Frozen Fingers



The weather forecast looked deceptively similar to last week's. I could walk around in shorts comfortably in the day and slept well with a moderate amount of warm clothing. This morning was exceptionally cold despite the temperature figures looking 'as usual' for me. I even went to work without a jacket and ended up with numb fingers for much of my day at work.


It was so cold that I kept myself warm doing carpentry work in the sun. Didn't really help much. I should have went for a long jog instead perhaps. Work slowed down drastically since the last week. We almost slowed to a dead stop today. It casted some doubts in my mind about my job stability for if this goes on for too long, it'll be a matter of time I go out of job. It's too early to panic and too late to regret accepting this job. Instead, I'll spend my time organising the factory, clearing debris and preparing space for the next big crazy dash. I told the guys to rest while we could so that we would well rested when crunch time comes. Let's just hope it comes before all of us are told to leave.


So far I had coped with Winter exceptionally well. I did shiver coming out from the bath but it wasn't anything like the torrid moments I had when I first came to visit Jen in the 2006 Winter. I was comic. When Jen learnt that I jumped, yes jumped up mouthing Singaporean expletives as my unsuspecting butt touched the toilet seat first time, she laughed. Everyone laughs when they hear this story but if you try it, you wouldn't be laughing anymore.


They called it climatise. Being here for 9 months or so, my body did adjust accordingly to stand the blaze of Summer and the freeze of Winter. It seems that adaptability is one of the strengths of a human body. We cannot expect miracles but give it time a little time, it will perform. 


Many people told me they would be able to cope well with Winter cold but they simply couldn't with the intense Summer heat. From my observations, Winter is a force to be reckon with. A lot of people fell sick during this period and trust me, being sick in Winter could be daunting. "You can wear more clothes in the Winter cold, but you can't do much in Summer heat," they say. Yeah right. Just imagine a malfunctioned air-conditioner blasting icy cold air at you 24/7 while you are nursing that flu. You can be wrapped like a Nonya Dumpling but you'll just shiver and get depressed.


Unlike in Singapore, the weather here has a far wider range of extremes. We need to learn a lot about the entire new weather cycle here, respect it and do not underestimate the effects of weathering. You'll be surprised how much anguish it could do to a mentally unprepared.

4 comments:

  1. Here is my reply to you.

    http://therunningrobot.blogspot.sg/2012/07/friend-lost.html?m=0

    Thanks

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  2. will second that "yeah right!". Only by living through (not as tourist) that one can fully "respect" winter. Imagine a fully operational air-con following you around in the house, blasting icy cold air at you while you bathe,cook,washing dishes,use the loo,anything you do (with or without others)....summer it is man!

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  3. aku will like the weather...he dun have to worry he will sweat whahaha

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  4. How cold a day is depends on how long the temperature stays up near the forecast maximum. If it stays near max for 4 or 5 hours rather than for half an hour the day is much warmer. You can't always tell how cold it will be by the forecast and that's without taking into account the wind. :)

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