NS3

We started on a pier. One that wasn't even in anyone's acknowledgement until more than three years ago when it first opened. Maybe even then nobody knew about it, or cared. I was one of those people.

As our train took us back to the other end, we pretty much travelled through time too. From the city with our iconic Marina Bay Sands to a town with forests hiding abandoned war zones. And now here we are, another station and vicinity rich with history.

The only personal connection I ever had with this one was my bosses from the bakery I worked at five years ago, saying they lived here. I never even heard of it, being my pre-MRT-obsession era. And another honourable mention, of an old friend saying we should come here someday and sit somewhere we can look at trains.

It's home to the second and third highest natural points in the country, with the first being Bukit Timah. Imagine living here and not knowing about that, or caring. I wouldn't have, either, if this was where I grew up. I would probably have hated it for the same reason I now resent the town I'm living in. What a pity.

The closest I can get is through pictures taken by other Singaporeans who took the time out to explore. But reading these articles only makes me feel smaller and more trapped, within this octagon made up of the first green line stations.

Maybe someday I'll reach out myself and find some time to connect with herein, Bukit Gombak. As of now you are just my blank slate, despite being abundant with stories from the past decades. It is sad to admit that I still love these distant stations more than the side I grew up in, so you might as well be the first.