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It's the perfect place to travel all over Southeast Asia and beyond due to its central location. If you want to know more about the history, then look it up on Wickipedia. I'm here to tell you the interesting things! Like the fact that it's pretty much right on the equator, well 80 miles north of it. That means that the weather is just about the same every day all year long. It also means that the sunrise and sunset fluctuate very little throughout the year. You just come to understand that it's going to be hot and it's going to be humid. And to be honest, the hot isn't too bad...it's the humid that gets you. But it also means that you come to appreciate the rain and clouds because it noticeably makes things a bit more pleasant. It's amazing how well your body starts to adjust to it after a few weeks. I used to be drenched after a 15 minute leisurely walk around town, but now I can walk around for 15 minutes, and then take a seat outside to enjoy some dinner without being miserable! When it rains, it generally pours. It also only seems to last for an hour or two and then it goes away. It doesn't rain every day, but so far it has a couple days a week; although the real rainy season is December through February.
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So now let's talk a bit about the real reason I'm here. Food and Travel...oh, I mean work. Our office is located on Telok Ayer street, which apparently means something like "on the water." Our street, which is on the border between a quaint area of Chinatown and the CBD, used to be the waterfront! Over time the island has been expanded and now we're in the middle of it all. We are a shop office, which means we are above a row of shops. We are also directly across the street from one of the oldest temples in Singapore. The views from the windows range from green trees, temple rooftops, and skyscrapers that sometimes reach the clouds. The office itself reminds me a little of a small tech company in the movies. It's one big open room, high ceilings, hardwood floors, and modern furniture. It really is a great place and things have come together very nicely in the last two weeks. We even have phones now, after the Chinese men ran around the office making all kinds of noise for two days.
The living situation has been a little complicated. Chris, my co-worker from Boulder, and I will finally move into our condo on July 2nd. That means that we haven't had a place to call home yet, which has got quite old. It does mean that we have had the chance to see the city as we've stayed in three different places! The first place was a hotel provided by work. It was called Hotel Re, and it was decked out with everything retro. Each room had a theme, completed with a tacky color scheme and lighted silhouettes of retro-celebrities. I had Elvis, Chris had Marilyn Monroe. At least my room was green and not hot pink!
The next place I stayed was arranged by a co-worker through a friend of my boss. It's located in Holland Village, which is a popular area for expats. It's an old artist community turned trendy and offers a little bit of everything. The house is owned and occupied by an artist that uses the house not only to live in, but also as her studio and showroom. The art is nothing like I have ever seen before. I actually like a lot of it, and the artist must be pretty famous because there are magazine articles and books all over the place with her in it.
Finally, I'm currently staying in the same condo complex as our agent. She has been helping us find a condo to rent, and was able to arrange this as she knew someone who was going to be out of town for a few weeks. It's a great place because of it's location near downtown and right on the river. It's also the primary area in the city for the swanky restaurants, bars and nightlife. So although there is always a lot going on, it's an enormously expensive area compared to what you can get elsewhere in Singapore. For example, if you go to a Hawker center for dinner, you can spend between $3 and $5 and have plenty of food (that's Singapore dollars, so between $2 and $3.50 US). If you go to a restaurant here, you spend $15+ just for food, let alone the $15 pint a beer. Alcohol is very expensive everywhere.
Once we get a bit more settled in the new place then I'll post some pics of that!
very interesting. Keep the updates coming!
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