Our first week in Singapore from Holly’s perceptive:

Hello everyone! This has been quite a week. For starters as Steve mentioned the plane ride was not as bad as expected. (Setting your expectations low goes a long way!) No surprise that the food was barely edible and I was disappointed that the movie selection was weak. I guess that’s why I don’t go to the movie theatres much anymore. Noah and I were able to sleep lots on the plane. I learned that those neck pillows really work! I took the one I had thinking it was smaller than a normal pillow but wow, no neck pain!! Get one of these! We get “settled” in for the night at the elementary principals flat and manage to sleep from 2am to 6am.
As I walk thru the kitchen on our first morning I am hit with an odor. “What is that smell?” It seems that breakfast food is really an American thing and eating garlic, onions and all the other asian spices first thing in the morning is a great way to start the day!! Yikes! I believe they do recognize that what they are eating is stinky because the incense will follow shortly!
We had medical exams. Since we’re poor for Singapore standards we are probably carrying some sickness so we have to be checked out! A side note on government health care. In Singapore they are much more efficient than the US health care system. The price you pay for that efficiency is a lack of privacy! You pretty much go from one line to the next and the people behind you will know all about your business cause the dr will repeat everything at an elevated voice and with a thick accent.
I realize now I was running on adrenaline the first day; because the second day (Friday) I (really all of us) hit a brick wall. Steve and I viewed a few apartments our first day and the realtor and owner made out the commute to school would be a nice 20 minute train ride. Being warned that commute times are not what they seem we decide to venture into the city on our own to time the trek! We proceed to get off a bus stop to early. Not a big deal we’ll walk. But when we get the train station Steve and I might have made the evening news! Nothing incredible dramatic except for the fact the we are the foreigners and Steve and I are yelling at each other over where we are suppose to go! Now that I think about it, I bet we actually fit right in! When you think of Asians, don’t you picture two people who appear to be yelling at each other all the time; but that’s just the way they talk.
We have looked at a lot of places. The stories there we do not have enough time for! But I do believe we have chosen a place. It’s more than we wanted to spend but have realized that Noah’s little legs do not carry him as fast as we would like, so morning commutes are taking us longer. We have decided on a 3 bedroom condo 2 – 3 bus stops from the school. Because it’s a condo and not a HDB (gov’t subsided apartment) we get an amenities center including a large pool and the unit has aircons (essentially window type AC units) in all the rooms (well not in the kitchen or the bath rooms).
Another difference is in a condo you cannot hang your clothes out to dry. On the HDB’s you will see poles coming off the units with people’s laundry hanging to dry. One of our first days days the number one reason why I would not want to hang my clothes out on a pole was brought to life. We were walking back to our home and had to step around a pair of ladies undies!!! So do you go after them or are they a lost cause because you don’t want someone to know those were yours??
For today I’ll end here! We will take more pics of the city and other oddities!!!!