After dinner today, I decided to take a slow walk home from Central instead of catching the feeder bus.
Turned out to be a good move because I enjoyed the walk very much. I indulged in the tranquillity - something so precious, so rare amidst the daily hustle. I have almost forgetten how good it feels to be walking through 'the woods'. The 'me' moment is something I missed greatly.
I walked through a park that is adjacent to my residences. Over the years, there had been numerous upgrading and transformation for the park - today it's a pretty cool park, complete with small parade square for performances, skating court, basketball court, playgrounds, fitness corners..
Then I met one of my neighbours. Likes us, Auntie must have been one of the first residents at the Block (or at least from my childhood memories). She watched me grow up. Over the years, she has also aged considerably. Actually we will bump into each other regularly at the lift lobby, but our conversations hardly go beyond the usual 'hellos' and 'goodbyes'. Today for some reason, I took a closer and longer look at Auntie. Her winkles form deep lines on her faces and I noticed that she has lost quite a bit of weight.
I rem that Auntie used to be the really friendly sort - well she still is but it had not been the same after her husband's death. I remembered that shortly after her husband's death, I met her at the lift lobby, out of the blue, she told me that she is really saddened and that she will need a lot of time to come to terms to it. That must have been a good few years ago.
That got me thinking about my neighbours - I have lived here almost all my life. And these neighbours have become like your family too. Over the years, we stood by each other - whenever there's a fight at home, or someone fell sick or even death. Sometimes they move away and new neighbours settle in.
I used to take the same Bus 72 with an old couple every morning because we stayed at the same block. After my graduation from JC, I hardly see them anymore because I no longer take the bus. In fact, I have not met them for a few years now. I wonder what happened to them.
