It isn't easy when you're not there, though. I've taken you for granted over the past few months. Now that you aren't here with me, I have no one to complain to about how hard school is.

Well...it really isn't hard. What's hard is that I still have no friends. However, I'm intending to start talking to some of them about the US production industry, which is turning out to be super vibrant. 

The girl sitting beside me today at my production class is an actor and has crowdfunded US$3k for her project. The guy behind her knows her production crew, including the Assistant Director and Associate Producer - all of whom are still students here. The video editor recently graduated from Grad school.

Talk about a culture shock - in Singapore, the film scene is so undeveloped!

But let's hold that thought and rewind to the beginning of the day.

I woke up at 7.30am with the alarm, washed up and got dressed. I then headed to Lafayette Cafe next door to grab a bite to eat.

I decided to get the Lafayette wrap - bacon, eggs, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. That and the coffee cost me US$8.

By 8.15am, I was already lounging at my table, sipping my coffee and downloading Murder on the Orient Express. I had originally planned to watch The Godfather, but I wanted to prioritise our call first. I knew that if I started on the movie and you called halfway, I would be distracted.

And there can be no distractions during ba time!

After our call, I left for school to pay my bills. I spied a food truck opposite Tisch and got a chicken wrap for US$4.

I'd had a very pleasant experience with food trucks to date. They sell cheap food too.

I made sure to order whole foods. I've had too much sodium over the past few days; hair, please don't drop. This grilled chicken wrap also happened to have no veggies.

Production class was next, at 12.30pm. It was by far the most boring of my classes. The lecturer was more concerned about sharing her experiences as a producer and some random industry trends.

I mean, the industry trends are interesting but somehow I cannot switch off that Singapore Kiasu Student Indicator in my mind that was critically looking out for important information which would appear in the exam.

Yes, that's right, there is a midterm exam on 8 March - MCQs and an essay question. But hey, it's all Pass/Fail, so no pressure.

Apparently, this lecturer was in the same team as Ang Lee in grad school. She had also produced for Martin Scorsese and is currently producing a Disney film.

Now, that's a serious CV if ever there was one.

Class ended at 3.15pm and I walked to the sports centre. They only have hex plates but hey, it's free, so I'm not complaining much.

This was my workout:

Squats 

100x10

100x6

100x4

100x2x5

Bench

60x3x10

Deadlift

100x6x5

I'd gotten sick of trying to count in lbs, so I decided to switch back to kilos. I read 45lbs as 20kg, 35lbs as 15kg, 25lbs as 10kg, 10lbs as 5kg and 5lbs as 2.5kg.

Nonetheless, I was lacking motivation again. I miss AF Nex's atmosphere and my friends. The squats weren't that tough; it was the cardio that was. I'm going to address that by employing some metabolic squats. Basically, I'll take 30% of my 1RM (about 60kg) and perform 10 sets of 10 reps, with 60 seconds of rest in between as my cardio.

Everything else went fine except those goddamned squats. I also got a neck cramp after my second set of bench (I pray you never have to experience that - it feels like a migraine) and was light-headed for the deadlifts. 

I think it has something to do with the drier climate, so I'm taking things easy as I get used to training in this environment. I'll be using some autoregulation to reduce training stress for now, because of all the external stress that I'm feeling right now. I'm sure that after I've gotten used to all this, I'll be able to begin my 16-week programme in no time at all!

Anyway, after training, I headed home. The Halal food truck wasn't there today, so I got my favourite US$7.06 combo from 7-11.

Steak and cheese melt in my hand and a chicken ranch sandwich in the bag.

And now, after a longass shower because my roomies are out...The Godfather.

I love and miss.