This blog post is part of the Random Sampling Singapore project. The Project aims to sample 100 places on the island of Singapore over a one year period in order to gain an unbiased and holistic view of the city state.

In late October I met with my friend Jodi Chapman to walk to the coordinate #17 at Sungai Kadut. The exact spot was on a grass patch next to a road and a Shell gas station. It was easy accessible and we could directly take a bus from our meeting point.

On the grass patch was flourishing my old friend mimosa pudica, or the “Toch-me-not!” plant. I sampled already one of these plants at my very beginning, when I was generating the coordinates with Guillaume at the French Embassy (see #0_The starting point) and I told Jodi the story about the plant with the French scientist Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan and the Circadian Rythm.

We enjoyed the blooming flowers and the butterflies and golden dragon flies.

Next to the pink dotted mimosa field was a little concrete shed. There were no windows, only a rusty old steel door and ajar open. Brave and bold Jodi tramped through the knee high grass and opened the door. Just some old leader and stuff were stashed.

Next to the shed was a machine abandoned lying in the grass. The grass creeped over the metallic box. There were some buttons and adjuster- and some letters on the right upper side. I was reading loudly to Jodi: “HAPPY LIFE”. There was written Happy Life onto the machine. We laughed and decided to name the coordinate after this and take this feeling as a sample out of this coordinate.

That day we walked back along a part of the old rail corridor and stopped under some shady rain trees for sketching. A happy day in my life with a good friend.

Artwork

The feeling of friendship and companionship is the outcome of this coordinate. Beside of this I modified the picture of the golden dragonfly, with its metallic body and transparent wings impressed me.