In other words, I do miss you guys, don't get me wrong. It's on days like these that I get to reminisce the Lancaster experience with nostalgia.
Perhaps a comprehensive update on the one month since I arrived in Singapore: the heat is despicable.
I have no idea therefore how Caucasians (how white Westerners are called here, rather inaccurately - so Pat prepare!) get to enjoy the tropical sun in Sentosa when it is in fact hovering around 35 celsius. The one thing I have always been concerned about is how to avoid getting even darker and developing skin cancer along the way.
I got a fantastic place on the 37th floor of a high rise residential building in this area called Queenstown. By bus, my office at NUS Bukit Timah Campus is accessible in less than 30 minutes. At night though I choose to walk home which normally takes me an hour, that is if I don't pass by the local market.
A brief digression: If you hadn't known yet, Spar at Lancaster was my hangout place after a full day's workload. For some reason I find joy and reprieve in carrying home a piece of banana and a can of tuna but only to decide later on that I wouldn't eat them anyway.
Well, walking home justifies my lack of exercise in this country. The first time I went to the gym I had to compete with Law undergraduates who were taking turns in using the treadmill and crosstrainers. Little did I know that they were reserving those for other friends of theirs who were to come much later. I had no choice therefore but to stick to this rowing machine which I grudgingly used for the next 45 minutes. And that was the last time I was at that gym. It's simply immature to scold those Law undergrads. They might bring me to their moot court on campus and have death penalty pronounced on me on the spot. My ultimate aspiration is for my body to decompose in Philippine soil.
The view from my place, I must say, is simply gorgeous. From here one can have a glimpse of Bowland Tower at Lancaster, if my sight serves me right. Well, any of you guys can stay here. I have a nice flatmate (there are only two of us) who is the Vice President of SwissRe, a global reinsurance company. He always gives me a treat. Invoking the hardship and poverty of being a student always works, I must say. I don't know how I would behave once I finish the PhD.
I may have more to say but this has been getting longer than usual already.
It's good to be here and to be reading everyone else's entries. So shall we start counting down to Manila already? I will be home for Christmas!
ah... ! we must be really lucky to hear from both you and Jojo back to back :-)
ReplyDeleteJay ! 37th floor ! wow...btw u must watch the movie Devil..its bout a group of ppl who get stuck in the elevator on the 35th floor and one of them is the Devil... :-D no no.. i dont mean to scare u :-P but if u do get scared u can always take the stairs and that way u wont have to bother about the law undergrads in the gym ... see a superb solution !
U living with the VP of SwissRe :-) interesting... can u befriend him and forward him my CV... lol ... sorry... but now a days thats all that i can think off !
keep writing in Jay... just for our info.. wot is ur general frequency of falling sick ;-) ? hehehhe...
Take Careeeee !
Aw Jay! Sounds like you live so close to heaven! Will definitely make a visit! How do you always manage to find interesting roomies?! Do you put it in your advert? "Wanted, an interesting roomie with a lifestyle that's beyond formidable." Say, I should try that next time!
ReplyDeleteGood idea with the stairs Fiona! There's a sleep slope that leads from where I stay to the train station. I seem to get a workout everytime I'm walking through that area.
Hey Fiona! Haha, well, he's really a friend now, if getting treated to dinners and movies is an indicator to be taken seriously. How are you now anyway? Maybe I can ask him if there are vacancies in Singapore? He's just amazing since he lives a really simple lifestyle. By all means he could be staying elsewhere, for example. But to be sure, he always has lunch at hotels and restaurants in the central business district. As for me, well, I eat at the subsidised cafeteria at NUS.
ReplyDeleteKeertie, yes, very close indeed to heaven. Sometimes I see angels outside my window! Will tell them to visit you. Haha, I do get lucky with flatmates I guess. Here's my advice. Advertise yourself as the "flatmate beyond formidable" and they would come to you. :-)
Oh I just saw this post from you Jay. Just realised that SwissRe is a pure finance / re-insuring firm; one of my friend used to work for it. Not my area really, so not sure how he could help. I am an IT profesional with Telecom sector experience ! But no harm in trying ya?... yea will you speak to him about me since you are friends now ? I don't mind relocating and Singapore was my first choice any ways - remember ? ;-)
ReplyDeleteHahah.. now that I wrote this comment ! am not even sure if you will read it in this year ! Take Care !