The past is a foreign country; They do things differently there.

Three words: I was bored.

It was about 8pm in the evening and I had nothing to do. Alan was still asleep so there was nobody to nag at and annoy, I had already cooked dinner (prawn and bacon fried rice) and I was stuck in the living room, vegetating on one of the bean bags. Mom was next to me, flipping through the channels. We looked like couch potatoes.

Me: Bored.

Mom: Me too.

Me: Bored

Mom: Go run naked down the road, I’ll sell tickets.

Me: -.-’

For some reason, we came to a consensus to go to one of the few places in Singapore where one could shop at all hours of the day.

Smack in the middle of Little India, Mustafa Centre boasts to have in stock most everything and anything you could possibly need/want. Armed with a basket (and eventually a trolley) we set off to battle the crowds. Even past midnight on a Wednesday night/Thursday morning, people were constantly streaming in and out. I wouldn’t say it was awfully crowded as compared to say a weekend, but there was definitely a lot of people around.

Hanging out with my mother never ceases to be entertaining. I mean, my insanity must come from somewhere! We laughed so much that evening, chased each other around with stinky packets of idon’treallyknowwhatthatwas, chucking random things into the trolley while the other frantically chucks it out, laughing so loudly the whole aisle turns and stares tripping over boxes because we were laughing too hard. Oops, that last one was definitely me :p

And spending about $130 on a collection of the most random things. We bought bumpits, masala chai tea which happen to be really good, mango chutney, ghee lamps, tapioca chips, huge loaf of bread, bottles of tabasco, more bottles of old style soft drinks like ginger beer, sarsapilla, etc, hair ties, bindhis, shampoo, soap, more random snacks, frozen prata, nuggets with tandoori or something similar… and the list goes on. I also bought a little plush turtle who constantly runs away from it’s shell. I was sufficiently entertained.

No, seriously.

We got back home with bags of our junk, showered, I brewed myself a hot mug of masala chai the two of us resumed our position as couch potatoes in front of the tv, to watch the cheesy Street Fighter (it’s terrible). And then I realized, it really wasn’t the outing to a random spot that made me happy, it really was just hanging out with my mother that felt like the adventure of a lifetime.

After years of arguing, yelling, bringing the house down around the two of us and thousands of scathing remarks, we realize that deep down, we really are very alike. And what a waste to throw away this god sent gift that allows us to understand each other perfectly. These recent years, I’ve grown up and learnt to appreciate my mother more and to accept her as not just an authoritative figure, but also as a best friend.

Love you mom ♥