Time does fly.

Here I was,  happily vela in good ol? Bombay, minding my own business and wasting my own sweet time. And one fine day, out of the blue, was informed that my posting’s gonna be far away from the beloved land of local trains and hot vadapavs, in a country that was smaller than the city I came from.

Brought to my head images of clean roads and rules and fines, but then didn’t know much else about the city-nation. Had to wait until I finally packed my bags and landed in Singapore, or Singapura, the Lion City.
Will not give the usual tourist guide perspective. But there are so many small details that amaze me everyday, because I never believed that cultures and the nations that are born out of them can be so different from each other.

First thing that hits you about the island is that it is very very organised. As Suketu Mehta writes about NY, you can go a whole day, take a bus, go to a movie, go in the metro, buy a card, issue books, without ever talking to another human. Infrastructure is very good, and everything in general, works. And yea, junta follows rules like crazy.

P&G treats us like expats (which we actually are), puts us up in one of the posh localities in Singapore (Scotts Road) in Far East Serviced Apartments. But the catch is, the honeymoon lasts only two months. Then we pack our bags from this place (the weekly rent here is rumored to be more than my monthly pay!) and drudge along until we find a place to live within sane budgets. The fact that the land rates have gone up like crazy in the last five months doesn’t help either. Apparently some new construction has been taken up by the govt (Integrated Resorts) and so everyone who has too many greenbacks is investing here like there’s no tomorrow.

Food is an issue for vegetarians like your truly. Until I discover Little India and the food courts near my office,that is. Let me illustrate the gravity of the situation here. Most people around here don’t understand the concept of being a vegetarian. They have heard the term many times, and they tried to make sense by defining it as people who don’t like to eat beef, pork, chicken and the works. But the issue is, ‘the works’ doesn’t sometimes include fish and eggs. So the first day when I went down to this chain called Hans, I was foolishly delighted to find a ‘vegetarian’ section in the menu card. Little did I know that the dish I so hungrily ordered would come with ultra bland noodles and a fresh cut egg on top. Life’s gotten better after I discovered the Indian veggie food stall in the nearby food court.

Had a Singapore guided tour in the first week. Guide was a Singaporean lady named Shamla Nathan. Is 52 years old, has a Tamil name, is the daughter of a Srilankan man and a Chinese woman, speaks only English and french. Mom is Catholic, and this lady is Buddhist

Lots more interesting events and places and people to reminisce about. Lots of new experiences to commit to my digital memory…