the following was written one day when i had some free time in manila while waiting for something. although deranged, it somewhat captures my frame of mind at that time:
Manilaing is more comfortable than Calcuttaing, but predictably ennuying (=boring). Alright, be serious. I am starting to feel like I have a few homes – one in sg, one in oberoi@kolkata, one in manila office. why, coz its like always going back to the same few places, meeting the same few ppl. its really different from tourism travelling, peculiarly different. and here are the pecularities:
1. less travel planning. no need to bother about what to see, what to do.
2. no need to take leave! wow. = no need to count leave and no need to look for public holidays
3. no need to fit schedule to plane tickets. well unless the planes are really full, which can happen because its more last minute.
4. usu someone is on the other side to pick you up. how nice. because airports and taxis are very unfriendly to foreigners. i do not understand this, because a. the first impression of a foreigner is the airport b. you do not invite someone to your house and attempt to fleece them c. money takes place over pride of the country?
5. laptops are a necessity. along with notebooks and papers. and never enough stationery.
6. there’s no need to worry so much about outdoor wear.
7. food, drinks, transport are claimable. not that i actually have time to enjoy some of these sometimes. hey we had peking duck the other day. for 2 ppl only. quite decent.
8. been having alot of coffee bean here. nothing palatable in india. not coffee. and i dont know where to find good chai in kolkata, the irony!
9. i want to get out of here earlier
10. one recurring event is sitting around in the office waiting for bosses to be done, or waiting for transport and chatting with the local staff and comparing countries and hearing sometimes dubious tips about the locale.
11. i is liking being able to run around with a small suitcase and bag. i like fast efficient flights and airport procedures.
12. checkin, takeoffs, planes, flight meals no longer bother me. nor do they excite me. but still enjoyable. i tend to just engross myself in books or ipods. darn that they dont allow you to keep earphones on during landing.
13. xrays and metal detectors are like meh, and useless.
14. thank goodness there are credit cards and visa and mastercard.
15. changi airport money changer is actually not that bad considering i changed S$212 in the transit area and only lost $4 compared if i changed at sengkang and perhaps $10 if i changed elsewhere. and that’s inside transit area mind you.
16. i dont really see what’s the fuss about changi airport. it’s functional and clean, but not spectacular. is it really sooo difficult to design and operate an airport? most shopping malls and hotels have way better designs that airports, even ours. changi has obiang-looking signages, small claustrophobic entrances to the transit area, average washrooms, not much entertainment, and grossly insufficient information points. it is difficult to find flight information, airport information, travel information. in-bound experience to SG is much smoother and nicer than out-bound of SG, hm. hello world.
17. mocha latte is not bad. i like chocolate. do you realise that there are 3 main types of hot drinks in the world – coffee, tea and chocolate. that is like so insufficient.
18. SIA planes have repulsive advertisements on their in-flight entertainment system. i hate them. assuming that i just get on plane, sit down, read my book, and alight, i actually do not experience much of any special SIA service, really. but i suppose reliability, safety and services-when-in-need are important.
19. they should replace service staff in changi airport with robots. that way, they can achieve their target goals of reliability, consistency, politesse (i suppose its politeness, but my english fails me), and inscrutability. SG is very robotic and sterile compared to other countries, which are a total mess, peculiar, full of character (gd and bad), and interative (in gd and bad ways again).
20. nobody can love sg. its like you have a friend who is very nice, polite, pleasant-looking and trustworthy, but its not someone who you can love from the bottom of your heart because he is so dashing, effervescent, cute and hot. its like i love you because you are special and that i love you, not because you are the perfect girl.
21. u read love in the time of cholera? no, i dont think its one my faves. the title is lovely, but the blurb looks er/zzz.
22. the world is not round. those who tell you that its round are just less simplified than those ppl who tell you that its flat!, its ever so elliptical.
23. what?
Comments (9)
wah. i have to many comments to make i dun even know where to start. =P will do it another day, tis late. =)
long post!
yes it is a long post. it is also helpfully numbered for your easy reference.
and i did not actually complete it. i would like to extra rant that changi airport is so big that my plane has to taxi forever to reach the gate and then i have to walk forever to reach immigration clearance. and then after that the uncle in charge of the taxi queue hollers at me in singlish. oh my goodness. is it so difficult to just have an exit area with a pretty entrance, signboards, and also a professional taxi management queue.
heh an amusing post, but true, i guess. would you consider the relatively hassle-free work trips less exciting than leisure trips. perhaps it’s part of the uniquely singaporean experience that the first impression of the country you get after the airport is the taxi uncle? how bewildering it must be for people here for the first time.
taxi uncle wise, he’s better than touts. and well you have to admit taxis are more than plenty at SIN and it’s well regulated. its just that why cant we do better and get someone very presentable to be the spokesperson. i mean, im not saying uncle is too old or too lousy to do the job, which he is definitely physically and mentally capable of, but just that its a customer service / image kinda thing and i would want a polite and trustworthy-sounding person to be standing there, or well the kind of impression a total stranger would not need to think to trust. like you wont put an uncle at the Visit Singapore counter and say “go there lar, very good one”.
ok its not all bad.
or its just, that, airport taxes cost that much.
have you guys also noticed that checkin counters are very cheapskate, like all that gaudy plasticky counters that are so ugly. i dunno. just picking on things. like why renovate the whole place to look so pretty and the one thing i have to touch and wait at is so boring looking. i dunno. i stare at checkin counters longer than i stare at the ceiling for example.
touts… yeah i agree that getting someone more presentable or someone who speaks better and is more polite is better for the image singapore is always trying to portray to visiting foreigners (or even to singaporeans). to make visiters feel better and safer/have a better impression. perhaps someone like the nice hotel doormen we see around.
have you ever wondered why the airport checkin counters are this weird colour that clashes with the pretty shiny surroundings… haha. perhaps they will eventually get around to changing those things. we hope. and improve the -changi experience- (which obviously is not just about the shopping mall)…
hmm perhaps we should send some feedback and suggestions to CAG (and perhaps they should hire me!!!) and see what they say =P
yes pink counters! i think it’s supposed to go with their uniform or something.
i think they should put candy at the auto-immigration counters, its not fair that only the human counters have candy. no fair at all.
candy = sticky fingers = will spoil the fingerprint reader…
hmm elliptical world.
candy after, doh.
yes, yes =P
reward for submitting yourself to the system.
20. sg is not perfect, but it does need some identity.