Three Lone Rangers

Aunty Molly & I went to send Rebecca off at the airport this morning. She was going on an overseas trip to Bangkok with her school colleagues. Earlier this week, Rebecca shared that there was some disagreement which I believe was due to distinct differences in perception & personality. Nevertheless, I still hope that these issues get worked out & this trip would be a good experience & break away from work for her.

These 3 lone rangers – Yonglin, Rebecca & Huimin were the only 3 girls going on this trip. Quite a small group comprising of only girls, which could be a potential target for snatch thief or other malicious crimes in that messy place. At first, Har Keong & I were supposed to go along too, but in the end both of us pulled out because each thought the other guy was not going. Nonetheless, I still think that without both of us guys tagging along, the girls would be very much more at ease shopping till their hearts content. In fact, thinking about it, I’m glad that I decided not to go, coz it won’t be nice if Rebecca & I stuck to each other during the trip, when it is supposed to be a colleagues holiday trip.

Anyway, Aunty Molly, Rebecca & I had a rather peaceful morning breakfast at Burger King (BK) at Changi Airport Terminal 1. It definitely beats having breakfast in a fast-food restaurant at a busy place like Bedok, where the enclosed glass walls making the echo of voices & noises pretty deafening to the ears. Initially, I forgot how that BK looked like, but when I reached, I remembered that Rebecca & I used to study there during a certain semester while we were still at university.

At first, Aunty Molly decided to go to the food court to buy her breakfast & her morning dose of coffee. However, she returned in a matter of minutes because the queue was very long there & the variety of food wasn’t to her taste. In the end, she ended up eating the delicious BK croissantwich with us.

What made this particular meal special is because the bread that was used by BK for the croissantwich is just so amazingly soft & chewy! I just love the taste! Beats all McDonald’s burger buns hands-down… completely.

We had a short time of morning chit-chat, with both mother & daughter looking rather sleepy, whereas I had been awakened by the hunger & smell of my beloved croissantwich! To be honest, I almost wanted to order another, but resisted the temptation for the sake of healthy eating. Health does come at a certain form of ‘cost’ at times… but it’s for the good & balance of my body.

After the meal, we met up with Rebecca’s colleagues, had a very short chit-chat before the 3 lone rangers proceeded to check in their luggage & get their Air-Asia plane tickets from the ticketing counter at Row 11. It took quite a long time, as the queue was quite long. Finally, we said our goodbyes, bid farewell to everyone & began our journey to church.

I felt a bit sad that Rebecca’s wish of initiating her Mum & I to say a prayer had failed to come to past. However, it was the right thing to do, since her other colleague was not a Christian & her immediate family members were standing next to us, before we departed.

The one over hour journey to church began rather awkwardly, as Aunty Molly & I walked together towards the Sky-Train towards Terminal 2 to board the MRT to church. Both of us were walking together, yet the distance between us was easily 1.5 meters apart. Actually, it wasn’t me who created that distance… it was Rebecca’s Mum. Perhaps she isn’t comfortable with me.

We chatted throughout the journey (at varying intervals) about my family, Aunty Molly’s way of bringing up her own children, my job search, church, etc. The weirdest moment was when we sat next to each other on the MRT. Aunty Molly was clearly uncomfortable sitting so close to me, coz she leaned away in the opposite direction when we were talking. But it was still a good time of chatting & getting to know each other better… though throughout the travel to church, Aunty Molly held a neutral stance & body language. It’s okay… everything starts from somewhere.

No kidding, this is the first time I was relating one-to-one with Rebecca’s Mum & at regular intervals for more than an hour! I just tried to compose myself as much as possible & relate to her as calmly as I could. Depending on the topics being talked about, at some point of time, I felt good because I think I knew more about her, than she knew about me. Thus, perhaps I did feel less vulnerable as compared to her.

All in all, it was a good start to understanding & learning to relate to this hopefully future mother-in-law of mine… if God permits… Hope Rebecca enjoys her trip!