A Journey to the Graves

I stared into the refrigerator again. Nothing much for my lunch recipe, I thought to myself. Dinner too and also the next day…

This is what happens when you miss the mobile market.

The weather looked okay, though a little hot, for a drive to Tesco 4.5km away. Why Tesco then? I was not sure. Perhaps I was in the mood for a long nostalgic drive through the town.

I grabbed the keys, patted Jasper and Mickey goodbye and warned them to behave. Don’t poop and pee everywhere while I’m gone, I sternly told the Shih Tzu’s, with my eyes fixed on Mickey, the bigger rascal of the two.

Once my car left the driveway, it was the beginning of a different day.

Along the way, I noticed that the town had somehow… developed. Not by leaps and bounds, but at least there are significant changes here and there since the last time I lived there. The sports complex is undergoing major renovation – or rather reconstruction. I did hope there would be an Olympic-sized pool this time. Sungai Petani desperately needs one… The HSBC manor is no longer white, but red-and-white – with patterns resembling HSBC logo. CityLiner buses already dominate the roads instead of UTC buses.

4.5km later in Lagenda Heights, I parked my car in front of Tesco and stepped in with a song Pretty Woman bouncing in my footsteps. Nah, I was kidding. It was played at the hypermarket’s speakers that time. But then again, I have always enjoyed the thrill of going solo in shopping malls and hypermarkets.

The grocery shopping was a quick affair. I only needed to buy so few items for my recipes that I could just slide through the express cashier lane. I guessed my delay was because I spent so much time observing the shoppers. Surprisingly, there were no familiar faces. Nobody I could say hi and catch up with.

And then I remembered two people.

Immediately I started to wheel my shopping cart around frantically. Flowers… Where can I get flowers? Then I realised that there was not a single florist in Lagenda Heights, let alone Tesco – not even Village Mall next to it. Somebody can start a florist business here, there is HUGE potential, I muttered under my breath sarcastically.

After spending half an hour looking around, I gave up and decided to go to the florist I used to go to in the heart of town. My actual destination was actually in between Lagenda Heights and that florist store at the west side. I didn’t mind a detour…

The clouds have started to fill the afternoon sky by then. The weather was no longer as sizzling as I expected an afternoon to be.

(to be continued)