Balek Kampung

As I stepped onto the travelator leading to the immigration checkpoint with other passengers from a 7hrs flight from Sydney, I wonder what three decades of working and living away from Singapore have done to me. How will I feel to be back home again, even though the last "balek kampung" was only 11 months ago. I am back again this time, to attend a nephew's wedding. What if I have to ask this embarrassing question at the family gathering, "Who are your parents?" in order to know whom they belong to my siblings.
I am still familiar with the hot humid air that greeted me when I left the air-conditioned airport terminal building to board a taxi; and the unmistakable Singlish spoken in the queue; so is the aromatic smell of the local food that wafted through the hawker stalls adjacent to the wet market, on the next day.
But much has changed in the 30 odd years, I come to realize that most of me remembered only the dream-like visions of the past I grew up in, and the nostalgic feelings of the bygone days of my childhood, half remembered, half imagined still come to the surface, despite the ever changing skyline of modern Singapore. To be continued...
P/S:
If you post a comment in my blog, please post it in the latest posting even if it refers to my previous posting. I have lost some of your comments as I have difficulty finding them. Cheers.