about seven years ago i found myself roaming the streets of singapore with my heavy heart, a pair of flipflops, and my 20+ year-old self. i’ve already finished my degree in film school for almost a year then but i still didn’t have a permanent job, and therefore, didn’t have any money. i relied on other people for most of my meals during my stay there of more than a week, and mostly walked to where i wanted to go, as i couldn’t afford cab rides. i learned to use public transport in a country that had their steering wheels on the right side of the car, where trains and escalators where faster, and the currency, confusing. crossing the street was a challenge because i was used to looking to my left first, but the cars were coming from the opposite side. i also had to be careful lest i wanted to be fined for various minor offenses- littering, jaywalking, smoking anywhere, among other things. growing up in the philippines, these offenses weren’t important, and offenders were rarely caught.
the reason being for my trip to this country was because my short film was being screened in the country’s film festival. i only had a 4MP camera with me with a 128mb memory stick and sadly, i wasn’t able to take a lot of pictures. there was this one night that a dinner in the Philippine embassy was hosted just for us, the Philippine contingent of the Singapore International Film Festival. it was surreal that i was there, in a foreign country, a starving artist, dressed up like i didn’t have a clue and practically still a child, being labeled as a “Filipino director”.
it was the best of times.
