
She must be close to 80. Well, that’s my guess. With a sweet, bird-like face and a schoolboy mop haircut, she must’ve been quite Audrey Hepburn-ish when marrying his father.

And, he was a handsome man himself, in his mid-fifties, attired unassumingly smart in his polos, jeans and professor-like glasses. He exuded a quiet dignity. A lady with a beautiful smile was with him in simple jeans and tees. I guess that it must be his wife or sister.

By the camaraderie of the waiters around the son, the lady and his mother, it was apparent that they were regulars.

The son ordered a root beer and filled his mother’s glass, the lady’s and then his.

I took a sip of my pint of Asahi and watched the old mother, middle-aged son and the lady chatting away happily over glasses of root beer filled with ice.

For those few moments, I realised that we could make time for everything. A bottle of shared root beer helps.

When I look back on that balmy Singapore evening, all the happiness in the world had come to roost in that quiet neighbourhood corner cafe.


She must be close to 80. Well, that’s my guess. With a sweet, bird-like face and a schoolboy mop haircut, she must’ve been quite Audrey Hepburn-ish when marrying his father.
And, he was a handsome man himself, in his mid-fifties, attired unassumingly smart in his polos, jeans and professor-like glasses. He exuded a quiet dignity. A lady with a beautiful smile was with him in simple jeans and tees. I guess that it must be his wife or sister.
By the camaraderie of the waiters around the son, the lady and his mother, it was apparent that they were regulars.
The son ordered a root beer and filled his mother’s glass, the lady’s and then his.
I took a sip of my pint of Asahi and watched the old mother, middle-aged son and the lady chatting away happily over glasses of root beer filled with ice.
For those few moments, I realised that we could make time for everything. A bottle of shared root beer helps.
When I look back on that balmy Singapore evening, all the happiness in the world had come to roost in that quiet neighbourhood corner cafe.

Over A Root Beer