Changi International Airport, Terminal 2 Viewing Gallery

The viewing gallery has changed.

Midnight, I would eat ice cream (double, chocolate chip). Freezing-cold, dead-quiet. Soft music emanates from a hidden alcove as planes roar silently into the night sky, leaving us with a gentle earth-shaking. The gallery is empty, dark, like glowingly with orange from the runway. Couples sit silently in communion with the ephemeral spirit of arrival-departure. The windows shake a little.

Is this the same place? It reflects how time has changed. I see planes, giant behemoths, though double glass, a consequence of terrorists.

But still, families still come late at night, hands filled with ice cream. Children still watch with delight and wonder as giants leave the earth for the sky.

It is still quiet.

It still has the tingle of, a new feeling,

change-arrival-leave!-holiday-fly-flyhigh-stomach-dropping sympathy-wonder-delight-night-goodbyegoodbyegoodbye.

Cheong Yong Hui Grace