THREE YEARS AGO...
Today marks fafa Jay's third year here in Singapore. His, cause I followed two months later, wanting to wait till Darlene gave birth to Lucas.
I was browsing through some old emails we've exchanged for those two months of being apart and found this. I find it to be a charming letter, charming in its almost-naivete, in the child-like wonder with which he perceived his new environment. It occurs to me now that he was never as detailed in his observations as he was then, and I sense his effort in painting for me a very accurate picture of everything he saw and felt.
I guess Singapore will never be the same for him now that he has grown into its panache. Maybe he even sees it with a little more chagrin. Not that he sees Singapore any less of a nice place to be, like he did three years ago. But like any other place, there's the good and the bad.
It's nice to look back every now and then... and be grateful.
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.
William Arthur Ward
Here's the email...
Hello My Love!
I got your mail this morning and it was the first one I saw when I opened my PC. It was so nice to receive an e-mail from you - at least, from here in the comforts of my office, I can reach out to you. Let me describe to you my cubicle.
It is rather large (6 ft x 9 ft), at least a lot better than what I've had in the past with Siemens and ICI. It is the first you see when you enter the office door (looking left), although you won't see me because I'm hidden by my partition. It is the first of six cubicles where the systems staff is located. I have a large desk covering my front, right side and my back. On my upper right are three cabinets where I store my manuals and other stuff. On my rear are cabinets which contain Wonderware T-shirts I haven't brought home yet.
They've moved since then. Their mother company owns the building where they hold office now, here at the East Coast of the island.
On my desk are the different CD's for installation, manuals, my PC, phone and other stuff. On my right desk is our picture frame containing, of course, our pictures. I have a Compaq PDA (personal digital assistant) - it is a small pocket computer which I am trying to test. Hopefully, it will communicate via radio (using Wonderware Software) with my PC. In theory, it will be used as a tool for remote monitoring of factory control processes. The only thing I don't like about my place is that it is far from the window (but I really don't mind).
CK has his office in the extreme right of the office, together with the store room, conference room, computer server room and pantry. The pantry doubles as a fax, photocopy room, as well. We have a fully stocked refrigerator, a large packet of different kinds of tea, coffee, and snacks. In the middle of the office is where the administration works. There you will find Michelle, Jo and Antonia. (Antonia has long since left the company but has remained a friend of ours to this day). It is a large office for a local staff of 8 employees who are out of the country most of the time.
This is my new working world right now. A bit of a change really - for the better, I feel. I don't have the long hours like I did at Siemens nor do I have the pressures with my boss at ICI. So far, it has been OK - everybody here has made my stay comfortable so far. We eat together during lunch time, talk shop, sometimes they gossip. Except for the language and the strange accent when they talk, they are like any normal Filipino discussing this and that (yes, the accent is really strange at first but of course you grow into it in time... now I think I use 'lah' more than a local would).
I go home between six to seven. By then, it is still bright outside and I normally get off the bus a few stops from our flat. I walk the rest of the way home, buy food and think of you.
Since we've had cable service last Saturday, I watch TV while eating dinner. Wash the plates afterwards, surf the TV with whatever is showing. After a while, I turn on the aircon, read a book and then finally get to sleep. I don't normally sleep on purpose, most of the time, I sleep over reading a book (or watching TV). - now this part hasn't changed
During the weekends, I do a lot of stuff. I wake up at around six, and immediately do the laundry. By eight, I'd be finished and would dress up and jog to the park. Depending on what's on at TV - I watch at around lunch time and sleep a while if nothing good is on. I wake at around four or five. Have coffee (he has stopped drinking coffee now since after his operation) and prepare to take a bath. After taking my bath, I normally ride a bus to go to Orchard Road (now it's almost always a cab to Orchard Road) or Raffles Place. If I go to Orchard, I visit the large Japanese Bookstore (Kashimura or something) - it's actually Kinokuniya... hehe, watch a movie if there is anything good (last weekend nothing good was showing). I basically just walk around and enjoy the walk and looking at the people around me. Singapore is a nice place because everywhere you go there are trees and flowers. Even in the malls. The people are different from what we see in Manila. Here it is more cosmopolitan - and it is a mixture of chinese, malay, indian, caucasian (american, australian and european). Once you are in Singapore, you know that it is a global city.
