Singapore Post No. 4: Where you'll find the most curves

There are just too many curves in this place that apparently, many men have manifested temporary insanity seeing them…

…someone lost this boot

…another, this spoon!!!

I know… you must be thinking of Orchard Road... and that vivid imagination of yours with well-endowed women sashaying the street just leaped out of my screen!!!

Nope. This road is much too subtle. Rather quaint but can rival that shopping strip’s financial “ka-shing!” for its rich albeit tragic history.

Welcome to South Buona Vista Road!!! The only road in Singapore with more than a dozen twists and turns! Some cabbies love cruising along this sloping and winding road in Kent Ridge Park. They know by heart how many curves there are. Or so they seem. One cabbie said, fourteen? Another said, thirteen? Hmmm. I would also try to count each time but… I get dizzy!

Of course, some simply hate it. They have serious doubts over navigating this road. You just know they do. With them you pray real hard for the road to suddenly turn straight. But if I happen to have a bad cabbie—you know, the morose and ranting, or the rock-a-bye-sleepy baby, or the tire-screeching types—this one surely zaps the “evil spirits” out of them. They become quiet, with both hands on the wheel, and eyes focused on the road. Yes.

I love this road. It suits my sedentary lifestyle which needs a bit of low-impact walking exercise every now and then. When in a reflective mood, the trees on the slopes and the pavement are good company. Really. Never fails to remind me of how life is, in general—a meandering obstacle course.

Speaking of obstacles, during the World War II the British thought they had their best defense against the Japanese invaders in Kent Ridge. It was invaluable, having the best vantage point for incoming enemy ships. Sadly, as the British had their eyes towards the sea, the Japanese conquered Singapore in a stealthy come-from-behind attack by foot and bike.*

See how this bit of history deepens our insight on life? But let’s not get into that.

See you at the next curve!

*Mahbubani, Kishore. "Can Asians Think?," Times Books International, Singapore, p. 38.