I’ve been watching gigantic ships, jumbo jets and a highway full of cars pass by my hotel window for the last thirty days. Oh ya, and don’t forget about the Ferris Wheel spinning until late into the night with tourists seeking a good observation point to see the city.
And, a close-up of some ships.
Yum. Yoshinoya is a fast food restaurant found in many Singapore malls… I decided to check it out today.
I’m finding that the small food courts in Singapore have the best food. I don’t think I saw another expat there, but I was just fine with that… more great food for me! These places have such a great variety of food and it’s super inexpensive. Tonight, I had some black pepper, ginger onion, dried chili chicken, fried egg and rice. With lime juice.
And, this is the food stall…
That’s the address where you’ll find me these days. The workload is already heavy after just over two weeks on the job. So many new things to learn coupled with doing marketing in a completely new geography. Fun, fun.
Here’s a photo of my new office. I share an area with three other people, so it can get loud, especially when everyone is on the phone. I’m getting better at tuning them out… but I still have a long ways to go.
And, this the outside of my building…
I finally found a place to live in Singapore! Way up on the 24th floor at a new development called Park Infinia. It’s in the Novena area, close to the MRT, shopping and other important things when you don’t have a car. The amenities were one of the biggest selling points. Two tennis courts. A gigantic pool. Another pool. A gym. And a bunch of other things.
I’m really happy about the actual apartment. Getting used to living in 893sf will be difficult, but the open space-efficient design certainly will help. The master bedroom is good sized for Singapore, and the attached bath is reasonable too. The living room is quite large and spacious. The kitchen was another differentiating factor… all new, stainless-steel appliances. And there’s also a stacked W/D off the kitchen.
Overall, I’m really happy with the result of what seems like an endless ‘house hunting’ search. Still trying to swallow the over 2.5X increase in rent/mortgage for a place over 2.5X smaller. Ouch!
View of the tennis courts, and the fish pond. (not the actual view from the apartment)
Swimming pool in the distance. Fish pond in the foreground.
Kiddie pool… big pool to the right.
Great gym… hopefully will be able to work off the muffin-top.
What a fabulous view! And, I think it looks even better at night. Also, if you look to the right (southeast), you can actually see a bit of the ocean too.
Bedroom. Small.
Kitchen. Fridge and microwave still need to be moved in.
Guest bathroom.
Master bathroom. I’ll be using the other one. No baths for me.
I’ve already saved several hundred dollars on phone calls from Singapore to the US, with Skype. The video conferencing capabilities are great! And, the call quality is excellent… often even better than regular phones. Tonight, I got to talk to my nephews… Dylan just wanted to wave, but Ethan put on the headset and talked for a while. We made farting noises back and forth. And called each other gross names. I’ll take what conversation I can get with a five year old!
I love the juice stands in Singapore. You choose the fresh fruit you want and they squeeze the juice right there. Doesn’t get more fresh than that. Today, I had a combination of mixed berries and dragon fruit… they called it “Blue Dragon”.
They seal the lids onto the cup. No spills.
Ate dinner at the Marina Square food court tonight. The area was crazy busy because of the Singapore National Day festivities, but I still managed to find some great food… and a table after a few minute search. I ended up ordering some spicy chicken served on a hot iron plate. The sauce was literally bubbling when they handed it to me. The whole meal for about $5. Not bad.
Whew… it’s comforting to find my favorite food. And it was really good! I was SO hungry when i ate, I think the waiters were shocked because the whole plate dissapeared in about five minutes.
I have an addiction. It’s along my walk from the City Hall MRT stop to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Everyday I tell myself that I won’t stop, but I do. It’s just the way that it is.
These donuts are the best and Krispy Kreme has nothing on them. You can start smelling them from way too far away… which, unfortunately, gives you much more time to think about getting one, and eventually cave-in.
The Coco Loco donut is by far my favorite. It’s got a chocolate ‘pudding’ layer inside the donut. There’s also a runny chocolate icing on top. Yum!
And, the Chocolate Caviar donut.
