A date with destiny

I had been looking forward to seeing Carolyn all week. So finally arranged to meet up with her on Friday. So far so good...

Problem was neither of us slept well over the last few days. So it was kinda weird just trying to think of things to talk about. The last couple of times we met were spontaneous fun and we really had a ball of a time. But this time it was more like a question-and-answer session. One of us would say something and the other would reply followed by a silence.

It did not help any that we had no where to go because of the unfavourable weather. Initially I had planned to go to Fisherman's Village but the rain made that impractical as it was an outdoor venue. So after a long,long drive from Carrrie's place we finally arrived at F.V. There were puddles here and there. I discovered Carrie has an aversion to amphibians. You know how these little green guys get when it rains. They were here,there and everywhere. Carrie got sand in her shoes and her feet wet. In the end we ordered a Sprite each and headed back to the car. A ho-hum date thus far..

At the car I proposed a movie. We drove to Century Square. After my usual detours and wrong turns we got there just in time for the 9.30 movie; Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights. The movie was good but I found out after that Carrie had already seen it on VCD. We coulda watched something else if I had known earlier.

On the way out of Century Square after the afore said movie the machine there suddenly went zonkers and refused to operate. My cashcard was stuck in the machine and the gantry refused to budge. A long queue started to form behind me presumably of other movie goers and shoppers. There was no way to retrieve the card nor to move my car. In the end I had to call the so-called 24 hr hotline number. The guy on the other side said they were unable to do anything and said that they would contact the building security.So after about 20 minutes a security guard made his triumphant appearance. The guard was unable to do anything to eleviate the situation claiming that the car park was owned by Metro Parking and not by the building administration. So after about 15 minutes of to-and -froing. He finally called his colleague to bring the master key to open the car park gantry. With that all the cars who had been waiting ever-so-impatiently got free parking at my expense. The so-called management informed me that they would only be able to retrieve my card after an hour.I gave them my personal details and they would contact me when they have done it. The worst part about it (in a way) was that my cashcard was also my AVA staff card so I could not risk it being lost or damaged or just falling into the wrong hands.

The entire car park experience made me realise how inept Singaporeans can be. We are all so bound by rules and regulations. We over-rely on technology. One of the ladies in the snaking queue behind my car remarked that this was not the first time that the car park machines had broken down. You would think that after so many breakdowns that they would have smoothed out all the bugs in the system. Another thing that I could not stand was the nonchalant attitude of the staff of Metro Parking. They did not seem to be sympathetic nor apologetic about the inconvenience caused to not just me but all the parties concerned. I know that their car park system breaks down every other day so dealing with irate drivers like me is a daily routine. But surely they must have some kind of contingency plan to deal with such mishaps. The fact that we had to wait for over half an hour just to get out is just plain ridiculous. The guard who attended to us had his hands tied by silly protocols. He could only open the gantry using the master key as a last resort which in my approximation should have been the first thing to do in such events.

Anyway after we got out of that place, I drove Carrie home. We did our usual 'goodbyes' and off she went to the loving arms of her by-now-worried momma and papa. It was already past 11 and I had not even had dinner yet and had only a partial lunch (lunch sucked!!) and did not finish my portion. I drove straight home. Had an iced Milo followed by an apple.

A juicy end to a sucky day. It was a day/date where everything that could go wrong did. I guess I shoulda gone with my instincts and called it off but I wanted so much to see her. Nevermind..next time...if she will ever see me again....