More Stuffies

I'm going to take pictures of my stuffies later. 

Because this is all I have at the moment and it feels kinda silly, especially when you consider how some of them stuffies have been a part of my life for a very long time. 

Sometimes I can't recall who came first, who came later. 

I just know that Buckley has been with me for a very, very long time. 

He's 20 years old this year. 

And whilst he might look a little scruffy with a bit of a comfortable scent, he's got one of the cutest faces ever, and god forbid I would neglect his charm.

Buckley is really not just a stuffie. 

He is a friend. 

He is the bear I go rescue when I have to leave him some place and not be able to pick him up or bring him along.

He is also the bear I wanna come home to and bring with me wherever I go. 

There's something comforting about looking at his poodle-face, his goofy look, burying my cheeks in his (now) scruffy fur, and feeling his fur against my arms and chin. 

I'm thankful to own such a teddy bear. 

I'm also thankful to have brought him around a couple of places. 

Whether they be staycations at five star hotels, plane rides to Tokyo and Los Angeles, or countries in Asia like Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, he's always come with me, stuffed inside my companion's large backpack, or stuffed inside my suitcase. 

Yep, it has been a good number of places that this 20 year old Sasha bear from Raffles Hotel has been to, and I trust he'll get to go many, many more.

Next oldest in my collection have to be these two. 

Actually, these three. 

Toots the green frog does not have a self-portrait, but that's because he's the shy type and back then he did not want to take a picture all on his own, so he and his friend the camel photobombed Pooh's picture instead. 

I'm not sure who it was that came first. 

It might have been portable, easy to carry Pooh bear with the heart. 

It might also have been Humpfff the camel.

I don't know where I got the Winnie The Pooh from (think it was a gift someone special gave me)

But Humpfff, I know I got from the store outside The Mummy ride in Universal Studios Singapore. 

It's been a long time, but I'm glad I picked him.

People buy T-shirts and caps and bottles and all kinds of practical merchandise, I buy stuffed toys.  

He's not very cuddleable, but he makes for a nice decor, which I appreciate, and particularly like. 

Toots is the same. 

You won't find me cuddling Toots very much, but his bright green cheers up the room, makes for good focus to look at, and reminds me of Rasa Sentosa on Sentosa Island. 

I do have a couple of new pictures coming along the way- I just snapped them this afternoon- but that shall have to be another time. 

Right now here're all my little stuffies, keychains that I'd been randomly buying from Daiso since three, four years ago. 

These keychains are my favorites to hang on all my bags wherever I go. 

I love the quirky, adorable looks on their faces. 

I love how firm yet squishy they are. 

And I love how easy to spot they are. 

They add an indelible charm to all my bags and I don't have to be concerned whether or not I'll be deemed as immature or childish or whatever.

Because, oy, Labubu. ;)

My keychain stuffies have all been packed now. A little lion still hangs on on the shelf next to my desk and I love how it makes me feel like the Lion of Judah is looking down at me. 

Actually I still have some old pictures of Steppy to share, but thank God they'll always be there, and I think I'll write about Steppy, and all my other newer toys at another time. 

The Bags I've Had

So I happened to look through some of my pictures from one of my phones, and I realized, to my surprise, that i had in my collection, pictures of bags that i once used to carry, and own, but have now long been disposed. 

Seeing them brought back a wave of nostalgia. 

Some of them bags I carried more than ten years ago. 

Back then I didn't think I would one day write about them, but they're actually worth a story, and honestly, I think I ought to take pictures of the bags that I now have. 

Life changes, after all, and what you might have once carried around like a trophy in your day to day might not be (permitted) in the present-day role that you play.

I used to love the hippie-ethnic side of life.

I still do. 

But life, and age, these days no longer lets me embrace that hippie-ethnic side as much as I wish I could. 

So these pictures become a memory.

I don't have these bags anymore. 

When it was I threw them away, I can't remember, but it must have been at least 6 or 7 years ago. 

My favorite bags were the first and third ones. 

Cloth bags have always been my thing. 

Not only are they able to hold a good amount of stuff- wallet, notebook, makeup kit, phone, earphones, water bottle all- they're sturdy on the shoulders, they don't flounce around, they've got character, and best part, they're also easy to keep and fold. The only problem I have these days with the cloth bags I love is that they're not suited for the boardroom. By that I mean, the office, the business meetings, the formal settings where one has to look 'corporate'.

That being said, one never knows whet life brings and what may change, so perhaps one day we might just let the strength of ethnicity and cultural representation into the boardroom. 

I don't remember where I got the first bag from, but the second one- the floral backpack- this I got from Bugis Street (when they were still selling backpacks), and the third- from one of the stalls either on Pagoda Street or Trengganu Street in Chinatown. 

I have had a couple of backpacks over the years. 

One of which was this one, which I think I might have written about before. 

And then this one, and this one. 

You know, all of these bags I remember well. 

