“Not only beautiful, but also a good person. You do not stop surprising me.”
I’ve put my arm around her shoulders, and we took the bus to the East Coast Park in the southeast side of the island. We decided to change completely the air and I wanted to see some water and there were beaches, palm trees and sea. A perfect place to get to know Sumalee a little more.
When we arrived, we went toward the park. Sumalee was deep in thought for a moment and then she asked me.
“Can you rollerblade?”
“No, I never tried it. When I was a child, I tried a bit the skateboard, but my balance wasn’t great, so I gave up.”
“Well, then we’ll leave that for another day. What about riding a bicycle?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Well, let's rent a bicycle to see the park. Do you want?”
“Perfect!”
Said and done. We headed to the rentals and although they had tandem bicycles and carts with a roof, we decided on two single red ones for the remainder of the day. It seemed to be a popular activity because the park was full of people cycling and rollerblading. There was a two-way lane clearly marked. Sumalee was telling me everything I needed to know while we pedalled quietly.
“The park is divided into different areas. With different activities. In Singapore they are very organized, as you will find out.”
“Yes, I'm starting to see that.”
“Here on the right is the barbecue area. Many families and groups of friends come, especially on weekends. There are also many restaurants and cafes if you prefer not to cook. To use them you have to reserve them. It can be done online.”
“As you said,” I said smiling, “very organized. And this?”
“That's the water sports area. You can rent kayaks, do water skiing, scuba diving and much more. Do you like these kinds of activities?”
“I love them. What about you?”
“I haven’t tried them too much, but we could try together.”
“Of course! I have it in my plans since I knew I was coming.”
“Now we are arriving to the area where you can play in the sand. It is very typical that people build castles. Look!”
We stopped for a moment to watch how a group of young people finished building a huge sand temple. It must have been almost two meters high and four meters wide. Neither one of us recognized the building, but Sumalee told me that the style was very similar to the temples of Angkor in Cambodia. There were quite a few people taking pictures. Sumalee told me that another typical activity in the park was photography. Another thing that abounded were people running. It was like the Retiro Park in Madrid, but almost twice as large, with sea and more variety of activities. Yes, very organized with everything in its designated area. Even too artificial. We got back on the bikes and keep moving. We passed a building with the Burger King logo. That gave me a sarcastic smile. As far as one believes to be from their environment, the supposed "civilization" had arrived earlier.
“Sumalee, and that, what is it? A campsite?”
“Yes, there are a few designated areas for camping. You can also book them online ...” she said laughing.
“I do not doubt it,” I said, thinking of how much I liked the sound of her laughter.
We pedalled for a couple of hours, covering fifteen kilometres of coastline, and stopping occasionally to see something, rest or at a kiosk for drinks. One of them sold oysters for a dollar, so we ate a couple each. To drink, advised by Sumalee, I ordered a couple of Tiger beers, the typical beer there, which had a tiger as a logo and was a pale golden colour. It was smooth and I liked it. We cheered for many days like this.
We saw people fishing on the docks, families, couples in love, friends barbecuing, long sandy beaches with a width ranging from ten meters to just one with palms and other trees, but the beaches were not the greatest, there were plenty of plastic bottles scattered and the sea was always full of large freighters. There was also a skating rink with obstacles, areas with equipment for gymnastics, volleyball courts, covered benches to rest, narrow roads of large flat stones where only one could walk ... and many maps to guide you along the way. The possibilities were amazing, although the maintenance and cleanliness not as expected. Sumalee told me that it used to be better and that in recent times it had declined slightly. I found funny a sign prohibiting laser pointers pointing to airplanes. The planes passed very low because Changi Airport was not far from there. Another complaint about the place was the overcrowding in almost all areas, although I had to keep in mind that it was Sunday, the day with the highest number of people. In theory, the rest of the days would be much quieter.
When we got tired of going around, we stopped at a beach area where there was nobody. It was getting late and people were going home. Tomorrow was Monday and back to work. We took our shoes off and approached the shore of the sea. We stopped right where the water of the waves caressed occasionally our feet.
“Water in this area tends to be dirty, it is not advisable to bathe, although we have seen some do it”, Sumalee said. “In any case, they do not allow swimming too far from the shore.”
“Dirty? Is there something dirty in Singapore? That is news to me. Although these beaches also need cleaning.”
“Yes. It is because of all the ships. Even so, I sometimes come here, I sit, and I lose myself watching the blue of the sea. I know that on the other side is my land, my home, my mother.”
I looked at Sumalee. For a moment she had become melancholic and seemed about to cry. I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her gently toward me.
“It must be hard to be away from her for so long and, above all, knowing that she needs you. You have to think that this is all for her and that once you pay your debt, you will be able to be together forever and you've been the one who saved her.”
“Yes, when I will have paid my debt,” said with a sigh. “Even if it means making decisions that I do not always like.”
“What decisions?”
“Eh! Nothing, nothing. My things.”
We remained cuddled for some time without saying anything. Close by we could see a catamaran and a few yellow kayaks rented from the park. Farther dozens of freighters, all large or very large. I guess their waste and loss of gasoline in the water was enough to make the water dirty regardless of how much cleaning they did.
Sunlight began to decrease. It was beginning to get dark. According to the park schedule it was only illuminated from 7:00 to 19:00. Soon it will be dark, and we had to go back because we didn’t want to ride in the dark.
Sumalee came closer and I felt her head touching my body. I gathered all my courage and looked for her arm with mine. It did not take me long to find it and I squeezed it tightly. She reciprocated. The dirty beach, dirty water or number of ships did not matter. The orange sky, the silence around us broken only by a singing bird and her hand clutching mine, was heaven.
I turned to her nervous and with my other hand I gently grabbed her chin and lifted her head slightly so that we looked into each other’s eyes a few centimetres apart. She looked at me serious, intensely, expectantly. I ducked my head and put my lips on hers. She parted them a little and I took her lower lip between mine. I held it one second savouring it and then pulled away slowly, slowly letting it go. For a moment I thought she was going to throw herself to give me another kiss, but suddenly her face changed.
“We have ... we have to go, she said shakily.”
“I suppose, although it’s not because I feel like moving from here. I want this moment to last forever.”
She didn't answer. She turned and pulled my hand to follow her. We got