Adventures on a Friday night

On Friday night, I went to dinner with two friends who were former students of mine. Over a hearty meal of Indian food at Serangoon Road, we shared news about our work and families. S and V are single hardworking professionals. I was their General Paper teacher way back some thirty years ago and since then we've kept up our friendship. They are fun girls and always have a store of the latest news and gossip to share with me. Over naan and curry, V mentioned that her friend was at the Tom Jones show then. S and I immediately perked up because we are also fans of Tom Jones (this information dates all the three of us I know, but I understand TJ now has young fans too) and we had all considered going to the concert. It was 8.30 already and V texted her friend who replied that TJ had just appeared on stage. So we decided there and then to drive down to the Resorts World to catch what we can of the rest of the show.

"Well, they always save the best for last," we reminded ourselves optimistically, hurrying over to V’s car.

Only S has been to the Resorts World so she navigated while V drove and before long, we were parked in the huge basement car park (2000 lots, I’m told). We were parked close to the venue and instinctively walked over to what looked like the convention centre. On the way, we asked for directions and once inside we headed towards what appears to be temporary counter and asked if there were any more tickets. Well, you all know what happened. Yes, the show was cancelled. No wonder the people we spoke to looked at us strangely! Well, it was just not meant to be.

We decided to look for a place to have some coffee instead but after wandering around, we could find no such place there. V suggested driving over to Keppel Island instead. I never knew there was a place called Keppel Island but it is a lovely site. There are a couple of restaurants and one can take in some lovely views of the marina and the Resorts World in Sentosa. We vetoed the walk around the marina and settled for some coffee, cake and a long chat.

I had a good time and had a chance to explore two new places. I would not have gone to the Resorts World on my own unless I have to take friends and family members. As for Keppel Island, it’s a great getaway for a quiet, even romantic meal. No, this is not my typical Friday. But it was a great way to end the week and a relief after spending the afternoon talking about verbs and verb forms! But the best part was, after all these 30 years, it’s good to know that my former students and I have been able to maintain a relationship that is both comfortable and enriching. We do genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Sometime in the discussion in between mouthfuls of lemon meringue pie, apple crumble and fruit tart, V said, “We get along because we have the same values.” And I guess she said it all.