Last July post

I can’t believe Ive been here for 3 weeks now coming up to 4. The homesickness has improved and I’m finally starting feel more at home and apart of daily life.

My most notable part of last week was that I got a job!!!! Never thought I’d say this but I literally cannot wait to start work. As much as I love to spend the days shopping and sight-seeing I NEED to work and find routine. Many people have remarked on how I got so lucky to find a job so quickly, and I must say that is partially true. Within one week of arriving I have an interview, and the following week I have the job. The only part I find lucky in this situation is that I didn’t have to worry for too long. Money has a habit of coming out pretty fast and not going in so quickly when you’re not working. And with my daily Starbucks coffee and muffin habit ($11) plus the “cheer myself up” items it’s clear I either need a millionaire husband…or I need to work.

Last weekend Brian and I took a boat ride to Pulua Ubin, which is just a short ferry ride to get to (ferry is a loose term, more like a rickety fishing boat). Ubin is just a little day trip place which is heavily forested and has wild boar and lizards roaming around. Considering its a get away island, it was very quiet and seemed a world away from the urban Singapore. You can hire bikes for as little as $5 and tour the whole island. We lasted around 5 hours with a few stops to take some nice pictures.We also visited an 80 year old temple there which had little shrines all over the place and you could hear chanting songs...it was really lovely.

Meet the Locals -They can be kinda rude!

This is known as "Singlish" which is basically English with weird grammar and the word "lah" thrown in at the end

So, I thought id mention a little more about the people here in Singapore. To say that Sing is a melting pot is an understatement. Not only do the expats have a clear prominence in certain parts of the city, but then there is the mix of Chinese, Malaysian, Japanese, and Indonesian etc. I still can’t pin point who are the true Singaporeans, but I can tell you a bit about their habits; I think I mentioned once before how SLOW everyone walks here. Young or old, they walk at 1 mile an hour and leave no room to get around. It is very frustrating, particularly as I walk pretty fast heat or no heat.

The nice thing about Singapore is not just that it is an English speaking country and that they use English plugs, but that everyone drives on the left (easy to remember when crossing the street). However, I’m pretty sure back home on the escalators we stand to the right and people walk on the left. In Sing people must stand on the left so people can pass on the right. In moments of confusion I’ve literally had people barge pass me on account of my standing on the wrong side. Which indecently brings me to the personal space issue…people really have no idea about personal space. I refer mainly to queues and the MRT but no matter where or how much room you have, someone will be breathing right down your neck. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a Londoner (no song reference here) or if that’s just me, but I like having some room!! Not only that but generally, and I can’t this for everyone, but for the most part people just don’t smile at you here. The theory “Smile and the world smiles with you” doesn’t seem to apply.

Raffles hotel - Come and meet a Brit

Feeling a de-motivated this week, I followed mum’s advice and decided to get myself out and about. I took the MRT down to Raffle’s Hotel “Long Bar”. The bar is primarily indoors, but you can sit outside. Considering the heat coupled with the fact raffles is on a busy high street, I decided to sit indoors.

The first thing I notice upon walking in is how many westerners there are, and strangely enough, I had more stares here than I do on the MRT being the only blonde white person there. It was packed even at 3pm on a Wednesday I could barely find a seat. When I did find a seat I ordered a $9 latte and gazed around the room only to see British families. All bright lobster from too much sun, ALL ordering Singapore Slings. This kinda took away the magic for me, originally being one of the top 10 things I wanted to experience, I realized that everyone does it, and it costs $25 for the privilege. All tables come with a big box of Monkey nuts to snack on which is when I noticed the second strange thing about Raffles. Once you’ve left the table the waitresses come by and swipe all the shells on to the floor, so the entire bar was crunching with shells. This results in dive bomb attacks from the many pigeons floating around inside. Much to say, I’m glad to say I have been and to know perhaps not to visit again.

Tomorrow we are off to Chiang Mai and Laos for a week so I look forward to telling you all about it.