The first one I bought from a shop on the second floor of Larkin Bus Terminal. At that time The Parents and I were traveling to Malaysia quite a bit. Some days we went for day tours. Most of the time, however, we headed up to Kluang where we'd stay overnight, come back the next day. At that time my bag of choice was a duffel bag, which, as you might well imagine, with the multiple bus rides and the ups and downs on the public buses, tired out my shoulders and made me irritable. Not only was the duffel bag difficult to carry up and down the steps, it occupied space on the bus where, usually, I would have to stand. After a while of a hurting right shoulder, I decided to call it quits, and spent (precious) money on a backpack that had just as enough space, better support, and felt adventurous at the same time. 

I used the backpack a couple more times after those trips, mostly to camps, and then there weren't opportunities anymore. 

Why it is I kept this blue and black backpack all the way from 2009 to 2023, I don't know. 

Maybe I thought it better to be out of sight, out of mind. 

Or maybe I had quietly held on to a bit of hope.

But then came 2023 when we moved and I decided it not worth to keep the bag any longer. 

I don't have this purple one below as well. 

Perhaps one day I should go back to Mustafa and buy it, but not yet. 

Those cycling trips haven't restarted yet. 

Yep, that's what this bag was for. There were two I used. One was black, one was this purple. It's not a large backpack, mind, but so much space and so functional is it that, whilst the aesthetics might not be there, it is as useful a bag to bring around as any. 

I loved the main section. 

It was large enough to hold a wallet, snacks, deodorant and any other random thing I might have bought along the way. There had been times when this bag held small bottles of chocolate milk. There had also been times when this bag held biscuits and little snacks to fuel my round-island cycling trip that day. 

One of the things I always had in this bag was a little green pouch holding a hair tie, a liner (TMI), a bottle of eye drops, and (don't laugh) lip balm. 

Of course the outside section held stuff too. 

There was, always, tissues and wipes. Then there were two pairs of glasses- one pair of sunglasses, one pair of clear glasses- to protect my eyes when cycling on the road at night. On occasion, the pocket also held my iPod, which, at that time, I listened all through the ride from start to end. 

I don't know when it was I decided to throw this bag away. 

It might not have been 2023, it might have been earlier. 

But that doesn't matter. 

It holds special meaning to me. 

Finally there's this American Tourister bag. 

Honestly I don't know if this bag was bought by me, or by my friend who then discovered another bag and so gifted this one to me. Memories get blur as time goes by, and somehow things that you ought to remember, you suddenly don't. 

In this case this bag might well have been the latter. 

What I do know is that I needed it for the long-a** GRAM laptop I was carrying, and with that kind of screen length there weren't many options I could have. 

What's more, this backpack had a masculine aesthetic, which I wasn't sure I liked, so up a pin from Vroom Vroom went, and a little keychain lion stuffie that I got from Daiso. 

Bus Ride Sights: Haig-Chinatown

I seem to have more pictures of this one particular bus ride that I took today.

That's something to be glad about.

Especially since this afternoon I managed to hit the golden hour and so found myself into glorious sunset light by the time the bus hit town.

Sunset this part of town does look different compared to glaring noontime sun. 

Except that you won't quite know it (yet) when you're on the bus from Haig Road Market and Food Center. 

Chonkycam came out around that time. 

By right she should have come out earlier but I was busy settling down and it were only when the bus approached the Market with her National Day decor and her Singapore flags flying in the wind that I realized I better snap a picture.

Moments count.

Timings also count. 

Especially since I don't know if I'll be back on this particular route, or this particular area, during National Day season next year. 

This afternoon I didn't take pictures of the Geylang shophouses until after the junction of Aljunied Road. 

Don't ask me why.

Maybe because I'd felt I'd taken these ones many times before and better it be that I grab pictures of new ones. 

Or that I didn't really want to take pictures of them all until I felt the oomph.

So it was that the next picture I got of the Geylang neighborhood was that of the Eastern Aerated Water Company Ltd building with her gray facade. This company's long gone now, of course, but the building still remains and belongs, I should say, to a part of the country's history.

To be honest I should like to know what the operations of this company in this building were when they were still here. The production of aerated bottled drinks in this location started around 1951 and continued straight until the 80s, so no surprise if it was a strategic move. 

What kind of drinks did they have, who did they sell them to, who bought the most from them?

What was this stretch of Geylang like back in 1951, even? 

All these shophouses that I'm seeing out the bus window, were they there?

There's not much to be delved from, however. 

And the bus moved on.

A still closed KTV lounge followed after, then a coffee shop offering Indian-Muslim food (to the likes of mee goreng, nasi goreng, kuay teow goreng, prata and murtabak). After that came on a provision shop and a pawnshop, then a street that leads to a couple of condominiums on the tail side. 

Another coffee shop offering Indian-Muslim food comes up next- this one has Nasi Kandar- and then further on, an Adult Toys shop (which, culturally speaking, on Geylang is not a surprising sight to see). 

