#170629#
Originally, I planned to bring Taenggu to Chomp Chomp Food Centre on our monthsary in June to let her have a taste of our local hawker food, instead of going to the usual cafes. But I was a little hesitant about it because Chomp Chomp is a place where it is better to go with your family or a group of friends so that you can order many different kinds of dishes to share all at once. If I were to go alone, then I would not have been able to order and finish as much food as I would have wanted to eat. Besides, it could get rather hot, stuffy and noisy at Chomp Chomp, without the comfort of air-con and some peace to softly chat with each other.
It seemed like the universe had heard my concerns. On Monday, during our Hari Raya holiday (3 days before our monthsary), after a visit to Yayoi Kusama’s art exhibition at the National Gallery by myself, I went to meet my family who happened to be nearby shopping that evening. After we met, they suggested on going to Chomp Chomp for dinner together. “Oh great, I guess it would be an early Chomp Chomp treat for me and Taenggu after all!” I thought.
So that evening, we really ordered several local dishes at Chomp Chomp and ate till our hearts’ content. Also not forgetting large glasses of sugarcane drinks, which I believed to be Taenggu’s favourite.
After that day, I told Taenggu I would find us another place to eat on our monthsary instead. After looking at a friend’s instagram photos for recommendations, I finally decided on a cafe called The Bakehouse by Carpenter & Cook. It is situated just 30 minutes away from my office in Jurong East.
On the morning of our monthsary (29 June, Thursday), I told Taenggu I would “meet her” at the cafe for dinner at around 6pm. During lunch, I had bak kut teh at a bak kut teh restaurant and I guess it was also considered as an effort for her to try one of our local delicacies. I found myself talking a lot more to her than usual too while eating as if I could feel her there by my side. When it was going to be 5.30pm, a voice prompted me to leave the office or else “you are going to be late!” Indeed, I ended up being punctual and reached the cafe at 6pm as stipulated.
The cafe is located at Alexandra Central Mall which was rather quiet. It was a rather small but cosy cafe. When I reached, there were only 2 other diners inside. I took awhile to look at their menu and finally decided to order their crab meat linguine and a glass of ice lemon tea for us.
The crab meat linguine was incredibly good. I slurped it all within 10 minutes. Feeling satisfied, I then spent some time chatting with Taenggu. I shared with her little bits and pieces of my recent life and upcoming plans. Things like trying out my office gym for a month with my colleague and about Pink Dot which was going to happen that weekend, etc. I noticed Taenggu seemed to enjoy drinking my glass of ice lemon tea too so I also shared with her that it used to be my favourite drink I would drink everyday when I was in primary school.
After about 45 minutes at the cafe, my neck began to ache. I wondered if it was a sign telling me to leave soon or I was simply stressed about not knowing what to do next. I messaged Taenggu on Twitter asking her, “What should I do now??” There was a IKEA building nearby and I wondered if I should take a walk and look at the furnitures there. But my aching neck seemed to be suggesting me to go home early for a rest instead. So in the end, I decided to take the bus to the nearest train station and then trained back to Marsiling. It was going to be a 50-minute journey back home.
While on the way back, I posted some photos on instagram to share about my dining experience at The Bakehouse.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV7BFX9hps3/?taken-by=invariantceleste
As I took a closer look at each photo after posting them online, I saw a mystical sign on one of my photos which I hadn’t noticed at all when I was at the cafe.
At first, I took a photo of the bottom of my dining table with my camera because I thought it was interesting. The legs of the table were designed like an old sewing machine. But when I looked this photo again closely on the train, I realised it had the word “SINGER” on it. Logically speaking, if Taenggu was there physically with me at the cafe, she would be sitting on the chair in front of me. And the word “SINGER” would be pointing towards her which was true because she indeed is a singer. I felt that this photo was a hint and an assurance from the universe telling me that yes, Taenggu was truly with me the whole time then.
When I was about to reach the lift at my house downstairs, our special day came to an end with a voice saying, “Looking for improvement… Thank you for trying!” I just wanna say, thank you Taenggu for trying and sticking around with me especially on our special days! I love you always. 😘
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