Long after a prince from the Srivijaya empire, believed to have Indian cultural influence discovered the place and spotted a lion, and named the place Singa Pura (Lion City) did a family of four from the same glorious land visit Singapore. The torso of a fish to the water spitting lion, turned out to be a modern creation designed in 1964 as a tourism symbol. Although, a lion-mermaid would have made an intriguing legend.
Well why did they wait so long, who knows. Destiny has an important role. Aren’t we all bound by these unseen shackles.
The stars aligned. Tickets and visas were done. We opted for Air India, primarily because of the cost, and not necessarily driven by the patriot in me. We saved some money. But maybe, next time I would add some luxury and premium experience too.
Maybe that’s important too.
The entry to the country was efficiently smooth. No long immigration lines, just a sleek passage where your passport and face were scanned and stored in the database. Visitors were allowed into the airport to welcome their guests. No waiting at the terminal gates. We spotted the familiar smiling faces and headed to them pushing our cart full of excitement.
We had a crowd waiting.
Hugs and kisses brought warmth in our hearts and tears in our eyes. It was nice to meet everyone after a long time. Hugs got our hearts close enough to feel the love.
The hug lingered.
There were many ways one could book a taxi. Gojek, Grab, Tada were few of the most used apps and comparison on each could help you get the best deal. We got our ride and we headed home.
We only had few days, which were to be amply filled with family time, touristy fun and just chilling. We did all of them in adequate measure.
First day we just chilled at home, sitting and chatting – catching up with each others life. Watching how we had changed and yet keeping a few things unchanged. In the evening we took a leisurely walk along the ECP. There were many on the same path, some on a run, some cycling, some just sitting on benches watching the sun set across the sea.
Each had their own thoughts as we all sat watching the same sun.
Next day was dedicated to the visit to the Gardens by the Bay. It wasn’t planned in detail, we just decided to go and figure it out on the go. And figuring on the go is what we did. We booked our tickets while cruising in the MRT, as it burrowed through tunnels beneath the immaculate city.
It was an immersive experience. Amidst a plethora of different species of the plant kingdom, we realised that we were not the prime inhabitants of the planet, which we so egocentrically believed. I wonder why we made all those stories of us saving the world from alien invasions when we were the worst threat to our own world. Well the lifelike dinosaurs of the Jurassic world tried to warn us through their lifeless eyes. Their mechanically active bodies of metal and synthetics seemed to come alive eerily.
They reminded us that they were wiped out by a comet. And we may not need a comet.
Next on our itinerary was the visit to the ‘Universal Studios’. A piece of land where dreams reside. It’s where movies come alive. That for me was a ‘bucket of lists’. I wasn’t more certain of anything else.
This I couldn’t miss.
We bought tickets online. The days of standing in a ticket queue are a matter of unnecessary nostalgia. However, now it involved meticulous research work, to get the best deal. The stated price on the website was no longer the gospel. The customer is the key and his/her/their attention is the product. So after comparisons of multiple screens that lay in waiting, we found it would be prudent to enrol ourselves into the tribe of KrisFlyers – a universe of Singapore Airline flyers which offers multiple deals on events and tours in all ports where Singapore Airlines touches down.
We were krisflyers now. We saved ourselves a few precious bucks.
Then was the next choice – Cab vs Rail (MRT). One being more direct and the other being cheaper. But it wasn’t economy that made us take the rail option, it was to do with travelling together. We were fourteen of us. A family trip.
We got ourselves a breezy cab.
We planned to have fun that day. Universal Studio didn’t disappoint us.
We were at the precinct of the Mecca of fun. We were very excited and a drizzle couldn’t dampen our spirits. Maybe it added to the excitement and brought the temperature down to tolerable levels.
There were ponchos available for some cost. We preferred to be wet. The streets were mostly covered so it turned out to be quite okay.
Our first destination was the ride which was on top of the my list. And going by the statistics, it would surely be the priority one for most of the people. So we headed to the venue riding on the sprinting feet. The ‘Transformers’.
We were lucky, we were the early birds. The line wasn’t long and 15 minutes wait at the ‘Transformers’ was like no wait at all. The wait, as we moved along the line, was full of excitement. We took pictures with every thing that could be taken picture with. We were already filled to brim with adrenaline as we reached the end of the line – the beginning of the ride. By allowing a few to move ahead of us, we managed to be in the same carriage which had three rows of four each.
The ride started and soon we were attacked by the Decepticons. We had no choice but to join the honourable Optimus Prime and the charming Bumble Bee in the fight of the good against the evil. It wasn’t easy, the fight was fraught with risk. We were driving like crazy through the virtual street felt so real, evading evil Decepticon, till finally the ride ended and we had won. Optimus Prime came and thanked us. We shouted ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.
Optimus Prime never understood the words. But he felt what we felt. We were now a team for life, beyond the man made borders.
If only it was all a video game.
We moved through maze of fun, tracing our path on a counter-clockwise path through the park. We teamed with Shrek and the Donkey and defeated Lord Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona. We even helped Steven Spielberg in making a movie.
The ‘Universal Studio’ turned into a world in itself. The waiting lines were getting longer as more people entered the same world, while nobody left. We were growing exponentially like the population. Each one was vying for the same product. The demand-supply curve skewed exponentially towards the demand while the supply remained constant.
The lines were measured with not the length, but the time. We didn’t require science to make explanation on interchangeability of dimensions. As it is, the dimensions were more psychological than mental. The lines were longer at the most desirable rides.
The day was closing, weariness descended in the collective minds of all that inhabited the place. Each one was dragging their feet and looking back before they stepped out through the same entry gate which had brought our enthusiastic self into this arena.
Just before we exited, we thought let’s take a chance and revisit the best part of time at the Universal’ – the ‘Transformers’ ride. As luck would have it and thanks to the almighty who answered our prayers promptly and substantially, the waiting time was just five minutes. We rushed through the zigzagging empty line, to quickly reach the ride once again. Optimus Prime showed no weariness, despite fighting the ‘Decepticons’ the entire day. But I could see a faint smile as his mechanical eyes and my 3D enabled eyes met. He was happy to see us back too.
We won over the evil again. We were the good guys.
We were so happy that we could relive the best part of our memories once again. It was just like going back and revisiting our happy moments. If only life could let us relive our beautiful moments.
My purpose was met. I exited satisfied.
No visit to Singapore can be complete without visiting the Merlion Park. The history seemed to be coming a full circle. The 28 feet high Merlion stood there silently as if transfixed in time. Trick photography created an apparent connection between the water spewing Merlion and the receiving visitors.
The spewing water spoke in many languages, everyone heard what they wanted to hear. Multiple ethnicities, multiple languages and skin colour merged into single human experience of the setting sun.
The day was coming to an end. So was our trip.
We had made beautiful memories.
What else is life, as we look back.
My Tales Within 