There was a poem on people we meet and sometimes you only get to meet them once in your lifetime. I didn’t think much of it until Matt left us this morning. He has very much become a part of our lives during his 25 days stay here. Besides considering his needs in our daily plans, we got my best friend (‘cookie pie’) to show him around here a bit, involved him in our church’s small group outing, got my dad to buy him durian and yang’s mom made him curries twice. His leaving us once more this round left me with a tinge of sadness. But darling said he was certain he’d be back soon. I hope that Banquet’s prata would still be holding out till he returns.
Sob story aside, so what was this ang mo like during his stay in Singapore – the gateway to Asia? He walked his calories away! He would walk to anywhere if he could! He travelled on foot from Rivervale to Hougang / Buangkok / Seng Kang MRT stations even when he could have taken a shuttle bus service. He walked from Ang Mo Kio to Upper Thomson Road’s Casuarina Curries to have his prata fix after eating A-star duck rice. On evenings, he would hop over to Punggol Park for a few rounds of brisk walking to dissolve the fats of dinner. He even contemplated to walk from Tampines Mall back to Rivervale (Seng Kang) after a super-heavy Din Tai Fung’s dinner. So if you felt as if there were lightning flashes out of nowhere, it was probably this white ang mo zipping through the streets of Singapore.
Now our ang mo friend is a devout foodie and a true adventurer. He stopped at nothing. Like a cyclone, he devoured everything in his path. Although nothing was spared, he brought smiles to all cooks/chefs at foodcourts, hawker centres and restuarants. His camera would go ‘click cluck…click cluck…’ before he reverently consumed the delicious dishes set before him. If you see him shooting at the name of the stall/restaurant, you knew that he approved of the cook. Sometimes, he would also compose a cheer for the stall!
Matt is a funny guy and sees the humour in the hum dum of life at large. He cracks at almost everything and paints people with a comical streak. Funny people often endear themselves to those around them. I admit that I’m one of ‘those’. :D And strangely enough, comical events tend to revolve around such funny characters too. For example, on his arrival at Changi Airport, his luggage has been mis-routed to Timbuktu and he was given S$120 to tide over his temporal inconvenience…incredible as the whole thing was (given that this is Singapore Airlines we were talking about) we had fun poking at the whole incident. Another funny incident happened recently too. He almost couldn’t clear the Malaysian border as he swam at Tioman with his passport in his pocket. A few customs stamps were totally washouts!
So Matt, the pleasure has been all ours to have you over at Rivervale-aka-a smaller dot in the red dot. We adore you, Matt. Till we meet again, take care and send our love to all your loved ones.
P.S. You know, I believe you missed your home at a subconscious level. The starry night skies? The plentiful trees and lush greenery? And where your loved ones are, that’s where your home is. :)
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