Meritus Mandarin: Oasis

13th - 14th September 2008

"Don't get out of the car darling," I beckoned as I saw her reaching for the door handle.

"Oh ok," she said, as she quickly retracted her hand.

Watching the back view of my brother and his girlfriend get more distant away from us, I reversed the car and headed for the exit of the condominium.

As I went through the raised barricade, I expected her to express some sort of shock, surprise, doubt or the like, but all was peaceful as I headed up the bridge to the ECP.

It was only some distance down the road that she finally blurted out, "How come the carpark is so far away?"

With a cheeky grin of secrecy and glee, I replied, ""Because we're going somewhere else to swim."

Bursting out into an hearty laughter of her own oblivion, silence littered our conversations as I could see the visible signs on her face of her trying to figure out where exactly was the "place that opens past midnight" that I hinted at the night before.

As we emerged onto the CTE, she said, "I recognize this. Are we going to town?"

"We're going past town," I replied, still trying my best to hold the surprise out just a LITTLE bit longer.

But I knew that it was only a matter of time before I could no longer hide it and it became too obvious, since we've travelled down the familiar road far too many times. But I was glad that I managed to keep the secret till one bend away from our destination.

I turned to her as I saw the light of realisation finally beaming from her face, followed by a wide cheek-to-cheek grin, perhaps one of idiotic bliss, as I always say.

I lugged the bag out of the booth as we made our way down the corridors to the main lobby of the hotel. Dressed in an awkward berms and t-shirt get-up, one that was intentional so as not to rouse too much suspicion from her, I approached the counter to check in and received the keycards to the room.

"It's on the 20th floor darling, I asked for a room as high up as possible," I told her, as we entered the lift. She was still grinning idiotically.

Exiting into a quiet, carpeted corridor, I smelt the familiar stillness that ran through the air of hotel corridors, nothing particularly foul, but just something a little more... still. We glanced left and right at the door numbers before finally arriving at the room.

The Room

A slide of the key card, a push of the door; and we finally took our first step into the room, our room. Sunlight streamed through the windows of the room, with the window looking out towards the rear end of orchard, a pity that we didn't get the more exciting view.

As we stood at the doorway, in a moment of complete observation and scrutiny, I plucked my ears, only to catch nothing but silence. Despite being in the heart of the city, the room was high enough that the hustle and bustle of the busy streets below wouldn't have the power to muscle its way up and disrupt the peace and quiet of our little slice of paradise, one that was isolated from the rest of the world, and time stood still.

Excitedly (her more so than me), we took the first few moments to explore the intricacies of our little island of isolation, rampaging through the drawers, sliding open the cupboards, and marveling at the surprisingly large size of the room and the luxurious facilities at our disposal.

"This room is really very 'business-like'," she said, "especially with the study table facing out of the window like this, I think its very conducive for creative works."

I peered out of the window into the vast nothingness, a view unobstructed by any other tall buildings or such, one that had grey urban buildings and black roads stretched out for miles, but induced a sense of almost-freedom from the world below. Coupled with soothing silence of the room, I could echo her sentiments exactly.

When finally satisfied with the interiors of the room, we decided to explore the exteriors that made up the rest of the hotel. Making our way down to the swimming pool made us realise that we only had an hour or so if we wanted to take a dip, and with that we wasted no time in getting into the water, after all, since I already went all the way to use the swimming thing as a red herring to throw her off-guard about the location, might as well fully utilize the props involved in the play.

Aside from a few tourists trying to sunbathe under a virtually non-existent evening sun, we basically had the pool entirely to ourselves. Water has always been a comfortable element for me, and some things just don't change, no matter how long you stay away from it. Happy with an hour in the water, we finally decided to head back to our little island to prepare for the big night *ahem* out.

Prepped up and all ready to go, I turned to her and said, "So darling, you have 3 options of where you want to eat: Triple 3, Pine Court, or... in-room dining."

Poison Apple

She burst out in laughter after actually hearing the options before she started to sit down and think.

"I'll go with in-room dining," she answered after giving it some thought, "because that is something that we can only do tonight. What would you have chosen?"

