this is how a february journey began ...

Having spent the past 6 years, a great deal of time in my life, in this comfort zone, has made me seeing this place as my other home. Not first, not second, nor any degree of comparison. A home where I was born is different with a home where I could be at my utmost ease with.

Yet, reaching the comfort zone through a slightly different way is something I have never done on that past 6 years. Thus, my deflowering experience of taking a stride through Batam did make me wondering: there'’s nothing but the hills here! Of course it is still a far cry from the green view conquered by sister Maria with her open arms belting out "the hills are alive with the sound of music"”, for the Batam hills indeed cry out for "“these hills are in need of more and more investmentÂ". Actually that sentence works with the previous tune.

And just an hour away, I was taken to a different time zone of the same familiar view. Yes, I'’m talking about impossibly long queues of taking cabs, the police neighborhood station on my flat conspicuously only open from noon to 10 pm (that really explains the country'’s crime attitude), and the warmth of Holland Village despite the cold, windy air of that Wednesday evening.

Van Gogh with his glass of beer never fails to welcome me home.

Add that with the eye-popping makeover of my dreadful room to become something taken directly from IKEA display! Thanks to my precious roommate whose flair in visual design never fails to surprise me, my previous room was given a facelift where I could immediately feel comfortable with. Now, that'’s something, pal!

With such a great beginning, what could fail me?
A new cafe is finally present in library@esplanade with the lack of warmth the former occupant had, but the new additions of 3 cinemas in Cathay Cineleisure is certainly a pleasurable welcome, although I might be taken off from its target market. Nevermind. Where else I could enjoy a discounted cinema admission fee by using my card from OCBC, while indulging myself in a staple of chicken wings and green tea throughout a film?

And what could be better to close this chapter than having a healthy breakfast that not only feed my bulging tummy but also my large head with a small brain inside? Of course things might go to any direction when a breakfast talk began with comparing your future mother-in-law with the clothes hangers she mixed herself up with, but when it comes to Agatha'’s session, things would become more and more hilarious from there.

Oh, have I mentioned how I managed to perk myself up with generous discount from Borders? Alas, these were the mere reasons why spending time in comfort zone is comforting, indeed.