Neighborhood Digressions

Living in this area, and in my studio has it's ups and downs.

Downs? I apparently can't get cable as per my landlord's last try! Because we're only 12 units, it's too costly for Starhub to wire up this whole place!! Harumph! Will try my luck anyway and see what they say.

Another down which I was quite aware of when I came in, is of course, distance from an MRT. Bus is fine and dandy but sometimes, you just wanna get somewhere a little faster without having to pay a mint for it. Flashback to an evening I spent $50 on cab fares because I had to shuffle back and forth from the city to my home due to bad planning from my end.

One big up, is the immediate neighborhood. I like that I'm surrounded by a maze of homes. While this new patchwork of homes are ironically more magulo than what I have back home, it definitely makes my evening (power) walks feel more familiar as jogging about the neighborhood has been a long time practice of mine.

I knew the details of my old neighborhood like the back of my hand - what to expect on certain streets, and would always notice when something was different. Familiarizing myself with my new neighborhood and paving my exercise route will take some time, but just as living Singapore went from unfamiliar to familiar FAST, surely it will be the same for this.

I always find it interesting to look at different types of abodes and get a glimpse of what people are up to. In Singapore, I've found that people are not as private as in Manila.. or perhaps maybe because it's safer? While the gates are closed, many home owners leave their front doors and windows wide open.

As always, I digress. Back to "up" experiences.

I recently made my way to East Coast Park, which runs along the shoreline. It's a 15 - 20 min walk from home so it will be a nice route alternative for daylight exercise bouts (which hardly ever happen). I've seen grander parks for sure, & coming from a country with 7107 islands, it is FAR from being remotely beach like. BUT, i must give it to the locals as they seem to TRULY enjoy the space. Never mind that a major highway runs along one side, and oil tankers can be seen in the far distance on the other side - people enjoy this park like its no one's business. I only explored a portion of the park, but the little I saw was bustling! There were groups of people kite flying, bike riding, pitching tents and lolling about, picnic-ing and BBQ-ing, building sandcastles (in this little square patch of land for sand castle building, lol), jogging, skate boarding, enjoying water sports in their small man-made lagoon... the list goes on.

Lastly, another big up are the amount of doggies in the neighborhood. I seriously can't get enough of it. Every morning while I wait for my bus, I see dogs being walked.  I go out for an evening jog, I see even more dogs being walked. I think on average I see about 15 dogs in the evening? Not including the doggies I see woofing at me from behind closed gates. Another special treat is the pet supply store below my studio. Owned by some peeps who train dogs for competitions, I always ALWAYS get a kick out of peering into their store and seeing their 6 look-a-like black and white doggies jumping about. I saw a help sign on their window recently and was very tempted to call. hehe.


Ups for sure outweigh the downs and I hope to God that rent doesn't go up next year as I'd like to build my home here while I'm away.