Back from Singapore

I went to Singapore on a rather short notice.

I went to attend a client meeting, in a place that I have never been before on Monday. When I got back to the office in the afternoon, the structure engineer has already arranged his visit to Singapore without letting me know.

We planned for this visit a while ago, while I was still in the engineering department. But due to the schedule in both our office and the construction site, it got held up. And when the structure engineer took up with the planning, it was already into May.

Anyway, I booked my own coach, arriving and departing on the same day as the structure engineer, but we travel from different station, and at different time. Which is a good thing, as I really needed a breakaway, alone.

There have been a lot of things happened in the office, which made me sick. I broke down on Tuesday, and it was good that I got to travel on Wednesday to Singapore, to have some change of environment a bit.

I met with my highschool class monitor on Friday for lunch, while in Singapore. She is a civil engineer, she has grown to be more charming and confident. I felt happy to meet with old mates.
We shared some of our little worries, she said I think a lot, and told me to be myself. Its the same thing my boss (NOT cockroach) told me during last year's performance evaluation.

One of the thing that strikes me while in Singapore is -- their female engineers can afford to be feminine. I so envy of them being treated with respects... well, more than what I got here.

It was great experience at the construction site, especially when I am there to observe and learn. There isn't any responsibilities for a few days.

Mr. Cockroach asked me to check my emails there, during early morning and late evening -- I didn't want to bring my laptop to Singapore, but with his request, I have no choice. But well, there wasn't an internet point in the hotel, and when I got the wireless network, I couldn't login to the company's server. I bet when Monday comes, there will be a lot of shit in my mailbox.

The project engineer which was outstationed, came back on Thursday, I will get to see him on this coming Monday. It would be good, cause I really needed someone to rely on at the moment.

Every morning while in Singapore, I dressed up with my safety boots and hanging the safety helment behind the bag, travelled on the MRT with the structure engineer and our very-experienced-supervisor, I called him Mr. Encyclopedia. We waited, together with other contractors, at the entrance of the high-rise-high-class finance building for the chief person in charge. He would bring us to the operator's office to get the access pass, before we could enter the site.

While sitting at the entrance of those offices, I felt totally out of place. There were lots of ex-pats dressing up smart and proper, carrying their briefcase on one hand, and express coffee cup/newspaper/typing their blackberrys/holding their mobile phones on the other. There were also a lot of pretty local girls, walking with stilettos, dressing up pretty, carrying their handbag over the shoulder/hand, breakfast, laptops, newspapers etc on the other, and yet managed to walk so fast, so elegantly towards the lifts, and smile, and say morning to their angmoh bosses. I also saw a lot of big cars driving through the drop off area, and the parking entrances.

I wonder how would they look at us, who dressed up dirty and smelly, smoking and chattering at their office entrace? Did they realise that their comfort in the office is depending on our services? I wonder if I will be able to walk like those ladies? But I prefer to climb up and down the cage ladders and walking on the scaffoldings. I prefer the smell of metals over the perfumes. I prefer to have the metal/wood chips penetrating into my fingers over the paper cuts. I appreciate the design of pumps and motors, than the photocopying machine and the paper stredder. I feel safe in the construction site, than in the office. I prefer to feel small in construction site, than dealing with people who think they are bigger than the sky staying in the office.

I saw the babies that I designed with my engineering boss, no defects, no damage, travelled across the seas and sitted on the open area waiting to be craned up. They are the smallest of its kinds, but already taller than men.

When I left Singapore on Friday late afternoon, I felt sad. I didn't want to come back.