Another aspect of Singapore is the variety of food. The mixture of different cultures is a mixture of different tastes. Spicy, Bland, Curry, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Western and all that is in-between. Almost everywhere there are stalls which sell different food. I see a lot of food that I like to buy but I cannot sometimes because I do not know how to order or what kind of food that is. My favorite is chicken rice, hot pot dishes, and recently I found a really tasty Indian Bread with Vegetable Curry which they call Pata (it's actually Prata - pata is the pork, prata is the bread... hehe). At first I was hesitant to try it but it really was very good. Now I buy it once in a while during weekends. I'm sure you will like the different flavors and will naturally dislike some of the rest.
The supermarkets and groceries are well stocked with products from all over. One nice thing about this place is that you can find almost anything you want in the shops. The fruits, the food, the grocery things we normally buy and a lot of other more. It is a treat just going to the supermarket, if only to see the variety of what is available. Last Sunday, I bought some grapes and dried dates (like prunes). The grapes are from the US, the dates are from the Middle East. I also bought cream cheese and a loaf of bread for snacks.
The flat where we live is in an apartment block called "Block 701". Our area is in the West Coast of the Island (now we're here on the other side). The street where our block is located is actually called West Coast Road. It is somewhere in between the areas of Jurong and Clementi. It is owned by the Singapore Government under the HDB (Housing Development Board) - here everything is regulated and the HDB manages everything that is going on in the Housing Blocks - security, electricity, water, gas, cable television, trash, etc. Our block is relatively OK than the rest of the HDB blocks in Singapore (yes, that's what we thought... until we moved to where we are now). There is a small park at the ground floor, a few blocks away, there are shops that sell all the different household stuff - brooms, timba, tabo, walis, etc. Beside it are food shops, Barber Shops, etc. A few blocks further away is the public market and very small mall. This is where most of the commercial stuff are bought. The market of course is where most of the people buy their food and other merchandise. The shops in the mall at the other side of the road is where people get their grocery. Beside the small mall is the park where I go to jog every weekend.
From our apartment to the rest of Singapore, one takes either a bus or the subway. I take a bus to work, which is a 15-30 minute trip depending on the traffic (not too much because of the good location of our block). The buses here are coded by numbers and it makes sense to know where you will go down and how much you will pay when you ride. Everything is automated - once you get in, you use your Translink Card to pay your fare (the card is now called an EZlink card). Insert it into a vending machine, punch in your fare, and that's it (which we just tap on the machine). You have to know the bus numbers of where you want to go. I purchased a Bus Guide when I arrived and it has been a very big help. For example, to get to work I can choose between three buses - the 51, 143 and 30 (now he rides a feeder bus to the MRT station, rides the train, makes a transfer to another train and walk some length to his building). If I want to go to the Clementi MRT Station, I ride the 282 or 285. It is easy once you get to know how the system works.
The MRT is like our MRT - in a bigger scale. The plan is to cover the entire Island with this train service. The Translink Card for the buses can be used for the train as well. So its basically just one card to get from one place to another here in Singapore. The MRT here is very clean - almost feels like brand new, but it has been in Singapore for quite a while. In terms of cleanliness, it is a far cry from the dirty subways of Hong Kong, the US and England.
In the island of Singapore is a number of very interesting places to visit - the food shops, the malls, the cultural attractions, the concerts from very well known groups (we've since been to the concerts of Elton John, The Rolling Stones and Deep Purple), etc. It is a nice place to live.
I wish I can share it with you now, but you have to do what you have to do, and that's fine with me. I'm sure that we will have a wonderful time and an adventure when you come over. For now, I just look forward to the day when I see you go out of the immigration exit at the airport. Till then, my love, I love and miss you, take care and see you soon.
