Things I Remember about St Petersburg #1 – Mosaic Church

A beautiful, huge church with amazing multi-coloured domes.

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Woe is Numbers

I live in Singapore where land is scarce. So scarce they need to grow vertically rather than horizontally. Living in a landed house, let alone a multi-story one, is a luxury here.

And so naturally in Singapore we live with numbers. A lot of them. Our apartment’s unit numbers, for example. It’s usually 4 numbers, #03-09, #04-05, #06-07, and so on. And of course our postal code number (every building has different postal code numbers! That’s how small Singapore is….). And a lot more.

This usually is not a problem for Singaporeans or someone who has lived in Singapore for quite some time. It was not a problem for me, at first. The problem comes when you move around (quite) frequently.

You see, when I just moved here, I occupy #34-xx (if I remember correctly). Then I moved to #08-xx. And then #05-xx. Now it’s #01-xx. And of course they all have different postal codes.

The problem usually occurs in the lift. When I was still in transition, I would often absent-mindedly press the wrong floor button. Is it 8, or is it 5? Problem also occurs when I’m off visiting my boyfriend for the weekend. You see, my boyfriend lives in #08-xx. Again, is it 8, or is it 5? Or is it……?

And I’m not finished. You know that sometimes apartments have these “nifty” enter-code-to-get-in stuff? Uh-huh. These things are usually coded with 4-digit codes. So yeah you can guess what happened. Even worse, when I lived in #05-xx, they regularly change the codes and I sometimes find myself stranded outside the gate because I forgot the new code, or I entered the wrong code thrice. Urgh.

Oh, and, remember those postal codes? I’ve lost count on how many times I wrongly entered my postal code when I’m ordering something online.

The problem with numbers is not only contained in addresses. Did you know that SBS Transit has around 300 buses, and of course, with different numbers?

Sometimes the problem is that two buses with almost same numbers (12x and 12x+1, for example) sometimes have almost similar route, while on the other hand, they can also have totally different routes. So imagine if they actually have totally different routes but you forgot which is which, and you boarded the wrong bus…… The rest, as they say, is history.

So how about you? Any number woes you’ve encountered, in Singapore and in somewhere else?

Photo by stewf available under Creative Commons NC-SA 2.0

The End is Near

As cliche as it may sound, it’s true.

My years in SMU (and possibly Singapore) is ending. In approximately 7 months, I will receive a fancy-looking scroll, take photos in my big baggy regalia, and throw my square hats to the air.

When I first came to SMU, I was 17. I thought I was ready for everything – I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do yet. I thought within 4 years, something, somehow, would come to me and I would steer my way to that.

But nuh-uh. Not quite. Sadly.

When I first tried my hands on programming/coding, I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. Then more stuff came about networking, information security, enterprise integration, architectural analysis, more network infrastructure, etc etc etc. I thought maybe I should just find my feet. Maybe it would get better.

It didn’t.

Year after year, I spent my years in SMU (still) trying to find out what I should do in life. I kept doing everything I want. I blogged actively and became active in a blogging scene. I joined a choir and sang with them in a myriad of performances. I even tried out to become a songwriter – my song was showcased in a musical play in 2008. I managed a gamelan (Indonesian music ensemble) club. I did two internships. I did a web design/development one, and then I did an online marketing (as account executive) one.

I kept waiting for that one moment when, at the drop of a hat, I feel some butterflies – when I feel that this is what I want to do. This is what I’m supposed to be doing. This is what I’m glad to be doing now – and many years to come.

It didn’t come.

So right now, as the end is looming, I’ve given some thoughts that there are two things that I can do right now.

1. Keep trying different things. Even if I don’t like it, at least I’ll know what I’m not supposed to do.

2. Choose. Separate the sheep from the goats. And make peace, be at ease with whatever my choice is.

Right now, I know my time is running out to try even more different things. Honestly? After 20 years, I’m tired. My parents were great to give me a lot of opportunities to try and do different things. But I’m tired now. I’m 20, I’m about to graduate from university, I suck at school, and I have no direction where to go.

So the next best thing is to choose. Yet I don’t know what to choose, what to do for many many years to come. How can I plan for those years to come if I can’t even decide what to do immediately after I finished all my classes in SMU? Should I go to China to study Mandarin? Should I go back to Jakarta and enjoy relaxed life before working life? Should I stay in Singapore and try to find a job immediately?

Hell, I can’t even plan on what to eat tomorrow.

PS: If you see a lot of idioms scattered around this post, this is because my professor suggested me that I should practice on using more idioms. I’m glad that she actually likes my writing, but she said my grammar and use of idioms let me down. So this is the best avenue to practice!

My Writings

I came across some of my older writings and I could feel the strong emotion there, I cried.

I hope I can write like that, again…

On the other note, NaNoWriMo has started. Yet I haven’t written a single word for my novel. I spent my day working on a case study (yes, a freaking full case study!) instead. Writing, of course. I swear I’ve written more than the recommended 500-words-per-day NaNoWriMo quota.

I’ve got drafts lined up, and I hope I’ll be feeling great enough to finish and post them all.

Remind me not to be too perfectionist. Sometimes my most spontaneous writings, like the one I mentioned in the beginning, are the best ones.