Industry: Convict

Location: Singapore
Salary: $000,000 (based on current exchange rate of USD/SGD: 1.4)
Age: 31
Roommates: 6 (girlfriend and five others (god I wish I had a dog))
Monthly Expenses
Rent: $2,200 (split 00/100 with my girlfriend (Ill pay her back))
Utilities: $000 (included in rent)

Day One
4:15 p.m. It's Monday, so I stay in bed until the early evening because of crippling back pain and equally crippling depression. Also, I have
no money and no job, so I have nowhere to be. Get up and make myself the usual, 80g bowl of instant oats with some brown sugar and
cinnamon. $.37
5:50 p.m. Back hurts too much to walk the 1.5k trip to the grocery store and back. Offer to get my girlfriend a Burrito Bowl from a Baja
Fresh nearby instead. I pick it up and she pays me back. On my way, I dont get any macaroons because I have no money. Bonus when she
doesnt finish the whole bowl and I get a few bites. $0
6:25 p.m. Girlfriend gives me a gift of 4 Lindt Chocolates. Theyre really for her, but she feels less guilty if she gives them to me and then
just tries each of them herself.women. I eat the equivalent of 3 of them. Theyre not very good, but I need the calories. $0
7:00 p.m. Back in bed. Earlier that weekend I ruptured a disk in my back, so I spent an inordinate amount of time in bed this week
recuperating. Work on my case on my laptop for the next 3 hours. Still very hungry, but dont feel like eating more oats.
10:00 p.m. Even though Im hungry, I fall asleep.
12:00 a.m. Wake up and think about that lady who takes her dog to eat pork bento boxes at a doggy caf while her and her husband grab an
iced drink. Browse reddit on my phone for a few hours.
4:00 a.m. The hunger wont let me sleep. Get up and make pancakes:
100g plain flour $.22
2 Tbs sugar $.02
1 tsp baking powder $.01
2 eggs $.27
1 Tbs vegetable oil $.03
1 pinch of salt $.01
3 Tbs milk $.05
Eat them over the sink without syrup like some kind of animal. The hunger subsides but the pain lingers. $.61
4:27 a.m. Back in bed. Fall asleep wondering if theyll let me see a Doctor in prison about my back.
Total: $.98

Day Two
1:20 p.m. Owning a car is exorbitantly expensive in Singapore, so I dont go anywhere. Construction noise (re: jackhammers) has been going
on in the apartment above us since 10am, but Ive willed myself to stay asleep through sheer anger. Make two fried eggs for breakfast. $.27
1:40 p.m. I pick up my usual iced skinny mocha.jk. I go to the pool to start rehab for my back. My physician (youtube) and my physical
therapist (me) are working pro bono. $0
5:15 p.m. Finish my rehab and go back to the apartment. I have a treat Ive prepared for myself in advance, a hard boiled egg. $.14
6:30 p.m. Girlfriend and I go grocery shopping. She has to pull the trolley because of my back, but I go because I know the layout of the
store. Usually I buy the groceries, but this week, because she wants to get a lot of expensive extras like fruit, she does. They come close to $70
dollars, more than triple my usual bill, but shes paying so I dont complain. $0
10:30 p.m. I make a PB&J on whole wheat bread $.40
Along with that I eat: 1 Florida orange $.39
1 hard boiled egg $.14
2 slices of whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon sugar $.18
12:35 a.m. I have another snack of: 1 hard boiled egg $.14

1 Florida orange $.39

2 slices of whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon sugar $.18
8oz of whole milk (UHT of course. Fresh milk is just a dream at this point) $.37
2:20 a.m. Despite my insomnia, go to bed and lay there until I see the sun coming up around 6am. Fall asleep for an hour or so before
girlfriend wakes up and starts getting ready for work. Reminded that its been 3 years since Ive gotten up to go to work. Fall back to sleep.
Total: $2.60

Day Three
1 p.m. Oats. So over oats. I miss Honey Nut Cheerios. Wash down the infernal oats with 8oz of milk. $.37 + $.37
6:30 p.m. My girlfriend bought bananas the day before. The second to last bunch left in the store. It no longer surprises me when I go to a
grocery store in Singapore and it looks like it was ransacked during a zombie apocalypse. Ill just head over and buy some chickenoh theyre
out of chicken. Well, Ill get some carrots.oh theyre out of carrots. The bananas are sad and pathetic to look at but they taste pretty good.
6:45 p.m. I cook dinner for us. Two packets of chicken pieces, a head of broccoli, a pack of asparagus (exactly the kind of exorbitantly
expensive item Id never have bought), and homemade zucchini pasta. Im not the best chef, but it turns out pretty well. I supplement my
portion with 3 more bananas, 1 orange, 1 PB&J, and 12oz of milk. $1.35
10:00 p.m. Girlfriend goes to sleep. I stay up to work on my case some more. I eventually go to bed at 6am.
Total: $2.09

