If someone were to write a book about my life, much would be made about the two countries I spend my time in.

Singapore is about the oppressive heat and humidity, the alarmingly large crowds of shoppers all dressed the same and buying the same thing, bumping into people you know no matter where you go on the island, attitudes and opinions that make your blood boil with their close-mindedness, and the horrible, horrible restrictiveness of it all.

I long to be able to experience four seasons in a year, when freezing I appreciate summer more, when swelteringly hot I appreciate winter more. I want a cold country breeze from the north instead of the perpetual haze. York and the UK is freedom, literally and metaphorically, physically and artistically. I'm a whole other, better person. There I have the exhiliration of meeting people that have made such a difference in my life, and being able to tell them how much I admire them, how much they mean to me, how happy I am that I'm finally able to tell this to their face, in the flesh. I'm able to bond with people over what's really important in my life: music and books and world issues, instead of bitching about people I know or don't know, or arguing with some of the stupidest people I've ever known.

I can't do all that in Singapore.