That long and winding path to pleasure

Shortcuts may be efficient but detours and being a little lost yield surprising rewards.

- Leslie Koh

A hillock in the Holland Road area offers the writer a nice vista of the surrounding area, and sparks some joy in a routine.

(LESLIE KOH)

The walk from my home to my parents' takes about 25 minutes and is as simple as it gets: out of my Housing Board estate, onto the main road, straight down for 20 minutes, then a left through an HDB block to their home.

But I've found several other ways to get there, all of them taking far longer. One meanders along a winding road of old bungalows before cutting back into my parents' estate. Another takes a long loop around my own estate of ageing HDB blocks before getting back to the main road. A third includes a detour up and down a hillock packed with swanky condos.

Taking these unnecessary detours has revealed some interesting sights, such as a section of the pipes carrying water from Johor, a new posh condo or opulent bungalow to ogle at, an old uninhabited home reeking of mystery, and the odd pocket of greenery that brings a breath of fresh air to the urban landscape, both literally and figuratively.

Each time I spot something new to me, I feel a little thrill, a tiny tingle of excitement from making a discovery of something new, at least to me.

It's not an overwhelming joy by any stretch, but a little sense of satisfaction at having spotted something unusual or interesting, much like a bird spotter might catch a flash of a rare winged breed in the trees. Never mind that all of these discoveries, if I'm honest, are hardly significant or consequential.