Arrived at Darwin International Airport (it's really tiny for an international airport, reminds me of the airport in Paro, Bhutan) yesterday morning on a Jetstar 3K 161 Airbus 320 and took an UBERcab for AUD23.40. The driver was this Filipino lad who drove a red KIA Sportage and has lived in Darwin for about 10 years. I didn't ask much about his personal history but instead chose to ask about the community here- lots of Asians (though not crazy rich.. dang.. ;p), very slow pace of life, apparently slower than in Melbourne! and its hot and humid. It isn't such a big deal when I hail from Singapore.
On arrival, the apartment's reception wasn't opened yet and so I waited outside, resting against a wall with my very pink Delsey luggages by my side.
As I watched the clouds, I wondered how it's moving so fast yet the trees weren't rustling as much. Of course, I knew it was because of the different wind speeds with varying altitudes. I guess I was just feeling pensive.
I added a clip to the Google Photo album I share with Olivier, the same one you're seeing above. I captioned it:
The organisation I will be working for did not book a room for 21 Feb and so I had to wait until 12pm before I could check in. I had met my educator then, Johanna G.atehouse (pronounced Yo-hanna <- nailed it!) who was kind enough to give me a lift to Casuarina Plaza where I ported my Australia number to a Telstra plan given I'll be going remote. The guy who assisted me was a Nepalese named Hazam ( I think) and whilst he encouraged me to take on a phone lease plan for 2 years, thankfully I had the sense to consider the possibility of leaving after 1 year if things don't pan out as I predicted. So I settled with a 120GB data plan with unlimited local calls and texts and to some international countries of which includes SINGAPORE and UK <- only because I am planning to travel there very soon. Woohoo!
I did some grocery shopping at Coles (happy to welcome all the cheap prices vs what things cost in NTUC, Singapore), looked out for super cheap clothes since I found out I'll be in Darwin until 11 March but did not pack enough clothes, and then took a cab back on a taxi voucher.
Back at the QUEST Parap apartment, I was just happy to be able to shower. It was sweltering hot and I very much needed rest from the red-eye flight. But not before calling home and finding out that Mama and Papa were playing with the juicer they recently got and that whilst Abdullah was asleep, the 2 nieces are constantly snatching toys out of each other despite the many other toys available.... *palmface* Myra's morning sickness was better but she still felt rather weak.
The logistics of performing my prayers was tedious as I wrapped myself with a towel to cover my hair and had a lot of skin showing when I should only have had my face exposed. That made me plan to go seek a mosque out tomorrow and get some prayer garment.
Spend the rest of the night on Netflix. Watched 2 more episodes of BBC's Call the Midwife and fast-forwarding through Netflix's Dating Around.
And then Faith called me and we spent an hour on the phone just yakking away. We talked about Wadeye and our career and life plans. Turned out that we share a somewhat similar background, went through similar experiences and trying right now to pave our way toward a comfortable retirement in Singapore eventually.
She had sold her car and would like to save up enough money to purchase public housing in Singapore. Like me, she too wants to progress to be a higher level clinician so that we can spend our older days in an office hour job, no take home work and commanding a decent salary that would help us afford the standard of living we want for ourselves.
There is much to be done but sleep beckoned and I was off to Lalaland with a sachet of benzoin under my pillow , thanks to Mama and Papa.
On arrival, the apartment's reception wasn't opened yet and so I waited outside, resting against a wall with my very pink Delsey luggages by my side.
As I watched the clouds, I wondered how it's moving so fast yet the trees weren't rustling as much. Of course, I knew it was because of the different wind speeds with varying altitudes. I guess I was just feeling pensive.
I added a clip to the Google Photo album I share with Olivier, the same one you're seeing above. I captioned it:
A tad early for check-in so I sat outside the apartment and watched the clouds. You realise how they move rather smoothly yet, the leaves on the trees aren't rustling as much? The winds... who would have thought they'd bring me to a place you recently were at... it makes me wonder... To a bright morning for the both of us :)Every 2 days, I'll try and share a picture/clip/quote/meme on the album. Either about my day, things which remind me of him or just bite sized information which are funny, positive, motivating and encouraging. Always must be careful not to overwhelm him with too much information. Just for him to know that if he is feeling depressed, I am here for him. Last I checked on his public Instagram account (which was last night), he was still in Mexico, and have met some friends/activity mates to go hiking with at this place called San Jose Del Pacifico. Phew...
The organisation I will be working for did not book a room for 21 Feb and so I had to wait until 12pm before I could check in. I had met my educator then, Johanna G.atehouse (pronounced Yo-hanna <- nailed it!) who was kind enough to give me a lift to Casuarina Plaza where I ported my Australia number to a Telstra plan given I'll be going remote. The guy who assisted me was a Nepalese named Hazam ( I think) and whilst he encouraged me to take on a phone lease plan for 2 years, thankfully I had the sense to consider the possibility of leaving after 1 year if things don't pan out as I predicted. So I settled with a 120GB data plan with unlimited local calls and texts and to some international countries of which includes SINGAPORE and UK <- only because I am planning to travel there very soon. Woohoo!
I did some grocery shopping at Coles (happy to welcome all the cheap prices vs what things cost in NTUC, Singapore), looked out for super cheap clothes since I found out I'll be in Darwin until 11 March but did not pack enough clothes, and then took a cab back on a taxi voucher.
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| The office where Johanna took me to in order to collect my taxi vouchers. |
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| Charlene was impressed there was Gongcha! I didn't see the price list though. |
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| Alternative to The Reject Shop in Melbourne. I still prefer my Value Shop in Singapore la... |
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| Reminds me of Nur Bayyinah. She is all over uniponies and purple and shiny things. |
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| Very Sakina, she'd walk around rather oblivious of things like this Lamacorn. And did I tell you she understands Malay and unable to take your English instructions? She responds to French, of course. |
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| Because I took all my nieces and hemsem nephew to Jurong BirdPark on 18 Feb, the next day after arriving from Bhutan. The only exhibit we went was to see the pink flamingos and then spent the rest of the day at the water playground.... |
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| Got reminded of Chieh Shen, who once upon a time bought a rainbow horse pinata. |
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| The pirate ship reminded me of the pirate ship kite me and Junpei and Kenny and Charlene saw when we went kite flying at Marina Barage. |
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| It's actually 2 beds combined into 1... |
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| On the table is the brand new ACER laptop Papa gave to me (it's in the black bag with the green lining) . Typing on it right now =) |
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| Guess I will have to prepare meals instead of spending my money on food I don't even like to eat! |
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| I still shower with warm water... my poor skin! |
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| Realised I had my pink Decathlon towel I bought with Meiling at the Kallang Outlet. |
Spend the rest of the night on Netflix. Watched 2 more episodes of BBC's Call the Midwife and fast-forwarding through Netflix's Dating Around.
And then Faith called me and we spent an hour on the phone just yakking away. We talked about Wadeye and our career and life plans. Turned out that we share a somewhat similar background, went through similar experiences and trying right now to pave our way toward a comfortable retirement in Singapore eventually.
She had sold her car and would like to save up enough money to purchase public housing in Singapore. Like me, she too wants to progress to be a higher level clinician so that we can spend our older days in an office hour job, no take home work and commanding a decent salary that would help us afford the standard of living we want for ourselves.
There is much to be done but sleep beckoned and I was off to Lalaland with a sachet of benzoin under my pillow , thanks to Mama and Papa.
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