Laying my cards

Spartacus: And maybe there's no peace in this world, for us or for anyone else, I don't know. But I do know that, as long as we live, we must remain true to ourselves.

Talk about having too much time to kill...I was able to run through all my emails in my Gmail account and managed to reduce the 3000+ unopened emails to 19. It was a tedious but fun task to leaf through all those old messages, some of which were really important and unfortunately remained untouched in the dust bins of my inbox. But I cannot understand why I still have 19 unread emails when I have gone through everything!?

My first solo attempt to find housing here in the Lion City turned out to be quite a learning experience. One, never do trust the descriptions that they place in the ads which are too general anyway. Second, to see is really to believe. I had wanted a place here in the East Coast (was able to stay in Bayshore Park and Marine Terrace) so that I could enjoy long walks on the sand and frolic with the numerous stray cats around hahaha. Well, Joo Chiat was quite near the beach and as a bonus, the area was a virtual foodie haven! My expectations weren't that high since I knew the district was old. I could very much accept that there would be no elevator since it was what they called a 'walk-up apartment.' What I could not comprehend was their concept of a 1+1 unit. All the while, I thought I would be looking at something similar to a studio. The unit presented to me was indeed 1 bedroom plus a small space that you could call the living room. It had an airconditioner, a bed, a cabinet, a TV, chairs, a table, lamp and wifi connection. It also had a shower room. Yes, I call it a shower room because the other important part of a bathroom was missing. As it turns out, there were 3 other doors within that one large unit. And all the 7 tenants were to share in the use of the oven, the washing machine and the TOILET BOWL! Now, can you fault me for not being willing to part with my Php36k and live in decrepit conditions? Call me maarte...

I think I have also perfected the art of ignoring people. I am really annoyed at those who pick on me just because of my height, my gender and my race. (You get the drift!). Of course, I would have wanted to use numerous expletives in different languages just to put a stop to what they are doing. But that is actually giving them the satisfaction that they crave. So the better thing to do is to act deaf. Too bad I couldn't summon my Beatrix Kiddo powers and give them a proper whacking.

My days as a B.U.M. are numbered. The past 2 years can be broken down as follows: 13 months as a student mastering tourism (hahaha), 2 months as a full time traveler, 4 months as an unemployed graduate who returned home and realized that she no longer relished staying there and 1 month as a job seeker in Singapore.

It has been one year since I left Hamburg; 6 months to the day that I left another cherished place; 1 month to the day I arrived in Singapore. I guess my gamble did pay off! Now if only I can have that same result in another aspect of my life...