Busy Week/FSIN Holiday Party!

Well, I've determined I'm just not going to be able to blog as frequently as I did in the Netherlands. in NL i did about 55 posts over 90 days, so a little over one every other day. there were several factors that i considered when reaching this conclusion. first, i'm working consistently longer hours. instead of 8 per day in NL i'm working 10 most days here. second, to go to the gym in NL i went to a 1 hour class and then i just drove home. but to get to the gym here its about 30 to 40 minutes of travel each way by bus/MRT. so really that 1 hour spinning class is a 2.5 hour ordeal. so cumulatively i just have less time. i havent been home before 930 any day this week. then, when i get home, the interet doesnt work all the time, and i dont really have my own workspace (i have to type out on the balcony), so its not an environment condusive to thoughful typing. third, my work is not nearly as variable so i just have a bit less to write about during the week. the type of work i'm doing is fairly consistent, all in the office, and i work with the same 3 people all the time so no one really new to write about. i will continue to blog about once per week. i still have weekends to do interesting things. more than anything i just want a record of my trip for myself. when i get back i'll print out all these entries, bind it, and then stash it away for when i'm old and i want to remind myself of this experience.

on Monday it was back to work. my eye is still really red and it still hurting a bit but i think it's getting better. i know it sounds strange but i think the eye drops are making me sick... for about 1 hour from the time i put the drops in a just have a bad headache and i feel really neauseus. the busses were pretty empty on the way to work. the walk from the office i usually pass an outdoor restaurant and usually its quite busy but today its all boarded up. i find out later when i passed on my way home that they are renovating it. they have a demolition crew of about 10 guys just working with no masks or hard hats. just in tshirts and sandals hahaha and the area is not roped off so i could just walk right into the demo area. what a hazard. for lunch we went to the prata house, which i was really looking forward to. a prata is like a flaky pancake sort, of maybe a cross between a pancake and a croissant. i got a cheese prata with a drink called a dinosaur. the dinosaur drink is pink i have no idea what's in it. its really sweet. its kind of good, but i'm not sure i'd get it again. the cheese prata also wasn't very good. oh well you can't get something good all the time.

during lunch i went to the post office and stood in line forever just to get stamps to mail postcards and letters. my card wouldn't work in the stamp machine outside unfortunately. i checked the postage so send packages and it is very expensive, about S$150 for a small box via airmail (6-9 days), otherwise you can send via ship (2 months) for about S$100. i dont think i will be sending any packages home for christmas. speaking of christmas, i'm actually really glad i don't have to endure a holiday season.. ive been so lucky these past 2 years to be away. i wonder how long i can keep this ball rolling.

some thoughts about the busses. by the way i havent gotten lost in over a week and i think i'm successfully mastering the public transport here. to ride the busses or subways, you have a plastic card (looks like a credit card) and you load money onto it. you can link it to a bank account to automatically ''top up" if you are running low. for each ride on the bus or MRT it deducts the fare from your card. the fare is dependent on how far you travel but is usually no more than one sing dollar. the best thing about the card i think is you dont have to swipe it. you just have to wave it in front of the sensor and then it beeps. so you can keep it in your purse or wallet and just hold up your purse to the sensor and it will read it. i think this saves a lot of time with people fumbling around to find thier card and then swiping it. seems like a great system. and cheap!

on monday i left work pretty late, grabbed some noodles on the way home, and then did some swimming for about 30 mins in the condo pool. its a really nice pool actually. there were a bunch of people around the pool having a party or something so it was good motivation to keep swimming. i later found out that the kids are out of school now for about 2 months! i wonder if this is like thier summer break, but instead around the holidays. not sure. but that explains all the kids around the pool until really late at night. on tuesday my eye is feeling better but still really red. the drops are still making me ill and i'm worrying that they are not working. for lunch we went across the street and joelle and moe got this really good chicken ginseng soup.. i was feeling like vegetables so i got veggies and rice but the 'veggies' turned out mostly to be lettuce and cabbage. my vegetable intake is really suffering. next time i'll get the soup i think. on the way back we got some fruit from the fruit stand. the weather has been really nice this week. or maybe i'm just getting used to the heat i'm not sure.

i saw a big lizard in the bathroom yesterday and just a little baby one in my room today. its ok, i like lizards. but this morning joelle said there was a cockroach in the living room and rene killed it. i hope i don't see any cockroaches or at least if i do i hope rene is around. i suppose its just the climate. i remember when i was in florida there were always cockroaches and lizards around.. not really much you can do about it. In the house there are tons of ants... really tiny microscopic ants. they're just everywhere. i've just gotten used to finding a few crawling on me even by the time i get to work. they probably get in my shoes or my bag or something. they are more of nuisance than anything. again i think just a result of the climate.

wednesday i had a progress-filled day at work. although beng hwee doesnt return until late next week, its likely i'll be done with most of my work by the end of this week. so next week could be shorter days who knows. i went to my spinning class again after work on wednesday. outside of novena square there was actually a guy washing the sidewalk. washing the sidewalk! he had a little ride-on machine specially built for washing sidewalks. it was so awesome.

