Can't Wait to Reach 30 Years Old

I turned 29 years old today. Yey, I kept awake until the birthday crossover at midnight then slept until 630 am.

This is only the 3rd time I'm spending it away from the Philippines.

1st - US , 2001
2nd - Australia, 2003
3rd - Singapore, 2006

So that leaves me with a few more continents to cover for next time.

Last night while watching the finals night of a reality TV show on cable, I thought of several things to do on my birthday:

- Visit the Sir Raffles Landing site
- Ride the DHL hot air balloon near Suntec so I can see a panoramic view of Singapore
- Eat Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

These activities mean something when it comes to how I want to make my two year assignment here meaningful and memorable.

- Appreciate history and create a good sense of history for those who will come after me
- Always have an overall view of things before you get into the details.
- Gain some guilt free calories. Haha. Seriously though, have fun even in simple ways.

I never got around to doing what I had planned to do for today but those lessons are what I will keep in mind from 29th year onwards.

In another symbolic moment, I finally got myself a laptop. I had been wanting to purchase one since university days but why buy a laptop if you can spend it on other important things? But I can't live by myself and not have internet access anytime I want it. I'll go insane or probably memorize all the shows on local and cable TV. The challenging part now is how I will be able to discipline myself and not spend too much time in front of my new toy. Should be easier to manage now than back home.

So what did I do today? I set up my laptop so I can get it up and running soonest ; got some stuff from the supermarket for the week ahead ; met up with Nick and Jen, friends from Scotland who are heading back home this Monday; made another big purchase (see next paragraph); and spent dinner with colleagues who found time off their busy weekend sked to chill out on my birthday (Thanks Sandy for organising it).

The photo below was my last purchase from the 16th Singapore PC Show held at Suntec from 1st to 4th June. I spent 5 hours yesterday trying to buy the laptop and other peripherals that I needed to go back for the printer. It's amazing that they even give away a stroller to make things easier. I suddenly felt like I'm back in my early school days with my gigantic bag.

There's much to discover about myself in this new place, hopefully with no heavy baggage to take with me when I move to the next one.