Home - 2010/2011?

This trip home was timely. After a trying first half to the year, I really needed some time away from everything to gain some perspective. I needed the familiarity of everything - from being able to completely re-immerse myself in the culture at home, to seeing family and friends again.

But to be completely honest, I was more blown away by the superficial qualities that define Singapore - the cutting edge efficiency, cold cleanliness and comforting safety that Singaporeans take for granted. As much as London has to offer, I do miss the abundance of creature comforts that Singapore provides, from the air-conditioned public transport system to the wonderful hawker centres that open late! My favourite moments of this holiday was hanging out at the hawker centre late at night, be it at Redhill or at the famous Rochor tau huay place. I suppose the closest thing that London has to this would be the famous Brick Lane salt beef bagel shop. However, while I would not mind popping in for a bagel at 2am in the morning, I most certainly would not put myself at risk of getting mugged by strolling along Brick Lane in the middle of the night.

This time around, I really wanted to move home permanantly. However, the reality is that I still have a few years of unfinished business here in London. Like it or not, London is still one of the world's leading financial centres, together with New York. Although Singapore is fast catching up, the sophistication of its financial services arena is still lagging behind. I would never be able to gain the type of experience that I am gaining here in London. When I last checked the Singaporean job sites, my job doesn't even seem to exist yet in Singapore. Most of the banking giants probably still rely on their European offices for my job function. I know mine does, at least.

So with that said, I suppose that the end of 2010/2011 would be an appropriate time to look to return home? I would have gained those 3 precious letters at the end of my business card by then - namely, C, F and A (in that order). So putting that into perspective, a 3 year wait means 4-5 more trips home on holiday, 3 more Xmas in London, and hopefully a lot more travelling in Europe. That's not too bad isn't it?

Oh yea, one more thing - while I do rave about all the qualities that Singapore brings to the table, I do not see why Singaporean restaurants seem to think that listening to house music adds to one's dining experience. Especially when one is eating Thai food or Chinese food??!! One exception though - as much as I cussed Prive (about house music, again), it was actually a really nice place, with the marina and the water features forming a nice background. Though I still do prefer the Italian food that we get here in London!