My beloved old house

I grew up in a neighbourhood where anything and everything was within a stone throw from my house. The petrol station, kopi tiam, post office, cinema (before it was torn down), supermarket, banks, clinic, dentist, fast food, bus stop, lrt station, etc…you named it, we have it. I never really understand it whenever friends or colleagues tells me how lucky I am to be staying in such a strategic location where practically every amenities is at my doorstep. Well, until I shifted….

Now, I seemed to be living in a jungle where the nearest shops is approx 8 mins drive away…nope, I can’t walk out to the shops anymore. They have the same things ie kopi tiam, post office, clinic, dentist, banks, supermarket, McDonald’s, no cinema tho’ since that has been monopolised by the megamalls of today. But somehow, the feeling is different…I still feel ‘lost’ whenever I need to patronise a shop. Are the sundries cheap and good? Is the service nice? do they have a branch of xxx bank? I once tried locating a post box turning twice to the same road….but still can’t locate it tho’ I remember seeing it previously

So, guess what….sometimes, I still go to my beloved old neigbourhood and goto the banks, eat at the kopi tiam, throw my letters into the post office box etc…I basically know where each shop is located at the back of my hand…I just go there, run in and get out…saves more time that way….also, gives me the comfort that my stuff have been dealt with properly…old habits die hard I suppose…the sense of familiarity is very comforting…

Nowadays, I drive about an hour (min) to reach my workplace. To and fro means approx 2 hours of travelling on the highway. Sigh! My old office used to be a mere 5 mins drive away from my old house…those were definitely the  good old days!! Even my new office was only a 20mins drive away. Gees….now, I know what a godsend my old house is!

Also, being not a natural ‘morning person’, it’s been a difficult process of separating myself from my bed every morning! And hard to make myself sleep at night too. The night owl in me just refused to doze off. At times, I have drifted off while driving on the roads in the morning…dangerous stuff I know..

It will take some time to adjust to the new neighbourhood and learn every crook and cranny in times to come…hopefully this old dog can still learn some new tricks…:)