• Blog
  • Archive
    • Portfolio
    • China
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Singapore
    • Singapore Literature
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • About the Book
    • Q & A
    • Media & Reviews
    • Images
    • Buy it here
    • Writing
    • Short Story Recommendations
    • Writing Resources
    • Tools for Writers
    • Writing Prompts
  • About
  • Contact
Menu

The Sun Shines & The Igloo Melts

Photography & Writing
  • Blog
  • Archive
  • Gallery
    • Portfolio
    • China
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Singapore
    • Singapore Literature
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
  • We Rose Up Slowly
    • About the Book
    • Q & A
    • Media & Reviews
    • Images
    • Buy it here
  • Writing
    • Writing
    • Short Story Recommendations
    • Writing Resources
    • Tools for Writers
    • Writing Prompts
  • About
  • Contact
Karaoke Lounge, Craig Road, Singapore, 2012

Karaoke Lounge, Craig Road, Singapore, 2012

A Long Bicycle Ride into the Sea

July 16, 2015 in WRUS, Writing, Singapore

"I entered a large room with plush red carpet on the walls, dark vinyl booths, and a raised podium in the far corner where some girl was singing “无条件为你”1  robustly and off-key. The lounge was loud, musty and hazy. It was busy with lots of blokes. Smoke lingered from cigarettes and Filipino cigars. It was hard to see as the only light came from lasers flashing coloured lines across the room and the glow of TV screens showing balls bouncing across the tops of lyrics as couples walked through tulip gardens. I wondered about trying to find a drink."

1 “Unconditionally for You”

Excerpt from A Long Bicycle Ride Into the Sea, a story in We Rose Up Slowly

You can buy We Rose Up Slowly online here (free shipping in Singapore)

A Long Bicycle Ride into the Sea is a story from my collection, We Rose Up Slowly. The story was written in 2011 and published in Coast (Math Paper Press, 2011). 

A Long Bicycle Ride into the Sea:

  • is about a young lawyer, coasting along in privilege, who is challenged to get wet to prove his love 
  • examines unconscious assumptions, and how a sense of entitlement and the shallowness of one's gaze obscures self awareness, intimacy and growth
  • shows the effect of this on relations with others
  • contains passing references to small law firms in shophouses in Tanjong Pagar, Prada suits, Raoul cuff links, Lloyds shoes, Louboutin heels, silver charm bracelets, Benny Hill flirting with Emily Dickinson, Halal eating houses, a HDB flat in Clementi, a Hokkien Sponge Bob Square Pants, Lau Pa Sat, Billy Wilder films, Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres, Amitabh Bachchan and Maggie Q, Kong Hee and Lawrence Khong, Ai Weiwei, Miroslav Tichý, Henry Darger and Beatrix Potter, Justin Bieber and Taufik Batisah, the planet Zog, and the song 无条件为你.
  • Why so many names dropped? I wanted to show the pretentious superficiality of the narrator and how this obstructs his ability to achieve deeper relations with others.
Tags: WRUS, Karaoke, Singapore, LEica
← Death of a ClownWe Rose Up Slowly launched at 24 Hours at BooksActually →
Back to Top

Copyright Jon Gresham 2013 to 2020, All Rights Reserved. 

Nothing on this website may be reproduced, whether in part or as a whole, without explicit, express  permission in writing from the author.   

Sign Up here for more information or leave a comment.