Playgrounds & The Sea

I guess I really like hanging out at playgrounds. Especially if there's no need to rush for the last train or bus and when parents aren't waiting at home in fury.

There's just this feeling of exhilaration - or even liberation if you will - that comes with being near the sea late at night. The sight of that vast ocean (albeit barely visible), accompanied by kids yelping in pure joy - it just makes me feel all fluttery inside.

They say Cancerians love water. I have never really agreed with it because I can't swim and it seems like I might never learn, but over the years I've realized that I always feel happy around bodies of water. Of course, it depends on the company as well. It's such a blessing that those who accompanied me in these memories are the ones who make me happy.

The last time I was at an old-school playground was at Raffles place. So it felt a little restricting because there were plenty of office clothing-clad adults milling about. You could tell that they wanted to join in but couldn't because their clothes weren't conducive for wear and tear, plus they had to uphold their professional image near their offices.

So instead they just stared at us with malicious sour grapes in their expressions. Plus I fell and hit my head on the merry-go-round so there's that.

Another time after that was at some housing estate near...a circle line MRT station. I can't remember where and why we were there, but my friends and I went crazy when we spotted it. We were already rushing for the last trains/buses, but upon the sight of the playground, we just abandoned all sense and became little kids again.

But that playground felt a little stiff because it was built on those rubber surfaces instead of sand, and the merry-go-round was this enormous contraption that looked like a spinning circus tent with ropes. It was super safe and therefore not very merry, thank you very much.

I prefer my merry-go-rounds deadly and lawsuit-worthy.

So the East Coast Park playground is perfect for me. It has the sea, it has little kids for me to fight over swings with, it has an old-fashioned merry-go-round.

It's kind of making me want to scout for old-school playgrounds all over Singapore.