With much love,
jay
Today marks fafa Jay's third year here in Singapore. His, cause I followed two months later, wanting to wait till Darlene gave birth to Lucas.
I was browsing through some old emails we've exchanged for those two months of being apart and found this. I find it to be a charming letter, charming in its almost-naivete, in the child-like wonder with which he perceived his new environment. It occurs to me now that he was never as detailed in his observations as he was then, and I sense his effort in painting for me a very accurate picture of everything he saw and felt.
I guess Singapore will never be the same for him now that he has grown into its panache. Maybe he even sees it with a little more chagrin. Not that he sees Singapore any less of a nice place to be, like he did three years ago. But like any other place, there's the good and the bad.
It's nice to look back every now and then... and be grateful.
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.
William Arthur Ward
Here's the email...
Hello My Love!
I got your mail this morning and it was the first one I saw when I opened my PC. It was so nice to receive an e-mail from you - at least, from here in the comforts of my office, I can reach out to you. Let me describe to you my cubicle.
It is rather large (6 ft x 9 ft), at least a lot better than what I've had in the past with Siemens and ICI. It is the first you see when you enter the office door (looking left), although you won't see me because I'm hidden by my partition. It is the first of six cubicles where the systems staff is located. I have a large desk covering my front, right side and my back. On my upper right are three cabinets where I store my manuals and other stuff. On my rear are cabinets which contain Wonderware T-shirts I haven't brought home yet.
They've moved since then. Their mother company owns the building where they hold office now, here at the East Coast of the island.
On my desk are the different CD's for installation, manuals, my PC, phone and other stuff. On my right desk is our picture frame containing, of course, our pictures. I have a Compaq PDA (personal digital assistant) - it is a small pocket computer which I am trying to test. Hopefully, it will communicate via radio (using Wonderware Software) with my PC. In theory, it will be used as a tool for remote monitoring of factory control processes. The only thing I don't like about my place is that it is far from the window (but I really don't mind).
CK has his office in the extreme right of the office, together with the store room, conference room, computer server room and pantry. The pantry doubles as a fax, photocopy room, as well. We have a fully stocked refrigerator, a large packet of different kinds of tea, coffee, and snacks. In the middle of the office is where the administration works. There you will find Michelle, Jo and Antonia. (Antonia has long since left the company but has remained a friend of ours to this day). It is a large office for a local staff of 8 employees who are out of the country most of the time.
This is my new working world right now. A bit of a change really - for the better, I feel. I don't have the long hours like I did at Siemens nor do I have the pressures with my boss at ICI. So far, it has been OK - everybody here has made my stay comfortable so far. We eat together during lunch time, talk shop, sometimes they gossip. Except for the language and the strange accent when they talk, they are like any normal Filipino discussing this and that (yes, the accent is really strange at first but of course you grow into it in time... now I think I use 'lah' more than a local would).
I go home between six to seven. By then, it is still bright outside and I normally get off the bus a few stops from our flat. I walk the rest of the way home, buy food and think of you.
Since we've had cable service last Saturday, I watch TV while eating dinner. Wash the plates afterwards, surf the TV with whatever is showing. After a while, I turn on the aircon, read a book and then finally get to sleep. I don't normally sleep on purpose, most of the time, I sleep over reading a book (or watching TV). - now this part hasn't changed
During the weekends, I do a lot of stuff. I wake up at around six, and immediately do the laundry. By eight, I'd be finished and would dress up and jog to the park. Depending on what's on at TV - I watch at around lunch time and sleep a while if nothing good is on. I wake at around four or five. Have coffee (he has stopped drinking coffee now since after his operation) and prepare to take a bath. After taking my bath, I normally ride a bus to go to Orchard Road (now it's almost always a cab to Orchard Road) or Raffles Place. If I go to Orchard, I visit the large Japanese Bookstore (Kashimura or something) - it's actually Kinokuniya... hehe, watch a movie if there is anything good (last weekend nothing good was showing). I basically just walk around and enjoy the walk and looking at the people around me. Singapore is a nice place because everywhere you go there are trees and flowers. Even in the malls. The people are different from what we see in Manila. Here it is more cosmopolitan - and it is a mixture of chinese, malay, indian, caucasian (american, australian and european). Once you are in Singapore, you know that it is a global city.
