Had lunch at Lerk Thai. Hiding in the shade of PoMo, away from the angry sun. 2 tables away, a pair of middle-aged women was talking loudly. Ok, only 1 of them was doing most of the talking.
X: You know hor... My son ah... He decorated my house so nicely. He did *this* and *that* and *this* and *that*...
Y: Very rare for young people today to be so attentive... You are very lucky.
X: Yes, and you know hor... I wanted to go work part-time at ABC. You know lah... I have not worked for 8 years... And you know what the manager told me? He said he would pay me $2000.
Y: Fwah! $2000 not bad what!
X: I told my husband and he told me he will give me $2000 to stay at home. He says it's not worth it.
Y: Fwah! You are so lucky!
X: You know hor... Blah blah blah... And the conversation went on and on for the 45 minutes I was there, with X doing most of the talking really loudly and showing-off how great her life is, while Y does the 'fwah! fwah!'. I thought I heard my tom yum soup laughing. A perfect pair of 'friends'.
Usually, I would catch a film at the Cathay, but I decided that there is nothing worth my attention today. So, I chose a rather dangerous activity to indulge in for the afternoon. I went shopping.
Because it was so hot, I couldn't make it from PoMo to Somerset on street level. I took the MRT. 1 stop.
313@Somerset is an inviting shopping centre. The layout is simple and logical. Once you get out of the station, you feel a 'sense of purpose'. The retail mix is credible. Probably spent some 1.5 hours there. It was comfortably filled with people. Not too few to make you wonder if something is wrong, not too many to make you feel claustrophobic.
Orchard Central (OC), on the other hand, is D-E-A-D. The mostest dead-est part of the OC is its B1. If I were not looking for a way to get to CentrePoint, I would not have even attempted to look for the OC basement. Even the ferns growing out of the basement walls are dying. I remember Liew Mun Leong of Capitaland was quoted in the papers rather bluntly that there were some lousy malls along Orchard Road earlier this year. I think he was refering to the OC by Far East Organisation and OCBC. O_o
Another really lousy mall is Iluma. The concept sounds good on paper. An urban entertainment centre for the young. Shopping, arcade, food, clubbing etc. But the design and execution didn't do it any justice. And the cinema attempt called Film Garde never fails to disappoint. We were there for Shrek Forever After last Friday. Once the credits started to roll, the lights came on and this attendant in front of the screen started to flash his torchlight at the audience. WTF??
Our one-stop supplies-shopping mall has always been Great World City. Been going to GWC since it opened during my uni days in the late 1990s. It used to be the best place to catch a movie because one could avoid the kids. Not anymore. Regardless, it's still a convenient supplies-shopping destination with ample parking provisions.
These days, we sometimes head for City Square Mall. We like this shopping centre by CDL very much. It's very clear that a lot of thought has gone into the concept, design and excecution. Its 'eco' theme is not cheesy, but in fact rather practical. Of course, the retail mix is just nice for the middle class family with many food choices. The education 'hub' sitting on top of the mall is a clever draw. I just wish the NTUC could stock its outlets a little better. NTUC stuff only looks cheaper because they are smaller in weight/volume/quantity. Ajumma talking...
I digress...
So, after the OC, I used the basement link and made my way to CentrePoint. Walked around a little. I like going to Robinsons... not because of the stuff on sale... But because it reminds me of my late aunt. We shopped for my secondary school graduation dress together in Robinsons. I still remember the exact spot where the white dress suit was hanging.
Eventually, I made my way to the last stop... Cold Storage in CentrePoint. Bought some fresh stuff for dinner. So... there I was with bags of groceries... Home is at least 1.5 MRT stations away... I stood near the taxi stand and wondered if I should walk home, take a cab, or walk back to Somerset MRT station. My aching feet didn't help with the decision-making. I had this nagging feeling that the cabbie will be nasty towards me for such a short ride. Somerset MRT station was so faraway!!
In the end... Having weighed all the pros and cons... I took a bus. And gosh!! I thought the fish I bought would stink up the bus... But the bus proved to be more overwhelming... The bus was chilled with dank air and it smelt worse than my fish. I don't remember the aircon buses smelling half as bad back when I used to take hour-long bus trips to and fro school and home.
As I was wondering how long I could hold my breath and whether I could make it to my stop alive, the phone rang... It was an overseas call! =_= I had to take the call amidst the cacophony of the bus, its contents, its smells, its chaos... Not to mention struggled to get off the bus whilst still on the phone... Should have taken the cab. =_=
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