For some reason which I don't know, and which I can't define even now, this weekend breather seemed to have quite a series of goodbyes.
I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the fact that our room had restful vibes, or that our room looked out towards the sea rather than the city.
But I know- for sure- that it was definitely here that I began saying the real Goodbye.
This was a breather where I spent a good amount of time curled up on the chair in the room looking out towards the blocks of flats opposite, the island of Pulau Brani in the horizon, and that little slice of sea where between the tall buildings I could see a ship.
I wish I knew whether that section of the ship was the starboard or the bow, but I can't remember which is which, and all I know is that I really wanted to hop onto one and sail away.
Perhaps that's the charm of staying on a high floor that grants you a view of the dock and the Tanjong Pagar Container Terminal (if that's what it's called)
You get to see a bit of ship.
And you get to see a bit of sea.
I wasn't expecting that.
In any case, one gets quite a surprise when exploring the area around the hotel.
See, Carlton City Hotel sits in a rather unique part of town where, from its position, you actually get to have the best of several worlds.
On one hand you have the heartland neighborhood of Tanjong Pagar with her housing board flats, her NTUC, her bakeries, her hairdressing shops, and her bubble tea.
On the other hand there's 100AM Mall right next door where you get a rather interesting combination of Daiso, Don Don Donki and the newly opened MUJI, together with renowned bakeries like Pullman and several others. In the mall too there is a small Starbucks, a souffle pancake place, Ya Kun, another supermarket (Finest, this time), and a couple other restaurants which include Japanese cuisines, Asian cuisines and Chinese cuisines.
It doesn't apply only to the shopping and the eating though.
There is the difference between the architecture too, where on one side you have the heritage shop houses of Tanjong Pagar Road and Tras Street, on the other, you have the office buildings of Shenton Way close to Robinson Road and Anson Road.
Further down from these skyscrapers is the road where Bloomberg used to have an office.
Right in front of these buildings stands a building where a long time ago, the Customs & Excise Department had their offices.
And diagonally across that building is a plot of land where the (now demolished) CPF Building used to stand.
We won't know what happened to the Singer (sewing machine) showroom and training school after the shop houses on Tras Street (or is it Peck Seah Street) got renovated.
We also won't know when exactly the wedding and bridal studios along Tanjong Pagar began.
They feel like they've been there a very long time ago.
Nevertheless, what with the hawker center in the vicinity, the (famous) fruit stall, the range of Korean BBQ restaurants, and hipster cafes all along this area, this place has become a combination of what defines Singapore in view of her economy, her development, her society, her history, and her both past and present.
It is in this area that one finds the ability to go chill at the shops of Wallich Tower the same way one attempts to buy bread for breakfast at either Pullman or the heartland bakery across the road.
And in the same way too one finds the ability to walk up and down the row of heritage shop houses towards Chinatown and then afterwards heading towards the Shenton Way side to take a look at Maxwell Chambers and the old ROV.
We had an interesting breather here at Carlton City Hotel this time round.
I know my friend relished the bath tub.
I, on the other hand, will- at least for some time- hold a distinct memory of the deck chairs by the poolside.
Because that's where I realized- through a phone call- for the first time- that in this world there are some people for whom the process of Grieving never ends.
Not because the emotions of Grief don't go away, but because they themselves are made so elated by the responses to Grief that they choose not to let it end.
The hour-long poolside conversation is not the only thing that I'll remember of this weekend breather.
I'll remember the meals we had too.
As you can tell, they were incredibly fun.
Amongst some of the meals we made using our Little Black Grill were salmon fillets, butterhead lettuce and instant ramen that we had brought from home.
Not to mention the can of organic butternut squash soup we had the next day, cooked together with spinach, and an extra packet of mushrooms bought from Don Don Donki next door.