Bitan

2 movies last Sunday. First one with MM at 12, and then the second one with J at 6. I had a few hours to kill between 2 movies. Went to Gongguan first, trying to look for travel book, but was not able to find the one for British Columbia by Lonely Planet. I did not bring my own bottle of water, so stopped at an ice shop, and had some shaved ice. It was not very good, compared with the one I love at Shilin night market. Would probably not go back anymore. After that I decided to go to Bitan.

This is just my second visit to Bitan. My first impression for this place is from a novel I read when I was 10 years old. The main female character was heart broken, ran to this place in the rain, without a raincoat or an umbrella, of course. She got sick in the rain, and her boy friend came to rescue her, of course, and they made up, of course. It was funny when I was there thinking of this story again. When I was 10, the characters in the novel were already 23 or 24. I thought they were so mature, and wondered what it's like to be in love. Now I am 38, but they are still 23 or 24, and I realize that kind of love only exists in the romantic fictions.

It was nice and cool, some sprinkles of rain sometimes, a perfect day to visit Bitan. Hard to imagine what a scorching hell it could have been if the temperature had hit 35, and there had been no shed there. I walked up and down the suspension bridge, looked out at the river watching people playing with the peddle boats, sat on the steps watching college students playing group games, and strolled down the food court trying to find out if there was anything interesting. It turned out to be a wonderful 2-hour trip, alone.

Then I went back to the MRT, our mass transmit system, took the train, and realized it was still to early. I sat on the bench, took out the newspaper I had not read yet, and started to read in the subway station. It was nice and cool. Train came by every 5 minutes, so it was so easy to measure time. I was out for 12 hours and felt completely relaxed when I returned.