Day 13 (15-3-2009) - Car accidents and beyond Bugis

First thing I did this morning was to play games on my laptop. Then as usual, I would go out for lunch with the others, deciding on where to go, when we’ve met in the middle of nowhere.

So today the plan was to go beyond “Bugis”. “Bugis” is the name of a shopping centre that we have nicknamed for our convenience. As of yesterday, we have not yet gone beyond this point. We explored beyond today and realised that there really was nothing much along those roads. We did find a cinema, first one ever that I’ve seen since I got here. And we also got ourselves some McDonalds Coke Float, something which is extinct in Singapore.

One thing we realised as we were window shopping among the many many shops in town is that there are no more discounts going on. Everything is returning to its original prices. Either that, or everything we saw were new arrivals. Whatever it is, I’m sure I will stay faithful to the “hidden gems” that we’ve found when I decide to do my last minute shopping.

Amanda introduced us to yet another connection of street shops. A very dandy place, considering it sells things from the range of sports equipment to musical instruments. But more importantly, the place seems like a good place to get all your souvenirs. Needless to say I will be returning to that place more times than once.

Other than all the walking around, one very significant thing happened today, when we were heading out of campus. A toddler almost got banged by a car. I was always anticipating when something like this was going to happen. It’s not that I want it to happen, but with all the carelessness going on when the Chinese drive and jaywalk, I am in fact, surprised, to see an accident like this happen 2 weeks after I got here. I’m amazed with how little accidents there can be considering their traffic. But I still believe my life span decreases when I just walk on the streets.

It is really a blessing that the toddler was never hit by the car. Instead, he just fell down on the ground, in shock. Considering the sound the car made when it skid and stopped, I would say that a fatal accident would have happened if he had not avoided the kid. The situation went back to normal after just a short commotion.

So one thing to take note, no matter what, accidents do happen, so from now onwards, be extra careful when crossing roads.