I live here.

It hit me last night.  I live here.  I actually live here in Singapore.  I'm not just traveling around for awhile and then going back home.  I am here to live and work indefinitely.  There so many emotions that come with this realization.  I feel very happy and grateful to be here.  So far it has been one of the most amazing experiences.  I'm a little sad that it won't be easy to just hop on a cheap flight or jump in the car to go see good friends or family.  I feel so free and I feel amazing.  I feel like if I can move to Singapore and it can work out beautifully like it has, then I feel like anything in the world is possible.  Most of you know how I am with my hdigabtt's, weip's, and watip's? :)  But I know without a doubt now that anything at all is possible.  It's a very freeing feeling.  It's so hard to put it into words, but I feel like whatever the universe has in store for me from this point on, I'm here, I'm ready for whatever else is coming along in this amazing journey.  I also have very calm sense of peace (does that make any sense at all??). 

Since graduating from school, I've had quite a rocky road with jobs and moving around.  I wasn't always very happy with how my career path was going or where I was living.  In hindsight, I am beyond grateful for the experience I gained and the friends I made along the way.  I met the awesome girls from my first job who are really great friends now.  I got to spend good quality time with my Lakewood friends and family after being away at school for 8 years.  I met the awesome doc and his wife who trained me at my first job and helped me get my second job; they are a couple to love and admire.  I became friends with the girl from my Virginia who has taught me so much about myself and made me see myself in a different light.  I also had a great relationship experience while living in Virginia.  I can't imagine my life without these people.         

Now that I'm living here in Singapore and am working at this awesome job, I feel like I'm finally exactly where I want to be.  With this comes an immense sense of peace.  I feel like whatever happens after this, I don't care, I can rest easy at night now that I've done this.  (Does this make any sense??)                   

It's Friday!

Singaporeans are very happy on Fridays, as am I because I have successfully finished my first week of work in Singapore!  The training went very well.  Before I left work, my doc said that I'm ready to be on my own if she were to deliver early and not be able to make it in next week, which is going to be her last week.

I work right by Boat Quay, which is a strip of bars and restaurants by the water.  After work, I go down to Boat Quay hoping that I can find the Royal Wedding on tv at one of the bars.  Well that definitely was not a problem.  There are Royal Wedding fans all along the strip watching the wedding (there are many people from the UK that live here).  Some of the tables have the UK flag on their table for the celebration.  It was perfect timing; I made it down to one of the bars right before Kate gets out to walk down the aisle.  I admit it...I had tears in my eyes as she walked down the aisle.  She is so beautiful and her dress was beautiful.  They were so cute.  They looked like any normal couple my age who is getting married.  You could see them whispering to each other during certain times of the broadcast.  They didn't look stiff and cold like you would think a royal wedding would be.  It was just so beautiful....tear.

It was very amusing watching it in a crowd of people who were obviously from the UK.  They cheered and clapped when certain people came on the screen, such as Sir Elton John.  They laughed during certain parts, like when the brother whispered something to William.  It was a great place to be to watch the wedding. 

After the wedding, I went down to another bar with an Aussie and my new American friend from the Philly area.  She is my age and has been travelling for the last year and a half.  She was in New Zealand for awhile and has been here in Singapore for a short time now.  She is a bartender at the Prince of Wales hostel bar, and just got a daytime job contracted for the next 3 months.  She is easy to talk to and we connect talking about men, traveling, and cities we would move to in the US after traveling abroad.  She reminds me of my old roommate from chiro school and has almost the exact same laugh.  It makes me miss my old roommate (miss you L!!) so I attempt to text her after having a few Tiger beers and have trouble remembering her number that we worked so hard to remember during school in case I ever lost my phone and needed to call her.  Of course it comes right to me when I wake up the next morning. :-P  It is nice to have another single, American girl to talk to here!                 

Getting Settled

I have finally found a place to live after much procrastinating and minimal searching.  I am moving into a 3 bedroom fully furnished condo that only has one other roommate right now.  My roommate is a Malaysian girl who moved here and opened her own hair salon.  She barely speaks any English but is very nice and respectful so far.  Her boyfriend speaks English very well and helps us communicate as we get things organized.  She has the master bedroom with her own bathroom.  I have what is called a common room, which means I have my own bedroom but eventually I will share the bathroom with whoever moves in the 3rd room.  The condo has 2 pools, one of which is huge.  It also has a gym which I have not checked out yet.