Day Four
1:00 p.m. OATS!!!!!! ARGHHHHH. $.37
2:00 p.m. I grab a quick lunch with my colleague at an Italian place in Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. The two of us rack up a $150 bill, charged to
my company card of course .Wait, no I am just having that crazy daydream again where Im a Canadian-Chinese woman living in Singapore.
Im actually sitting shirtless in the apartment, sweating under a fan and going through transcripts.
3:55 p.m. Helping to unpack girlfriends suitcases, I stumble across a small bag of Lays potato chips she must have gotten for the flight and
forgot about. Score. $0
4:10 p.m. The chips only make me hungrier so I have a snack: 1 PB&J, 2 hard boiled eggs, 8oz milk. $1.04
7:30 p.m. I cook dinner for us again. This is the usual routine, except normally I buy the groceries. Tonight its Japanese enoki mushrooms,
zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, and tomatoes in a kind of vegan carbonara. It turned out good. My mother would be proud. Im still hungry
though so I eat a PB&J and 12oz of milk as well. $.95
10:30 p.m Girlfriend goes to sleep and I go for a walk. It helps my back and Singapore at night, without the heat and so many people is
bearable. There are a lot of interesting things to see after midnight as well. The small armies of foreign workers cleaning up after everybody.
The homeless camped under skyscrapers. Even the occasional stray dog, wandering the streets looking for its next meal. Plus, walking is still
free. $0
5:00 a.m. Get home, shower, and go to sleep.
Total: $2.36

Day Five
11 a.m. Today I think Ill change it up and have the bircher muesli with a nice creamy yoghurt. I check with the server (me). Nope, all we
have is MORE OATS!!!. $.37
12 p.m. I head back to the pool for more rehab and stretching.
2:00 p.m. I have 2 PB&J sandwiches, 2 pieces of toast with butter and jam (jam was a gift), 3 hard boiled eggs, 2 bananas (paid for by
girlfriend), and 1 orange for lunch. $1.77
8:00 p.m. Girlfriend had a work dinner so I eat MORE OATS!!! And 2 hard boiled eggs. $.64
10:15 p.m I go out walking again. Come upon a 4 car pile up caused by a drunk driver. Everyone seems fine, at least the paramedic arent
actively checking anyone. Stand around to watch for a bit. Police show up about 15 minutes later, then more about 15 minutes after that. None
of them take any pictures of the scene. Tow trucks come and remove the vehicles. I overhear one of the Officers telling the drunk driver that
they might charge him for additional crimes if they determine he caused the wreck. I wonder how theyre going to determine that without
pictures of the vehicles. I dont see any CCTV cameras around. Im hungry and the wreck reminds me we only live once. I go to McDonalds
and splurge: 2 McChicken sandwiches and a vanilla cone. $4.80

Total: $7.58

Day Six
9:30 a.m. Girlfriend wants to take me to breakfast. We go to Providore, which is expensive but nice. My BLT sandwich is nowhere near
worth the cost. Sandwiches, by the way, come with a minimum of two pieces of bread. The open faced deconstructed soggy mess I got was not
a sandwich, though it was tasty. I think the total came out to about $40, but she paid.
11:00 a.m. We spend the day together, and I forgot to take notes. We spent some time lounging by the pool and went to Orchard in the late
afternoon for her to shop. I, of course, didnt buy anything. The MRT rides cost $.88 each way. $1.76
7:00 p.m. I make damper or soda bread for dinner. $.54
Total: $4.95

Day Seven
9:30 a.m. Were running behind schedule in the morning and are forced to take an Uber to Tiong Bahru to meet with my Attorney and her
husband, who have invited us to breakfast. My girlfriend pays, since it was her call.
10:00 a.m. The four of us have breakfast at Orange Thimble, which is without a doubt the worst breakfast Ive had outside of Bolivia. I
would have preferred MORE OATS!! Seriously, avoid this place. We discuss my case, and the recent news that the Judge originally assigned to
the case had been replaced. Before proceeding with the appeal, we had talked about whether it was a worthwhile endeavor, whether there was
any possible chance of success. They had cautioned me that the odds were low, but that as long as we didnt get this one particular Judge, we
stood a chance and that it was worth taking the chance as the odds of getting that Judge were fairly low (something like 1/12). Of course, that is
the Judge that just replaced my original Judge. My girlfriend paid for our meal.
11:00 a.m. We take the MRT home. Dejected by the terrible news and the even more terrible breakfast. $.88
12:00 a.m. I start researching the case history of the new Judge. He likes to quote Shakespeare. Hes killed more people than most of my
friends, who do that for a living. I wonder if hell live long enough to regret killing people for carrying around dried plants. I wonder if he
knows Shakespeare smoked pot.
5:00 p.m. We go to Lucky Plaza so my girlfriend can get her nails did. They look good but I would have done them just as well for free. The
MRT is $.88 each way. She buys a salad at Salad Stop, and lets me have a few bites. $1.76
Total: $2.64