Goodbye Sleepy Sam's! I will miss your quiet charm.
Farewell to the man in briefs, who sleeps on the common room floor every night, flashing that smile each time I walk by.
Adios to the children playing in the streets, who run around blowing on whistles, which are made to sound like birds dying.
Au revoir to my bunkmate: Tin Tsu Chu Ming Zan, who has more names than I have siblings.
Arividerchi to my daily routine of brown toast and jam...occasionally substituted with cornflakes when I'm especially bored...And let's not forget to give a shout out to the unidentifiable fruit, the one that resembles a zebra with polka dots.
In all seriousness, I will miss the charm of the neighborhood--the nights where I can sit and dine in the middle of the pedestrian street, listening to live Malay music, gazing out at the dimly lit mosque at the end of the street.
What I won't miss is the mystery of the missing shoe (that is, I have one shoe missing, not a pair!) or having to carry all my most valuable possessions with me at all times for fear of the bag lady and other petty thieves (yes, my writing journal is among those most valued to me). I won't miss the pebble-stones in the shower, or having to wait till morning to go pee because you're sharing a bathroom with thirty of your closest companions (now I see how the bag lady managed to wet the bed!) or getting rained on while brushing your teeth because part of the building is lacking a roof.
Oh Sleepy Sam's, you've been good to me, but it is time to take my asides elsewhere. It is time for the Underground Man in me to resurface into the light. Marriott hotel, here I come for just one night!
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