Barely slept. The Airbus that whisked me away to Singapore was narrow, ergo, the seat was small and uncomfortable.

But I was given a beautiful sunrise before I slept in an upright position. It made the ordeal less intense. The real thing mimicked the PAL logo

I lingered for a while at the Jewel a.k.a. Changi Airport mall to see what the brouhaha was about. For 8 years that I have been coming in and out of Singapore, this is the first time I bothered to check the place out. Well, I was forced to because I was looking for a convenience store that was selling a Starhub prepaid SIM. The ones being sold at the airport were expensive. SGD 32 for something that I wouldn’t be able to maximize because I would often be indoors i.e. have wifi access. I didn’t find a 7-Eleven or Cheers—the outlets that sell SGD 12 Starhub SIMs. I remember a few years ago I wanted to kick myself for succumbing to laziness by buying that SGD 32 from the OCBC kiosk when SGD 12 is available outside the airport. I didn’t even consume half of the allotted 100GB data from that SGD 32 prepaid and it just went to waste.

While I was looking for the convenience stores, I found Song Fa at the basement of Jewel. I was hungry and I was going to a Song Fa branch anyway, so there. Happy

Checked in at my hotel to drop off my bags. Then off I went to fix some stuff as a transient Singapore-headquartered worker.

Among the other Singapore things that expired because I wasn’t able to visit for more than 2 years is my Netspay. It still had SGD 11 in it and I was told at the ticket booth at the airport there was no way I can transfer the amount because I don’t have a local bank account.

I was asking my colleague-friend if I can just transfer the amount to her account instead of letting it go to waste but she said she doesn’t use Netspay but instead other e-wallet that I haven’t heard of. Now it makes me think how many e-wallets are operating here and it seems like there is little interoperability among them

Anyway, I tried the ticket station at Bugis and ask the personnel there if she can transfer my expired amount to my Grabpay. She said she would just give me cash

Wow, talk about consistency.

I went to Bugis to buy the prepaid SIM from the Starhub kiosk there. They were out of stock. Went around and saw a 7-Eleven and hoped for the best.

Wohoo! Got my new number now.

I shopped a bit for my girls. The usual stop is Lovisa because Twin I is obsessed now with earrings, the fancy ones.

Went to Orchard to pay homage to my home away from home in SG: Kinokuniya Books.

I wasn’t really there for the books but for the Japanese stationery. I love their writing stuff like pens and notebooks. I took after my father in that aspect. I remember he always used a Parker pen and ordinary pens just wouldn’t do for signing docs or just for notes. For me, it’s Pilot Pens.

However, Kinokuniya didn’t have refills for Dr. Grip and Acroball. Not the ball size that I want.

Of course, just like everything else in this country, the price is too much. I didn’t succumb to temptation.

Went for drinks with colleagues as my ex-boss, who is transferring to the data team, will be leaving for London for good on Wednesday.

I didn’t take my antidepressant because I will be having a lot of alcohol this week. I was already booked by the conference team to have drinks with clients on Wednesday, so help me, God, that I will still be sober after this week.