Nerd Nirvana

Today I had to go down and collect my one year social visit pass from Immigration. This was the culmination of a lot of red tape, including copious amounts of form filling and fairly comprehensive medical testing (including AIDS and a chest X-Ray). The laminated card I got this morning (after much ado) contains my mugshot and fingerprint and will allow me to stay here for a year while looking for a job. Had I noticed that my initial visa had granted me 3 months (not the 1 month I had assumed), I mightn't have bothered as it's obviously not as onerous as having to leave the country every 4 weeks.

Anyway, I had noted that the Immigration office was fairly close to the famous Raffles Hotel, so I thought I'd go down for a look at one of the last vestiges of colonial Blighty. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but a jolly spiffing place it is! On the way there, I passed the ginormous National Library. What book worm worth his salt could pass up that opportunity? On the way back from the hotel, I popped in for a look see. While it practically takes up an entire block and has 16 floors (although not all for books, as such), it's not the most visitor friendly place I've ever been. There were hardly and maps or guides around at all and hard to figure out where one should go. Despite that, I managed to stumble into a room on the 7th floor with an impressive collection of books and periodicals. I must definitely go back for further exploration, perhaps when I've motored through all the books in the impressive enough local library!