Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre. Our favorite childhood haunt, the favorite place for Marist Stella Boys. Circle Circus Arcade, Pot Black Billiards, dreaming rachel day-dreams. Red Panther Barber Saloon, Inner-cut, Mushroom, the infamous Hougang de Sauna. A cockroach in Simian's Noodles. Ah Lim's Game Shop.

We grew up too fast, migrated to more glittery places. Circle Circus closed, then Pot Black. We switched to saloons, Pointers and then Reds. It must have been ages since we were there. The place has become a sleepy backwater now; Aged and weary with algae~d walls.

I went back with Abel yesterday. Surprisingly Ah Lim is still there and going strong. He still remembers us. From floppy disks to Cds, we have been buying from him since the DOS era. There's this closeness, an old sense of familiarity. Buying from him, you feel as if you are supporting a friend. Of course he only deals in originals now, but our pockets are also deeper.