A Thai restaurant comes up after (apparently legit, it seems) then you near the row of shophouses right near the intersection of Sims Way. 

After this, you're more or less into the Kallang area where the bus first comes to a stop at where I think the Gay World Amusement Park a long time ago once used to be but is now a construction site for new, upcoming housing board flats and new homes. Across the Kallang River you go next, crossing over what I think is the Merdeka Bridge and the PCN running beneath it, then the bus stop right outside Sri Manmatha Karuneshvarar Temple. 

Here the bus turned left into Crawford Street, went along it (a very scenic view of the water and wide canopied trees, I have to say) then onto North Bridge Road. Here one gets greeted by the one-room flats of North Bridge Road, then, slightly further on, the section that used to be the through path for anyone going to Beach Road. 

I don't really know how to describe this area. 

It's a small field, a bit of a pedestrian path, and then what used to be a Police Post at the back. 

Further on one comes to the sight of a multi-storey carpark of what I think is Textile Center. 

The bus crossed Jalan Sultan after that. There's a bit of Madrasah Alsagoff Arab School in the picture next to the row of shophouses where the white lorry is. 

The bus then enters into the Kampong Glam Arab Quarter of North Bridge Road. 

Here the bus trundled down, going past a row of shophouses that housed indie shops, including what I think is a costume rental shop. Unlike Geylang where signboards get mounted on the front, here the fronts are clean, signboards all beneath the roof of the five foot way. 

Here the bus went past Aliwal Street, followed by, likely, a couple of cafes, then a co-living space in one of the shophouses.

Here the bus passed the junction of Kandahar Street, then going on towards well-known perfume store Jamal Kazura Aromatics. They have a few locations, I understand, but this be their main one, and this be one of them. 

A short distance away from this store was Sultan Mosque, and can I say the shining dome looked gloriously beautiful in the late afternoon, early evening sun? 

The bus went on, passing by Arab Street, then what is now a very active construction site of Ophir Road. 

Frankly I don't know just what it is they're doing on this working, traffic-heavy road. Is it the North-South Corridor? Is it another road? It doesn't look like they're digging under very much, so I doubt it be a tunnel or something of the sort. 

Nevertheless, Arab Street and Ophir Road make for one of the busiest stretches this side of town, and the traffic just continues further on until you pass by Parkview Square and Rochor Road. 

This section too has witnessed a bit of change.

Where a long time ago there used to be just an empty plot of land and a remnant of colonial administration, now there's a mixed use development called Midtown-something. 

What makes this building stand out, honestly, is the facade of milk chocolate brown. 

I had not thought a mixed use development like this would choose such an earthy color, but mind, it does look elegant, and it does stand out. 

Along North Bridge Road the bus went on, now passing by Bugis Cube with her family-friendly KTV spots, her Mala Xiang Guo outlets and her BBQ hotpot spots. Co-working place SPACES came not too long after that, after passing by Middle Road, and Purvis Street, of course, 

The familiar sight of Raffles Hotel came up right after. 

I'm glad to have taken the picture of the hotel's facade this side of the property. Official photographs tend to show the other side- the front entrance with the circular granite-stone filled driveway. Few, however, show the shoppes side of Raffles Hotel, which, to me, showcase as much of the beautiful architecture as it does on the main side.

The one thing I like about the property of Raffles Hotel are the palm fronds and the trees.

They're literally like Botanic Gardens brought to the center of town. 

And the size of those leaves are awe-inspiring. 

From here the bus headed on, passing by Raffles City Shopping Center, then along came the distinctive steeple of St. Andrew's Cathedral. 

Rare is it I think that one finds a cathedral of such architecture placed amidst present-day structures of a shopping mall, a 70s-style structure of an office building Adelphi, 70s mixed office-retail shopping center Peninsula Plaza opposite, and huge tropical greenery. 

But, welcome to Singapore, an island so small that elements past and present get wrapped cohesively into a single picture, a single image, a single moment. 

I like this picture.

I think it speaks of the country's colonized past, yet embraces the Garden City notion, plus the revamp of the neighborhood around where Adelphi (whilst being known for legal firms) is also known for specialized showrooms offering quality, elegant-looking audio and visual hardware. 

There wasn't much that I took after the bus passed by Adelphi. 

Chinatown was only a short hop away. 

But I wasn't going to get down without taking a picture of the scene along South Bridge Road, especially the financial skyline. 

So here we are, the skyscrapers of major banks fronting the Singapore River- we're talking UOB, Bank of China, Maybank, Standard Chartered and OCBC- with the shophouses (now mostly restaurants) lining Boat Quay in the forefront.

Of course, there are also the shophouses of Circular Road right behind, and after that, you're more or less within the Chinatown zone of South Bridge Road, with Chinese characters on the front of those buildings calligraphy style.