We were surprised with the little amount of people in the aquarium today. Ticket weren’t a hassle, there wasn’t much queue going on as we arrived at the park. Both Jake and I were mesmerized as soon as we step in the place, it was massive. It felt like we were going deeper, down towards the ocean.

There were so many things to see and the towering coral aquarium was one of them. It was amazing to see all those marine habitats. We were absolutely fascinated with their movements and it was hard to focus on one particular animal. You could see colourful tiny fishes and I was in awe almost the whole time.

We spend more than minutes, almost hour it seems to see everything. Jake manage to bring me towards the discovery touch pool, I would have never moved from the spot we were in if it weren’t for Jake. There, we had the opportunity to feel sea stars, star fishes and the experience was unbelievable. I was hesitant at first, trying to feel the animals, but Jake encouraged and helped ease my fears; Jake was clearly enjoying the experience.

However, the highlight would have to be the Open Ocean Habitat, it was hard to believe. No words could describe how amazing the place is. The view was filled with schools of fish, sharks and rays. We started from being on top of the level and it was amazing how each level showed different perspectives of the view. Jake sat on one of the level and taps the seat next to his. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the tank was full of fish, marine habitat but it looks as if to be in a harmony.

“This is amazing” I whispered towards Jake.

“It is, I can’t believe we are finally here” Jake and I was still observing the tank and habitats inside. It was amazing to see how each of them had swim by and it was almost mesmerizing to see their movements, it was as if each of them knew we were watching and they had swim here, there to communicate.

“I will never get bored of this” I continued, we were still sitting in front of the tank. “Thanks again Jake” I thanked him for bringing me out here and being a good company.

“No, thank you as well. I don’t think I would come here if it weren’t for you, Lena” Jake explained and smile towards me.

“I really don’t have words to describe the feelings I have right now” I told Jake, it was calm yet heart-thumping as well, everything seem to be amazing but still I felt peaceful.

“I’m surprised there are not much people coming here today” Jake looked around us, and it was true. A few couples were sitting a few feet from us. One level below, we saw families of four. It was almost empty and that made the whole thing seem like a dream.

“I’m glad we went out here today” I said and a nod came from Jake. He was glad as well. We almost spent an hour sitting on our little space. Looking out towards the tank, getting in all the view inside our head and never letting them go.

“Me too, I’ve always dream of going here, I’ve always wanted to go to an aquarium” Jake explained, “A cousin of mine told me about an aquarium he went to in Japan and ever since then, I started dreaming of visiting one”

“I’ve never gone to any aquarium before, but this is beyond my expectations” My expectations were beyond anything I could imagine, I never thought I would enjoy the experience as much as I did. I was only interested because it was one of the largest but now, I was starting to regret the fact that I never paid great attention to aquariums.

“Do you have a place? You’ve always dream of going to?” Jake asked and turned himself towards me. I thought about his question for a few minutes even though I had something on my mind. I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to say but I manage to say it out loud.

“I know this may sound dumb, but I’ve always dream of going to a place, somewhere no one would care, no one knows who I am, somewhere I can’t be judge, just somewhere I can be” I said a little too sorrowfully. “I don’t think that place exist though, I mean, wherever we go, people will still care, they will still judge, they will still look.” I sighed.

“I don’t think it’s dumb. I think it’s honest. You are not the only one who feels like that, Lena. Of course, sometimes I feel like running away, run away from everything, run away from all the responsibilities that I have. Every once in a while you will feel like everyone is judging you for who you are, for the decisions that you made or things of that sort. It’s bound to happen but I also think everyone deserve a time where no one would judge, no one would bother a person, some me-time” Jake smiled as he agreed. Jake made me feel okay, it was okay.

After our trip to the aquarium, Jake suggested an ice-cream place to stop by and spend the rest of the afternoon. It was small cafe focusing on ice-cream and coffee. The place was decorated with stylish posters and had black and white stool to sit on.

“How do you feel about vanilla cupcake?” Jake asked once we sat near the windows.

“I love them, especially when they have vanilla frosting on them as well” I answered and took a bite from the vanilla ice cream I had ordered.

“But what if, the bakery didn’t have vanilla cupcakes, what would you choose?” Jake asked sincerely.

“Do we have blueberry cupcakes then?” I answered and laughed with Jake.

“I think we do!” We both laughed and ate spoonfuls of our own ice cream.

“How about you, Jake? Which cupcake is your favourite?” I asked him instead.

“Banana cupcakes definitely, but with vanilla frosting of course” I nodded in agreement towards Jake’s words.

“How can I forget about banana cupcakes?” I said and almost laughed at myself. “I want to try lemon though, I haven’t tried lemons.”

“Well, we could try that sometime then” Jake assured me and asked if I wanted a taste of his ice cream. I nodded, curious as to how his chocolate ice cream with salted caramel taste like.

I offered him my ice cream and he took a spoonful as well. “This is not fair, how come yours taste better?” I said and immediately Jake shook his head.

“I think yours is better” We both laughed.

“Have you tried Red Velvets?” I glanced over towards Jake who was eating bites of his ice cream.

“I did, I think that is also one of the best” He commented.

“My family loves red velvet. I think it’s the cheese though, my family loves cheese” I said and remembered how my parents and older brother insisted on ordering red velvet cupcakes during my graduation.

“Your brother as well?” Jake asked and I nodded to answer his questions.

“Cheese is his favourite, he likes cheese, he needs cheese whenever he eats pastas” I explained and smiled again.

“You don’t like cheese that much” Jake stated and smiled.

“You as well” I said and we both grin. We didn’t like cheese, we eat cheese but it’s not our favourite.

Jake and I spent almost two hours in the shop, trying to steal each other’s ice cream but we end up sharing and changing our ice cream a lot of time. Time flew fast and we didn’t realise how quick it went by.