My new roommate works a lot including on the weekends, which means I will have lots of quiet time to myself at night and on the weekends which I like. :)  I will be using Google translate a lot to help communicate with her.  If you haven't checked Google translate out yet, it is a must.  You can translate any word/phrase to another language and you can click on a link and the computer will say the expression for you so you can hear how it is pronounced.  So I will be learning a little bit of Chinese while I am here. 

The condo is very nice, clean and modern looking.  I haven't seen many condos in Singapore yet, but I think it is the typical style of condos here.  I think they are designed the way they are due to the climate.  The floors are all tile except for my bedroom which has medium colored hardwood floors (or fake hardwood floors, I can't tell).  There are mirrors everywhere in this place.  There is a whole wall that is just mirrors on the back wall of the living/dining area.  There are sliding doors in the living room that open up to the outside, but not really a balcony to step out onto, it's kind of like the living room is the balcony if that makes any sense.  There is a kitchen with stove top burners, but no oven.  Most condos here don't have ovens.  Then the laundry room is a balcony area that is actually outside, but has roof and is partially enclosed with walls.  Also, most condos don't have dryers, but we do have a washing machine.  I am having trouble uploading photos into the blog for whatever reason, so you will have to refer to my facebook album 2011 for pics of the condo. 

It is nice to have a place to go home to after working all day. :)

Last Weekend and First Day

I am very behind on blogging as I was looking for a place to live over the week, while training at my new job this week as well.  I did manage to blog a little bit in Word, so here's the update for last weekend:

The Weekend

I don’t really start work until Monday, so really the whole week was like a holiday/long weekend for me.  Friday I am so tired from this long week, I stay in with the chiro couple and hang out.  They are some of the coolest and nicest people I have ever met.  We have that Palmer connection (for my Palmer peeps, you know exactly what I’m talking about).  He went to Palmer up until sixth tri before he transferred and she was working in the quad cities when they met.  One really cool thing they did is travel all around Mexico for four months while he practiced there.  She taught me so much about Mexico that I never knew.  Here’s the awesome couple:

(pics will have to come later, they are not uploading for me now :( )

They take me for my first real Singaporean style eatery.  These are called Hawka Centers and they have them all over the city.  It’s kind of cafeteria style where you can get authentic local food from all these different venders.  I get prawn and noodle soup:

(Insert bowl of soup with noodles, vegetables, and prawns)

  Then I top it off with coconut ice cream from a local ice cream shop J

Saturday is my last night to have fun before I start work early on Monday morning so I am determined to go out and have a good time.  My Aussie friend meets me at the area down by the water called Boat Quay for drinks in a bit.  We meet at the Prince of Wales (2) and talk to the two female bartenders who are both from New Zealand (and yes they were young, blonde, and very cute for you male blog readers ;-)).  Later we go to the Prince of Wales (1) back in Little India and hang out with our English friends.  It ends up being another fun and very late night out J Ever since the other night, I start thinking in an English accent.  I don’t start talking like them except I throw in the occasional “mate” or “bloke” just having fun, but I can’t stop my thoughts from having an accent.  Isn’t that weird??  Here are some of the mates:

(Insert 4 mates here)

I am amazed at these young guns who are working here and making good money at such a young age.  One of them works with gold mines that he gets investors to invest in (or something like that?).  When he makes a deal, he gets 5% of whatever that is.  I can only imagine what 5% of an investment in a gold mine is!  Another does some kind of property investment or something similar.  Some of these blokes are only 22 years old!    

I am a little sad that my full days of aimless wandering and exploring are over… Do I really have to start work tomorrow? L  

Facts about Singapore

-The driver’s seat is on the right side of the car

-They drive on the left side of the road

-It is not customary to tip here (this has been a bit of a struggle for me to not tip)

-Even at fast food places, you never clean up after yourself

-There are two seasons-rain and shine and it's always warm/hot :) (love that!)

-There are 10 public holidays throughout the year that we have off (I have no idea what they are yet)

More to come later.... :)

Day 4

I have to check out of my hotel today and figure out where to go next.  I am so tired from my long night I try to get my room for another night but they are booked.  For some reason I don’t believe them; I am right because while I am waiting for the taxi, they book a room to this older gentlemen.  Last night the Aussie said they can be prejudice here.  I don’t get that at all with the diverse culture here??  Then my later theory is that I take away from the prostitution business?  Prostitution is legal in Singapore.  Around the same time every evening, maybe around 6pm there are always a few young females that sit outside at the hotel tables wearing lots of makeup and tight, short clothing.  Maybe the hotel owner is a combo owner/pimp?  Just a theory.   

