A Singapore Taxi Driver's Diary

The verdict is in, 2012 is a cinematic feast, the effects comes alive like a theme park joyride, but what it lacks is original story, I told a friend of mine how I felt about it and he said what else can you expect it's a disaster movie lah, and in a way although I was disappointed with the story, I don't feel cheated even if a few of the last scenes obviously was shot with a different film quality. Is the economy to blame, did they exceed their budget or were scenes added at the last minute?

This reminds me of the guy who writes for the blog titled A Singapore Taxi Driver's Diary his heading/blog description caught my attention:

"Probably the only taxi driver in this world with a PhD from Stanford and a proven track record of scientific accomplishments, I have been forced out of my research job at the height of my scientific career, and unable to find another one, for reasons I can only describe as something "uniquely Singapore". As a result, I am driving taxi to make a living and writing these real life stories just to make the dull job a little more interesting. I hope that these stories are interesting to you too."

Like the movie this PhD holder greatly reduced himself out of necessity but still found a way to express himself creatively, and maybe not everyone can appreciate such an effort I on the other hand finds inspiration, to know that it's not a perfect world and there's nothing we can do to make it so but enjoy the ride, because after everything is said and done it's not the good things that happens to us which defines our humanity but we take the form of the character that rises in every adversity.

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The END

Grax and I will be watching 2012 later today, from the teaser trailers it looks like another "day after tomorrow" kinda end of the world as we know it... It has been like ages since I made a post here, mainly because being in a new job on a very different culture like Singapore makes me sometimes feel like my world is ending everyday, my wife often points out that this is all because I was spoiled rotten in my last employment where I have autonomy to every decision I make work wise. Being a foreigner for hire makes it a bit difficult to negotiate certain employment perks, mainly because I need to be employed to be able to stay here, if not I will only be allowed 30 days to stay as a tourist and will not be eligible for any part time or short term jobs. But the competition is stiff and the offers aren't overflowing so you grab what you can and hope for the best.

I've also decided to put up a new web site for my budding freelancing career, I bought the domain a few months ago thinking that I will have a few weeks free time during my transition period from my first job here, but I was temporarily hired by a client of mine to whom I was freelancing with at the time and I'm still with them. My side project is moving but sluggishly and with no definite direction or estimated time of completion.



I've been working on 12 hour shifts + weekends this past couple of weeks, and the movie well see later will be my only safety line back to reality because when your working all the time for long periods there is always a tendency that you forget what life is all about, "I work to live and not the other way around..."

Hopefully it wouldn't be a bust, I love John Cusack from the teeny bopper flicks "Sure Thing", "Say Anything", to the dark films like "Identity" and "1408". Anyway I just want to be teleported to a place where work is insignificant which makes me think, it would be catastrophic when the world ends, but when it comes and it catches you behind your desk typing on the keyboard inside your cubicle that would be the tragic end of the faceless man.

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