We have been in Singapore for 2 weeks exactly today. As you can imagine, we are fully adjusted to the time zone here which is 12 hours ahead of the east coast of the US & 6 hours ahead of France. Alex is really enjoying his job. His boss seems really nice and is interested in seeing that we get settled effortlessly into our new life in Singapore. He put me into contact with a friend of his who had just gone through the apt hunting process a few months before, so she offered her advice. Interesting point about apt leasing process here - most of the laws are in favor of the landlord. If it's not written in your lease agreement, then most likely the responsibility falls to the renter. I have seen 24 apts so far and have appointments to see 4-5 more tomorrow, as well as more over the weekend. The 'challenge' is that there are quite a lot of new condo's going up at the moment. We have seen nice apts, but with the bedroom or living room facing a construction site; which can not be pleasant in the morning (hammering, drilling, etc.). It has been a fun experience. The brokers pick you up and drive you around to each building. It has been a 'cool' (as in temperature) way to see certain areas of Singapore. When I don't have appointments to see apts, I have been exploring areas of Singapore such as Chinatown, Little India, & Orchard Road.
Chinatown is clean, especially comparing it to NY or Hong Kong. There are lots of markets, shops, food centers and even a place where you can let fish eat all the dead skin off of you feet! Yum! We haven't done this, but I will get pics if we are ever brave enough.
Little India is also quite interesting to walk around and explore. There is a 24-hour mall called Mustafa that sells everything, maybe even the fish to clean your feet! ;) There are lots of nooks & crannies to walk into and most of the people are friendly & kind. The fruits & vegetables are nice quality and much less expensive than certain food stores. We went into a Japanese grocery store (not in Little India) and the food was so EXPENSIVE! A package of 4 peaches were $80SGD!!! Apparently, Japan is know for really wonderful, juicy, amazing fruit. I guess we will never know! :)
Random bits: The MRT (train) is well organized and very clean. I appreciate the cleanliness here, so I can not say it enough. It's very clean here! :) Singapore is one of the 20 smallest countries in the world. There are many 'hawker centers' where you can eat. It's like outdoor food stalls. The Singapore self-declared national hobbies are eating & shopping. Sometimes, I feel the city is a little too organized. You can only cross at certain designated cross-walks or use the underground pedestrian pass through. People are very friendly and helpful. English is a national language, but I find myself asking, "what?" 2 or 3 times to some people. They add 'lah' to the end of statements. This is either to emphasize their point or for no reason at all! As eating is a national hobby, there are many types of food that you can find here - Indian (delicious!), Chinese (all regions of China & not at all what we are used to), Japanese, Taiwanese, American fast food chains, Italian, Turkish, Mexican, Brazilian, French, Indonesian, Malaysian - just to name a few!
MRT
well-known Newton Hawker Center
Orchard Road is the famous area for shopping. All stores are inside a mall and they are building 2 new gorgeous malls at the moment. There are some recognizable names like Borders, Zara, Club Monaco, TopShop, Guess (which they LOVE), Coach, Bebe, and all of the high-end designer brands. I have stumbled across some local brands that are nice as well. There is an entire mall dedicated to duty-free shopping, which doesn't benefit us as we have our visas now, but will benefit those of you who come to visit. Really, this blog is a shameless plug to persuade everyone to come visit us! Is it working?
