4 Months Along already....

…nope no announcement, unfortunately.  We’ve just been in Singapore four months now and thought we’d make a post about some of our favorite things and some of the things we are still adjusting to.   Like most things in life, it seems like we just got here but also feels like we’ve lived here forever.    We are loving....

Fresh-squeezed juices.  We go and get one every Monday for FHE after swimming.  You even get a punch-card— a ½ price after 6 juices and a free one after 12.  Love those punch-cards and, unlike Elaine, (subtle reference--who gets it?) we actually LIKE the product we are buying to get the punch.

Wearing Chacos everyday!

Having a trash shoot (the silver thing).  It's the best invention ever.   Frees the husband up to do other chores.  This is off our kitchen looking into the laundry area.  The door does not completely shut out the apartment to the outside.   It's so strange.  Good thing it's a safe country, we live on the 11th floor, and global cooling isn't supposed to peak until 2020 when we are long gone. The bad thing is we smell what our neighbors are having for dinner, which can be both good and bad. We occasionally get a nasty smoke smell, which isn't so pleasant. 

Our pools & facilities.  Honestly, I don’t think we’d be half as happy here without having a pool.  It’s so muggy and is often just too hot to do anything else outside.  We really like where we live.  We may move closer in to the city after our lease runs out but for now we are very content here.  

As way of advice for those who are planning a move here and reading the blog, we often hear from others that they don't like where they live and are stuck in a 2-year lease because their companies' realtor only showed them a few places and pushed them into a particular place.  Do research on your own and engage other realtors if you need to.  Once you get here the paper has tons of listings and that's how we found our place.  Also, we'd totally recommend doing a year lease because you can always renew it.  Most people who didn't tell us they wish they would have.  Also, get a local bank account once you get here.  There are five non-local banks and we chose HSBC because we have online accounts with them and thought we'd be able to transfer money back and forth but that's not the case.  A good amount of places won't even take our card and it's hard to get money from ATM because you can only use it at the 5 non-local banks.  It has been quite inconveniet.  It's so strange.  We can use our debit cards from our bank accounts back home to get money out of any ATM but they won't take the HSBC.  Citibank is also a non-local bank but seems to have more ATMs and you can transfer online to citibank accounts in the states so if you are going to go with a non-local bank pick them.

We do get this nighty little device we have to use when logging into our bank account online.   You push it and it gives you a code that you type in after your password.  It makes us feel important.

Some things we don't love:

These darned lizards!  People claim they eat all the bugs in your house but really they just leave poops all over the walls.  Because of the aforementioned inability to close ourselves off to the outside we can do nothing to keep them out.  Not to mention they are fast and make me jump whenever they dart out in front of me.

We wouldn't mind a little bigger kitchen.  Counter space would be nice.  Electrical outlets in the bathrooms would be great.  Kitchens and bathrooms just don't get the attention they do in the states.

Being asked 4-5 times a week what school Samara goes to.  To which I reply, "She's not in school.  She just turned two".  Then they say, "Oh, so which school's waiting list is she on?"  I was out waiting for someone and this was at 7:00 at night folks.  That's what time some of these kids get home from school.  We'd heard local school are so competitive and that's why expats don't send their kids to them.  It sure seems to stifle creativity--one thing we've definitely noticed is that there is an order and way of doing everything and you don't mess with it.  They just memorize a lot of stuff, take tests, and then move on to more material, memorize, test, repeat.

A friend told me in Beijing some people send their 2-year olds off to boarding school.  Yikes!  I can't imagine sending Samara away like that.

Transportation.  We never thought we’d miss not having a car  so much.  The MRT really is clean and safe.   Taxis are pretty affordable except when you really need them like in the evening or when we are downtown and then there are surcharges and they cost 35% more, etc.  A few weeks ago, we went downtown to meet up with Tanya and Sasha at their hospital.  We opted for the hour plus train ride home because we didn't have$30 to fork out for the taxi.  I hadn’t had a chance to change Samara’s diaper all afternoon.  So you can imagine my delight when I saw a puddle forming on the floor between her legs and she announced to all aboard, “Mom, I go potty.  I’m leaking out of my diaper”.  Thankfully, our stop was only two away and we were able to get home without the authorities finding us.  I’m not sure how many strikes of the cane you get for urinating on public transport, but I’m sure glad we didn’t find out.  It thrills Ben when she grabs the poll on the train and announces "I'm dancing!"

It is so hard to get used to driving being on the left side of the road.  I still look the wrong way when I cross the street.  Anytime I get a ride with someone I go to get in the driver’s spot.

People everywhere!  Even at 8:30 in the morning when the grocery store opens there is a decent crowd of people.  Weekends and evening are like shopping black-friday.  I wish they made the aisles just a little bit bigger then maybe I wouldn't run over people's toes so often.

In the end, there are challenges anywhere you live.  We are grateful that we can live in a such a neat place and are trying to make the most of our time here.  Being able to travel around the area so cheaply and see places we never imagined we'd see makes any of the hassles well worth it.  Now if we could just get a travel grant for when our current one (2008 US tax return) runs out, we'd really be set.