"Actually, I would have chosen the same, that was the original plan, that's why the hint actually was 'a place that opens past midnight', because technically, the room doesn't 'close', haha," I answered.

With the decision finally made, we decided to head down to the supermarket across the street to pick up some "supplies" before dinner proper. As we exited the sliding glass doors of the hotel lobby, we entered the familiar weekend-chaos of Orchard Road. People hurriedly shuffling about through the crowds, cars jammed up at the traffic lights, the occasional horn that rose above the loud, constant festive music; it was only then, that I realised the parallel drawn between the quiet isolation of our little abode and the disrupting noise of the weekend crowd.

It was ironic that the separation between the mood of the two spaces were separated merely by a couple of storeys in between. While it was rather shattering to the illusion of complete isolation, the insanity that reigned below made me appreciate the serenity of the room so much more when I finally set foot in it again after a very long 30 minutes.

A phone call and 20 minutes later, the door bell rang as our stomachs echoed in anticipation.

Phone Booth

The waiter wheeled in the table and started setting it up, unveiling dish by dish, before a feast fit for a king laid before our eyes.

Eyes on the Prey

"See darling, don't you feel like a king when you order room service?" I said with a smile on my face.

She nodded in agreement and satisfaction.

Dinner was a romantic affair over a window view of a string of occasional lights amidst the pitch black darkness of the rear side of Orchard Road, while soft love songs that accentuated the movie "The Lake house" served as our background music. The ambiance of the room locked us away in our own little time capsule as we savoured our make-shift 3-course dinner purely in the company of each other.

We started with the delightful Samosa and Spring Rolls, which we both agreed, were exceptionally crispy and more than tantalizing as a starter to the meal, especially the Samosa. The Smoked Salmon Caesar Salad proved to be a refreshing change of taste, with the greenery and the rich Caesar dressing. Her Fish & Chips added the finishing touch to her meal, while I settled for the Lobster Laksa. Only given a sampler from our last visit to the Chatterbox, the Lobster Laksa was rich with the taste of the gravy and had succulent lobsters to boot.

In typical fashion, I ordered more than I should have and was left bloated and immobile on the bed immediately after giving up on the final pieces left on the dishes.

I looked at my watched as we laid there, and said, "Happy Anniversary Darling," kissing her softly on the cheek upon the realisation that it was just past midnight.

She reciprocated the favour before saying, "Ok wait, I have something for you." She drew one of the drawers and pulled out a little rectangular boxed-shape gift that was wrapped in sleek, black wrapping paper.

"Here's your present, I hope you like it. Happy Anniversary." she said as she handed me the gift.

Giving up on trying to unwrap the present as gently as I could, I finally tore through the wrapping paper, only to discover that I had become the proud owner of a brand new, 4th generation Ipod Nano, and the icing on the cake? It was in its sleek, silver glory, and we all know that "I only accessorize with silver."

I Only Accessorize with Silver

Elation would be an understatement, as a new Ipod was something that I needed now, more so than ever, and also considering the fact that I almost wanted to buy a new 3rd generation one in the US before the entire poverty-inducing debacle.

I smiled at her with gratitude and appreciation, while she smiled back with satisfaction and perhaps relief.

As we lay in the bed, our eyelids growing heavier, she said to me, "You know dear, I don't really want to fall asleep, because I know that when I do, the next morning when I wake up, this will be over, and we have to go back to reality."

I resonated with her words as I struggled to keep my eyes open for a little longer. But the night grew later and my eyelids grew heavier, as I sensed my consciousness drifting away. I smiled about the magical events that had transpired over the course of the day, and thought about the isolation that we had relished through the course of the hours. I thought of the memories that we had made and the moments that we had shared.

As the last bits of my consciousness started to fade away, I mustered a smile on my face as I fell asleep, a smile of the experience of reaching a little Oasis for my weary soul in the walk through the Desert of Desolation over the course of the last few weeks. And after the magical weekend with the best of company in our own little space; deep inside me, I felt that my was soul.... was recharged.... and ready.... to.... continue.....pressing........forward.

366 /2