A transport provider in the UK just sent me an e-mail asking me to take part in an online survey to help improve services.

So I go there and answer two questions (age and last time I used the service) and they say:

“Thank you for your time. Unfortunately, you do not qualify for the survey as this time around we are looking to survey our more senior customers (over 60) only.”

WTF fail.

Wow, Piers and I are quite overwhelmed by the number of well wishes that have come to us through my blog comments as well as through Twitter, Facebook and Plurk!

Wanna thank everyone for your support and well wishes! We didn’t imagine that people would be so very encouraging, so we really appreciate it very much!

Piers is really happy. He says I’ve got such nice readers (heheh) and he feels touched by the unexpected reaction.

Well, me too! I think I have nice readers too! =D

Some of you are nuts, though.

We’ve only just started dating and already people talking about marriage and babies.

For example.

[Click to view thread]

O_o

Anyway, long distance relationships are easier to handle these days. I was in one long ago when there was only e-mail and IRC.

Now, we have webcam and mobile Gtalk/MSN, so we can stay connected and see each other practically all the time. Except during each other’s sleeping hours since we’re seven hours apart. (Not so bad.)

And we’ll have Facetime once Piers gets his iPad 2! =D

After I got mine, he decided he wanted one (cos I tempted him by showing him Real Racing 2, lol) so we went back to the store but there was never any stocks left.

We kept going back there and calling them up for a whole week until he finally gave up and just ordered online. He’ll only get it in May, so we have quite a wait.

Time drags when you’re in an LDR.

Even with instant communication and virtual meetings, it’s still tough.

I keep wondering what it is about people that makes them need actual physical proximity.

Even with friends, you want to go out and meet them physically. Even if, when you meet, all you do is sit in a cafe and chat.

But it’s just chat! You can do that online at home, like you sometimes have group MSN conferences with friends during slow days at work. Or you chat on voice comms when you’re playing an online game together.

And yet people still yearn to meet up in person after all that interaction online.

So what more lovers?

Wonder what kind of chemical or wiring in us induces that kind of crazy need.

I met up with Piers for lunch once on a work day. It was nice being able to see him in the day and not have to wait till he knocked off from work.

Took the bus to his office (about 20 minutes’ ride) and had a leisurely meal at a nearby cafe.

I met his colleagues briefly and I think they teased him about us afterwards. Haha. I think they read my blog. (Hi Steve, David, Charles and James!)

Piers has gotten a lot more teasings than I have about our relationship. Like from his colleagues, friends and family. Maybe because he appears on my blog so much.

Quite a hazard being my boyfriend.

Lucky he’s nice enough to put up with it! =D

We’re planning to see each other again next month. Really can’t wait any longer! Not sure who’s going to whom cos my schedule isn’t firm yet.

But, yeah, LDRs are tough.

I think he will really kill me for that picture! =P

*ducks*

I didn’t intend to blog about my relationship with Piers until much later because I thought it would make a better story later. It’s only a good story after it’s lasted for a while, isn’t it?

But I was shocked by the response when we “announced” our status in Facebook.

I kind of did it out of mischievous impulse. Did it in the middle of the night when I thought no one would notice cos people were either asleep or out partying and wouldn’t be checking Facebook.

Thought the status update would pass by unseen and get buried. And then maybe some time later, a friend might accidentally notice it in my profile and kinda do a double take and that would be very funny to me.

So I was really shocked when, within seconds of posting, friends started liking it and commenting on it. It made me kind of embarrassed. Piers and I were OMG-ing away to each other on MSN as more and more responses came in.

Of course, it made me happy to have nice, supportive friends. Was just very embarrassed about people making a big deal.

So, anyway, we have a story but I still think I should tell the full version later cos it’s very long and convoluted.

So here is a short version. I think people are expecting it.

-_-|||

We’ve been friends on Plurk for almost two years now. We were both attached when we knew each other. But even if we hadn’t been, I doubt we’d have had been attracted to each other romantically, seeing as how we were from different sides of the world and seemingly completely different people, and I didn’t fancy dating Caucasians, having tried it once ages ago.

