Shaved Head, Singapore, Scrambled Eggs, and Chicken Sausage

Some of the things which have happened to me since my last entry:

I had my head shaved last December 30. I remember sweating like a pig when the barber was using the electric shaver, so much so that he had to stop and wipe off the copious droplets of perspiration beading on my forehead. Yeah, I guess you could say I was a little stressed when it was happening.

Later that night, my friends took me to a strip bar for my despedida. I wore my favorite cap which has seen me through all kinds of zany adventures where wearing head gear was a requirement more than a fashion statement (try to figure out this one). So I felt pretty bad when a stripper stole my favorite hat when she was saying good-bye to me (or this one). Oh well, there are worse things in life compared to having your hat stolen by a stripper.

I flew into Singapore last January 1. It was raining when I got there and I asked the driver of the car which picked me up if this was a lucky sign for me. He said he didn't know. Water is a lucky sign for the Chinese and me being not a Chinese, the best he could do was speculate a maybe.

I have the worst location in the office. My table faces the most senior person's office in the department. He's the freaking global head for chrissakes. I can actually look through this wall of glass between of us and check out if he's surfing for porn and vice versa. He hasn't so far. Well, I have. I've positioned my laptop where I don't have to face his office but I can see him with my peripheral vision and vice versa. I purposely try not to look through his office lest he wonders what the hell is this Filipino guy doing spying on his business. Also, when my immediate boss introduced us for what must have been the fifth time I've met this global head, he said the same phrase again to me he's uttered everytime we see each other: "Nice to meet you."

My friend Sandy who's been living here in Singapore for five years now, has been kind enough to show me around and introduce me to her clique of Filipino friends also living here. Last Monday night, we had dinner and drinks at her friend's big ass condo. Sandy's friend works as a consultant for a mulinational company and has managed to retain his expat status and all the corresponding perks that go with it. This includes his condo which has four rooms and an amazing view of the city. He also goes in and out of Singapore a lot and so has amassed this collection of booze purchased duty free from the airport. Booze is mighty expensive here and so I'm a complete dumb ass for not maxing out my allocation when I flew in -- or not buying alcohol at the airport for that matter. Sandy said that this allocation is one bottle of liqour, one bottle of wine, and three beers. That's right, three freaking cans of beers. Not a six-pack. Not anything other than three. Sandy's always wondered who the hell came up with the magic number three. Duty free is a consideration because the taxes drive alcohol prices through the stratosphere. One can of Tiger beer will set you back SGD3.20 at 7-11. That's like PHP105. Yes, that's only for one stinking can of beer. So next time you're debating on whether to finish that last mug of beer because you've already had too much, drink up asshole. There are people dying of beer thirst here in Singapore because they don't have enough money to get smashed. Dying.

Right now, I'm staying in this service apartment for a month which is paid for by my company. This one month is a stretch of time good enough for me to find my own place -- which in fact I have. The service apartment has a complimentary breakfast for guests everyday. The catch is it serves the same two items every-freaking-day: scrambled eggs and chicken sausage. I've been testing myself on how many days I can go on eating the same stuff for breakfast. So far, I've only missed last Tuesday because I had a massive hangover from all that drinking the night before. So it's been eleven days now on my scrambled eggs and chicken sausage breakfast diet and counting.