Last night I checked to see if a couple of the hostels have rooms available starting today but they are all booked due to the holiday.  Good Friday is a big holiday here and everyone has off.  I get the name of another hostel from my chiro friend and decide to take my chances and just take a cab there with my two big suitcases.  They only have a bed available in the co-ed dormer.  I’m too tired to try to go anywhere else, so I book it for a couple nights.  I saw a shared room in a hostel last night and it didn’t look too bad, but that was only with two people.  I walk into the dormer and it’s horrible for my situation.  There are a bunch of bunk beds and they are so close together and there’s no room anywhere to put my two biga** suitcases.  I line them up along the back wall.  I am freaking out, there’s no way I can stay here when I have to get ready for work.  Now if I was backpacking with a friend, this would be great for that situation.  They are dirt cheap (S$22 a night or $18 USD), you get a bed, a shower, free wifi, a little locker to store any valuables, and some even have free breakfast.  But for a working professional who just moved here with a lot of luggage, not really ideal.  Luckily I can stay with my chiro friend and his wife for the weekend.  They are moving on Sunday into a house with another chiro couple so I’ll need to figure out something on Sunday.  I literally have to take things one day at a time right now as I figure everything out.  It’s all part of the experience. J

When I told people that I got a job in Singapore, all of the sudden everyone knew someone who knew someone who lived in Singapore!  This was awesome, so I got as many contacts as I could to meet with people and ask them advice on living here and things I should know.  Today I met with my sister’s friend’s friend.  This lady is from Scotland and has been here for about 9 months with her husband and 16 month old girl.  I feel like I already know all the basics of living here (transportation, banking, phone, etc) already after 4 days, so she mostly told me about where they have lived over the years and cool places to go in Singapore.  She said don’t hesitate to ever call her if I want her to come see some of the sights in Singapore during the weekends.  Another new friend I can add to my list here in Singapore.  I feel very lucky to have come here and not feel like I'm alone! :) 

Day 3 part 2

It already has been a very busy day for me...time to go change and have a beer somewhere.  I go to a nearby hostel bar Prince of Wales where my new chiro friend and wife took me yesterday.  There is a (very cute, young, blonde) english bartender and no one else in the bar. :-D  What a lucky gal I am!  I chat with him on and off until an asian looking guy comes in.  Enter the Aussie Filipino.  I start talking with him and learn that he is from the Phillipines but lived in Australia for quite some time; he definitely talks like an Aussie (and is bunking with the English bartender at a hostel).  I'm in accent heaven...english and australian!  The awesome thing is that at a hostel bar you run into all sorts of people who are traveling so it's really easy to chat with anyone.  My night consisted of conversation with a table of English men here for their job for a year, a Filipino lady and her Scottish boyfriend, a black American from NYC and many more. 

My first drink bought for me in Singapore (and my local cell phone) called Jam Jar; basically just rum, pineapple juice, and grenadine. 

The mural on the wall at the hostel bar Prince of Wales
After a few drinks, my new Aussie friend took me to an area by the water called Boat Quay (pronounced Kee).  There are a ton of seafood restaurants and bars along the water in this area:

You can pick from these GIGANTIC crabs and lobsters....

I tried to take nightime pictures of all the pretty buildings and lights at night but I am NOT a professional and most of them didn't turn out.  Here's a kinda okay one:

Next we walked around an area called Clarke Quay where there are lots of bars and nightclubs in another area by the water:

You are never too far from home with the local Hooters:

After my mini-tour of Singapore's hot spots, the Aussie and I go back and hang out with the rest of our newfound friends for the evening at the Prince of Wales.  Eventually around 4am, we end up at the Marriott Hotel at an after party, which is basically just a dance party at the hotel's bar/nightclub.  On the dance floor, the cops/security people (not sure of their technical term) watch over the dance floor, while at the same time serving drinks to patrons on the couches surrounding the dance floor.  Double duty I suppose.  I end up back at the hotel sometime around 6am.  I would say my first night out in Singapore was a success! :)

Day 3 part 1

I wake up and don't really feel like I'm halfway across the world.  I don't know if I will every feel like I'm continents away from home.  Singapore is very much like the western world.  It's very culturally diverse but you have the Starbucks, McDonald's, clothing stores, etc that we have here.  It is very comparable to New York City.