So, when he invited me to England, it was innocent. He knew from Plurk that I needed to get away from Singapore, and his parents needed a housesitter while they all went away on holiday, so it was a perfect plan.

He was single then. I was attached but precariously so. When I arrived in England, I continued having trouble with my relationship and we finally broke up for good. That was like the fifth breakup in a span of three months or so and I felt I needed to let go of it completely and finally or be traumatised by it forever.

Then Piers came back from his holiday and we started hanging out. He wasn’t wooing me or anything. He was just being a nice English gentleman. He stayed at his parents’ house while I stayed in his apartment.

We got along very well and discovered we were alike in so many ways. I discovered that he had more Asian values than many Asians I knew so, by the middle of the week, I fell in love with him. But I didn’t do anything because I’m always too shy to make the first move, plus I didn’t think he’d be interested in me at all.

He, on the other hand, found me attractive but thought I’d never be interested in him, so was totally happy with just being good friends with me.

But maybe the mutual attraction grew stronger and stronger. Near the time I was supposed to return to Singapore, we suddenly found ourselves holding hands and kissing (in very G-rated ways!!!). He is such a perfect gentleman it’s almost hard to believe it.

Okay, this is a bit embarrassing so I will move on.

(He hates that photo. I think he’s gonna kill me for putting it up, haha.)

((Maybe he will kill me for blogging this at all!))

Some of you might think I was on the rebound but it wasn’t like that. Can’t really explain it without going into detail.

So I extended my stay in England and we got closer every day.

Now that I’m back in Singapore and we’re missing each other like crazy, we cannot deny that we’re madly in love and totally committed to each other and willing to brave a long distance relationship.

Hence the Facebook status.

Okay, that’s all. Yes, that was the super short version of the story and it’s already so long.

That’s why I never intended to blog about it until much later… when I have time to write a book… if we’re still together by then… which I hope we will… because it’s quite a crazy story. To us, anyway.

Don’t know what else to say now.

Never blogged about my love life before so it’s a bit weird!

Finally back home after loads of travelling, the latest one of which was two months in England.

Thoughts and impressions:

[At the airport]

YES I MADE IT BACK ALIVE WITH 45KG OF LUGGAGE!

It’s nice to be back where everything is familiar. Feel comfortable seeing fellow Singaporeans.

Automated clearance. Best!

No immigration officers asking for my life story!

[Outside the airport]

So hot. So, so hot.

[In the cab]

OMG finally can get online. 3G is a girl’s best friend. Way way way better than diamonds.

[Nearing home]

Woah! What happened to my neighbourhood?

All flats repainted. Public areas renovated. Like, new plants, new benches, fresh paint.

Very nice. But I haven’t voted for yonks cos the GRCs I’m in are always walkovers so I don’t really care.

[Home]

Dad says, very nice, I have put on weight.

Yeurgh! Must go on diet immediately!

Home still looks exactly the same as when I left it.

[In my room]

Bad memories still linger. Shall not think about it.

First things first. Turn on PC!

PC with huge Alienware keyboard and mouse feels weird after using Macbook for so long. Dual monitors so huge I feel almost blinded.

Keep trying to do CMD-C CMD-V instead of CTRL-C CTRL V. Argh.

What shall I eat for my first meal back in Singapore?

A bit stressed. Tons of appointments to make and errands to do. Yeeeeeh income tax deadline! =(

Missing England. Think I left a piece of my heart there.

Did my first Wing Chun grading yesterday after attending only about 10 classes, possibly fewer, didn’t really count.

Grading is conducted every three months, so you go for it when it happens, ready or not, or wait for three more months.

The results will be out in a few days or so, by which time I’ll be back in Singapore, boohoo.

It’s been fun! Would have to continue in Singapore, cos I can’t lose to Piers too much! Am currently three grades behind him.

Watching the seniors do their grading was really cool. I have tons of photos, badly taken ones cos the room was backlit as you can see, but I’ll share them when I get back to Singapore.

Am leaving in two days. Yes, finally. No more extending this time, haha. Got meetings and interviews and stuff lined up back home so I think if I still don’t go back, I will get killed.

See you all in Singapore soon!