Week 1 in Singapore

Shjoe! What a week! The good news is that we have arrived safely in the beautiful city that is Singapore. It truly is spectacular! Travelling courtesy of Norton Rose has been such a pleasure. We arrived early on Monday morning and caught a cab to our apartment in the East Coast suburb of Katong. Home for the next 7 months is a cute little condo on the 3rd floor overlooking another cute little condo on the 3rd floor! Jokes aside, we have a great place - 2 bedrooms, en suit and guest bathroom, open plan living area!  

View of our condo block from our road

The better news is that there is a 25m lap pool in the complex as well as an air-conditioned gym....which is a good thing if your surname is Grootes! Yip - I'm afraid the Lobsters are "red hot" this time of year in Singapore :) Its not that breathing in hot chinese-food flavoured steam with your oxygen is a problem, its that by the time you get to the end of the road you look like you just got out the swimming pool! Poor Nick had to walk a block to get to his conference this morning and was greeted by gasping colleagues, one of which promptly offered to lend him a dry shirt. Poor guy - everyone keeps telling him he "will acclimatise" - then again, not too sure they've had too many Grootes' in these parts......

Getting around has been the second challenge - well, semi-challenge in that everything works. The buses arrive on time as do the MRT "tubes". Thankfully, getting to and from bus and MRT stations doesn't have to be a complete sweat infused experience due to the fact that there are a billion taxis on the roads. Unlike New York and London, the cabs are cheap and a much cooler option than walking. Unless, however, you intend to walk and get into that "healthy, outdoorsy" lifestyle you've been talking about for months. I've probably walked about 8km's per day since I've been here, except yesterday, when I walked for 3 km's to get to where I wanted to walk and then "walked" for a further 6 km's along the beach at East Coast Park. The park runs all the way along the east coast and you can actually walk (cycle, or roller-blade in your own dedicated lane) all the way to Changi Airport and watch the planes come in to land. I didn't get that far but I did marvel at the hundreds (and I'm not spicing) of container ships docked at sea. There isn't a 2cm gap along the horizon with all the ships waiting to come into the harbour! Makes sense why every thing's so expensive - Singapore imports absolutely every last thing except chickens and eggs! Which does make for an interesting grocery shopping experience. We were directed to "Cold Storage" (very creative naming convention) in a massive mall just around the corner from us by our first taxi driver when we asked where the best place to buy groceries would be. $248 later we had salad items and pieces of fruit from around the world as well as fresh milk from Australia. Spending your first Singaporean dollars on washing powder and sta-soft isn't the most overwhelmingly euphoric experience but a necessary induction.

In search of a pre-paid sim card we headed into the City on the East West (green) line from Eunos station to Raffles Quay on the MRT. We were simply in awe as we walked along Marina Bay Promenade admiring the hundreds of skyscrapers and the manicured streets.  

Marina Bay - beautiful

I think it was at that point that I became aware of the Singapore sound track - wherever you are there is music playing. From Lady Gaga at the trendy Clarke Quay to Michael Buble and Cliff Richard at Marina Bay - "Truman" is there to ensure that the right atmosphere is created. And if the music doesn't do it for you, the mood is enhanced by the occasional blast of bubbles - from who-knows where - but mid chorus they appear to aid the ambiance.  

Ice-cream at Clarke Quay at sunset

To lighten our mood we sat down for a drink at Fishermans' Market along the river at Clarke Quay - the billboard outside advertised Tiger beers during Happy Hour marked down from $11 to $8!  

Happy Hour - Clarke Quay

What a steal! But we did enjoy the evening breeze with Katy Perry serenading us in the background and the hoards of "Bieber-fever" bitten teenagers passing us by.

After doing 3 loads of washing and a quick tidy up of the condo I headed into town this afternoon to meet Nick for a drink at the esteemed Raffles Hotel before he had to head to a work dinner.  

Tomorrow I'm off to Orchard Road and the Botanical Gardens. I've got a feeling I'm going to fall in love with this city.



$26 Singapore Slings at Raffles

 The Hotel is impressive, its Colonial East-India aesthetic very telling of the Singapore of yesteryear. We ordered a time-old Singapore Sling each and drank to the end (almost) of our first work week in South East Asia!  

Nick, much happier with a beer, but in another mans shirt :)



Needless to say, the $26 Sling was too sweet or my husband's liking so he ordered himself a pint of   Tiger which went down a treat after a long day in another mans shirt!