Umbrella

Friends who know me and the anatomy of my Warehouse bag well enough will recognise a sneaky but essential character - my little Elmo umbrella, Ernie.

Fate plays a huge part in many things in this world. I can never forget the moment we met at Narita Airport last June. I'd been walking aimlessly down the shops, waiting for our domestic flight back to Tokyo from Hokkaido, and I entered this shop full of girly accessories. I took a glance, and almost walked out when I saw the row of umbrellas gleaming in the sharp, bright light. As usual I looked out for my favourite character, the Orange-Boy-Friend-Of-Bert Ernie, but I guess not enough people like him. So I had to choose between the other monsters, like bluish Cookie Monster, yellow Big Bird and reddish Elmo.

To be honest I don't quite fancy Elmo. In my impression, Elmo is a stuck up little fella (he hides it well) who's so proud of his fame and popularity that he HAS to appear 90% of the time on the show, wheras the guys who are genuinely funny like Cookie Monster and Oscar and of course Ernie and Bert are left to share the rest of the screen time along with the annoying ABC and 123 learning bits. The only reason I picked him was because he's red, and it's my favourite colour.

And in order to make it up to my favourite cartoon character of all time, I named my umbrella Ernie.

Ernie has done a lot for me, especially in the past 5 months. He has kept me company in all my trips to different parts of Singapore, shielding me from both the murderous Singapore sun and the havoc-wrecking tropical rain.

And that's not all. Being a tiny little fella, Ernie is unable to shield more than one person at any time. As such, unless necessary, I do not have to share my precious Ernie with anyone else.

But don't think that this is a one-sided relationship. I do show my appreciation on occassion! Every time I board a bus after it rains, I refuse to lay it on the floor of the bus because it's so filled with grime and dirt I'm so worried it'll stain my poor Ernie. I'd rather hold it for the entire journey than lay it down! I'd also fold his sleeves gently, making sure everything is nice and straight before I tie him up and slot him back home, where he can stay dry and warm. I'm very loving towards my Ernie!