Super-personal blog #1 (I assume there'll be more!)

I’m supposed to be on holiday now, with my family. But I brought my computer along, and I can’t help checking email and replying, and doing bits of work here and there whenever I have some free time. Oh! What has Aware presidency done to me??!! :p

I wrote the following as a sort of email to friends, but it turned out to be more in the style of a blog, and I thought – what the heck, I HAVE a blog. So here it is, with some (major) edits.

Life in Singapore is cushy. At least for the middle class. Public transport is convenient, taxis are relatively cheap (compared to most anywhere else in the world). And for those who cough up the COE, PARF and whatever else, parking is inexpensive.

Having always been adventurous and gung-ho, my experience the last few days took me by surprise. Being with a young child in the middle of Melbourne city took some getting used to. First of all, Australians walk. A lot. Uphill and down. Trams ply the city, but as far as I could make out, we were the only ones riding it for fewer than 5 stops. Being unfit as I am, it is absolutely no fun walking even one block uphill after an exhausting day, much less with a grouchy toddler in my arms.

Then there’s that persistent uneasy feeling which I never had BC (before child). Singapore must be just about the safest city on the planet (see my earlier blog). Therefore, if you live there long enough, everywhere else in the world feels rather less benign. Especially when you’re with a rambunctious toddler, who seems to be in danger of getting run over by tram or falling down some steep stairs at every turn. Not to mention those seedy characters (whom I’d have probably judged as friendly BC).

These thoughts and feelings caught me by surprise. Have I really become so “soft” in recent years? Has living in the “air-conditioned nation” really made me so paranoid about the rest of the world? Perhaps it’s also because I’m alone with my daughter for the first time in a foreign land, and all the irrational fears of my family have resurfaced to hit me on the nose. There is something quite insidious (emotionally/spiritually) about having a child: all issues you thought you had laid to rest suddenly come back to haunt you when you least expect it.

A double-whammy for sure.

Hence, my addiction to my computer and to emails (and blogs). One ordinary and mundane experience in my world, please!