Singapore is a very clean city.  Littering is a hefty fine, so people don't do it.  In the early morning, there are always people out sweeping and cleaning.  The MRT systems are super clean, very different from the metro in nyc.  There are no homeless people riding the train or in the train stations.  The trains are enclosed so that their are doors outside of the train that have to open too to get on so it's super safe.  There is no bad smells since everything is entirely enclosed.  Surprisingly, smoking is pretty big here.  You wouldn't know it because there aren't cig butts everywhere and you can't smoke inside places and even in some areas outside.  Today while sitting outside of McDonalds at a table, I saw the Singapore police make some people put out their cigs and they were across the way, not even close to Mickey Ds.  I have adapted to the heat and humidity pretty well so far.  It only really affects me if I am walking around in my work clothes for too long outside.

Today I am going in the office for an hour to observe how the doctor does her new patient exams and reports.  I will observe one more on Monday and then the rest of the new patients will be scheduled under me.  I love the way the doc practices-it's pure and simple chiropractic, the way it should be.  I will learn a lot practicing the way she does and hope to bring that back to the states if I ever move back.  Her office is just one office on the 31st floor of a building in the central business district.  The view out her window is phenomenal (pictures will come later; I will take them once she is not there anymore).  All that's in her office is an adjustment table, a spine, a desk, and two chairs.  All the furniture is very nice.  The ladies at the front desk only job is to greet the patients and call the doc when the patient arrives.  We do everything else-we take the phone calls, schedule, money, whatever else I'm forgetting right now.  We schedule one patient every half an hour and a new patient gets an hour.  The patient visit takes an average of 15 minutes, which allows the other 15 to do all the things we need to do. 

Some of the things I'm learning are very important to the doc-first impressions, appearance, patient care (of course, as it should be!)  She is very adamant about the doctor looking their best and looking better than the patients.  She believes as a doctor and health & wellness professional, we should be well groomed and look like we are a doctor.  She is so adamant that she gave me my first week's pay already to get some shirts tailored for myself.  Now that was fun, I got measured and picked out 6 fabrics to have my first ever tailored work shirts done!  To give you an idea of costs, the price was S$75 per shirt (S$ is singapore dollars) which is roughly $63 a shirt.  I don't think that's too bad for a custom tailored shirt.  Another thing the doc is doing for me, is taking me to get my hair done tomorrow (on her).  My hair does not tolerate humidity, so I haven't taken the time yet to do it curly with gel yet.  So everytime she has seen me, I have had my once straightened slightly frizzy hair back in a knot thing.  I don't think she liked the look too much for the professional setting....

I really appreciate all that she is doing is for me.  Already three days in, this has been such a unique and cool experience! :)  How does it get even better than this??

   

Day 2

I wake up at 5:30am due to all the extra sleep I got yesterday evening and overnight.  Breakfast doesn’t start till 7 and I bought the wrong converter which won’t take my laptop plug, which has now died.  Luckily, the lobby has a computer which guests can use for free.  I hang out on there for awhile and check email and chat with my mom on gmail.  It is very weird because of the time change, I am talking to her yesterday evening. 

Breakfast in the little kitchen area is help yourself style and then wash your own dishes.  Options are bread, peanut butter, jelly, butter, biscuits (like shortbread cookie/crackers), little bananas, and coffee.  After breakfast, I walk around Little India.  I don’t want to get too lost so I stay on one road for a long while and walk to the next block and back.  It is too early and everything is closed so there’s not much to see.  This area is all local Indians, so I got lots of looks while walking around.  Definitely out of my comfort zone but it’s a small baby step at 7:30 in the morning on my first full day in Singapore.

I go back and get some coffee in the little kitchen and there is a girl by herself maybe around my age who was definitely not a local.  I chat it up with her and find out she is from London doing a three week trip with her friends to the Asian countries, one of which they have a friend getting married in.  Oh how I love the English accent! 

I am being picked up at 1pm by my cousin’s friend to show me the train system (called the MRT) and how to get to my workplace.  I spend the rest of the morning between my fiction novel and the hotel computer with their delicious instant coffee on hand. 

