June 1, 2012

• Sillypore meet-up part 1/2.

  I can’t remember how many times I’ve been to Singapore, or ‘Sillypore’ as Nick (@beowulf222) would like to call it. Each time I queued up at the immigration line upon arrival, I STILL get told to go to the far end of the room, where a separate immigration desk is, to have my passport and data rechecked by the officials. I always ended up waiting by the sitting area like some illegal alien who’s not supposed to cross the border to enter the country. After a wait, an official will approach me and ask questions like… “how long will you be staying?”, “do you already have a ticket confirmation for your flight back?”, “what’s the purpose of your visit?”, “where will you be staying?”, etc. The usual stuff. Formality, really.

  On each visit they would give an approval, stamp my passport, and allow me to enter the country. Yet each time I come back, the same treatment is waiting there for me like a moth to a flame. The reason? They said it’s got something to do with my name. That it is very common. Sigh… maybe I should change it to Rudolf Hitler or something, and see if they’ll ask me to step aside this time. After all, Rudy IS a short for Rudolf and both with the same initials R.H.

  I didn’t get to my lodging until about 10.30pm on the night of my arrival and didn’t go out to look for dinner until half hour later. Lucky I stayed in Chinatown. There were still plenty of food vendors opened for business in late evening. I helped myself with some Kway Chiap – extra wide rice noodle in light broth, accompanied with braised tofu, pork belly, pig ears, pig intestines, and eggs, all in a thick sweet-savory soy gravy. I washed them all down with some homemade iced barley drink. Good stuff.

  I got back around midnight but didn’t sleep until about an hour later. The next morning I woke up feeling rather tired. I didn’t sleep well. I was feeling apprehensive about the xangan gathering. My first and only. So far. I almost had my first gathering back in March when I planned to visit Bangkok. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to meet up with Chris (@christao408). I even contacted him about it. Then the plan got canceled. I felt bad, for I told Chris that he would be my first. Sorry, Chris. I told myself that I would need to make it up to him. I would like to make that trip to Bangkok. Just don’t know when.

  I went out by 9am, so I could be at the HSBC bank by 9.30am when they opened, to run some errands. Afterward, I crossed the road and walked a few blocks to reach Mt. Elizabeth Hospital for my doctor’s appointment at 10.30am. I was hoping that I would bump into Nick. He previously informed me that he too would be at the same hospital for his appointment at around the same time. But I didn’t.

  I had about a half hour wait at the doctor’s. Not only that, he also wasn’t giving me an easy way out. I was hoping that he’d allow me to reduce my medication from every 3 days to every 4 days. Turned out he insisted that I should go back to taking my meds to every 2 days instead. Bummer. I hate medicines. He said my Rosacea condition is getting worse since he last saw me. I told him that I have been eating right and followed his instructions on staying away from the sun, and any source of heat, including eating chilies, drinking alcohol or hot beverages, sitting in saunas or steam room. I avoided all that. So I should be in a better shape. Yet after he checked my skin up close, its condition told him otherwise. He then prescribed me with some more medicines to last me many months and told me to come back when they are running out.

  I got out around 11.30am. The xangan meet-up was scheduled for 12 noon. There was still plenty of time, for the location is only a couple of blocks away. I went straight to 313@Somerset Mall, where I’m supposed to meet-up with Nick and Gene (@oxyGene_08) for lunch. As I was early, I went to the basement of the mall to get myself a haircut. I loved that place. It’s a hair salon franchise from Japan, called QB House. It only costs you SGD$10.00 for a haircut. You enter the salon, insert your $10 bill into a machine and it will spit out a card, and then you wait for someone to be ready for you. And they always ready for you right away. You then give your card as prove of payment, and then he/she will have you seated and get busy with your hair instantly. The haircut always finishes within 10 minutes time. They end the session by using a vacuum-like tube with brush end to suck-in and brush-off the excess hair on your head, forehead, face, and neck. Simple, clean, no fuss, fast, and no tip. Just the way I like it. You can keep the comb they used for your haircut as well, as a memento.

  Once done, I quickly went up to the lobby level to wait for Nick and Gene. I was still a little early. I looked around but no familiar faces in sight. Nick knew that I’ll be waiting for him near the lobby entrance but I decided to send him a text message anyway, informing him that I have arrived. He promptly messaged me back saying he’ll be there in 10 minutes and that he has confirmed with Gene on our meeting point. And so I waited and kept my eye on every single guy that passed by, hoping that it would be either Nick or Gene.

  • 11:20 pm
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