House hunting in Singapore

So where was I? Ummm....ah, the agents. I was told that I should have a one-to-one relationship with the agents- meaning I should just stick to one agent and not flirt around. But you know me, if there is rule to flout, I will flout it. Plus I was getting impatient with the agent I had chosen - he kept sending me lists of properties I was not even remotely interested in. So I started straying around and calling up agents after agents after agents. We just had about a week left in the serviced apartment and I was beginning to wonder if it had been a good idea to have moved here. Office time was spent mooning over listin gs - I spent hours gazing at pictures of condos and landed houses knowing I could never afford to live in them but hey, a girl can dream, can't she? I saw the ad for this apartment and thought since we have nothing better to do we might as well have a look at it. So I called up the agent, fixed an appointment and off we went. The agent was a plump nice looking lady who showed us around. We did like the place but thought we should have a look at other options as well before finally signing our fate. But boy, the lady was persuasive and aggressive...I thought if we ask her to reduce the price she just might back off so we quoted a price that we thought the owner would refuse. She got on the phone with the landlady and after an animated conversation, she told us that our offer was accepted!

.......(to self)-->should I continue?

House hunting in Singapore - part II

Now, where was I? Oh yes, how depressed I was...the whole process is daunting esp when you consider the fact that you don't have the leisure of spending a day or two to mull over your decision- you are supposed to make up your mind right then otherwise they warn you that someone else might snap up the offer. I don't like being rushed...I don't like being pushed into decisions... And everything is so costly. We started off thinking we would be able to find some decent place at 2K. Boy, were we wrong? We had to stretch our budget till it got to the point where we would have a place to stay but survive on stale bread and tap water.. And then you have this thing about nationality. Apparently, some owners don't want to let out to Indians and so you would have ads saying 'no indians'. I spent the best part of the first month in the office glued to rental websites, gumtree and on the phone to agents. They would ask my name, my nationality, the kind of pass I have before I could even ask about a property. There were some interesting conversations too. Like for instance after I said I was Indian, the agent said 'But your name does not sound Indian.' I assured him I was so but he had more doubts 'But you don't talk like an Indian'. I was getting amused by this time. He continued 'you sound like an 'ang mo' ( the term used here for a white person)..I didn't know whether to be flattered or cry. He called me up again to ask, very apologetically I must add 'Are you the fair kind of Indian or the dark-skinned type?'. Now I was really finding this too amusing. Apparently the landlord wanted to know if I was from North India or from South and they were trying to figure that out from my melanin level!!! I told him I am neither from the north or the south but from the east. He persisted, 'Are you fair?'. At this point I felt I was being quizzed for a marriage proposal. I was kind and didn't try sarcasm and told him that I was not dark, on the fair side. He said he would pass on the information to the landlord. I was told afterwards that the landlord has decided to rent out to Indians so my fair skin was of no use. Damn. All that fair and lovely cream gone to waste (hey, joke, joke...I am anti-whitening)......(to be continued, maybe)

House hunting in Singapore-part 1

This is a long due post of the traumatic (you know how melodramatic I am )experience of house-hunting. We were put up in a serviced apartment for one month in the central district-house keeping service everyday and free breakfast and all those things. I had been forewarned by my colleagues who spoke of their less-than-pleasant experience of finding a suitable place. There are condos-private apartments, and those govt built HDB. I was told most of the HDB apartments are cramped, the toilet too small and horror of horrors, no balcony. I hate the thought of a house without outside space even if it is a balcony where you would have no space to move your butt. The last apartment we had in the UK overlooked a river and it was so cool to watch swans and ducks and boats gliding by while you hug a book and daydream. Back to the present. I was told the best thing would be to enlist the help of an agent and I was given the number of one such being. He was a soft-spoken elderly man and he gave me list of apartments available for viewings. I had quite a lot of boxes to tick- walking distance from the MRT, big, two bathrooms, a balcony... He took us around to see three flats and all of them were so depressing. ........,.,to be continued

