Crazy Sing: blablabla… [insert conversation here]… It’s like manag (read: may-nag)

Me: What’s manag?

Crazy Sing: You don’t know manag?

Me: No. What is it?

Crazy Sing: YOU DON’T??!! SHE DOESN’T KNOW MANAG!! (pointing to me shouting to everybody, making a huge deal out of it)

Me: What is it? What is it?

Other crazy Singaporeans came over and kept saying “You don’t know? You don’t know manag?”

After some more laughing and pointing..

Crazy Sing: You know (making some gesture), it’s like the ones you put on the fridge..

Me: …………..

OOHHH!

MAGNET!!!

YOU SAID MANAG!!!

GRRAAAAAA!!!

Crazy Sing: Yeah.. magnet.. I said manag huh? It’s Singlish lor..

So now we have a manag hung on the ceiling with a string in one of the room, in the remembrance of this event.

Wooo I was absent for almost one full month.
I cannot put in words how much things have been going on in 1 month.

I’ve got so much pressure from work, and one of my very important co-worker may go (nothing to do with me though). Moved office to a (deceivingly) bigger place, but the structure is bad, so I don’t even have my own table. Right now I’m sitting between 2 tables, so I have table legs right between my legs.

I went back to Jakarta, Indonesia, place where I was born, last week. Haven’t gone back for 5 long years. Met old friends, relatives, and my high school sweetheart ;). All my little cousins have grown up so much I feel old. A couple of uncles aunties have obviously grown old. My previous house has changed form to 7 new very expensive houses (yeah I lived in a big land before). Went to my grandpa’s and grandma’s grave (from different side of parent), so I spent almost 2 whole days for grave trips. Went to Bandung (a city about 2-3 hours from Jakarta), which I think I haven’t been for more than 10 years.

Went back to Singapore and found out a friend was engaged. About a few weeks ago we still discussed and complained about our boyfriends. I broke up with mine and she got engaged. What a life.

I’m still in holiday mood and feel like having another holiday that’s even longer. But that may not be possible. Singapore doesn’t celebrate Christmas. Which I still find hard to believe. In Australia Christmas is HUGE -_-

Random words from a friend in the middle of the night:
manisnya cinta tidak sepahit rindu
~ Khusus untuk teman2 yang ditinggal atau meninggalkan kekasihnya ke tempat yang jaoh =9

Jack and Max are walking from religious service.

Jack wonders whether it would be all right to smoke while praying.

Max replies, “Why don’t you ask the Priest?”

So Jack goes up to the Priest and asks, “Priest, may I smoke while I pray?”

But the Priest says, “No, my son, you may not. That’s utter disrespect to our religion.”

Jack goes back to his friend and tells him what the good Priest told him.

Max says, “I’m not surprised. You asked the wrong question. Let me try.”

And so Max goes up to the Priest and asks, “Priest, may I pray while I smoke?”

To which the Priest eagerly replies, “By all means, my son. By all means.”

My friend in Australia actually asked me if I could sue the person who made a very sexist comment to me a while ago.

Sadly by living in Singapore, I think my living standard and views on some values are somehow lowered. I do think it’s a very sexist comment, but I would just shrug it off and try to be at least about 5m away from him. If I was in Australia, I may have made a report to Human Resources about the inappropriate joke. On positive note, I think I’m just adapting to the way of Singaporeans. It’s temporary anyway, soon or later I will be back to the land where excessive overtime is the odd than norm. For the time being, I will survive (or trying hard to ;). It’s good experience anyhow.

Talking about Singapore, I watched Singapore Dreaming a few days ago, and it was GOOD. It’s tragically true and ironically familiar to the way of Singapore.

The movie is sad in a lot of ways. Singapore is sad in a lot of ways. It’s a traditional nation in transition to be a developed one. So some aspects of life are panting trying to catch up, but fail miserably.

As long as it’s changing though. We can always hope for the better. Majulah Singapura! :)