Christmas in Asia

Tony and I spent Christmas in Bangkok with his parents. Like Singapore, holiday decorations are spread throughout the city - Christmas trees, lights, greenery, Santas, reindeer, and more. And everywhere we went in the days leading up to Christmas in Singapore and on Christmas Eve and Christmas in Bangkok, we were wished, "Merry Christmas!" It's interesting to me that here - where Christians are a small minority of the population - people so easily wish one another a "Merry Christmas," while in the (perhaps) overly politically correct U.S., I'm used to being wished "Happy Holidays" most everywhere I'd go.

One aspect of life in Singapore that I'm appreciating is its multiculturalism. Among the 11 official public holidays in Singapore are national/government holidays as well as holidays from the Chinese, Christian, Hindu, and Muslim calendars. This pluralism can encourage learning and appreciation of the diverse cultures and religions here. In reality there are racial and cultural tensions in Singapore as there are most anywhere. Yet among people I've met there seems to be basic cultural "literacy" about the major groups in Singapore, their practices, and appropriate/respectful behavior. I'm learning... slowly but surely... and look forward to the lessons and experiences that await me in 2009.

Getting Back to the Blog - An Update

Well, my blogging took a long hiatus for no apparent reason. Lots of transition and a bit of culture shock, I suppose. I'm going to try to get back on track as there's lots to share of our life here! I can hardly believe we've been here 3 1/2 months already. We're pretty settled into our apartment and Tony has already completed his first major project with Accenture - which meant 8 work weeks in Jakarta! I'm so glad to have him home in Singapore again, and we're glad that his next project will be in Singapore.

We took advantage of the break between projects last weekend and for a mini-vacation to Phuket, Thailand. We found a lovely quiet spot on the northwest part of the island where I saw the Indian Ocean for the first time. We also took a boat tour of Phang Nga Bay which is one of those beautiful corners of the earth I've seen in movies and on travel shows and was amazed to see in person. Phuket was beautiful - and pretty quiet (as the Bangkok airport closures have unfortunately scared off lots of tourists).


Above: One of the limestone islands in Phang Nga Bay near Phuket, Thailand. My pictures really don't do justice to the beauty of this place. Below: Tony in our boat with a view of one of caves and its stalactites and stalagmites.


We also stopped on one of the islands where you can hike around for a closer view of Ko Tapu (more commonly known as "James Bond Island" after being featured in The Man and the Golden Gun). Below: Trekker Tony checking out Ko Tapu.

Always Something New - SE Asia's Longest Underground Expressway Opens in Singapore

Singapore is known for rapid growth and cutting edge technology, architecture, etc. And currently - though not unusually - there are new construction projects in every direction. I heard a joke yesterday..."What is the national bird of Singapore?"..."The building crane." And it's true - they're everywhere. I'll have to get a picture posted of the Marina Bay area where they're constructing a couple of casino resorts - there are more building cranes than you can count.

One of Singapore's latest and greatest - the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) tunnel is a 12 km underground expressway. It's the longest of its kind in Southeast Asia and it opens tomorrow on our little island of Singapore.


Last weekend they had a run and lantern parade through the new tunnel for fun - and to try to break a Guinness World Record.

Food of the Day - Baby Kai-Lan

Friday night we had dinner at an Asian seafood restaurant and enjoyed an order of baby kai-lan stir-fried in a garlic sauce. This vegetable is like a large leafy brussel sprout. The texture and taste are similar but the baby kai-lan flavor is less intense and more pleasant to my palate. And what vegetable doesn't taste good stir-fried in garlic sauce?

Apartment Searching in Singapore

One of my primary tasks these first couple of weeks has been to search for an apartment for us here. Tony's parents are generously hosting us at their home in the meantime.

I'm doing my best to learn the ins and outs of the process for renting here, new terminology, practices, etc. For example (U.S. term vs. Singapore term):

Major appliances = White fixtures
Unfurnished = Partially furnished (i.e., with white fixtures (unfurnished means no furniture OR major appliances))
Nice breeze = Windy (I first read "windy" as negative and then realized that meant there was a good breeze and air circulation ;) which is very important - and rare - in this climate)

Owners, realtors, etc. are also allowed to ask lots of personal information about you that is illegal to ask in the U.S. due to anti-discrimination laws. So I'm commonly asked my nationality, marital status, professional background, whether we have children or pets, and so on when inquiring about a property. I was pretty taken aback by those questions initially, but that's just how it's done.

We just sold our condo in DC - hooray! Settlement was Wednesday. And we plan to rent here as both rental and property sales prices are even higher here than in DC (which are already too high) - plus we don't know how long we'll be here.

The majority of the population lives in high rise apartment buildings. With 4.5 million people living on 271 square miles of land, the only way to house them all is by building up (in case you're wondering, Singapore's land area is smaller than Kansas City, MO and about 4 times the size of the District of Columbia - both of which have much smaller populations).

Anyway, that's a bit about the housing search...I'm heading out shortly with our realtor (people here commonly use realtors to find rentals) for another round of apartment viewings. Wish us luck!

