A long Weekend

A long weekend


My Roommate VJ and I took sides when it came to weekend outing. VJ always maintained that I was the one stopping him from any weekend outing. I was always called the weekend Dozer. Certainly, I would not be the first one to concur.

Cometh a weekend, I stay in the bed for longer time than usual, whining to get up like a kid going to school. The bull of a man that VJ is is equally not awake till I am sleeping.
The real shot in the arm came last Saturday, when I went to Sentosa proving VJ that I was not the one to be blamed for both of us to be bloating around in the house. That is when an ordinance was passed in the house. The decree was to get away from home on at least on Saturdays if not on Sundays.

One such weekend was fast approaching and this time around it had a dividend of an extra day – Good Friday. It was planned on Wednesday by VJ and “no” “hurry” Hari to go on for trekking to Mac Ritchie Nature Trail. There were two others to join us – Thiyagarajan and Nirmal.

VJ did all the research on the Internet relating to the trekking. Fascinated by the photos on the website, I was looking forward to the ambiguous experience.

It was Thursday, the weekend had started early for us. VJ was trying to reach me on the phone in the evening. My evenings are usually loaded with 2 hours in the gym. I would not be available to answer any call during that time. VJ and Hari kept on pinging and I was not around to pick the call. They were planning for a movie – A vantage point or 10000 BC. But, I did not pick until the movie was about to start. I ended up going home and VJ came back an hour later after meeting his friend.

The day next started around eleven thirty in the morning. We slept until the crow croaked in our ears. It was Good Friday. VJ had plans of going to the Bethesda Cathedral nearby to render his prayers. I decided to join him and it was only .5 km from home and VJ felt like he was walking for eternity. By the time we reached the cathedral, it was closed for the day and would open for a drama sequence and service around seven in the evening.
We did not want to accept the defeat and we ventured to another church near my office. We took a taxi and yet another defeat. VJ would not agree to any such defeats. VJ is a swift walker; I was struggling to keep pace with him. We eventually succeeded third time, whoever said 3 is unlucky, I would repudiate. At the break of twilight, we got out of the church; we were out from the spiritual mindset as well.

We were hungry by the time we came out from the house of Worship. We had to choose between early dinner and munching snacks. We chose the former. VJ was insisting on taking sandwiches for the trekking for he had the belief that it would keep us going and will not stall us for any biological reasons. I did think it did not make sense to me.
We had to get some bread slices, tomatoes, cheese and cucumber for preparing sandwiches.


VJ was in elements to prepare the sandwiches for the next day. He ended up preparing 30 sandwiches for 5 of us. He spread the cheese on the inside of the slices and stuffed tomatoes and cucumber between them. I was not sure how many he would have had in between the preparation. We decided to watch the movie thillu-mullu, which we did and ended up in the bed around 2 in the morning. I had set the alarm to ring @ 6:30 in the morning.

The next day, I woke up @ 7:00 in the morning and the alarm was like buzzing and our man snoring was equal to the alarm. Infact, he ended up bettering the alarm. I woke him up and as usual he had the strange expression like someone is leaving for work and he can stay in the bed for some more time. Remember, I was called the weekend Dozer. It is always better to be the underdog.

We got ready by eight o clock and Hari would take a cab and would pick us up on the way. We waited for a cab to approach us with Hari in it. Meanwhile, Hari had in fact taken a bus to reach our place. We took a Cab and reached Novena MRT Station on time.

We met Nirmal, Thiyagu – tall, lanky guys – and gymmers who never went to Gym. We all took a bus to Mac Richie Reservoir and none of us were sure where to alight the bus and which way to walk. The bus driver had told us a stop later that we had to alight at the previous stop. We thanked the driver for the courtesy. Our lips stretched to give him a thankless smile. We were at fault for not knowing the details. The walk to the nature trail started a wee-bit earlier and a place it should not have started.

We reached the starting point of the Denia trail around 10 a.m. I was the one best attired for trekking and also the odd man out. All others were in Jeans. To the contrary, we were the only people with full trousers and t-shirts on. All others were in two pieces practicing kayaking. It was a regular jogging spot for most of them. Rests were the five who came for trekking. Photo sessions started with a big reservoir in the forefront and a infinite number of trees occupying the background.

We entered the Petia trail which was the starting point. We had two sandwiches each and were ready for the walk. It started with a 2 meter wide pavement covered both side by bushes in the foreground and tall, huge trees in the back ground.

I was not willing to risk a thorn in my flesh for a snap. So we carried on to walk through the path laden by leaves and small stones which would never sprain our ankles. It was the same throughout the initial two kilometers. There were few spots which we felt like fit enough to capture, which we did, but my idea of a nature trail walk was completely was far from being fulfilled. I thought there would be trees of varying sizes which were there but had no fruits or flowers in it. So there was no profusion of colours, only green and brown. Brown represented the dead and dried leaves while green was representing the fittest of leaves hanging to the tree trunks and branches.

