Moved to a Big Suite

Hi all! So sorry this is late. I was so exhausted the entire weekend that I was not able to carve out time to blog. :-/

The reason I was so tired was because we moved. Patricia's friend Michelle and I finally found a furnished condo we both loved after about the fourth viewing.

I am so in love with the place! Can you believe how pretty it is? Who would have thought this sawali house country mouse would ever get a chance to live in a swanky place like this? If I had the means to go back in time and tell my 16 year old self about it, she probably wouldn't believe me.


Patricia was right about how expensive it is to rent here, which I think is the main reason why Singapore has been named the most expensive city in the world for two years running.

But even if it is expensive by Philippine standards, the rent I'll pay is not even half of what I earn, so it's okay! I got the master's bedroom, by the way, so I have to pay 60%. Apparently that's the standard  division here.

I hired a mover recommended by Jason. Since I have few stuff, I took the small option, so there was just a van type of car instead of a truck. There was an option to have a guy carry your things for you as well, but Jason said since I didn't have much stuff, he'll just help me instead. I protested, but he insisted, and in the end, he won.

After we brought my stuff in on Saturday, we realised that I needed a few things, like bedsheets, for example. So we went to Ikea. I pronounced it like "idea" but Jason laughed and said that they pronounced it was "eek-ya" here, and that he had been scolded by a cab driver for pronouncing it the wrong way.

When we got to Ikea, my jaw dropped in amazement. I love the place so much!

"They have such beautiful stuff for sale that it makes me want to settle down and have my own home so I can buy everything here and put them in there!" I cried.

"Let's do it!" Jason replied, his eyes twinkling in merriment.

Oh don't you dare joke about things like this! We're just friends! Don't cross any lines!

I mean, how pretty is this?


Jason managed to convince me not to buy the ceiling thing.

I bought other stuff, though, like bedsheets and curtains and other odds and ends.

On our way back to my condo (my condo! OMG! The phrase makes me feel kilig), Jason told the story of how a friend of his had bought a fully formed side table from Ikea and brought it home via bus and MRT.

"Luckily, the mini table had wheels, but it was a stressful experience for her to have to roll it through the MRT turnstiles. At one point, she realised it was faster if she threw the table forward and run to catch up with it."

We both laughed at the image.

"What was she thinking?" I gasped.

"She said she was new in Singapore at the time and her friend thought cabs were too expensive."

I guess I understand what her friend was thinking, as someone who is relatively new here and still in culture shock about some of the prices here. But still!

I told Jason I can arrange my stuff on my own and he didn't need to stick around, but again, he insisted.

After we put on my brand new bed sheets, I jumped on my bed in glee. Jason joined me. As we lay there, laughing, he turned his face toward mine, turned serious, and said, "Why did I ever let you go?" He brushed my hair away from my face, and let his fingers graze my cheek.

I knew that look.

"We should probably help Michelle," I said, breaking the spell.

I will not cross the line.

Michelle has been in Singapore for a year, so she has more stuff, which she had placed in huge boxes which she said she had asked from Fairprice, a popular grocery chain here.

She seems kind of nice, by the way, though slightly overenthusiastic and overly friendly, especially to Jason. Or maybe "friendly" is not the word. "Flirty" probably fits the bill a bit more.

But as I watched how she acted around Jason, I realised that he was the same!

No hint of jealousy here, just a dose of reality which sent me hurtling back to seventeen again.

I suddenly remembered why we broke up.

He had always been a ladies' man, but I ignored that because you know, love is blind and all that. But one day he broke up with me, saying, "I'm not yet ready for a relationship." (Yet two weeks later, he had a new girlfriend.)

I begged him not to leave me, but he wouldn't budge.

I cried so hard and couldn't eat anything for days. Sam took care of me. He showed up at my dorm room and forced me to eat. And since I couldn't concentrate on school, he took down my notes and did my homework.

A few months later, he would admit that he did it because he had been in love with me, almost from the first day that we met. It had killed him to see me with Jason, and to see how Jason had treated me.

I can't believe I almost did the same thing to him again, for a guy who didn't deserve me.

Thank goodness I woke up and smelled the coffee. I will never make the same mistake again. Jason is not the kind of guy I want to be with, even if it's so tempting because he's closer to me in proximity. He will probably leave me again the first chance he gets, with someone like Michelle, for example.

But Sam would never do something like that.

I shouldn't, too.

I'm sorry, Sam, I'll be a better girlfriend, promise.


Theme song of this episode:

We are never ever ever getting back together,
We are never ever ever getting back together,
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together

Like, ever...

Noted with exhaustion,