Back

Well, whatever happened to my resolve of blogging regularly? Just like all my good intentions they never see the light of day. Anyways.., Still can't decide whether I like it here. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I hate the commute - I don't know why we decided staying 15 minutes walking distance from the MRT station was a good idea - I hate it esp. when I have to walk in the hot sun. Evening is a bit better because you have the breeze. Office is fun though. In the space of 5 months, we have managed to get 2 complaints against our 'noise' level. Yours truly is one of the main culprits. I cannot speak softly like a lady to save my life. Either I am squealing or laughing or beating up the one junior T-da and I have marked for bullying. Work wise, I am scraping through. I am doing what I am best at - nagging kids to complete their tasks and being what one kids call an 'editor' because I love correcting and reformatting their answers. I have picked up another hobby - stuffed felt toys and I am enjoying it. The dressmaking class starts next month and I can't wait to design my own clothes. I need to buy a sewing machine. I have also resumed baking - we just have a convectional oven. The first time I nearly burned my cookies to death because I am stupid enough not to figure out that the temperature in the recipe for conventional oven needs to be adjusted for convectional ovens. I baked three cakes in a row for the elf's birthday. Back home, we are having a house constructed. That is keeping DNA occupied - I heard she is terrorizing all the workers, supervising them to death. Hopefully, we would have it ready by December in time for Tamo's wedding. This house was Baba's dream - I am sad he could not see it come true. Apart from that, there is nothing much. I am toying with the idea of writing a book - as if anyone would pay to read the crap I write. But just to feed my ego. It would be a miracle if I can write one and a even bigger miracle if I get it published. Let's see. And why do friends drift away?

Sunday thoughts

i have been toying with the idea of learning dressmaking for quite some time now. It sounds so unlike me - but i would like to design my own clothes. It has also to do with the fact that i don't seem to find anything i like or if i like it, it is too expensive. i still have that lower-middle class mentality of thinking paying too much for clothes is a sin. There, i have said i. So sue me for being cheap.

It is also that i am itching to do something creative. Candlemaking in this heat is something i can't imagine - i have a mental block right now to it as well. i thought of taking up ceramics but the class registration closed before i could register so i will have to wait for the next session if there is any.

Oh, i celebrated my birthday last week - celebrate is not exactly the word when you inch closer to death...yes, i am morbid. i took a day off work and spent the day with the loved ones. i am tninking i should gift myself a dressmaking class as a belated birthday gift. That and a steam mop.

You know you are getting antiquated when you start thinking of steam mops as the best birthday gift - forget iPad or flowers or books. i could welcome books though.

Maybe i might sew a bikini!!! That would be simple--and it would be the skimpiest one ever, just two strips of cloth. And i would join the exciting world of haute couture. i love myself. Yes, i do.

Pilates and i

I had signed up for a pilates class in April and today was the last day. It was weekly, one hour session. The first ever exercise lesson i have attended.

After coming here, i felt i was putting on weigth- though everyone disagreed. i felt i was bursting out of my skin - which makes me think my skin is 0% elastic, even a few pounds more and i feel like i have been squeezed into i a skin-tight body suit. I like pilates - it tones up your body. I have always been on the side of skinny but never have been toned.

It makes me feel good (and less guilty) that i have taken up pilates. As it is, i have always taken my body for granted.
i do not drink enough water, i do not greens, i do not eat healthy... so sneaking in some minutes of pilates once every other day makes me feel like i am doing at least something good for my body. He has taken up running...good for him. I suck in my stomach muscles and try to strengthen my 'core'. Maybe by the time i die, i would be toned and would be the best looking corpse around.

And i would buy one of those itsy bitsy bikini and go frolicking on the beaches --- the thought is indecent enough...

And i know i am growing old when such mortal thoughts as exercise occupy my mind.

Last week, i cooked chicken briyani-- and boy, am i a good cook?? It was heavenly--don't expect modesty from me. I passed on the recipe to a colleague whose MIL is visiting. I gave her a step-by-tiny-step guide and she texted me in the middle of the night thanking me because she was being praised by everyone for the tasty briyani. i am a saviour!!

