An Early Start

The air was cool. As I carried my baggage down the four flights of stairs, a gentle breeze stirred and sent a chill through my body. It was 5 am; I was still early, I thought to myself for the umpteenth time. I had been keeping watch of the time ever since I woke up in that wee hour of the morning. One could never be too cautious when he had a schedule to follow.

After a bit of heaving and a stop in between, I was finally at ground level with the baggage at my side. I made my way towards the entrance of hall of residence, pulling the wheeled baggage along behind me. Rrraatttaaaa....Rrrraatttaaaaa..... The sound echoed across the quiet open space between block 45 and block 46 as the wheels rolled against the brick pavement.

I came to a stop at the junction leading into the Hall 9 residential area and looked left and right for a cab. Towards my left, the road ran along in a straight line until it reached a crossroad just after the Hall 11 residential area. Beyond the crossroad, it was darkness. Towards my right, the road sloped upwards, veering in the right direction all the way until it disappeared from sight behind block 41. In both directions, the road was empty. 5.05 am; I was still early.

Lady Luck was with me that morning. It was not long before a taxi zoomed past and dropped its passengers at the apartment block opposite where I waited. I seized the opportunity and hailed the cab as soon as it was turning out from the apartment block and soon I was speeding along the empty streets.

"Uncle, do you know what time the first train is?" I asked the cab driver after I had directed him to the Jurong East MRT Station.

"Oh, I'm not sure about that. Five forty five or six. Six fifteen even! Maybe. Why? Where do you want to go?" came the reply.

"I need to catch a plane at the Changi airport at eight thirty," I told him.

"Ah, I see! Well, how about this then? I'm on my way back to my house in Yishun as well. I can just take you all the way there. Five dollars discount. How about it?"

"Err, no. It's alright. I'll be too early if I head directly towards Changi airport now." I insisted.

It turned out that the first train departed from Jurong East towards Boon Lay at 5.15 a.m. It would take another half an hour before the train turned back to Jurong East to pick passengers for the trip in the other direction. So, finally, off I went on my mini trip away from Jurong at exactly 5.45 a.m.