It was time for breakfast, though not tired; the humid, sultry weather with no air was enough to make us perspire. The irony was we were surrounded by trees and we were sweating. Clouds were gathering to sing in chorus. The passage was not getting any narrower nor was it widening. It remained the same throughout.

Each one of us stuck different postures for the camera. Not much fun this time with the camera as there were no brilliant colour combinations of flowers on the trees only green and brown. Nor did we wear dresses which were striking colours which were fit to be captured by the camera. I was getting so obsessed with striking poses for the camera that every nook and corner I made sure I was on the camera either alone or in a combination.

We walked closed to 7 km till we reached Venus trail and it was time for lunch and refreshments. We had Pulao prepared by Hari and thanked him for the lunch and started again when rain belted down for the next 15 minutes.

HSBC tree top talk was as close as 1 km as per the hoarding. But the 1 Km never seemed to be over. I believe we would have walked close to two times the distance mentioned and still we were a Km away from it. Looked like, a replica of the same board was hung at different places. Our eyes took us to the board nearby which said its only 100 meters away. But, then the same story, we ended up walking another kilometer into a lane which took us to the tree top.

The bridge was suspended with wire cables to a focal point. It was about 250 meters in length made of heavy, squared metal plates with pores that were enough to see through the bottom of the trees 500 meters below. The width of .83 meters was not enough room for one person to come back in the opposite direction. It was one way. If you miss a chance of taking a snap, you miss it forever, atleast I had no intention of walking back 3 km to get into the bridge. Even though VJ found it a picturesque to click a few snaps, I walked my way through the bridge because I could no more tolerate the disgusting odor while walking on the bridge.

I was at one side of the bridge, whilst on the other side the boys were smiling like Cheshire cat who had smelt loads of cheese nearby. A voluptuous female had garnered their attention. She was into their eyes and was let out by the boys. No wonder, they were taking their time to take pictures. The one way bridge served them two purposes – one they could restrict the movement of the people (in this case that of the female) and second posing in style so very enthusiastically to get the attention of the female.

I was waiting for close to ten minutes when VJ appeared in the vicinity and had asked me if I was scared of heights. I said not, and then he started going gaga over the female. I thought I missed an opportunity of a peek at the female. But then, we all assembled and took a group photo and also took time for the blonde haired gal to near us. Man, she was awesome. She went ahead, while we were resting and posing again for the camera. We were to walk another 7 kms to reach the Mac Ritchie reservoir. By the time, we got out of the HSBC tree top walk to a place which was the focal point to start our way back home or head to the Mac Ritchie reservoir walk. Nirmal was too tired for the Mac Ritchie reservoir walk; we had no choice other than to head home. The blonde female went the other way and even that was not inspirational enough for these guys. All were ready except for one. We walked back to the Venus trail yet another 3 km from there and took a taxi and headed to Yishun for a movie. Half the distance covered, it started raining again and no movie to start in the next two hours. We headed home.

The next day was spent with muscle aches and aches in the heart that we missed a golden opportunity to have not seen more of the girl JJJ

Indeed, a long weekend, about 15 kms on the trot for nothing except the beauty you could have seen anywhere in this country.

A Travelogue

The previous day the clouds were lingering all around the city of Singapore threatening to play spoilsport quite similar to portraying my mindset about the next day. As usual, I was not much keyed up to going to Sentosa the next day.

I knew I was a little slapdash with things I own. I was not keen on taking VJ’s camera for the next day. I am a little meticulous on taking other’s gadgets for that would make me more conscious, cautious rather than being myself i.e. happy-go-lucky, carefree.
I knew the next day would be full of fun for my mates as garrulous as what I am.

My partners for the fun-filled day – 1. A senior most person who I was looking up to during my days in ACES – Mr. Bonny Rodriguez – a gentleman, as cool as a boss can be (though you can never see him bossing around for he is the most warm, light hearted and respected by one and all who knew him)

2. A lucky lad to have worked under the gentleman – Prakas – Man you will realize the meaning later on…he certainly is a man of guts!!!! Is not he the most garrulous guy I have met??? I have to list and weigh up all my options before I can rank him. He is a pal to be with. He will make the laughter muscle expand to the fullest (if there is one).

3. Mrs. Vidhya Prakas - A bubbly, caring junior from my school and mother of a cute little 1.5 year old babe – Dhwani. I can call her my sister.


The day started with a “Sreeman Narayana” alarm ring tone waking me up from the dreams. Immediately, I look at my unfolded right hand and chant mantras to delight the god and request him to grant me an excellent day ahead. I think he did grant me that wish. After all the cleaning up activities I set off for my first outing in Singapore after just over six months stay in Singapore. I thought of waking up VJ, but I had to refrain as I felt poor guy deserved some sleep for the frenzied and horrible week he had had. The break would do him a world of good.

