Today was house hunting day. Yah, yah, I know, it’s a work day . . . well I may or may not have snuck out for a two-hour “lunch break.” And this “lunch break” may or may not have taken place after my ACTUAL one-hour lunch break. But seriousely? How can I be expected to do good work for this company unless I have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that I have a roof over my head at the end of the day? So really, I would argue that my house hunting excursion of sorts, was very much work related. It’s funny how bold we employees get when the big boss is out of town.
I don’t think I will ever be able to get over how much Singaporeans LOVE to text message. And y’all thought I was bad? I was shocked when my Realtor text me before even calling/emailing me. My boss sends me text messages regularly requesting updates while she is in Shanghai. People here even get their cell phones linked to their bank accounts so that they can transfer payments via text message. It’s pure insanity. According to the Guinness book of world records, the citizens of Singapore have the fastest average texting speed of any country in the world. WOW! My question is . . . who cared enough to measure that nonsense?
Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yah . . . HOUSE HUNTING. So I skipped out from work at 1:30pm with my colleague Andrea, and my realtor picked us up to view two apartments. The first one was GORGEOUS! It was brand new, fully furnished with hardwood floors and oak furniture. It was HUGE too. Everything about it was perfect. It even smelled great. The apartment had fantastic facilities: three tennis courts, squash courts, a huge fitness center and an enormous swimming pool surrounded by palm trees and flowers. It looked like a resort. There were wat
erfalls pouring into the swimming pool, there was even a waterslide and playground for kids (in the pool! You hear me? A playground IN the pool) It made me wish I was 7 yrs old again. There was a rock climbing wall, a Balinese garden, and a fish pond. And get this; the gym was in a glass-encased room BEHIND a waterfall. Anyway, there was a concierge desk and everything. The only problem was that the apartment was a TINY bit out of my price range, a reality was REALLY painful for me. I think I had fallen in love. Sigh . . . I was really glad to have Andrea there cuz she knew all the right questions to ask. Without her I woulda been up a creek without a paddle. Pardom my use of cheesy expressions. She also brought me back down to earth when she explained to me that spending 2/3 of my salary on apartment rental is simply NOT WISE.
Anyway, the second place that we looked at was GARBAGE compared with the first. It was dark and dingy and had a view of a parking garage. Gross. I set one foot in the door and gave my realtor the “absolutely not” look. This is a look which I have mastered after three years of hanging out with Crystal Thomas. We hopped back in the cab and went back to the office. The cab driver on the way back was HILLARIOUS! Like, ABSOLUTELY HYSTERICAL. My Singlish is VERY GOOD for an Ang-mo (translation: caucasian) but this guy’s accent was SO ridiculously thick even I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying. He was laughing, and talking and telling jokes. It didn’t seem to bother him that Andrea and I couldn’t understand the punch lines well enough to know when to laugh. We tried to humor him the best we could. The most noteworthy among his comedy repertoire was a joke something along the lines of “Wai dos arfabett last time got 26 retter, now got 24 retter? Becos E & T phone home!” As soon as we stepped out of the cab the two of us BURST into laughter that we had been suppressing the whole cab ride. Andrea doubled over and nearly laid down in the street. I was laughing so hard I walked into a parking meter. Ouch.
Back at the office the day finished up pretty well. After hours of conference calls and back-and-forth price negotiations with our web design agency, we finally got our Holiday Inn promo website launched. Check it out and vote! http://www.hi-everydayhero.com/. Actually, even better, submit your story and enter the contest. Maybe you can use the prize to come visit me in Singapore.
I don’t think I will ever be able to get over how much Singaporeans LOVE to text message. And y’all thought I was bad? I was shocked when my Realtor text me before even calling/emailing me. My boss sends me text messages regularly requesting updates while she is in Shanghai. People here even get their cell phones linked to their bank accounts so that they can transfer payments via text message. It’s pure insanity. According to the Guinness book of world records, the citizens of Singapore have the fastest average texting speed of any country in the world. WOW! My question is . . . who cared enough to measure that nonsense?
Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yah . . . HOUSE HUNTING. So I skipped out from work at 1:30pm with my colleague Andrea, and my realtor picked us up to view two apartments. The first one was GORGEOUS! It was brand new, fully furnished with hardwood floors and oak furniture. It was HUGE too. Everything about it was perfect. It even smelled great. The apartment had fantastic facilities: three tennis courts, squash courts, a huge fitness center and an enormous swimming pool surrounded by palm trees and flowers. It looked like a resort. There were wat
erfalls pouring into the swimming pool, there was even a waterslide and playground for kids (in the pool! You hear me? A playground IN the pool) It made me wish I was 7 yrs old again. There was a rock climbing wall, a Balinese garden, and a fish pond. And get this; the gym was in a glass-encased room BEHIND a waterfall. Anyway, there was a concierge desk and everything. The only problem was that the apartment was a TINY bit out of my price range, a reality was REALLY painful for me. I think I had fallen in love. Sigh . . . I was really glad to have Andrea there cuz she knew all the right questions to ask. Without her I woulda been up a creek without a paddle. Pardom my use of cheesy expressions. She also brought me back down to earth when she explained to me that spending 2/3 of my salary on apartment rental is simply NOT WISE.Anyway, the second place that we looked at was GARBAGE compared with the first. It was dark and dingy and had a view of a parking garage. Gross. I set one foot in the door and gave my realtor the “absolutely not” look. This is a look which I have mastered after three years of hanging out with Crystal Thomas. We hopped back in the cab and went back to the office. The cab driver on the way back was HILLARIOUS! Like, ABSOLUTELY HYSTERICAL. My Singlish is VERY GOOD for an Ang-mo (translation: caucasian) but this guy’s accent was SO ridiculously thick even I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying. He was laughing, and talking and telling jokes. It didn’t seem to bother him that Andrea and I couldn’t understand the punch lines well enough to know when to laugh. We tried to humor him the best we could. The most noteworthy among his comedy repertoire was a joke something along the lines of “Wai dos arfabett last time got 26 retter, now got 24 retter? Becos E & T phone home!” As soon as we stepped out of the cab the two of us BURST into laughter that we had been suppressing the whole cab ride. Andrea doubled over and nearly laid down in the street. I was laughing so hard I walked into a parking meter. Ouch.
Back at the office the day finished up pretty well. After hours of conference calls and back-and-forth price negotiations with our web design agency, we finally got our Holiday Inn promo website launched. Check it out and vote! http://www.hi-everydayhero.com/. Actually, even better, submit your story and enter the contest. Maybe you can use the prize to come visit me in Singapore.
1 comment:
so now I see why this blog may cause you to lose your job....ok, maybe not, maybe it will cause me to lose my job...you know how you said when you get to work everyone has already had a full days of life and now you have to spend your morning catchin up....well what do you think we (US-residents) do when we get to work....yes that's right, I've been at work for at least 20mins and I haven't done a thing, except read your blog post comments on your blog and think about how my blog can be better than yours (you know i'ma hater at heart)....but also you're long winded and I'll try not to be in my comment so yeah....btw i'll link in my blog....great now i'ma go on my blog and blog for another 30mins or so...well guess what BIG BOSS aint in...lololol
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