Singapore!

It was more than a year ago when I again traveled to Singapore after more than 2 years. We were recovering from the typhoon Ondoy, which brought what hydrologists estimated were 50 (or 100?) year floods that laid waste to Metro Manila and its adjacent areas. My recollection back then was more about relief and searching for stability if not sanity. We lost a lot to Ondoy and the visit to stable Singapore was like a breath of fresh air replacing the stench and stink of floodwaters that contained who knows what. Two trips to Singapore in 2009 that were only 2 weeks apart certainly allowed for my personal recovery as well as for opportunities to network with researchers and city planners.

Last year, I also traveled to Singapore to present in a conference. It was a short stay but given the option to select the hotel where I stayed, I took that opportunity to be billeted at a hotel along Orchard Road. I must admit that last year was the first time I ever set foot on Orchard Road and just had to see for myself what it was all about. After all, that road has been featured in a lot of articles and seemed to me as a good example of what an urban street should be given the pressures of transport and traffic. Despite the humidity at the time, I found Orchard to be pleasant to walk along and around. As is my practice every time I visit a place new to me, I explore the environs and check out the shops. These offer me a peek into life in that place as well as a feel for how people live.

Forward to the present or maybe the very recent past. I again found myself in Singapore in late January. This time though, it was not for a conference as the past visits were about. I was in Singapore to check out a place that I will be calling home, maybe for the next few years.

The Clairvoyant transfered to their Singapore office early this year. I, hopefully, will follow later; but at a date to be determined based on my commitments. I felt a mixture of excitement and sadness, mostly the latter as the circumstances would mean that physically the Clairvoyant and I would be separated. The excitement was mainly about living in another country, and one that is practically the most stable in the region. Singapore is not like Bangkok with all its attractions nor is it like Tokyo whose cosmopolitan flavor mixes quite well with their culture and its treasures. I would know since I lived in Japan for 3 years and have gone to many places of interest among which were Kyoto, Kamakura and Nikko. Yet Singapore offers a secure and safe environment to live in, and where one can flourish in the workplace and be compensated fairly and accordingly, much like what attracts people to go to first world cities to work.

Last weekend, we signed a lease for the unit that we will be calling our home away from home. It is on the fourth floor of a walk-up and will soon be the object of the Clairvoyant's interior designing skills. The development is just beside the Lorong Chuan Station of the Circle Line (Orange Line) and is just 22 minutes from her office. This is a vast improvement from the 1.5 to 2 hours of driving she usually endures from our home in Antipolo to her former office in Taguig. In Singapore, she will be very mobile and she already is as I must admit I was impressed (and proud) by her familiarity of the MRT/LRT network. And what an efficient public transport system Singapore has!

Our set-up now would mean that we will be travelling often between Manila and Singapore. I guess it would mostly be me flying over during weekends at least once a month. I treat it as a welcome change of pace and I am optimistic and upbeat as I also treat each time I travel as an opportunity to de-toxify. I must admit that I am already entertaining thoughts of transplanting myself to that city-state. Maybe not this year given my commitments and responsibilities, but certainly in the future and perhaps near enough in relative terms.