"The Big 2s"

In preparation to write this post here I reread the post I made at this time last year; life really isn’t too complicated.

This year the way I spent my birthday was pretty different from years prior, because I know that I’m only in Singapore for such a short period of time that I’ve spent the past week meeting with friends and going out to places; today is a real day of rest and relaxation in comparison.

Singapore seems different yet familiar. The landscape near my house has already begun to change, with the opening of Lentor Modern and the sudden appearance of multiple condominiums in its locality. There’s a new restaurant that has opened near the Casuarina area (I have no intentions to try it). The North-South Corridor works are still very much underway, with some pillars for the highway starting to emerge.

I can’t say that my friends have changed much from the few hours that I’ve spent with each of them. The ambience of many places hasn’t changed either, places to get watches (The Bencoolen) or money exchangers (Far East Plaza) or haircuts (Bishan North Shopping Mall) still are reliable, set in time.

Myself, I think, I can’t say how I’ve changed. Coming back has helped me appreciate local delicacies and nuances that really are lacking across the Pacific – though I think this is a pretty normal response to being somewhere new.

My limited time in Singapore has also been defined by IMDA events that I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy; definitely I enjoy these more than I would have a year ago.

What’s the same? What’s changed? It’s difficult to say, I never thought that things would ever be the same. After all, if nothing has changed, that means that there isn’t really any growth; but change doesn’t happen overnight, it seems to creep up (in the “Time lets fall its drop” way, thank you Virginia Woolf).

Suddenly, time has brought itself to the forefront. At this time last year I was still working at DSO, with no idea as to what life at Berkeley would look like.

I still can’t believe there’s only three more years.

I’m not a big “birthday wishes” person or a “new year’s resolutions” person but looking at the decade ahead I am excited for what’s to come. Not that I know what will happen but I know that I have the ability to navigate life and make it work.

Today my friend told me that I was “hitting the BIG 2S”, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Big times are coming. Could be more of the same, could be different, I just hope to really feel it all.