It all started with a forward with the message "no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
Perhaps he forwarded it to me to indicate/prick/poke me that I have, of late, not been spending quality time as I was drenched in my own apprehensions, anxieties, confusions, aspirations and commitments, slowly letting go the dose of reality and entering a monotonous melodramatic drama.

There's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend...and so did this saga start at Starbucks. This has been the second time we ventured into such planned unplanned trips. Since it was quite a long time since we met (almost about a year and half), the time was mostly spent on talking talking talking that morning and in the days to continue. Each updating the other of the lived and un-lived moments. For some reason, you get to talk more in person rather than by emails or even phone calls. That makes me wonder what it is that the physical presence does - any quantum entanglement phenomena triggered a cascade event?! Since I had saved time by executing an idiosyncratic plan well-ahead, we had more time that morning. It was then decided to explore the local delights and the downtown Singapore. However, the trip ahead was well punctuated as a result of the explorative nature of our minds. On the way to the destination was the Haw Par Villa which was not in our schedule...but finding it attractive, couldn't resist getting down - pressing the stop button in the bus as the bus was about leave from the stop. So did time pass by there moving around amids the chinese mythological characters and stories of good against evil. Time, though had started moving slow by then, did not fail in its job to induce hunger. Finally towards vivocity again for lunch at Thai Accent. But Vivocity is not a just another place! It has enough retreat for a gadget freak - my companion - that can last more than a day or two! The first target was Best, exploring 3D Tvs, i-products etc. But my hunger somehow realized it was 3.30 pm and was craving for some food that we had to ditch Best halfway to satiate my hunger at Thai accent. Interesting foods. To top it, the Green Apple juice was just amazing! Alrite, hunger satiated...what next? Return to Best to complete surveying the rest of the shop! And from there we slowly moved on to explore Vivocity and to freeze time within the Canon time machine. The phone pouch, the 3-D pictures, sun-activated T-shirts, Sound T-shirts, the pool on the top of the skypark, nothing was left unexplored. Vivocity was followed by Chinatown - Pagoda street - 3 for 10 dollar shops. Well, who can resist buying things over there? Ended up buying interesting stuffs over there. But all these places, we decided not to rush through since our aim was not to 'see' all places, but 'explore' the places that we go. Well, truly, we didn't quite explicitly come to this agreement, but I guess both of us came to an implicit understanding. However, I did nudge a little to keep moving on for the fear of sticking to just one place. Dinner at Chinatown, followed by a walk aside the Singapore River was refreshing. The beautiful night lightings around clarke quay was something I had noticed, but not enjoyed so far. I have enjoyed the evening walks over there though. At the end of these, we decided to explore Mustafa around 1 am. Mustafa, those who have visited it, will know what it is to shop there. It is an ocean of goodies...a one-stop shop for all your needs. A lot of shopping again here.

One might ask, is this all you did in Singapore? Shop...shop...shop? Well, actually yes, the first day was mostly so...but as somebody said, the joy lies while climbing the mountain than reaching the top as such.

The first day needs to be told in such detail because we couldn't freeze much of the time within our time machine - damn the batteries. However, starting the second day, the time machine - the camera - was in full use. So, no details! :-D {alrite, I am getting lazy}.

The five days ran through every minute. It is indeed true that "There's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend". The trick is to realize and honor it at the appropriate time. The apprehensions of the future will definitely cloud the mind always. But truly, the future is designed by the present. If you want to relish your future, you have to live the present!!

Anyway, here are a few tips for the readers:

1. Don't plan your outings to precise details unless needed (sometimes it is necessary to keep to proper eating schedules, especially if diabetic.)
2. Be a tourist who goes and explores the place, rather than knowing what to do in a place apriori. In doing so, you might miss out some places and some events, but you definitely will explore and relish the places you found by exploring!
3. If it is a short trip, give a vacation to your sleep as well!