flying away

Feeling increasingly stifled.

Work has been tedious, inducing blinding headaches and I'm producing uninspiring pages. Also have more than a tinge of envy over my former London classmates who are doing so well. Recently caught up on the latest news on them -- two are with The Times, one with The Independent, one with BBC, one with the French Embassy, one is starting a new magazine in India, one is teaching in Lahore, but I am the most envious of one who got married to the Brit boy she met in a pub.

Parents are driving me slightly bonkers with their insistence on moving to the new place they secretly bought in the boondocks. Have been acting like a petulant kid and refusing to uproot, but decided to give in [ungraciously]. This may be the last nice new home they get to live in. But I foresee many arguments over decorating. Already, I've been instructed that the walls in my room can only be in white or beige.

Have to shelf my plans to move out to live on my own, for the time being. That just adds to my resentment of being forced to move to that shoebox of a condo. And did I mention my parents are demanding that my sis and I contribute $5,000 each to the renovation fund?

Add on to all these the stupid stalemate in my love life -- are all men this dense? -- and I feel this tremendous urge to escape from Singa-bore, as two friends who constantly have wanderlust like to say all the time. I don't think I can wait another 60 days till I can validate the New York airticket now sitting in the drawer with my passport.

So there I was yesterday, poking disconsolately at the travel guides in Kinokuniya. Somewhere between New Orleans and Orlando, I found a TimeOut NY, tempting me with its glossy pages filled with shopping and sightseeing.

It was almost too much to bear. Luckily, my New York Travel Companion [henceforth known as NYTC] stopped me from forking over $37.75 [including GST]. From now till May, I shall alleviate my travel pangs with Discovery Travel & Living.

[P.S. This is off a tangent, but I always feel like I'm with kindred spirits when browsing the travel books aisle. These people are planning a trip sometime in the near future, just like me. I want to ask them what exciting place they are flying off to. If they are going to some place I'd been to, I want to tell them about the must-sees and must-dos. But I curb my enthusiasm, because this camaraderie only exists in my head.]