Singapore and Me

I met Charles for lunch yesterday. He brought me to Nobu. Nobu....what can I say about Nobu? Nothing, except for....it was probably one of the best meals that I've eaten for a long, long time. Exquisite in presentation and taste. You really have to taste and experience it for yourself. Nobu is not like Keyaki. Keyaki is another of my favourite Japanese restaurant in Singapore. Keyaki is very tradition, very old school. Whereas Nobu is new Japanese, the new meets old but yet still Japanese in essence. Oh well, don't really know how to describe it but it was really a good meal and thanks Charles for bringing me there.

At lunch, we were talking and catching up. Charles is Stan's friend and over time, he's become a very good friend of mine. Charles mentioned that he's moving to London and in the midst of conversation he asked me how I feel about Singapore as Stan told him that I don't really like Singapore very much. I told Charles how I really feel about Singapore my fears of returning to Singapore someday and why do I not really like Singapore. Here is probably some of the reasons why Singapore and me don't gel very well.

I find that the longer that I'm away from Singapore, I'm beginning to see Singapore through dark glasses. It's no more rose tinted glassed and I become increasing critical of Singapore. To be honest, it scares me. The latest saga in Singapore with the Mas Selamat situation just goes to show me that well, it's fine for the big PAP government ministers who are paid heaps and heaps to screw up but when something small screws up, the witch hunt starts for the small fry. Another thing recently that's made me pretty upset with Singapore is the issue of safety bets in school buses. Look, this topic has been discussed long before the poor kid died and now, after a life has been taken and then...yes, let's make it compulsory for school buses to have seat belts.

There are many more issues to pissed me off about Singapore but then again, ultimately, it's still my home, isn't it? My family and friends are still there. But for me to live there again, honestly, I dread for that day to come. It's like when I was studying in Australia and when I had to return, it got me really upset. Is the grass really greener on the other side? I don't know. I told Charles, for me to return to Singapore to work, I'll have to give up more than half of my salary in Hong Kong to do double of my current workload. Will it be worth it? I doubt it. And in the same breath I said, I'd rather follow Babe to Delhi and not work than to return to Singapore to work and live. Plus, I don't want to raise my child in Singapore too.

I know, some of my family and friends may be disappointed with my thoughts and feelings about Singapore but the reality, I was not really happy working in Singapore. I felt stifled, frustrated and it was hard to find time to hang out with friends. So what if my family and friends are in Singapore when I don't even have time to see them when I was living there. I know...very cynical....very...