How Living 3 Months in Singapore Has Changed Me
Welcome back to my writing. This time, I haven’t even thought of what the title would be but let me write it first then I’ll decide later.
So… yes, I am back in Indonesia for now and I don’t know how long I will stay (yup, everything will depend on where I get my next job #OnlyGodKnows HAHA) anyway, yeah that’s not the point. The point is, I want to tell you a story, about how I am feeling until now, especially after I first landed in my dearest city and country, Surabaya, Indonesia.
The first feeling I had after I went through the custom and the exit gate, I was… SHOCKED. After the exit gate, I proceeded to the taxi booth (cause no one could pick me up at that time 😢) and there was a driver who helped me to pick up my luggage. He tried to pick up the handle of my suitcase and it was damn slow. I thought I was watching a princess from Solo (this princess from Solo, Indonesia, is famous for her gracefulness and gentleness, so we always say if someone is slow, we call them a princess solo). I was hungry and wanted to go home quickly, but the driver also drove very slowly. The moment I arrived home, I tidied things up — it was the moment I realised… I MISS SINGAPORE SO BADLY :(
Yup, you read it correctly. I miss Singapore… so much. I miss how fast-paced and efficient it is. I miss the convenience, the way the shelter sheltered me when it was raining and I was supposed to walk from the MRT to the bus stop. I miss my kaya toast with teh-c siu dai (a cup of tea with condensed milk and less sugar), and also cai peng uncle who always asked me why I always wore pyjamas when buying his food. I miss another cai peng uncle who asked me why I brought the small tupperware to buy his food (he told me I should’ve eaten more). Ah… it seems that I just miss Singapore. Even though it’s an expensive country and some uncles and aunties are 兇 (sorry uncle and auntie hehe), but it still feels like home and I love it.
Another thing that blows my mind is… how my mindset is different from everyone here. I am not saying that everyone’s mindset is worse than mine or mine is worse than theirs (everything has good and bad sides, okie). It’s more like everything here is so chill and relaxing to the extent I feel like I don’t have to do anything in order to survive. I can just Netflix and chill (I truly mean watching Netflix by myself, in this case) and I’ll be okay. Everything will fall into its place. Oh well, it’s true, there’s nothing wrong with that belief, but somehow it makes me feel that it’s okay to not try and fight harder. I remember when my ex-boss said, “Chaterine, I don’t know if you ever put pressure on yourself, but this time you must put pressure on yourself. Also, every time you make a mistake, take it as a chance to learn cause that’s how you grow as a person.” This advice hit me hard as I realise I am quite privileged in my life. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have to work hard for the things that I wanted, but most of the time, everything happened quite smoothly for me and just the way I expected it to happen. But after 3 months of living in Singapore, I met a lot of different people and I learnt A LOT. I learnt that many people we see succeeding in their lives have encountered a lot of unfortunate things in their lives. It’s not instant. It’s not easy. It requires experience and hard work. But do remember, it also requires time. Good things take time, they say. It’s true. It’s also important to have a growth-mindset. Believe that you can do anything and grow as long as you put effort into it. Don’t give up easily — life is never easy.
Another mindset that I find different is how people always want to stay in their comfort zone. I mean, I do too. But I’ve learnt that as a person, we must always have the will to learn and grow for the better. We learn, we grow, and we improve. That’s how we measure the milestones we have in our lives. If we are not growing, then what’s the point of living?
Okie, let’s grow and thrive together, shall we? (:
