Yesterday I went out with a couple of new friends I made in Singapore to East Coast Park. It was my first time to be at the park and I just loved it. We went cycling and chilled out. I kept telling them how I wanted to return to the park and I did today.
I went back to the park on my own today. I just thought since this is my last week in Singapore I should have a bit more fun by getting to know better of the country. It was pretty struggling for me to figure out the right route to the beach from where I stay. I ended up going about 3 kilometers too far by bus from the right turn towards the beach. I changed my mind by cabbing. It took me one hour until I reached the beach (normally by cab it should take only about 15 minutes). At least next time I will know which bus stop I should get off at.
On the quite long bus journey, I just thought to myself how I was excited to go to the beach and what I would do there on my own. Suddenly, I remembered Wanda.
I met him when I was at 4th grade and he was at 5th grade. Not based on my vivid memory, I think we met first time at a mosque during either Friday prayer or Ramadhan month. I found out he lived just behind my house [I just moved house at the time]. I don't think I can say everything about how we spent our time together over here because there are just too much details. But basically, we were very, very close.
Here are only a few of things that we used to do together:
- We would go down to the sewer in the neighborhood to catch small fish and other animals from the water. We would do it almost everyday after school, although we didn't go to the same school. And the 'fun' part is we often saw some random man took shit in the small tunnel under the road. We would NOT touch the water that day!
- We would screw the goats away from our yard by throwing stuff to them -goats in our hometown were set free and they would go back to their owner by evening. They were not wild goats.
- We would go up to the hill behind his very house and slide down using a carton board by sitting on it.
- We would shout on the top of the small hill to people we thought we knew from the neighborhood by calling their name.
- I would ask him to enter an empty abandoned house on the top of the hill -although he often refused because he was scared by the house keeper (who was not always there to keep the house since the gate was always locked)
- We would cycle with other friends of ours.
... and here are a few things that probably made us so close and why he meant to me as my very close friend -who I've missed a lot:
- We would always go to the beach near my school every Friday just after midday to catch the tide before it went up to cover the sand. We would lay down on the sand and catch trapped fishes in the puddles, and some other animals in shell. We would also try to catch what we called 'flying fish' (they hop on the water surface as their way of escaping). We would spend the whole afternoon there before we went back home.
- We actually found my very first cat from that beach and he named it for me.
- When we got home from the beach we would bath together in his large bathroom. Not totally naked but we were quite shy. [Of course, nothing sexual at all!!]
- We would get confused where to keep the animals (mostly crab kinds) that we caught from the beach because our parents would not like to see them in the house! So, we often put them in a bucket and hid it somewhere. They always died (sorry, PETA)
- We then would spend some more time before evening by playing with his so many cats, playing badminton or going up to the hill.
- He taught me how to cycle. It was at a small badminton court.
- I saw my first porn with him and some other friends in his house.
- I had my first and last cigarette with him. It is cute how I remember we were so scared as if there were a lot of people that we had to hide behind someone's backyard fence.
- I played my first Atari and PlayStation with him in his house.
- We caught someone in his backyard trying to steal his bird pets IN the cage! -very big cage where 5 people could fit in it. We were so scared because we were only kids and it was an adult. Wanda saw the guy first and then he told me about it. I think I then told him to get inside the house and let the person go. We waited and the person went away. It was scary. Even now remembering it gives me slight goosebumps.
There are many, many other things that we used to do together in details.
Unfortunately, a few years later he left for another town and island where his sister lived to move school. I was shocked and upset. We didn't talk and I didn't even take him to the airport or visit his house before he left. I was at school when he left. Basically, we never really said goodbye.
One or two years after that, I thought I would give him a call. I got his home number from his mother who at the time still lived in my neighborhood. I called him and we talked. Of course, I missed him at the time. We talked quite long and enjoyed it. Very sadly... when the phone bill arrived at the end of the month, my father was shocked to see one phone call that stood out in the bill. The call I made cost about US$5. It is not much at all but somehow back then it was such a very expensive call, and I did feel bad for it because I was not aware of how much it would cost to make the phone call. Handphones and internet were not popular yet at the time. My father got really mad that he took a pen and wrote on the wall with very big letters "NO MORE PHONE CALLS". Basically, that was my last phone call with Wanda.
Many years flew. I went to uni. At the time I had a Friendster account. I actually found Wanda's profile. However, he wasn't an active member so he didn't reply to my messages. But I did see his photos in Singapore. I guess he was on holiday.
That was it. I never talk to him anymore. I don't even know where he lives now. But today I do miss him.
So, when I was on my way to the beach I thought about all these things. I would definitely take him to East Coast park beach and have fun with him again. We loved going to the beach. We loved it so much.
So, the first thing that I did on the beach today was this (using my very index finger):
I really wish he could have joined me to the beach today. We would cycle for hours again. We would find fish and other small animals. We would lay on the sand. We would laugh.
Yea, if I can find him on Facebook I will show him this very dedicated blog post.
Feels good to have written down all the thoughts that had been in my mind all day today.
I may not have so many friends like most people do but I do keep best friends -even there are only one or two.
Good night!
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