sense of place

for you geography majors, and perhaps those like me who have previously taken ge1101e, the title of this post should not be an unfamiliar term.
however, for the benefit of everybody else, i shall provide a short explanation, albeit it being one that is mostly based on my own personal interpretation.


essentially, places can be split into two categories:
those that hold meaning, and those that do not.
for the former, these places are said to have a 'sense of place', i.e. they hold special meaning to particular people.
personally, i believe that these places evoke feelings and memories, therefore resulting in the above-mentioned special meaning that we attach to them.


take a few seconds to think of some places that hold special meaning to you.
think about what kind of feelings you experience, and which memories come to light.


it could be your doorstep, a front porch, a void deck.
it could be a specific spot on a beach, a jetty, or a lighthouse.
it could even be a particular seat on the bus, or a certain bus route.
your primary school classroom, the canteen, the general office...
the playground where you grew up, the spot by the roadside where you always stood at, every morning, waiting for the schoolbus.
the singapore flyer, the marina barrage, the esplanade rooftop...
even certain places overseas, the various airports there, train stations...


and the list goes on.


well, today i had the liberty of spending 45 minutes alone, walking around junction 8 while i waited for my friends to have lunch with.
and as i walked around, looking at and browsing through all the shops in a systematic fashion, i realised that i had a very strong sense of place here.
the cinema, the foodcourt, the supermarket, the popular bookstore etc...


memories and feelings arose; some happy, most sad.
and then it got me thinking about all the places where i had a very strong sense of place.


orchard central quiznos subs, bedok 85, vivocity boardwalk, the marina barrage, the vjc treehouses, east coast park, selegie road tauhway, the heeren basement, changi airport, henderson waves, hort park, golden mile, nicoll highway etc.
there are too many places to name here,
but man, i daresay we really went to plenty of places.
which sadly, doesn't really seem to be a good thing now, does it?


and then for a second i pondered, "ha, if only we never went to so many places..."
perhaps, we should have just stuck to a few; make life easier now.


but nah, almost as quickly, i dismissed that foolish thought.
for when you are with somebody you love, it is almost definite that you would want to go to as many places as you can with her.
travel the globe.
and see the world together.


the hard times come when she's no longer around, i guess.
but that's life, so we all have to live with it.


Is there anyone out there?
Somewhere I can belong
Man the city just ain't so kind tonight

I need a place to take refuge
See I been loving you blind
And I guess that made it hard for me to find

Why did you roll your dice? Show your cards?
Jilted lovers and broken hearts
You're flying away, while I'm stuck here on the ground

And if I had my suspicions
I kept them out of my heart
Just wished I would've known right from the start


Why did you roll your dice? Show your cards?
Jilted lovers and broken hearts
You're out on the wind and I'm still waiting to be found.

You did a fine job of hiding
That crooked ace up your sleeve
You doubled down my direction
You kiss me on the cheek and leave
I followed you through the darkness
I followed you through the cold

Will I ever win?
Only time can tell
You got to suffer to remember how
That are our ideals never really marched in time

That's the bottom line
Jilted lovers and broken hearts