Food/s of the Day - Mee Goreng & Satay

I'm trying lots of new foods here. Since we shared fruits and wines from some of our previous travels, I thought I'd share some online. Sunday we went to Singapore's East Coast Park for some local food and to walk around near the water. The Malaysian food was readily available - including some of Tony's favorite "beach" foods.


We ordered mee goreng and satay. Mee goreng (as I understand) translates as fried (goreng) noodles (mee). Satay is grilled meat - in this case chicken and beef - on a stick and comes with a spicy peanut dipping sauce as well as onion and cucumber to add to the kabob stick.


Tony also had a Tiger - a local Singaporean beer.

"No cold and no danger"

Last Friday we attended our first Democrats Abroad gathering to watch Obama's speech (12 hours later on replay). It was great to get out and meet some fellow expats in Singapore. And Tony was a good sport and tagged along even though it wasn't his political scene (though if you ask me, he's getting more liberal by the day ;) ).

One man we met has lived here 7+ years, and upon hearing that we'd just arrived exclaimed, "Welcome to paradise!" He went on to say that he tells people there's "no cold and no danger" here. Those words have repeated in mind this week. The "no cold" I get - we're about 2 degrees north of the Equator and the heat and humidity rarely subside - unless you're inside and the a/c thermostat is especially low.

Hearing "no danger" struck me. As a woman in the U.S., I became accustomed to taking certain precautions when it comes to my personal safety. A woman who was also speaking with us echoed the same sentiment. She spoke of having had to always be on guard in the U.S. - particularly at night. In Singapore, she said she never worries about her personal safety as she goes about her life. She commented that while there are limits on freedom of speech here, she - as a woman - feels more free than she does in the U.S. because of the difference in personal safety.

Firearms are banned in Singapore (a "freedom" in the U.S.) - and there's a low crime rate. And women don't fear for their personal safety. I'll be contemplating this paradox between freedom and safety for a long time to come.

Making our way to Singapore

After a whirlwind eight weeks, we left for Singapore on August 23rd and arrived here Monday morning the 25th. It's hard to believe all that happened in July and August to get us here. Maybe I'll write "How to Move to Singapore in Eight Weeks" someday...

To give you some idea, we:
+ sorted all of our belongings into Singapore, Kansas, sell, and donate categories
+ sold two carloads of stuff at a community garage sale
+ sold more than half of our furniture on craigslist, gave some away, shipped a few pieces to Singapore, and left a few for the new owner of our condo
+ shipped a load of belongings to Singapore which will arrive by sea sometime in the next week
+ shipped many boxes to KC to be graciously and generously stored by my sister and brother-in-law in their garage
+ made many trips to Goodwill
+ wrapped up our jobs in DC by the end of July
+ had the kitchen and bath of our condo totally remodeled and everything else updated with new paint, light fixtures, etc.
+ got the condo on the market thanks to our rock star realtors and did our best to stay out of the way
+ had fun partying and visiting with friends from DC and beyond to say farewell
+ visited family in Florida
+ did our best to manage visas, financial and legal needs for moving and living abroad
+ departed DC on August 15th
+ visited family and friends in Kansas City and Omaha
+ departed KC for Singapore on August 23rd

And now, here we are - four days in to our great adventure living in Singapore!

We spent our last week in the States in Kansas City and Omaha visiting my family and some friends. It was a real gift to have that time with people who mean so much to us. My parents took us to the airport on the 23rd and we began what was about 28 hours of travel. We flew from KC to Denver to LA to Singapore. While in LA we also got good news of an offer on our condo that we accepted - and actually printed, signed, and faxed back from LAX. The LA to Singapore flight was over 16 hours long...and while those long ones are always taxing, everything went smoothly (thank goodness for great service from Singapore Airlines!).

So far this week, we've been enjoying time with Tony's parents who've welcomed us into their home where we're staying temporarily until we find an apartment. Jetlag is nearly behind us as we forced ourselves onto the local schedule upon arrival. We're making contacts to help find an apartment. I'm looking forward to attending an event tomorrow night with Democrats Abroad to watch Obama's speech - and to meeting people there. Tony starts work on Monday, so our week of vacation will soon be over.

The picture above was taken about 5:30am Singapore time on Monday shortly after we arrived. We're with Tony's mom...and roughly 300 pounds of luggage. :)

The beginning of a great adventure

As you probably know by now, Tony and I have just moved to Singapore! Welcome to my blog where I'll record and share some of my experiences living in Asia. Tony is blogging as well at: http://cynicsyear.blogspot.com.

The blog name: I grew up in Kansas and I've heard more than my share of Wizard of Oz cracks over the years (especially from those beloved East Coasters I've lived among the past decade). I've embraced the story's message to a degree - always seeking new experiences and adventure in life while recognizing that home and family are my foundation. The truth is I haven't lived in Kansas for a very long time now, but it is home - it's where my family lives - and will always be a special place to me.

Singapore is about as far away from Kansas City as you can get - and with each day here - each new interaction - it's clear that I'm "not in Kansas anymore."