my first REAL day in singapore

as oppose to my previous visits, this was for real, I HAVE MOVED, i am a resident! after 16+ hour flight from lax most of which i slept like a log, i felt quite refreshed when we landed at 5 am. my three luggages and two carry ons all made it safely. the cabby was not pleased with the volume of stuff i had - "why you have so many bags?" he complained. i protested, "it's not so many. i'll be here for three years so not bad, right?" he was still not impressed. the drive from the airport was less contentious, the streets were dark and peaceful. this was my new home... how very odd. the cabby talked about pretty korean actresses on TV. all plastic surgery i told him, but he didn't seem to care. i should have said they were all really men.

i check into the fullerton hotel and debate whether to hit the gym or not. sure, why not, got a long day ahead of me, might as well start early.

at 10 am, i went to my new apartment to do a walk through and get my keys. soooo empty. still can't believe i have a bomb shelter in my apartment IN the kitchen no less. the apartment manager just laughed as looked at him and said "what the heck!" i envisioned instead a lovely storage for my excellent wine collection. the collection comes much later, when i get wine, and hope that they are excellent. i signed what seem like an endless contracts of blah, blah, blah. goodness knows what i agreed to!

i decide to explore my new neighborhood and check out the stores nearby. luckily there is a mall across the street that has an underground grocery store and an MRT (subway, tube, trains...). it's a standard mall, good for emergencies, quick eats, yummy bread store, mos burger, mcdonald's and KFC. i go for the rice mos burger. this isn't so bad i think as i eat and look around to see other people. a group of high schoolers eating, a mother and son, pockets of people enjoying their lunch... the son looks over at me and wonders, why does she eat alone? i just smile back to let him know that it's ok.

i head down to the MRT station and try to figure out how to get to the office from here. three train stops away i was told. i was told correctly, it was perty easy to figure out. i was at the office stop in 7 minutes - not too shabby. i felt quite victorious actually, successful, independent, ready to conquer the world! afterall, i did make it from my apartment to my work place, didn't i???

what next? my bed is held up in customs, along with 30+ boxes and other junk. must get it out of hostage and into my lovely new place. i worry if the furniture will match the light wood, marble, porceline look of my apartment. i wonder if i'll ever use the oven. why do i have beige curtains? will i have nice, cute neighbors? ponder on them i must lest i crash from the jet lag.

almost 11 pm in los angeles... do i really not have a return flight home?