Forgetting The Simplest Of Pleasures

Last night I was walking towards the car park at the old wing of 1 Utama when I saw 2 kids running past me with their parents in tow. The kids were racing to be the first at a coin ride (one of those rides where you slot in some coins and the children can sit on a train/car thingamajig for a few minutes of fun). Unfortunately for the twosome, another child arrived at the ride first and hopped on while her mom slotted in a coin for her. Undaunted, the initial siblings ran to another ride on the opposite side and jumped excitedly while looking at their parents longingly for some coins.

This got me thinking back to the times when I enjoyed such rides. 20 sen could give a child such a smile that would not go away for a while. One could even ride on Ultraman's back in some places. I remember in Yaohan Singapore (can't recall which branch) there was also a ride where I could press some buttons and the car would horn or light up. Such control over the machine was unheard of back then so we were of course fascinated!

Then again, thinking not so far back, I know some jokers who would have continued playing with those rides if it were not for the age limit. Knn...