June 20, 2012

travel by smell

Last night, I went cycling - something that I haven't done for a long awhile, and didn't realise I could miss.

The bike is new and easy to ride; it picks up speed fast and was even a little difficult to control possibly because I was rusty in riding and the condition of the bike was really mint-new. So, I did not have to pedal too hard before I found myself cutting through the wind.

The smell of the trees, grass, shrubs... the smell one gets when being around greenery at night... perhaps, the smell of competition for oxygen as the trees respire... I like it, very much. It always brings to mind my last two years in NUS, a period of time that I now know is one of my happiest and to which I like to revisit even if only in the nostalgic mind.

Being a FASS student, I didn't really have to stay back late in campus much, save for occasional faculty events. I did stay late a few times to mug for exams with friends or engage in communal whining in the Honours Room about not being able to write on thesis topics anymore, but again, those were episodic arrangements.

Nevertheless, the smell lingers and is so identifiable that every time it brushes up my nostrils, it takes my non-physical being back to those uni days. In that way, quite unwittingly, it manages to bring an upward curve to my mouth.

Cycling is relaxing, much more than jogging. Especially given the humid weather these days, even in the night time, it is so much more enjoyable to have some breeze while you pedal away some calories (albeit less than jogging) than to sweat profusely.

I also found out that there are actually plenty of climbing opportunities in the new Bishan Park; somehow, the playground has been done up in such a way that there are plenty of climb-related facilities. For the 'monkey/spider/lizard syndrome' in me, that is good.

Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 10:44