it rained on a beach day..

It rained on my parade today .. Sniffles ...on days like this I wish the rain would go away. I was all set and packed to get some sun seeing that it started out as a very very hot day with the weather standing at 33 degrees Celsius that is very hot weather in Singapore. Anyways the very hot weather quickly turned to a heavy downpour and the whole beach plan was scrapped and here I was thinking what a way to end the school holidays with a trip to the beach just like the good old days. I had my bag packed lotion, towel, slippers and what nots and then the rain came down … i was ready for the sun ready to feel the salt water on my skin and get a little more tan ... sniffles …. heehee..

Today’s beach outing was going to be with the family – cousins, aunties and my visiting family who are still in town. When we were growing up trips to the beach on weekends and during the school holidays was a norm but as everyone grew up and had their own lives we stopped doing it because it seems that everyone was always busy. Makes me wonder why we are all busier than usual these days – we have to slow down and smell the roses. These days even if we did have a beach outing it was once in a blue moon or when we have family visiting from overseas.

I remembered our trips to the beach when we were younger. We would either frequent either Changi beach or East Coast Park beach. Changi beach was fun because it was right behind the airport runway and when the planes are about to land its really low. We would wave to the passengers on the planes. It’s an experience because before an airplane approaches we would guess what airline it was until it was close enough for us to see its tail and the airline’s logo. Sometimes I wonder if the passengers waves back at us – we probably look like ants to them.

Trips to the beach usually included aunties’ grand aunties’ cousins’ grandparents – ALL of the family as you can see. Each family would bring a different dish and we would share. Some would bring fruits, others snack, drinks and so on forth. I can still remember the taste of ‘nasi lemak’ or fried rice noodles on our salted hands. Who can ever forget the curry puffs … yummm … I remember when my older aunties would swim in their sarong its so cute and how they would sit by the beach and collect shells – they would dig and look for the shells. The Malay term for it is ‘remis’ it’s a kind of cockle I think. They are good at looking for these things and when they have collected enough they would bring it home and steam it and eat it with chili sauce.

Our beach trips consist of swimming, building sandcastles and cycling. We would rent bicycle from the kiosks and cycle from one end of the beach to another and trust me it’s a long stretch. But the view is beautiful – its a long stretch of beach and with music in your ears and the breeze against your face and endless open roads ahead of you its sheer bliss though it’s a little tiring on the legs - I mean it’s not something we do everyday.. but I love cycling by the beach something inspiring and calming about it. Sometimes I would cycle all the way down to the jetty and watch people fish. There were times when my cousins and I would race and if my memory serves me correctly – I have had my share of scrapes from falls embarrassing but who cares and hey I scares to show for all that .. *grin*

What really entertains us a lot during our trips to the beach are pushing or pulling a family member into the water and it’s even better when they never brought a change of clothes. Trust me we have been bad that way and gotten hell for it but it was well worth it. Who goes to the beach and don’t get wet huh???

Those were the days .. Maybe its time to pick up on the fun things that we as a family use to do together. It seems we are so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget about family and the little things that bring us together and help us bond and relax.

Since the rain spoiled it for me today I am going to pout for a bit ..blog ya laters world ..