This is a story about my recent trip to Universal Studios Singapore.
A trip that was planned in excitement, to bring my girlfriend there for our anniversary. It was planned in secrecy. I mean, I was hoping for the best boyfriend award, i prepared a nice hotel, booked a fancy restaurant, I even bought matching New Balances for the trip.
But, the surprise of the trip was, my girlfriend had a work-related emergency and could not join me on the trip,
So there I was, from KL, my 6 hours bus journey to Singapore. A day I was looking forward to, to spend with someone I love. A day I put in so much effort into planning, I mean we know girls right? Always saying their boyfriends do not try hard enough. So i was determine to make this one memorable.
As I was walking around Universal Studios, crowded with tourists and kids, running around. Couples holding hands in their matching Minions outfit. Urgh~ Standby the puke bucket. I could not help but to feel alone and pathetic in this giant wonderland.
I was carrying the biggest sulk from the Far Far Away Land, all the way to Jurassic Park. I mean, the queues were long, and standing there alone makes time crawls by even slower. Theory of relativity. Einstein-ed!
To make things even worse, it started to rain. Remember I told you I bought new 'couple' shoes? Soaked!
I told myself, maybe it's time to go. I mean, I was alone, my shoes squeaking, I'm soaking wet, and the only ride I've manage to got on was a tea cup. As I was about to leave, I saw a big crowd, everyone was queuing up for something. As I approach the crowd, I saw this big blue furry creature, waving and dancing around, as the audience queue up to take a photo with him. I randomly asked the park ranger, and was told that the queue is 45minutes, for a photo with Cookie Monster.
45 minutes? For Cookie Monster? How can a man in a fuzzy costume, be so interesting to cause such a riot. As I stood at the front of the crowd, staring blankly ahead, I was thinking that this trip could not have turned out a bigger disaster. So much for Boyfriend of the year.
At that exact moment, in the corner of my eyes, I saw cookie monster, pretend to fall down and laugh histerically just to entertain a little girl. I couldn't help it, but a smile escaped my otherwise frown. I guess I must have stood there and smiled for a long time, that's when I heard the park ranger shouting "Last photo!". And then Cookie Monster started to waved and signal me to go to him. He gave me a big hug and told me, "Keep on smiling!"
I guess that's the wonder of a simple act of kindness. I was smiling throughout the day. Although, I did not get on any of the cool rides, or shared a churro with my girlfriend, or the fact that i'm cold and wet, The photo I had with Cookie Monster, was the best memory of the entire trip. All because I smiled.
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