“Where to meet this time?” Ana asks Keith over the phone.
“The Flower Dome.” Keith replies.
“Oh, that air-conditioned flower garden. Okay. See you all 2pm tomorrow then.” Ana obtained the meet-up details (both time and venue); she then hung up the call.
It has been a while to have the ladies gathering. The last one was half a year ago. Not convenient during the COVID-affected period of time.
The next day, Ana worn her favourite flower-printed dress, put on a light make-up, off she headed to the meet-up point, i.e. one of the signature places to visit in Singapore – the Flower Dome. By the time she arrived after taking 45-minutes in the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), Keith and Lisa were already waiting in the entrance zone.
“My dear! How have you been?” hugs and smiles were shared and delivered towards each other, among the three of them.
“It’s been so long!” Lisa complained.
“Haha… Let’s head in.” Keith suggested. With the tickets shown to the ticketing staff, they entered the flower garden that is fully covered with glaze dome. As if one is in the giant green house, but none of the visitors sweats as it place is not warm at all but coolly circulated with air-conditioned air.
(Wow, newly-breed flower species, having so many colours in one flower.) (My goodness, can a cactus cross-breed with another different type of cactus? Now, it looks… weird but still special…) Monkey mind activated within Ana. Those beautiful flowers really took away all her attention.
She walked slower than her other two friends. Keith and Lisa were busy exploring where to take photo next, and what pose to put. Not that they left out Ana totally. They still initiated some chats and catch-up on what had happened during each other’s days. Ana joined the conversation as well, on and off.
Looking at her friends, Ana can’t help thinking… (Why don’t they spend a little more time looking at the flowers? They just glanced through and jumped to another place for photo taking next.)
(Look… these tiny blue flowers on the fence are so beautiful, fully blooming all over the fence. Just like a starry doorway.) She saw her friends just rushed through, walked in fast pace, to next zone in the Dome.
(Are you guys just being here for the gathering? No intention to ‘look’ at the well-maintained and nicely grown plants? Is your focus only on photo taking and talking? Then, literally, we can meet up elsewhere and find a cosy restaurant to have a long conversation. It doesn’t have to be in this garden, isn’t it?) Questions flooded Ana. But she didn’t say any to her friends.
Everyone has their preference in their choices and actions. Ana just felt a loss in them for not able to appreciate the beauty the nature has been emitting. Ana continued her slow walk and looked around for beautiful flowers and plants.
They spent one hour in the dome and then headed for a high-tea at the nearest Marina Bay Sand building. They spent a good amount of time and conversations there, covering many topics and things that each of them had during at work, at home, throughout that lockdown phase.
Ana bid them goodbye and heading home. It’s about 8pm already. A long day but happy to be with the girls, her buddies. They do have phone conversation once in a while, but still they have never-ending topics to talk. It’s fun!
“Doot.. doot.. doot.” The MRT door opened. Ana arrived at the station nears her house. Slowly marching back home. This country, the authority emphasises on maintaining the greens and many nature reserves are kept. Many trees and flowers are planted along the highway, the neighbourhood and even the pedestrian walkways.
She observed the red flowers on the left side of the walkway, and the white flowers on the right side. (Nice… I love it.)
Stepping up to the overhead-walkway, Ana is now at the height of those giant trees plant along roadside. The view from this height is totally different, of course. She can now see the flowers in pink that are grown on top of those trees.
(Never had I notice them. Yeah, last month was rather hot weather. Now, with some rains, they bloom, once again.) She said to herself.
Another five-minute walk journey, she would reach her block. Step by step, slowly walk along the pavement, no thoughts about work, just embrace into the breeze at night and the rhythm sang by the frog.
(It must be nearby the grassland or inside the flower bushes.)
(I’m really gratitude to have the chance to live in this beautiful and politic-stable country. If I were in a war zone, I don’t think I would have the room to enjoy the nature’s beauty.)
(How good would it be if more and more people would appreciate the environment they are at. Be in the PRESENT… You don’t have to pay the entrance fee in order to get into the Flower Dome to look at the flowers; they (flowers) are, literally, everywhere! Along the roadside, right next to your foot when you are walking on the walkways; they are right next to you when you’re waiting for bus arrival…)
Looked up to the sky, Ana sighted lightly. (See? The night view of these old trees accompanies with the bright and shining moon. The magical view that we can see from those night photos taken by professional photographers, is right before our eyes.)
(All you need to do, is just… raise your head and look up…)
Next day, just like any working day, Ana chooses to sit on the upper storey of the double-decker bus. She often takes the front seat, with wide windscreen in front of her. The full view without a single blockage is the best; as if watching a movie in an empty cinema.
Trees passes by, from both side of the road when the bus is moving forwards. When the bus stops at each bus stops, letting passengers to alight, Ana can see the huge trees, up close. Even closer than the view she had from the overhead-walkway the other night. The leaves and branches could easily touch the windscreen of the bus.
(Oh… Those parasite-typed of plant can really grown at those weird angled branches.) Interesting. Balance between the main tree and the clingy-plant, brings out the harmony in living, each growing to the best condition while sharing the same environment and nutrition from the soil ground.
(But… how many people would spend time to look at the flowers? Within this bus, how many passengers look at the scenery outside of the window? More than half of them is busy looking at their mobile phone, I guess…) Ana sank into her train of thoughts.
(Even the moss that grown on my flower pot was so beautiful… When I zoomed-in and took a close-up look at it from my phone camera the other day…) Ana called out that photo from her photo album and look at it, one more time. (Amazing. That’s the world the ants see, isn’t it?)
(Only if one would have the tiny intention to divert their attention from their material objects onto their surroundings. I guess.)
“Ding!” Ana alighted from the bus and walked toward the office that is one block away from the bus stop. 8:30am, another working week has just started.
Moss
– as insignificant as always; it can be seen everywhere.
– if zoom in to the level of an ant’s world…
– it’s beautiful, isn’t it?
– Is that a fairy sitting on the moss (swing his legs) and looking at me? 🙂