I felt I missed my Olympus SLR way too much that day (but the thought it remained in better hands threw rest to my brains and I didn’t bother to think about it after that). I had my Polaroid with me. The thought that I can click more photos with the sunglasses on began to die down in me. My brother bought these sunglasses for me. I was a bit emotionally attached to it for that reason. I did a fast early morning jog to catch the bus to the Metro station. I hated doing anything fast in the morning (except for cricket where I would run all the day be it while batting or bowling). Thank god I was not sweating like a pig when I got into the bus. The driver ably took the bus to the MRT in just over two minutes.

I met all the three and half people in the train. My Girlfriend (the cute little babe) was looking as cute as she was always does.

The babe did not recognize me for sometime as one she knew. The little brain would have named me an ‘ALIEN’. By the time we reached the destination to catch another train, I was no alien to her, she recognized me. After reaching the final destination – Harbor Front, I did chance my image with the goggles on. To my surprise I was presentable as a bachelor. Kudos to the Polaroid.

We booked for all the shows on display in the little Island of Sentosa. Bonny purchased the tickets using his credit card which none of us except Bonny were happy with. But that’s how he is and that’s how wonderful the man is. We took the cable car which although was not touching the clouds but was fit to throw some Acrophobia in me.

The sky was as clear as the middle of the ocean without any waves. The sun shone at its elegant best which is what we had wished. Had it been a rainy day the cable cars would have been abandoned in favor of the mono-train. Even though the mono-train was as unique a train could be it garnered no attention when the cable car was its extensive best roping in people to Mount X the name which I did not care to read or remember. The clear day made it more plausible for us to view the city of Singapore from around a height of 500 meters from the ground. Even though, I was acrophobic, it did not deter me from enjoying the bird’s eye view of the city Singapore with Skyscrapers on one side, sea and on the other side the reflection of the sun light glittering on the sea and a few cruiser ships heavily anchored and banked on the shores made it scenery worth remembering. No camera can purchase the beauty displayed by the city. It was picture perfect to me that no cameras can captivate because the camera can only cover only side as the capacity of its grasp is much lower than the eyes.

The venerable gentleman clad in a jean and collared T-shirt, the smart and kind couple adorning the attire that suited the trekking, and the man with the Polaroid sunglasses (yours truly) had some breakfast – home made dosas with some onion chutney…yummy…had stomach full. Meanwhile, the Barbie made friends with elderly couple.

The man with Polaroid (yours truly) by then had acquired an Englishman hat. Though the price was not exorbitant, it did make me look good. At least I believed so!!

The places to visit and which can be deferred were all well-thought out by Vidhya as she had visited the place more often than anyone in the group of four.


We entered the world of butterflies, beetles and all types of insects and reptiles. The colours worn by the butterflies were really unique with each one having its own pattern. The beautiful colour combination enlivened the faith in me that god can create creatures more beautiful than the human beings. Unfortunately human beings can boast of six senses but cannot definitely stand looking good with six colours on their body. Indeed, god created these beautiful beings for us to dwindle down from being called as the superior race and to make us aware of our limitations.

Then the photo session began with captivating the multiple colours of the butterfly on to a small lens which only can capture when clicked on and not like the eyes that can capture an image instantly though cannot display it as good as the camera does. The images my eyes captured still rest in my brains which have been rusted through out my stay in Singapore.


The next place to visit was the 4-D animation movie theatre. Fifteen minutes to go before the movie started, yet another photo session, that’s when I last saw the Polaroid both on the camera and also in reality. The venerable gentleman, vidhya and I entered the cine hall. Prakas was parenting the Barbie as she was asleep and as such kids were not allowed inside. I thought that the goggles were inseparable from me. The thrill of watching the 4-D movie made me to forget the world around me. With the movie coming to and end, I did not realize my stint with the Polaroid also over. I had lost it somewhere in the Cinema hall. I could not take it. I ran a frenzied search for the Polaroid. Then, realized no two things can be bonded for long time. I had the mental aberration just for the initial 5 minutes from the time I realized I had lost it but then life had to move on and I did not want to play a spoilsport to the fun scheme of things. I wished I could see the images of the world through the Polaroid once more but then the damage was done. No glasses to cool down my eyes from the heat waves belted down to the ground by the biggest star in the universe.

I hate to say it – should I not admit I would definitely be a hypocrite, hence I admit I fear snakes and I am good at a distance of say a kilometer from where these reptiles are. I know people can go gaga over their courage, I would admit I was not courageous enough to capture them even on the camera - Prakas the man had two pythons (only snake species I knew to be huge) probably of 6 meters shouldered on him. I was scared to irritation and was very amused with the courage shown by the father of the Barbie. Meanwhile, Barbie was like the Alice in Alice in Wonderland. She was in her own world in the pram. Nothing can wake her up from the sleep.