Another aspect of Singapore is the variety of food. The mixture of different cultures is a mixture of different tastes. Spicy, Bland, Curry, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Western and all that is in-between. Almost everywhere there are stalls which sell different food. I see a lot of food that I like to buy but I cannot sometimes because I do not know how to order or what kind of food that is. My favorite is chicken rice, hot pot dishes, and recently I found a really tasty Indian Bread with Vegetable Curry which they call Pata (it's actually Prata - pata is the pork, prata is the bread... hehe). At first I was hesitant to try it but it really was very good. Now I buy it once in a while during weekends. I'm sure you will like the different flavors and will naturally dislike some of the rest.
The supermarkets and groceries are well stocked with products from all over. One nice thing about this place is that you can find almost anything you want in the shops. The fruits, the food, the grocery things we normally buy and a lot of other more. It is a treat just going to the supermarket, if only to see the variety of what is available. Last Sunday, I bought some grapes and dried dates (like prunes). The grapes are from the US, the dates are from the Middle East. I also bought cream cheese and a loaf of bread for snacks.
The flat where we live is in an apartment block called "Block 701". Our area is in the West Coast of the Island (now we're here on the other side). The street where our block is located is actually called West Coast Road. It is somewhere in between the areas of Jurong and Clementi. It is owned by the Singapore Government under the HDB (Housing Development Board) - here everything is regulated and the HDB manages everything that is going on in the Housing Blocks - security, electricity, water, gas, cable television, trash, etc. Our block is relatively OK than the rest of the HDB blocks in Singapore (yes, that's what we thought... until we moved to where we are now). There is a small park at the ground floor, a few blocks away, there are shops that sell all the different household stuff - brooms, timba, tabo, walis, etc. Beside it are food shops, Barber Shops, etc. A few blocks further away is the public market and very small mall. This is where most of the commercial stuff are bought. The market of course is where most of the people buy their food and other merchandise. The shops in the mall at the other side of the road is where people get their grocery. Beside the small mall is the park where I go to jog every weekend.
From our apartment to the rest of Singapore, one takes either a bus or the subway. I take a bus to work, which is a 15-30 minute trip depending on the traffic (not too much because of the good location of our block). The buses here are coded by numbers and it makes sense to know where you will go down and how much you will pay when you ride. Everything is automated - once you get in, you use your Translink Card to pay your fare (the card is now called an EZlink card). Insert it into a vending machine, punch in your fare, and that's it (which we just tap on the machine). You have to know the bus numbers of where you want to go. I purchased a Bus Guide when I arrived and it has been a very big help. For example, to get to work I can choose between three buses - the 51, 143 and 30 (now he rides a feeder bus to the MRT station, rides the train, makes a transfer to another train and walk some length to his building). If I want to go to the Clementi MRT Station, I ride the 282 or 285. It is easy once you get to know how the system works.
The MRT is like our MRT - in a bigger scale. The plan is to cover the entire Island with this train service. The Translink Card for the buses can be used for the train as well. So its basically just one card to get from one place to another here in Singapore. The MRT here is very clean - almost feels like brand new, but it has been in Singapore for quite a while. In terms of cleanliness, it is a far cry from the dirty subways of Hong Kong, the US and England.
In the island of Singapore is a number of very interesting places to visit - the food shops, the malls, the cultural attractions, the concerts from very well known groups (we've since been to the concerts of Elton John, The Rolling Stones and Deep Purple), etc. It is a nice place to live.
I wish I can share it with you now, but you have to do what you have to do, and that's fine with me. I'm sure that we will have a wonderful time and an adventure when you come over. For now, I just look forward to the day when I see you go out of the immigration exit at the airport. Till then, my love, I love and miss you, take care and see you soon.
With much love,
jay
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