Hanging Out

Last night was T -2 days until the departure so, in an effort to spend some time with G, I took him to the movies. The closest cinema to my office and to our house is The West Mall in Bukit Batok. It's not the nicest of malls or theatres but this was all about proximity as I wanted to be able to get there as quickly as possible after work.

One of the weird things (to me anyway) about Singapore cinemas is that when you purchase your ticket, you are assigned a seat. I have yet to decide if this is a good thing or not. While online booking allows you to book in advance and ensure you get a good seat, it also means that if you want to see a film on a whim it is likely that the best seats have already been taken. That said, if you book in advance you don't have arrive early and queue for a good seat. You can waltz in at the last second and your seat is secure.

G wanted to see Get Smart (it was the only thing playing that we hadn't already seen that we remotely interested in seeing... if that makes sense). I went in with very low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. It was quite funny. Interestingly the flattest parts of the film was where it was compelled to use the shtick from the original series: "missed it by that much", "would you believe...", etc. It just didn't feel as vibrant as the other material. But then, I was never a huge fan of Get Smart to begin with... It was clever but never hilarious to me.

The movie over, we were both a bit peckish. I have been craving pizza. I have yet to find good pizza in this town and so in an effort to try yet another newly discovered pizza place, we jumped in a cab and headed to Sixth Ave. for a place we'd spotted a few weeks ago called Pizza da Donato... It's just a hole in the wall but I think I may have found what can pass for a decent pizza in Singapore. I will have to go back and order a full pizza (rather than just a slice) to be certain.

In all, it was just good to hang out with my boy.

Darkness

I got into the office early this morning, the clock said 7:30.

Sitting here typing I am looking around and realize that the office is getting darker. No, I am not going blind. A massive cloud has decended upon the city. One moment, daylight, the next darkness.

I am glad that my laptop illuminates my fingers as I type.

I am glad that the lightning casts my shadow on the office walls.

Ode to my Glasses

I lost my glasses last week. I am fairly certain that it happened on the bus on the way to work as I first noticed that I wasn't wearing them when I got off the bus. I first assumed that I'd just left them at home but this was not the case.

I really liked my glasses.

I lost my glasses last week and I have come to realize that I have crappy eyesight. I can see things that are up close well enough but beyond a certain distance it starts to get fuzzy. If you see me waiting for the bus I am the guy madly squinting to try and make out which bus number is approaching.

I lost my glasses last week and have resorted to wearing my prescription sunglasses when necessary. Last week I went to see my son perform in a play. I could see the quizzical looks as the other parents and kids in the audience nudged each other to say, "what's up with the guy in sunglasses?". This came to the height of self-mockery last night as I joined some friends for bowling. Unable to see the pins I wore my shades. Did I mention I was the only one still in my work clothes? My screen name was Jesus (read: heyzeus).

I lost my glasses last week and I bought a new pair over the weekend. They will be ready tonight.

Rats

My company moved to a new office space recently. The space is nice but we are some fo the first tenants in this new building. As a result, there are not many amenities yet. Lunch is either hawker food from across the way, brought from home or a cab ride away.

I have been bring my lunch.

It seems that there were some previous tenants that we are displacing... I came in early the other morning to discover the garbage had been ransacked. We set some traps and sure enough, we have rats.

Not mice. Rats.

Singapore, like many urban centres, has a lot of rats. I've seen them on the street and from the corner of my eye as I've passed alleyways. This is the first time I've come face to face with a rat.

They are bigger than expected.