We entered the underwater world, found varieties of fishes from 5 pounds to 1000 pounds habituated to the water. Some lazy bums resting on the glasses to the fiercest sharks with teeth I think that can crush any bone to crumbs. Camera was useless I thought, indeed they were, and they could not capture the beauty rendered by the species of fishes habituating the blue tinted water in one photo. God reigns supreme in the art of creation.


After witnessing the pleasing sights I had had in my life ever, the masculine gender went for racing on the luge bicycles while the feminine was feeding farex to the Barbie. The way we rode the luge were captured by the camera ready to snapshot the driver halfway through the drive but not my sulking of losing the Polaroid. I thought the cap made me look good with the sunglasses on. If people did not feel it, I felt it that way.

Time for Lunch – Our stomachs had started the music and we had to energize ourselves to keep us moving. We gobbled up a half-foot long sandwich each matching our taste.

We are yet to witness dolphin show. That was on the cards post lunch. The free shuttle service took us to the lagoon where a huge board dangling at the entrance says “dolphins meet humans”. Who ever thought only superior humans can mock other human beings, animals - take this, Dolphins imitated the sharks. Would you believe it? It is something I would cheer and even OZ and Symonds would like this. What took me by amusement was that the dolphins can understand human commands like a single whistle meant something and a double whistle meant something else and so on and so forth.
The energy that the Dolphin requires to come from the water to the balloon dangled 4 meters above water made me think it was superhuman for energy. Several bikini babes shot at least a photo with the dolphins. One such bikini clad lass was named “Bo Derek” by one of masculine genders amongst us. Take a guess.

There was a hoarding – “MOVE’N’PICK”. Wow!! I thought. It was prime-time for some Ice creams. I was terribly bored by the usual Banana Split I had in Chennai or Delhi. So I thought I would order 2 scoops of Maple Walnut and Stracciltella. Ice cream did not cool me and I was still remembering the loss of Polaroid. The combination I chose was the worst while others were licking their interest. I vowed not to have a straccitella anytime in my life.

The next item on the itinerary was the Merlion – a huge Lion faced, fish bodied structure which symbolizes the name Singapura accorded by the King who found this beautiful city. There was an animated movie to justify the fact that a king named this city after the Lion which looked after the island until the king laid his foot on it. It was a huge statue, but we did not like to spend too much time there.

We still had 2 hours to spend before the start of the show “Songs of the sea”. VJ who was here 2 times did not get a chance to see the show as tickets were sold out. I somehow had the impression that this would be like any other laser beam show. I was not going to be impressed to any degree.

We stood in the queue for just over half-an hour. I was game for another round of Ice –creams but was the only one game for it. Barbie doll impressed all the people in the queue and the employees of Sentosa. She shook hands with just over dozen employees from Sentosa. Then, the queue started to move and we found place for ourselves to watch the show.

The show would start after it becomes dark. Meanwhile there were small hut-like constructions on the banks of the sea. They were watered continuously by some water sprayers which were not visible to the naked eye.

It was time to witness the spectacle which I never thought would be like what it was. A laser beam show and there was no screen for the lights to get reflected and design themselves into an image. Instead, it was water springing up from the bottom of the hut sized constructions when required to match the beam hitting the water to display an image.

Half a dozen artistes explored the vacant land between the seating area and the hut-like construction. To conquer the attention of people from different countries assembled there, the artistes sang songs in different languages. Honestly, I could not make out until Vidhya told me that a Tamil song is being sung. That was fine. It was adding to the excitement. Boom, then came the first image of “Princess AMY” and I was spellbound to see the laser beams reflecting an image on the sprayed water screen. It took my attention and I was not going to miss a single second of the show from now on. Different comic characters including g the OSCAR were displayed on the show. A beautiful story line – Charmed by Lee’s sweet voice the image of “Princess AMY” appears and disappears in a split-second. Lee falls in love with her only to be told by OSCAR that only his song can wake up the Princess from the penance like sleep. He sings for the second time and that empowers the fire god. There is display of a fire like water colored by the laser beam exploding from the ground just ahead of us. It really looked like the fire but it was not to be. Then, came the turn of the sea god who gets herself empowered by the charm of Lee’s song. There is a brilliant display of lights. I was speechless and spellbound by then. At last the Princess wakes up to song of Lee. Accompanied by breathtaking music, it was an enchanting experience in itself. You have to live it to believe it.

It was time and legs started aching but it was a wonderful day not to forget but for the Polaroid. I feel like my eyes are naked to the 72% UV coming to the earth’s surface and 72 % Infrared rays emitted by the earths’ surface.

Inspiration behind the blog – if a motorcycle can be a hero for a film, why can’t Sunglasses be a hero for my blog.