I should have known a weekend trip to New York could be so much more. As it was, this was set to be an awesome long weekend: Panda and I would spend a day going through my old town of Brewster, then spend a day in the city before heading home on the third day to settle back in for a shortened work week. I was really excited to revisit the areas of my early teens, from Westchester to Putnam counties. It was also a chance for me to share a bit of my childhood with Panda. We were both looking forward to exploring New York City together for the first time – this was my first long weekend since starting work and I wanted to make the best of it (and we most certainly did)!
Don’t just have fun – document it and share it and tag it! Friends might just come knocking.
I’ll share more about the trip another time. What really struck me about this experience was when I posted a few items to my various social media channels. Something completely unexpected happened again and again: my friends in the area began reaching out to say they were nearby! This is exactly what social media is great for, encouraging connections that otherwise would have been easily missed. There were my Singaporean friends and former coworkers who messaged me that they were in the city for one more day before returning home. There was the Yelp comments from my college friend who lived in my building one year and was now in grad out in New Jersey. Then there was the Instagram conversation I had with another college friend, who did Orientation with me (and Panda) and was now doing her residency in Jersey. I mean, I knew I had friends out in the region, but it hadn’t occurred to me who I might be able to meet up with on our trip!
Each of them reached out to me on a social media channel last night and I messaged all of them through those different channels. Funny how they all found me through a different site/app! By this morning, I had arranged to meet with my grad school friend (Shadow) and the Singaporean coworkers (Starfish and Zen). Shadow met us at our hotel in Secaucus, where we had breakfast together. Panda knew her from when we hung out in college, so it was nice for the three of us to catch up and meet up so far from UCLA. I had thought she was still doing Teach For America, but she’s already well into her first year of a grad program! After she left, Panda and I headed into the city to meet up with Starfish and Zen at the MOMA. It was really nice to be able to introduce them to each other, since I talk about them here and there and now Panda has a better impression of who they are. We hung out for about an hour before splitting ways – they were off to a lunch meeting and we were due to head home.
I’m really glad I was able to get those two brief encounters with people I love seeing. Too bad Opti, my optometrist residency friend couldn’t meet up as well… that would have rounded things out nicely. Still, it’s great to know that next time I head up north I’ve got some friends to hang out with. And to think, it was all because I shared bits of my life on Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp! I guess next time I can do a better job of letting friends know my plans, since I probably could have met with a bunch more had they known.
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for five months and even harder to believe I’m about to leave on Friday. Thankfully, there’s lots to do so I don’t have much time to mull over it all. On the one hand I’ve missed Panda for nearly 150 days and I can’t wait to see him, touch him again. It’s been too long of pretending I could touch him and feel him hug me through the webcam. On the other hand, the people here are amazing and have taken great care of me. Plus, I’m just getting around to exploring Singapore! It’s a pity it’s ending already, but I can’t help but look forward to who and what I have waiting for me back home.
Each one has its significance to me (and may not be the most practical, but I was going for more meaningful…): for Zen, a pair of silver dragons because that just seems fitting for an influential man; for Mizu, a pair of gold electric guitars because he truly is a rock star (in so many ways); for Typea, a pair of blue and sea green golf clubs in their bags (or whatever it’s called) for his enjoyment of the game and the lifestyle it represents; for Marylin, a pink cover with a pretty peacock for her growing involvement in the beauty industry; and for Starfish, a cool blue cover with an elegant flower for her cool head and classiness as well as the spray I mentioned above because she loves VS. As for the elephants, I figured that Mac would want the purple one (actually why I bought that particular pack, though I liked it because I like purple too) and Lorry would appreciate the green one (a bit of an inside joke on that one, for all his Greenness). Skim was the only wild card, who could go for the pretty light blue one or the more royal blue one, or maybe even the bright white one.
Wow, what an eventful day. It started off quite well, with calls from Mizu announcing a pleasant surprise: I would get company on my way to the airport and even be given a ride! That meant that I could sleep in a little and enjoy some extra rest. By and by it came time to leave, so I took my stuff downstairs and hopped in the car. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and ate some lunch, casually chatting until it was time to check in. Mizu and Zen then went on their way and I prepared my documents for the counter.
Mizu kindly drove me to the bus departure and I got myself a ticket on a nice luxury vehicle. We had some time before its departure, so I exchanged some money and then got some dessert to snack on. Soon enough, it was time to board the bus and Mizu sent me on my way. I settled in to the large comfy seat and watched the landscape whizz by as we headed off. The rest of the trip was scattered with movie-watching and naps on and off, briefly interrupted twice to get off and go through immigration and customs. It was very comfortable save for the cold air blasting overhead, which left me shivering towards the end of the trip.
In reading it, I’m still not sure I’ve gotten much out of it and I’ve only got another 50 pages to go. There’s been a lot of random background stories and detailing of this and that technology that they or their acquaintances pioneered, but hardly much mention of the HP way other than some quick references to their rewarding pay scheme, dedication to quality and innovation, and decentralized structure. Perhaps it’s because what they were doing at the time was completely revolutionary, but now I find that these strategies are more commonplace and certainly nothing too exciting. I was hoping for a better collection of sage advice that I could soak up, but instead I find certain ideas reinforced, but not much else.
Though I’ve been getting little tastes of Singaporean culture throughout my time here and occasionally something will remind me of China, it wasn’t until last night that I truly felt a strong cultural impression in everything around me. We had gone to East Coast Park, where there’s an outdoor cafeteria of sorts with stall upon stall of laksa, satay, dong dongs (I can’t remember what they were called), stingray, and who knows what else. I felt at once lost and amazed among all the dishes I’d never seen and had hardly heard of before. Paths cut through the park to allow bike riders, rollerbladers, and other such athletic activities to ensue. A little stage consisting of a piece of carpeting and a half watermelon backdrop provided the scene for an acrobatics show. On one side, we could look out across a small patch of trees to the ocean beyond, which was filled with ships.
person. According to my profile, I should be more assertive than I feel I am and far more ready to express my opinions. Yet, I find that I hold my tongue a lot and keep my thoughts to myself, save for some ranting to Panda (poor guy) and occasional references to it in my writing. As I started to reflect more on what kind of a person I am and how I interact with and fit into the world, I began to see that yes, I am rather assertive and gregarious about how I feel. It’s just that few things seem important enough for me to actually express my thoughts on it, so I usually opt to keep it in rather than allow any brashness to come out and hurt others.
