Singapore Diaries

8th-9th May,2010
So, where do I start from? Let’s begin from my one hour wait at the lobby at the NSCB Int’l airport. Excited co KGPians all around bubbling with energy at the prospect of waking up in a new country, a new home , albeit a new life. While some were busy discussing JAVA and UNIX, others of my ilk were out with the cameras posing for photographs so that we never run out of Facebook uploads. The flight was pretty decent especially the food what with lamb marinated in red wine and apple flan at our mercy. Although it took some time for me to figure out the channels on the TV screen in front, I finally settled for some light jazz music and then for some much needed sleep. The air hostesses were a big disappointment, though.
The first thing that struck me when we landed was the weather, very Kolkata like, hot and humid. The sun rises pretty late at Singapore although logic tells me otherwise but I was just too tired to inquire any further. Changi airport is HUGE…… that’s the best way to describe it. There must be around 20 flights leaving every hour and yet it seems to sort of scatter all the travelers by it’s sheer size. The travelletors are smooth as silk and the shops tend to hold you back just to stare in wonder. Wines, jewellery, accessories, electronic goods… you ask for it and they have it here.
And so we were on our way to the Riverside Village residences. The roads in Singapore kind of scare you at first glance if you have grown up in India with our unique brand of civic sense. You get the feeling that your car is zooming past a runway or a formula one track. I was simply stunned by the kind of discipline that these people have managed to instill in themselves. It’s a showcase town really, very unreal at first but then you tend to soak it all in.
After having settled down in our comfortable apartments, Pritam and I went out for a walk by the Singapore River. The architecture of each and every skyscraper in Singapore is so exquisite that it makes you marvel at man’s genius in creating such a lovely portrait out of brick and mortar. People jog here at 11 in the morning some even with their little ones on the pram. We managed to spot dog shit lying on the pavement at one remote location though. Thinking of mailing the pics to INDIA TV back home.:)
It rained in the afternoon. We had a mini explosion in our kitchen trying to light the gas. All elements were at play together. And now finally as I write the last few lines of a day of evening river cruise and double cheese burger courtesy Mc Donald’s, of cigarettes bought for 10 SGD and countless things not bought , I feel a sense of gratitude for all that this day has brought along it. There was heartbreak at the end of the day too but I don’t wanna ruin the mood by talking abt it now. Such is life. For all the joy and excitement that you think you can absorb, there’s always a tinge of disappointment that tags along to make you realize that you are at the mercy of feelings and emotions that always have their own script in mind. So always value what you have but learn to let go…