A Day in the life of Valerie... in Singapore

A day is incomplete without a meeting!

I am Singaporean and what makes up a paramount fragment of my life, is really, work – to be and stay employed. How desolate! Anyway, I’ve categorically decided to pen a regular day of nothingness but work. And no, it is not a bluster post, incongruent with how every Singaporean would sit and bombast for hours about how distraught they are in the office, yet when asked to switch jobs, they’d rather not. Oh quizzical world, isn’t it?

Do we seriously have a population shortage?

Classic example of a "stare-and-I'll-kill-you" incident

I start my day off at 8am and commute by public transportation (Go Green, YEAH!) to and from work. Because I stay right at the end of the whole MRT line, I don’t usually have to fight to slot myself in a paltry space amongst other glum-faced commuters (step on their feet by accident will get you nothing but the executioner’s stares). Us, Singaporeans, find it especially tough to pull off a smile in the early morning. Just don’t stare back or you might end up in the hospital!

You don't want to be scared blue as a hippo!

I practically encounter people from obviously very different walks of lives – iPhone idiots (who’re seemingly virtually and figuratively glued to their iPads and iPhones and everything Apple) who are also the people who won’t evacuate should there be a Grizzly bear sharing their apps beside them; long-armed invaders who’d spread open their Straits Times and conquer your invisible comfort space as if attempting to plaster and share their newspaper foreground with the ones beside them; perspiring aunties and uncles, clad in polo tees and mismatched shorts, holding onto the stanchions and handgrips for dear lives, yet giving you that sickening stare that actually turns you off enough to not want to give up your seat (admit it, I’m sure it happened at least once!), and who can forget, that immaculately clad working executive who’s lying fast asleep on your shoulders.

iPhone idiot.

Ritual 1: Open the blinds!

Ritual 2: Trawl through pantry

Anyway, breakfast is a simple affair of bread or oatmeal biscuits, with 3-in-1 coffee (yeah, a MUST-HAVE now). 

Peanut Butter bread/ IKO Oat biscuit

I’m beholden that out of all the other units in our decrepit building, we’ve got the swankiest office unit. A day in the office starts with my colleagues and I chatting about really hysterical and nonsensical topics. This sure is a treadle to starting our day right. 

Yup, we're an Advertising, Graphic designing and Interior Design firm!

Because I hold the fort for Advertising, Marketing and Copywriting, a large part of my daily job comprises of editing, writing, conceptualizing and designing campaigns for our clients. I’ve recently also befitted a fashion merchandiser’s portfolio by providing contents for advertorials and editorials on importation of the latest fashionable wears. Thumbs up to that, I’ve managed to learn a thing or two on garbs and fabrics.

Looking a bit serious at work

Writing FASHION

A bible for all my fashion editorials

By 1pm, we’re all out for lunch. The crew and I are never fickle with settling on a place to eat because we’re just simply not spoiled for choices at all! We jaywalk (all the time) to have lunch at the Traffic Police building just across our office – no pun intended! Till date, we haven’t received a fine for that … YET.

Doesn't scare us no more!

Ritual 4: Periodically sweeten my day, staring blankly at my girl

Oh, its a must to change out of heels, into leg warming comfies :)

Lunch is a vital meal for me but I go light on my tummy because I hate feeling sluggish like most people do after lunch. Because my crew are guys, they’d chow down huge plates of rice and noodles and are quite so often bemused at how my lunch menu usually is (everything MUST go with my triangle jelly!) Soups, sandwiches, desserts, porridge… anything light usually ends up on my plate, alongside a multi-tiered triangle jelly that I can never go without.

Jelly is like ... well, RICE!

Work ends at 6pm but we’re usually not gone till 6.30pm and I head to the Circle line back to the East. In Singapore, you’ll definitely be caught in a jam, wherever – traffic jam, human jam, train jam, SMRT jam, bus jam… 

Nothing extraordinary!

I don’t go light on dinner to make sure that I don’t overcompensate on my lunch. Dinner is my favourite meal of the entire day, when I can sit back and appreciate munching on my food without being conscious of the time. Better still, I’ve always wanted dinner by a serene lake or sea of some sorts, but it’s always near impossible here in Singapore, unlike Melbourne where we had the entire Docklands to ourselves.

Still, my work life sure is pretty interesting! How about your’s?

You can have dinner by the dock, together with free-ranging penguins

Dinner by Docklands, Melbourne

Or you can even be creative and have dinner right HERE!