After the recent post “let it rain” a lot has taken place in my life. I often wanted to write about it but didn’t find myself in the right frame of mind when I finally had some time to sit down. After what seems like a whirlwind month, I’ve decided to just jot down all that I can remember of things I wanted to write about, including as to why I was in Vancouver on a last minute visit…

Sept 23: J gets approval letter for his EP (employment pass), pick up is on Oct 2nd.
Sept 26: we see our first condo, after two appts fall through. this condo is in a development I saw online back in March when there was talk of possibly moving to Singapore. We decided it was the place. We put in our letter of intent along with a deposit of S$2900 (for 57sqm semi-furnished, on average for just slightly larger one bedroom, costs S$3500, maybe semi-furnished)
Sept 28: we got chosen for the apartment. yay.
Oct 1st: we meet to sign Tenancy Agreement for two year lease (on average the most common) and to give first months rent, plus two month’s rent as security deposit.
Oct 4: I had a slightly alarming talk with my father, after not hearing from him and not having been able to get a hold of him for over 3 months. He called me at 2:30am and I happened to have forgotten to turn my mobile off. Also noticed that he might not be doing 100% after he claimed to be getting better from an episode of Alzheimer’s. He convinced me that he was on the mend. I told him I’d call him on the weekend, after moving in.
Oct 8: I sent off my resume to a job post at 10am. At 12pm I hear from them. They seem interested until they realized (though I clearly stated it) that they would need to sponsor me so that I could have an EP to work for them. Lady said she needed to discuss with her boss, but never got back to me. This was really going to be a problem.
Oct 10: AM – Had to put my emotions on the back burner after receiving a copy of a scarlet-type Chu family letter that was sent out by an uncle regarding my father. A cousin of mine managed to email the scanned copy to me. I tried calling my father repeated from 4am till 9am with no luck. I’m emotional. My uncle is out on a mission to prove that he was right all these years, that my dad is incapable of being smart and now is crazy. I’m angry and worried, is there any truth? and why the attention to my father all of a sudden?
Meet at new apartment to get keys at 10am. We moved out of the serviced apartments (hooray!) and into our own place, along with our 4 suitcases and 14 small boxes of belongings.
Oct 10: PM -We go to Ikea and order a couch and desk, and get kitchenware and dishware.
Oct 11-12: We clean and clean, the previous bachelor wasn’t so good at cleaning, nor did the owner. At least curtains were cleaned, or so they claimed. I finally get a hold of my father and had a conversation with him, notice that there are a bit of behavior that concerns me.
Oct 13-17: trying to set up home while figuring out what to do regarding my father. Oct 13, I decided that I need to go home and see for myself.
Oct 18: I headed to Vancouver to check on my father. He had admitted to having had an episode of Alzheimer’s, but some other things didn’t make sense. The only way for me to figure what was going on was to go see him and put family hearsay to rest. I stayed with my father for 5 nights and 4 at a hotel nearby, then the remainder at two close friends of mine.
It was a very hard emotional roller coaster of a visit. I suspect my dad might have had a mini stroke or the living on his own all these years is making him a bit crazy. I witness discrepancies in his logic and the accounts stories he tells, when I know in fact they weren’t true or didn’t happen since I was right there. Long story short, my father has chosen to be independent away from family for years, and my being there irritated him and confused him more. I’ve discovered that he is no longer capable of being 100% clear minded about maintaining his finances. He refused help and the only thing I and the public nurse could do is to respect his wishes, but recommend him to the Public Guardianship and Trustees Services, to help him managed his finances in the background. It was a bitter sweet trip. I’m glad I got to see my father and spend some time with him, though hard it was, hardest person to live with ever. On the plus side, I did manage to see a few close friends and family which helped to keep me a float emotionally and mentally.
Nov 1: Left to come home to Singapore, first stop, HK… while Jason left for Makati, Philippines for business meetings
Nov 2: Stop over in HK for one night, spent a great night seeing my good friend, Nadine, who came over from Zhuhai to meet up with me and hang out.
Nov 3: Had a lovely lunch with an additional friend who happened to be in HK as well, on their way home to Denmark. After lunch I got news from Jason that it’s likely our stay in Singapore is to be cut short :( Company decided it just made more sense to have the development team together with the CSR team in Makati after all.
That evening Nadine and I parted and I took my flight back to Singapore.
Nov 4: Arrived home in Singapore at 12:30am. Then slept, and slept.
Nov 5: J returns late night. Exhausted and feeling shell shocked from the change of plans and our future.
Nov 6: I toyed with idea of continuing on with unpacking, though feeling totally uninspired now.
Nov 19: Somehow ended up with a sinus infection starting up. Great, right before a trip, and to a known polluted city.
Nov 20: AM- Arrived in Makati. Have mixed feelings, it’s like most other Asian cities when on route to hotel, dirty, polluted, run down, transient looking. It reminded me of a large scale, more populated island nation, such as what I’ve seen and experienced in Dominican Republic and Cuba – run down, armed security everywhere, not all street lights worked, traffic rules are only a suggestion, people everywhere. Arrived at hotel driveway, stopped for security check by armed men with a German shepard. Entering hotel doors, get wanded down with metal detector and open purse/backpack for check as well. Turns out every entering requires this check.
Nov 20: PM- met up with some of J’s co-workers, all expats, a couple we know from Vancouver, others all new faces, had drinks, then dinner, then clubbing. It was a great night, it’s been a long time since we’ve been out, out, with a group of good folks. Notes on Makati, there’s Rich, and there’s Poor, very extreme.
Nov 21: 4am – go to bed, realizing it’s going to hurt later in the morning/afternoon, and not just from being up late, we had ‘newbie hazing’ with a few drinks… then to top it off, my sinus infection is at it’s worse, having been exposed to cigarette and cigar smoke throughout the evening. bummer.
Nov 21: PM – a bit of a write-off, luckily not really hungover, but sinus infection has me in a daze of a light fever and headache. Room service and rest it is.
Nov 22: AM – we check out the GreenBelt area to see if it’s an area we’d like to live. NO, we decided, it’s downtown and all malls around. Though there some greenery, it’s just not the right feel. Somehow I’d like to hear birds or even see birds, that might be a better sign. Had lunch at Chilli’s, that was good at least.
Nov 22: PM – Upon returning to hotel, realize that the sniffer dogs aren’t even trained for bomb or drug sniffing. They are bored, disengaged, and sluggish. handler just leads them around the car and the open trunk and the dog could care less what was in there. amusing. We took an afternoon siesta from the heat and rain, then we go check out Fort Bonifacio area, the main local market/mall in this area, and to meet Co-worker friends for dinner in the newer area across the way. We get to check out their condo. Decided this area is do-able, though I kind of doubt there would be much bird song for a long while as their are a lot of construction nearby.
Nov 23: Rest day. Was to go meet Jas at the office in the afternoon but my ever more failing mobile failed big time. The battery drained itself faster than usual. without it, it would be too hard to meet up with Jas and there are so many security stations that it would be near impossible for us to find each other. Just might as well anyways, we were both fatigued and not feeling well. Room service again, meal so-so this time, as it was international cuisine we tried this time. Mandarin Oriental Makati – FAIL on international cuisine.
Nov 24: Back home in Singapore, well for Jason only technically, I’m still technically a resident of Canada, have a mailing address but cannot say I live in Singapore when coming home to Singapore. I’m tired of not knowing what to put as my residence at any given time depending on what form I have to fill out.

So to summarize, I guess it’s final and confirmed. We will be moving to the city of Makati, in the Manila region of Philippines. Approx timing of move would be early January 2010.