now when I have a colleague from work place to assist me. Charleston Yong, a good friend and a charming person. 

As I mentioned in my earlier blogs, I am trying to get hold of the photos of this trip. So far I have looked all the known places, but no luck. But for the benefit of my audience, I am sharing the links of places I remember visiting, you can explore at your leisure.

http://www.birdpark.com.sg/

www.sbg.org.sg

www.zoo.com.sg

www.singaporecablecar.com.sg/