It’s been a whirlwind since we moved across the world to Singapore, starting with a 17 hour flight! We were lucky enough to be able to fly business class with Ryan’s relocation package, but even the lay flat seats couldn’t stop us from saying throughout the flight, “We still have how many hours to go?!”
Once we finally touched down in Singapore, we had a mediocre night of sleep, and then our first full day in Singapore to explore. Ryan took me walking around, which I quickly realized meant sweat drenched clothing and the worst looking hair I’ve had since high school.
The next two days we spent with our relocation agent and real estate agent driving around Singapore to try and get a feel for the neighborhoods, as well as looking at potential apartments. We learned from our Singaporean agent a lot of interesting things about Singapore, like why you don’t see old, beat up cars (the government only allows you to own your car for 10 years max before you have to get a new car. Not to mention, it costs about S$100,000 to own one in the first place), or the business of En bloc apartments displacing residents every few years (look up SERS).
First impressions of Singapore were basically everything we had been told prior to coming here. Yes, it is so damn hot and humid here when we would get back to our hotel in the afternoon, we would just take off all our clothing and bask in the incredible invention of air conditioning. The food here is incredibly delicious, and they have a huge variety to satisfy any cravings. It feels extremely safe, even late at night, and the cleanliness of this country is something else. I’ve been looking in every corner of places we go, and it’s all so clean, I love it. The architecture of Singapore is inspiring! They definitely don’t have the same building laws that we have in the States because their buildings look crazy, and most involve incorporating greenery throughout. They put our high rise buildings to shame in my opinion.
Ryan says his first impression of living in Singapore (he spent a few days here for work last year, so he shared my initial thoughts) was that the country offers a high quality of life, but it’s a bummer that you have to spend so much time indoors where there is air conditioning when it’s beautiful outside. Our bodies are, however, adjusting to the heat and humidity, and although I won’t be joining the Singaporean women in wearing long pants and jackets (crazy, I know!) anytime soon, I can see us growing to spend more time outdoors and being used to the temperature.
After taking care of apartment hunting, Ryan started work, and I got back into checking in with my upcoming clients. We spent this past week socializing with new friends and exploring Arab Street, attending the Gardens by the Bay light show (twice!), walking around and eating in Clarke/Robertson Quay, visiting the Botanic Gardens, seeing Tanjong Pagar, and of course getting acquainted with everyone’s favorite activity here… hanging out in malls. I would say we had a fun, successful, exciting, and a little bit stressful first week and a half here!
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