It’s my last couple of weeks in Singapore and I feel I’ve been here for so long already. It’s amazing that parang kahapon lang, I came here alone to do my Glaucoma fellowship, and one year seemed like a lifetime to be away from my family and Sam. Now Sam is also here doing his Spine fellowship, and my boss offered me to extend for two months so that we could finish together! So what did I learn from my 14 months here?
1. How to do damned good Glaucoma surgery and laser with my eyes closed (hahaha! pun intended!)
2. How to speak Singlish to be understood (my La Salle-Zobel grammar teacher would turn over his grave if he were dead. I love you, Mama Sagum!!!!). Example: "Pushpa, can please off the slitlamp? Can?"
3. How not to faint at how much everything is here ( a meal costs no less than S$2.50 x Php31.80!)
4. How to cook sinigang and monggo and French Onion Soup and pretty much anything else
5. How to cook for two (lots of practice with Sam!) and how to buy fresh meat, etc. (see #21) Practice for married life!
6. Ohmygod, HOW TO IRON CLOTHES!!! I’ve NEVER had to do this in my entire life! And never again, after Singapore, I tell you!
7. How to find my way in a city armed with a map/with the help of the net and an EZLink card
8. The joys of Skype, YM and Chikka text
9. How to survive our weekly pilgrimage to Funan IT Mall where, after awhile, all the computers look one and the same na. I demand that Sam feed me Kaya toast and coffee as payment!
10. The joys of meeting people of all races, and the fascination with their cultures (special interest in the Thais and Indians!)
11. That the Malays still have dowries (hmmm….i wonder how much I’m worth? 300 cows? hehehe!)
12. That I love the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari! I love the monkeys, tapirs and awesome rhinos!
13. That I cannot stand noodles, apart from the kway teow cooked as beef noodles Thai/Vietnamese style. Laksa I can only take once every 2 months.
14. The wonderful Vietnamese restaurant we discovered along Smith Street in Chinatown! We love their coffee and rice pancakes!
15. That I LOVE KOPI PING (iced coffee) and Singapore coffee in general!!! They grind coffee with corn, and they filter it with a sock-like contraption, and serve it very thick with condensed milk! It’s sooooo good! Teh ping (iced tea with condensed milk) with is yummy too!
16. That I also love KAYA TOAST (brown bread toasted, with SLICES of butter and thick layers of kaya, sort of like coconut jam with pandan and eggs! You have to try it to believe it!). Oh, and Onde-onde—a kakanin na malagkit ball with muscovado sugar inside! yum!
17. That Manila Chinese food is southern and Cantonese (Hongkong style). Here it’s mostly Northern, so xia long pao is common, unlike in Manila, where you have to look for it pa
18. Hindi lang ang Indians ang mabaho dito. Go figure. Try riding the University shuttle at 530 pm when kids come from gym glass/football. Parang gusto mo basagin yung bus windows for fresh air!
19. Perfume/cologne isn’t popular. In my whole stay, there was only ONE nurse who wore perfume (Ralph Lauren). People seem amused when I spray on my De ne nes every hour.
20. Catholics here practice not eating meat on Fridays, and we are expected to do the same (never followed it though. hehe)
21. Ohmygod, how to handle preparing a meal from a dressed chicken! Hahaha! The first time I bought a whole chicken, I just threw it into my cart. When I got back to the apartment to cook tinola, I was so horrified to see that it came complete with the head and claws! I nearly fainted!
22. That Singapore IS the place to buy geeky IT stuff and watches.
23. Scholl’s pala has a shoe line, pero puro matatanda ang nagsusuot (very comfortable but not stylish). But then I couldn’t resist buying their open-backed moccasins! I couldn’t remove them na once I wore them—they’re so soft and comfortable!!! Parang my feet died and went to shoe heaven!
24. Charles and Keith here has bags!
25. The bookstores Borders and Kinokuniya awakened the sleeping dork in me. I just wish I had a lot of money to buy all the books I want…
26. That I love Sydney and I wish I could go back to explore more of it and perhaps go whale-watching
27. That I wish I could go back to Chennai and buy all the kurtas (their long-sleeved blouses with beautiful embroidery) and cheap books I want
28. That Singapore is a very cheap jump-off point in traveling
29. That there’s an entire world waiting for me out there
30. That I am a huge wuss when away from my family and Sam; and that I can do away with everyone else but them.
