jet lag

is falling asleep playing letris on my ipodtouch.

homeless at home

what i like about being back in the states:

• my own set of wheels,
• less traffic,
• a kitchen, and
• a washer and dryer.

all said, this protracted period between knowing we are imminently moving and actually doing so is rather unsettling. much like a painfully drawn out break-up. we used to grumble at being given such short notices about our moves. clearly, knowing for half a year isn't much better.

i have an idea

if they set the a/c thermostat at a number related to the outside temperature, say n - 5, or n - 6 C, then perhaps the malls in singapore would not be the freezing caverns they currently are and the energy bill would be smaller and we would not be contributing so much to the greenhouse gas total and most importantly, the hapless public would not need to be subjected to climate extremes simply because they want to go for a real-time shopping trip as opposed to an online one.

taken 2 (2012)

as one rotten tomato puts it, this movie is exactly what i hoped for in light of taken and i got to watch exactly the show i wished - stress free improbable plot james bond-esque action minimal gore-to-body ratio and an ending that winds your adrenaline and pulse down nicely. not too bad for my movie haul this year. although i have to say that outside of high heroism that Liam Neeson character is an unfortunately overbearing and overreactive father who would get my heckles up in half a second. 

i have HOM  and J1 to thank for dragging me to this show.

random thoughts

most regrettable development:

the disappearance of the food hall in the basement of tangs

most welcome development:

the plethora of subway lines. 

you need to be able to remember when it was just red and green

in order to appreciate what it is now.

most amazing development:

the relative scarcity of the singlish accent these days.

it is lost in the ocean-tide of authentic other accents.

saddest truism:

in the natural course of things,

difficult people become more difficult as they grow older.

random transportation observations

thanks to the prohibitive cost of taxicabs and their total absence when you need them anyway, i have had more exercise this past week than in the entire past year cumulatively. also, thanks to letris on my ipodtouch, waiting for the train or bus is now a non-event. except that the little ubiquitous screens have made each of us entirely a kingdom unto himself and oblivious to the humanity crushing into our noses. the subways and buses are peopled with single minded unseeing zombies en route to their busy lives.

best public transport innovation: those electronic boards that tell you when the next bus is arriving at the station. THEY ACTUALLY WORK.

easing back in 2

i sit thru a mock session today. the old thought processes, one is relieved to say, do come haltingly back, summoned by sheer will power and pure need. they say you never forget once you learn to ride a bicycle. it is still a relief, i say, to find your legs know what to do when you face a real bike, never mind what they say.

sign of the times

i notice that these days the shop assistants no longer say miss. instead these days they say m'am.

outing

i meet a friend for lunch at the newest mall* in town. very happening of me. i arrive in plenty of time to be able to browse. the pity of it is that the mall looks and feels the same as all the others. although of course it is not. this mall is newer brighter greener more technologically impressive with more commanding architecture and just as blah. the problem, i think, is that amazon.com has changed the game plan entirely for me.

*star vista mall, freshly opened less than two weeks ago.

easing back in

i have lunch with an old friend today. he is actually vetting me for a job. it's been a long time. i turn up in jeans and my birkenstocks. c'est la vie. what you see, i want to tell him, is what you're gonna get.