A Timeless Moment - Escalating Eiffel Tower

I'll never forget the day that I was bodily escalating towards the observatory of Eiffel Tower, 906 feet above the ground. The view was surreal and every second I seemed to only hear my heart palpitating louder. Ba bump, ba bump, ba bump. I could not believe that I was actually here – in Paris, France. Who knew that I was privileged enough to be where I was, after travelling over 6000 miles from Singapore.

The wind was chilly, although it was already summer. I was immersed in the beautiful lights; the amazing structure; the fabrication of time; the amalgamation of beauty, and reality. “Was this real?” My train of thoughts seemed to never end. Do I hear people speaking of a different language, yet embedded with the same hues of love and class, the same soul searching for the meaning of life, yet clothed in a different skin color, with blond or brunette hair? I felt like I was so close yet so far from humanity. To be lifted high up above the sky, simultaneously being down to earth.

When I reached the top, I hopped out of the elevator with excitement. My heart skipped a beat. The hair on my skin did a little dance. I looked left and right, scrutinized every nook and cranny of the Eiffel Tower. I saw a couple swoon with admiration for each other, little kids running around the souvenir counter picking up their favorite toys, and a set of grandparents who were spending the last but best few years of their life together.

As I held my chocolate crepe, bathed in strawberries and goodness, I sauntered around the top of the tower and viewed each location with a smile from ear to ear. Chronologically, I pondered on the countless humans who ascended into this archetypal lattice building. There and then, my feet were on the same ground of the women in the 1800s who had an extremely different facial feature, wearing absolutely different clothes, contained in a contrasting trends, fashioned in a dissimilar culture. I felt like I was standing on a gigantic piece of artefact, combining the essence of the past and reliving it into the present. I was reminded again how time flies within a blink of an eye. Like a rose that will wither, jeans that will become faded, and wrinkles that would only keep surmounting on my face. Time is not on my side.

I did not need to buy anything fancy souvenir that night. What I received was the remembrance that I might need time to buy money, but, money cannot buy time.