take me back in your arms, manila

my housing agent told me sotto voce that the owner of my apartment was selling the unit. i told him i wasn't interested in investing but would look into it if/when the market softens. mr ang, my landlord, was travelling avec la famille tout entier in perth and didn't have time to tell me personally. my landlady, especially, was the sweetest thing - she would've texted me if something this big was coming up. but when my agent mentioned that i couldn't phone them while on holiday, i thought something wasn't right. badda-bing! it turned out that my agent wanted to raise the rent without the angs knowing and he had lined up a chinese family to take over the unit. this happens a lot in singapore with high demand for condos from the steady stream of immigrants. royally pissed off, i gave the rental market a once-over and even did some basic go-sees with my partner. nada. my partner decided i should move in with him. how sweet, how gallant, but no can do. i mean, i make sounds in bed.
anyhoo, that was several months ago and last week, after a long and frustrating search, i decided to quit my job - on a whim! - and move into my godmum's. my partner would have none of it, but my godmum prevailed: "you can visit ah boy anytahm. but he stay wif me an take care of auntie, can or not?" she served that with a bowl of cold white fungus and tau sa which sealed the deal.

so i am taking a month-long holiday in manila in september and while i try in vain to sleep in my godmum's guest room surrounded by my wordly possession, my mind is already roaming the streets of malate. i would live in binondo for sure, but travel frequently to bulacan. when my partner follows in mid-september, we would stay at a hotel.

excited by a prospects of a homecoming, i called up citybuoy who seemed surprised to hear from outer space.
"it's john chen," i said cordially.
he muttered something and something, but we agreed to meet in manila
from there i plan to build a network and meet other bloggers as well.

then i texted my idol sg boy (he of the famous blog of the same title) to share the news. i've been planning to have a drink with him but he couldn't find time. but now that i'm between jobs, i finally see him. (if there's a guy in singapore who can make me nervous, besides my partner - and, yes, given his casanova-eque exloits, a tad insecure, too - it would be sg boy. but he's also fun and sweet.)

"let's go dancing!" i suggested.

"sure! i was quite the dancing queen in my days. but where?"

"how about stereolab?"

"michel closed it down already."

time's moving fast. i need to move on too. i will miss singapore for sure but a new life in chengdu, guangzhou, bangkok or even manila is starting to sound very tempting.