on thursday i stayed a bit late at work and then went to thomson to work on my computer. i had to book my hotels for my christmas trip and i needed some reliable internet for that. there are a zillion hotels to choose from. i didnt do that much research, not enough time, so i'm hoping i picked ones that are in a good location and reliable. i'm sure it will work out just fine. i was at thomson until about 930 and decided well i'll get some groceries here and then head home. its really amazing just how many people are still out and about even at 930 at night. the grocery was so packed i had to wait in a very long line. when i'm coming home from novena.. the bishan station is also like that. just people people everyowhere, even kids and families. i'm starting to realize just how many people are packed on this island, and also it seems people here stay up quite a bit later. perhaps thats because the work day starts later in the morning i'm not sure.

in any case, i don't think i've been alone since i got here. there's always tons of people around, then the apartment mates, and then i share my workspace in the office. on thursday i was so hungry and moe was in a meeting and i said i'm going to lunch i'm starving. joelle looked at me like i was out of line for suggesting to go to lunch without moe. but i couldnt wait any longer it was after 1PM, i come in an hour earlier than they do, and her meeting could have run for a while longer (actually it went until 145). i dont think its such a bad thing to go to lunch by yourself once in awhile. i never take lunch with other people in the US. i usually work through lunch or grab something on my way to a job site to save time. plus i dont really like taking long lunches. sometimes they will be gone for well over an an hour and i just don't like that. i want to get my work done and leave i dont want to be living at the office.

on friday i had a very unproductive day...i just couldnt concentrate we were all so excited about the holiday party that night!! we left on some busses at about 445. i was wearing a dress with a black cardigan. i had actually dried my hair so it was looking probably the best it has since i've been here hahah. i used this party as an opportunity to introduce myself to as many people as i could and get to know more names and faces. i was able to talk to jerry paisley for awhile who is the managing director. he's english but has lived in singapore for about 15 years. he has a very unassuming personality, shy even, and i was surprised by his weak handshake. i suppose i am more used to american businessmen who are in high levels to have more of a presence. even when he gave a brief speech at the beginning of dinner he seemed uncomfortable up there. it must be a culteral thing, because it was very clear to me that all of the FSIN employees had nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him.

the holiday party was held at the singapore zoo, which was SUCH a fun venue. we took a tram ride throught he zoo to get to the area where the dinner was held. there was a coktail hour and then we took our seats. the seats were pre-assigned. only FSIN employees.. no spouses or dates. there were about 100 people there from the onshore, offshore, and lab. dinner was a buffet style and had everything a person could ever want to east. sushi, noodles, bread, chicken, salad, fruit, vegetables... all kinds of japanese, chinese, indian, and malay food. i loaded up on salad and veggies.. i havent had any good greens in nearly 3 weeks. i ate way too much food but it was all so good. and then.. we had dessert of course!!!

during dinner they played a really fun slideshow with pictures from last year's holiday party mixed with pictures from thoughout the year around the office (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.). after dinner the zoo put on this REALLY cool fire dance presentation. there were two drummers and three fire dancers and they were doing CRAZY things... including eating fire literlly 2 feet from where i was sitting.. i got a pretty good photo. they pulled rene up onstage and pretended to make him eat fire and they were teasing him for not having any hair hahaha. they also did some things were they used long sticks to blow darts up at targets on the stage. the whole show was really awesome and really entertaining. lots of laughs.

after the fire dance they did the raffle prizes. us non-FSIN employees received a gift certificate to be used at most shopping centers. which was completely unexpected and i will send a thank you note on monday. the regular employees were entered into a high-stakes raffle. there were 15 big prizes with top 5 prizes were cash prizes ranging from $400 to $1200 cash. cash money! i was rooting for either moe or haneena to win something and luckily... moe won the $800 cash prize!!! she was so excited because she is from myanmar and is having a lot of problems with her passport. it will cost about $3000 to get a new passport so she was so happy to win the prize. after the 15 big prizes, they drew about 25 more small prizes (gift certificates). THEN after all that, all the employees received another prize, i think it was a holiday bonus i'm not sure i didnt ask. it was really fun to see all the winners so excited and happy. i was really surprised by all the prizes considering jerry had started his speech in the beginning saying it was not a great year and don't expect any raises or bonuses....hahah but i guess that doesnt include holiday gifts!!

after the prizes they played another brief slideshow with lots of funny little quotes and they song by train 'hey soul sister' and there was just so much love in the room. i was really lucky to be there and share this experience. they also handed out service awards. and there were several people that had been there 10, 15, 25, even 35 years with fugro. i can tell that people really enjoy working in this office and it really was such a positive thing to witness and be a part of.

THEN after all of that we still had more fun things!!! We did the one and only night safari (only one in the world). its about a 45 minute tram ride through a special part of the zoo that's only open at night. its amazing it doesnt look like there are any fences or any barriers between you and the animals. we saw lions, elephants, tiger, deer, hyenas, rhinos, hippos, sloths, etc. etc. its really eerie because its at night and the animals just come so close to the tram. i would definitely recommend the night safari to anyone; it was very well done. AND THEN we saw a night creatures show which was located in a big outdoor amphetheater. it was a really cute show where they brought out some animals you could see up close including a seal that recycled, a python (which renee got to hold!), monkeys, and hyenas. the showmaster was hysterical and it was really fun show as well. the whole night was such a fun time, and one i won't soon forget. it was great to get to know other coworkers better, meet some new people, experience the zoo and the night safari, and enjoy the beautiful night weather. i will write a thank you note on monday to the committee that organized everything for all of thier hard work. i was so tired by the end... i got home a little after midnight and joelle and i went STRAIGHT to bed.