Hello world

I downloaded the blogger app and am trying it out. Hopefully this would mean i would blog regularly. Promises and promises.

Life is dragging on. I find the heat energy sapping. Or maybe i am just growing old. At the end of the day, all i want to do is just slump on the bed.

I need some energy drink. I need a hair cut too. I need to get a life as well.

nothing in particular

i had forgotten the password for blogger - shows how long i have been away and how rapidly my brain cells are deserting me. i tried different combination - no go. i got frustrated - i did not think of clicking on the 'i-am-so-dumb-i-forgot-my-password' button. i gave up, thought i would never blog again. And then, unfortunately, the password came back. Must have been wandering about like my random thoughts. And so i am back. What is new, you ask me? i don't know. The past week, it must have been hormones, i was as irritable as only i can be. i blew my fuse a couple of times - thankfully not at work - trivial things set me off and i seriously thought i should go for anger management therapy or whatever they suggest for angry people. i was sore with the whole world. i wanted to chop down trees - OK, i exagerrate. Would it have anything to do with the moon being too close to the earth and all the influence it seems to exert on my dark side? Three months here now. The weather here is fickle - i mean, one moment it is shining so bright you think you just might evaporate and then it starts raining like someone just turned on a giant shower. Do i like it here? i honestly don't know. i am trying to adjust. i miss Sainsbury's and Tesco. i miss the library where i could borrow all the books i want for free. i have not been able to find a library here near my place. i have heard the membership here is like 50$ - annual i hope. WHich is outrageous. There is this lady who sells books - used and new - in the basement of the office complex. The old ones are like 5$ per book - 5 f@@@@@@**&^^^ dollars! Despite that, i have already bought three - i need books to keep me sane. Only when i am reading do the beasts inside me keep quiet. i need books. i need cheap books. i need books. i need books. Shut up. We bought cycles. Mine is a foldable one in orange (i wanted red but the elf said orange so orange it was). The one good thing about this place is they have this cycling tracks in the parks. i bought one of those gel-filled seats for my sensitive rear. And a helmet. He bought one in blue. The elf already has two cycles and a scooter. i think he is getting spoiled. i hate the new look of blogger - was trying to post from my iphone but i found it difficult to navigate my way around. i know, i know, i am technically challenged. The craziest thing is that i now get up at 7 in the morning on weekdays. At first i thought i would die if there is such a thing as dying because you get up too early. And then, as with all things in life, i got used to it. Initially, there were meetings from 7 in the morning three days a week. Out of consideration for me most probably - i mean i sound like a grouchy bear at 7 - two of the meetings are on the same day now. At least this means i get to leave office early. And i found out that i have a red thumb - i seem to kill everything i plant. He has the greenest thumb i know. i try to grow corrainder - and out of 100 seeds or so, three actually sprouted - they don't look like they will survive though. On that sad note, i sign off.

Ni hao!

OK....so we have planted our uprooted selves here. Don't know whether we will thrive or wilt. Has been almost 40 days here. The weather is not so bad as i was warned. Most of the days i can sleep even without turning the fan on, forget the ac. But then this is the weird person who can even sleep with a blanket in calcutta.

Work-wise, i am trying to find my feet. So much have changed abd they use a bloody ooo language now. I am completely lost. But i am happy to find that i still remember most of the important stuff. So i just might survive. I will give it a year at the least before i decide to run away again.

It has beena struggle trying to find a place to rent. Will write about it in detail some other day. Luckily we found ourselve a maisonnette,big by the standards here, even bigger than the new flat we have back home. It has a big balcony so i can die happy.

The only downside is it is about 30 minutes from the office. I have to take the MRT, which i admit is not that bad. I generally hate public transport (what a snob)but over here, it is not so painful.

I sweated buckets trying to mob the whole bloody apartment. I need an electric mop. That or a maid.

Hopefully, i should be able to blog more regularlt now that i finally shook that lethargy off.