I just got back from my 20 day business trip in Singapore yesterday, it’s actually my 2nd, I spent the last days of April and almost the whole month of May there. So I guess, I have every right to say that next to Philippines, Singapore is the country closest to my heart but it’s not only because of the length of my stay there but it’s rather more on what I realized while I was there. So, this entry isn’t really about my travel in Singapore as a place but rather, it’s about my journey in life while I was far from the comforts of home.
Singapore is known as an open city where businesses thrive, where a promising career awaits but little did I know that soul-searching is possible in a city of skyscrapers and modernization.
I used to believe that I can grow old alone as long as I have a successful career. I may sound too pessimistic, but this belief was because as early as now I don’t think I have any luck in love. Lately, I felt like I can do things better when I’m alone like I can shop faster or feel more about the movie I’m watching, except for eating, I really hate eating alone no matter how delicious the food is. As long as there’s a laptop and an internet connection to keep me company, I’m fine. But I was wrong, while I was there temporarily experiencing the life of someone working overseas I realized that, I don’t want to grow old alone.
I wake up in the morning heading straight to the shower to get ready for the day’s work, we live in a hotel so we need not worry about breakfast, it is prepared for us and there is more than enough to choose from. I ride a Benz to work, there are Benz cabs in SG. I work for a multinational company in a skyscraper located in a business park. I meet people of different races at work, fellow Filipinos, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indonesians, Koreans, Indians, Australians, Americans and I even have to communicate with quite a number of Japanese people. We have meetings set up on a board room, just like how I see it in the movies. When work is done, I come home to a fully furnished hotel apartment, with the latest LCD TV in the wall, a sofa chair as soft as a cotton, a very good airconditioning system, an internet connection with a high bandwidth and a very nice view outside the window. But, the house still feels empty, the silence is deafening, there is no reason to come home to. It made me realize that maybe this is how it will feel like when I’m already 40, walking into my condo unit at around 7pm, surrounded by the luxuries but with no one to come home for. That was what I felt, it suddenly dawned on me that maybe it’s one of God’s reasons why he sent me to there, for me to realize that I am not the type who wants to be alone all through her life. I need someone, I need a family of my own, no matter how physically comfortable I am or how successful I become, I’ll always have the desire to have a reason to come home. So now, I guess I’m taking my chance at destiny when given the opportunity.
For me, this realization made my Singapore experience truly unique.
Brilliant Sunshine 