Playing hooky with Super Yo Yo Man

Super Yo Yo Man, cap on backwards in true 'hood dude style went for a walk with his Super Mummy (his name for me, not mine) today. (Super Yo Yo Man - the name, that is - is his idea. He's into this new identity of swivelling the cap on backwards and adopting the rapper stance and going "Yo! Yo!" and today, he said casually to me: "Just call me Super Yo Yo Man!"

It was just the two of us. We went for a walk in the heart of the city - the business district. Super Yo Yo Man, as usual, charmed the socks off passers-by and fellow MRT passengers with his grin. Or maybe it was just the roundness of his face that made people want to reach out and give his cheeks a good pinch.

Super Yo Yo Man was a trouper - never asked for nen-nen - he knew the golden rule: "No nen-nen outside, nen-nen only at home" and of course, "must walk and not ask mummy to carry." So he walked. We walked and walked.

We walked through Boat Quay, stopped at the Fullerton to sample the Bailey's mooncakes - not a taste of Bailey's disappointingly! Then Super Yo Yo Man saw the river. So we headed that way. Marvelled at Botero's Bird. Checked out Dali's Surrealist Piano - which Super Yo Yo Man approved of as he exclaimed: "Mummy, look! The piano has legs and shoes!"

Wandered past Dali's tribute to Newton and Super Yo Yo Man concluded the statue was lame - literally - because a big toe lay awkwardly to one side, cut off. And what was the deal about the ball hanging from the chest, he wanted to know? I explained about the statue being 'open-hearted' but not sure that Super Yo Yo Man got all of it. Never mind - lots of time to learn about that one.

Enroute to Nam Seng at Far East Sq for wanton mee, Super Yo Yo Man stopped to marvel at the wall of rushing water, spilling down a wall of coral - at least I think its coral - the flow of water over a rocky texture creating very nice patterns. One could sit and look at it for hours. It lent a nice cool feeling, softening the busy rush of the city. People in the city always seem to be in a hurry to go somewhere, so it was nice to be able to slow things down today with Super Yo Yo Man, just stroll, stand and look and move when it suited us.

At Nam Seng, Super Yo Yo Man slurped soup while I polished off the wanton mee. Lovely stuff. Must go back on Sunday mornings when it is open. After lunch, we grabbed a cab to BBC - Bras Basah Complex.

Like a good boy, he walked with me all through Bras Basah complex as I searched for a white board, browsed through some second hand books. Observed that the 2nd hand bookstore was a maze. He's not far wrong. But its a maze I love to be lost in.

On the way to Raffles City, he stopped to look at another water feature outside Chef Chan's restaurant (which I boycott because the famous chef was pretty snotty to kids) - this one being a calmer one with a shallow base filled with pebbles and stones, a small bubble being the only sign of life in the waters.

I never noticed it until today, but the city is really full of water and we're never far away from the sound and the coolness of water. A very good thing.

Today, from the green waters of the Singapore River, to the rushing wall of water at the Citibank building, to the poles of water in perspex at FarEast Sq, the calm fountain outside Chef Chan's, the kiddy favourite called Vitality in the Raffles Marketplace and the one in the atrium of Raffles City, we encountered water in all its moods and presentations.

We are drawn to it - Super Yo Yo Man and me. We like the coolness, the movements from the gentle to the rushing, the sounds, the play of light on water (the use of spotlights for Vitality, for instance, gives a feel of a moonlit beach) - all very interesting. We ended our afternoon at Vitality, sitting on the cool black marble rim and watching the flow and ebb, feeling the odd spray as the shooting jets come crashing down. Super Yo Yo Man and I could have sat there for ages and just watched in silence.

It was a good, lazy afternoon out. I think we both enjoyed it.

Incidentally, looking at the rush of the Shenton Way crowds, the men in suits/ties, the ladies ta-paoing for lunch, in their heels and shirts. I felt, as usual, a bit out of place. A bit grungy in my cheap tee, denim skirt and crocs. And a bit guilty - especially when I thought of my colleagues back at the office. As if I was playing hooky from a job. Despite the fact that it was my day off. I should, a twinge of work-ethic conscience told me, be doing something 'more constructive'. Especially if I say I work part-time and the other part of the time I am supposed to be at home with the kids, nurturing them, watching over them, checking their homework etc.

But at the same time, I felt glad to be able to play hooky with the Super Yo Yo Man. In a way, this is also part of my job as a part-time stay-home mom and what an enjoyable one it is. I like to think we did a bit of culture and art education, a bit physical exercise, lots of negotiation skills, some philosophy about water, some discussion about wind in the MRT tunnels (is that physics in a raw form?)... its been a full day.

There was no pressure to teach or to learn or do 'do something'. But yet, there were lots done. Lazy afternoons like today are not always easy to come by. But how memorable they are when they do.