The MRT system is super easy to understand and get around.  Also very inexpensive.  Once we get into the MRT system and into the business district, the culture is much more diverse and you see every ethnicity imaginable.  Singapore is really not that big of a city (it’s technically a city-state); to give you an idea, you could take the train from one end to the other in about an hour or so and you can get to Malaysia in about that amount of time. 

I meet with my new doctor in person for the first time.  Just like I had on the Skype interview, I instantly feel comfortable with her.  She is the cutest lady from Austria, went to undergraduate and chiropractic school in Cali, practiced in Thailand for awhile, then practiced in Singapore for the last four years.  She is pregnant and due at the end of May.  Her goal is to not come back to work at all.  She wants to stay at home with the baby and do business/marketing stuff from home.  Her last day will be May 7^th.  We will train for the next two weeks then I will be on my own.  There is a two month probation period; if everything goes well then I will be here for however long life keeps me here.  I am super excited for this opportunity and to explore a new place. 

After I meet with my doc, I meet up with another chiropractor and his wife who are friends with someone I went to school with.  It is comforting having some Americans to talk to, especially one who is a chiropractor who has worked here for the last 6 months.  They are super cool and have traveled many places since graduation, including a four month trip of Mexico.  We go to one of the hostel bars and have a beer and I learn all I can about living in Singapore.  Turns out this is one of the easiest countries to move to and get everything set up (banking, phone, etc).  They help me get a local cell phone and advisement on banking.  Since I have a two month probation period, rather than try to get a place yet, I am either going to stay with my new chiro friend and wife if they have a room at their new place or live in the hostel.  I was always weary of staying in a hostel since I never have before, but they reassured me the hostels here are SO safe.  Tomorrow they are going to take me to visit one that they have been to that is close to my work.

Goodnight World!            

Singapore-Day 1

I finally arrive in Singapore after 23 hours of total flight time.  The flight went from Cle to LA (5 hrs) to China (15 hrs) to Singapore (3 hrs).  I had a nice lady to talk to on the flight to LA who used to be a travel nurse in the US.  The flight to China was very cramped and I had very little leg room but at least was by the window.  I tried to sleep as much as I could on the flight.  The flight activities went something like this: eat, sleep, listen to ipod, watch asian movie w/ subtitles, repeat.  I only got up once the whole flight, but somehow the flight flew by. 
First thing I learned about the Asian culture while waiting for my flight in LA; Asians do not really understand the concept of personal space.  This is only an observation, not a judgement.  My goal is to give you an idea of what the culture I'm about experience for awhile is like. 

I could not access the internet in China or figure out how to use my calling cards on their phones so I was hoping my family wasn't too freaked out by now that they hadn't heard from me yet.  I also had no idea if I still had a ride coming to get me at the airport since I couldn't check facebook, so I was pretty anxious once I got to China.

On the flight to Singapore, I really experienced the lack of personal space.  Since I do not want to disrespect another one's culture, I didn't say anything to the girl next to me whose elbow kept hitting me as she put on her make-up for the last half hour of the flight.  She was a dead ringer for this girl I went to school with. 

Finally I arrive in Singapore around 12:35pm two days later.  Immigration and customs was a breeze since I had my employment pass (similar to work visa) with me on hand.  My ride; two native Singaporian who are friends of my cousin's were there waiting for me outside of customs.  Even though my cousin knows these two natives, she has never met them in person, only on Skype.  I heard before I came here that it is one of the safest countries in the world.  I was still nervous about these two natives picking me up.  When I met them outside of customs, they were very respectable and helpful so I felt a little better.

Stepping outside into Singapore, it was hot and humid.  Quite a contrast to the cold spring Cleveland has been having so far.  I welcome the hot, but my hair will not survive the humid.  The ride from the airport to the hotel was beautiful.  There is a beautiful area called the East Coast Park (I think?) with beautiful greenery and the longest bike/running paths in Singapore overlooking the beautiful blue water.  Once we got into the city there's lots of pretty buildings and condos.  It looks like a mini-NYC when you get into the heart of the business district of Singapore. 

My hotel is in Little India and you definitely feel like that's where you are at.  The hotel room is small but has AC, free wifi, and free breakfast which is all I really need.  My first meal in Singapore is a spicy seafood noodle dish.  Ahhh authentic asian food=delicious.  I think it had chicken in it?  I decided before I came here that I will be open to trying any new foods over here whether it's meat or something else.

Jet lag=long evening nap and early bedtime.  Goodnight.