Singapore, three years to the day

Blogazon is alive and posting again, if only for a month on this much needed vacation.

I arrived in Singapore safe and sound early this morning after two long flights. My traveling companion and I are seeing the sites I found most interesting when I was here three years ago. After about 7 hours of walking around the central neighborhoods, we have "done" the country. Check. Singapore is still safe, clean, efficient, and kind of boring.

This evening, I am dining with a friend from high school who I haven't seen for 15 years. We're going to some crab place, which sounds pretty delicious. After that, it will be back to the Crowne Plaza at the airport, a very nice and surprisingly not overpriced hotel. Our flight to Java is tomorrow morning, and we'll probably head directly to Borobudur on arrival in Yogyakarta.

oferta

The third time was a charm. I received and accepted an offer, and next fall I'll be moving back to DC. This week, I've been casually looking at apartments in the district and getting totally depressed due to the ridiculous rents. I should save my worries for closer to the actual move date.

Off to an interview

Take three.

I'm approaching this round as a subsidized trip to see 'peeps before I am told "no" once again in a few weeks' time.

Próximo viaje (grande)

Late February - early March 2009. My current (fluid) plan is to spend a couple days in Barranquilla for Carnaval, then head to the Santa Marta area for some hiking and diving. Then I'll spend a couple of days in Cartagena before heading to Bogota to wrap up the trip. Ya no puedo esperar.

Kitchen gadgets

Why do I want this salt pig? Maybe because I'm tired of opening and closing a torn plastic bag to get sea salt. Or maybe because I have a thing for kitchen gadgets. Spending close to $40 for what is basically a ceramic bowl to hold salt is a little ridiculous, but this design is clearly superior to its cheaper cousins. It is functional, I would use it, and it would look cool in my kitchen. And I would get purple or green, or, since this is a fancy-pants salt pig made in France, "fig" ou "vert."

Cable

I don't have cable. For the past 10 years, I've either managed without a TV, managed with broadcast television, or, in the past two years, managed with a 2 disc per month subscription to Netflix. And it's been fine.

But sometimes I crave a Real World or Ab Fab marathon, or non-stop cable news even though I know all of it is garbage. This craving has become especially intense over the past week, when our national political scene has become an episode of "The Jerry Springer Show." I can only imagine the fun Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert are going to have with this election season.

But I think it boils down to the fact that I am cheap. $50 - 80 per month is kind of steep, especially when I could spend it on something else or hoard it for my post-clerkship vacation. Speaking of which, the job search has begun anew, and it feels like a repeat of last year so far.

Rats

8 days ago: Large rat spotted in garage at night while parking car.
7 days ago: Rat poison purchased and laid as bait.
5 days ago: Evidence that some rat poison was consumed.
4 days ago: Rat seen in garage in the early morning.
3 days ago: Evidence that more rat poison was consumed.

1 day ago:

Rat found near death by A/C unit. All poison consumed. More poison laid out in garage.

Rat currently is rotting in a bag of dog poop in the alley, awaiting trash collection.