My number one love in life is to travel. I am the happiest when I am traveling. :) I love to see new places and experience different cultures. It's fun to experience different climates, types of people, food, scenery, and the list goes on. Today, while sitting by the pool, I made a travel bucket list. If I made just a bucket list, the whole list would pretty much be about traveling anyway. :-P Boy do I have some ground to cover! :) I've covered almost half of the US which I think is pretty good so far. I've visited 20 states and 29 cities in the US. I count a city if I actually stayed overnight and did something in that city. Layovers, overnight stays enroute, and plane flying through doesn't count. I did include the cities that I have lived in (excluding all the different suburbs of Cleveland; Cle just counts as one). In addition, I've been to four other countries besides the US. Favorite three cities in the US that I've been to: NYC, Austin, and Sedona. I've loved every country that I've been to because they have each been very different. There's something to love about all of them.
I broke the travel bucket list down by countries/area of the world.
United States: Seattle, San Francisco, Hawaii, Colorado, New Orleans (for Mardi Gras)
Canada: Montreal, Toronto
Mexico: Any resort in Mexico-whoever recommends a good one :)
Carribean
Europe: A one month tour of all the major cities in Europe, London, Ireland, Iceland (to see the Northern Lights)
Australia
New Zealand
China: Hong Kong, Shanghai
Tokyo
Southeast Asia: Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Bali, Borneo (these are some of the many recommended places from friends that have lived here for awhile and have travelled around SE Asia a bit)
It will be easy to travel southeast Asia while I am here. You can travel to many of the countries for very cheap (S$100-120 round trip flight) and they aren't that far away so a weekend is all you need for many of them. I'll plan my first weekend trip away to Malaysia soon, since it's less than hour away via bus or train.
What's your favorite city or country that you've been to?
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
A German, an American, and a Malaysian
This is the melting pot that makes up my condo now. :) Wednesday evening, a third roommate finally moved into the unoccupied bedroom. I hadn't met her yet because I was at work when they showed the condo, so I was very nervous about who was coming to live with us. All the what-ifs cross your mind with a mysterious person coming to live with you.
The new roommate is a 21 year old girl from Germany, who is living here for 6 months doing her internship at a shipping company. Instantly, I liked her as I had the first roommate. Very sweet girl and very respectable as well. She speaks English very well so her and I chatted a bit right away. I showed her the route for the bus and MRT the next morning and we met for food and beers after work Thursday and Friday. I am happy to have another girl to hang out with and it's been nice getting to know her. I love learning about other cultures and what it's like to live in other countries. She has been learning English since she was 8 years old and knows 1-2 other languages besides her own.
I really think that Americans should be required to start learning at least one language from the time they are in Kindergarten, and maybe incorporate another one halfway through grade school. We retain languages so much faster and easier when we are really young. Why does everyone else in the world have to learn English, but Americans can go almost anywhere in the world and not really be forced to learn the language. For me, in this lifetime it is a blessing because languages are hard for me with my hearing. I would need the first few years of my life again to learn how to read lips in another language. But I actually think I'm becoming quite adaptable at reading people's lips with their many accents that I come across. We are so much more adaptable as humans than we realize sometimes.
Do you know another language? What is your perspective on how non-multilingual Americans are? (I have started posting questions at the end of the blogs to hopefully get more feedback from my loyal readers. :) I would love to hear more from you guys! :) To give credit where it's due I stole this idea from a fellow Clevelander's blog.)
The new roommate is a 21 year old girl from Germany, who is living here for 6 months doing her internship at a shipping company. Instantly, I liked her as I had the first roommate. Very sweet girl and very respectable as well. She speaks English very well so her and I chatted a bit right away. I showed her the route for the bus and MRT the next morning and we met for food and beers after work Thursday and Friday. I am happy to have another girl to hang out with and it's been nice getting to know her. I love learning about other cultures and what it's like to live in other countries. She has been learning English since she was 8 years old and knows 1-2 other languages besides her own.
I really think that Americans should be required to start learning at least one language from the time they are in Kindergarten, and maybe incorporate another one halfway through grade school. We retain languages so much faster and easier when we are really young. Why does everyone else in the world have to learn English, but Americans can go almost anywhere in the world and not really be forced to learn the language. For me, in this lifetime it is a blessing because languages are hard for me with my hearing. I would need the first few years of my life again to learn how to read lips in another language. But I actually think I'm becoming quite adaptable at reading people's lips with their many accents that I come across. We are so much more adaptable as humans than we realize sometimes.
Do you know another language? What is your perspective on how non-multilingual Americans are? (I have started posting questions at the end of the blogs to hopefully get more feedback from my loyal readers. :) I would love to hear more from you guys! :) To give credit where it's due I stole this idea from a fellow Clevelander's blog.)
Random Tuesday Evening
So far I haven't gone out during the week after work because I get up at 6:00 am for work most days (unless I don't have an 8:00 patient). Tuesday was one of those days that I really, really wanted a beer after work. So my American friend met me for a beer before her networking meeting. She has been an awesome new friend to hang out with. Conversation flows so easily and she is such a laid-back, cool girl.
After she went to her meeting, I know I had seen one of the guys in the office next door a couple bars down. The office next door to me is full of computers and there's usually about 5-7 guys in there on the computer all day. I had no idea what they did until Tuesday night. Before Tuesday I had only met the one guy who I decided to go say hi too. They invited me to join them of course. They are all older, married men probably in their 30s and mostly 40s. Here in Singapore, anyone hangs out with anyone. It's just whatcha do here. It's just one big family of expats down at Boat Quay. Turns out these guys sit on the computer and trade all day. Buy stuff, then sell it. Fun, fun (mild sarcasm). :-P A couple beers later and a few tequila shots later (no idea why, but they were getting into the tequila shots that night----straight up too with no salt or lime) it was after 11:30! A little past my weekday bedtime. I headed home and was really worried about being hungover for work from the tequila...so I proceeded to eat a McDonalds double cheeseburger before hitting the MRT (if you haven't figured out by now from previous posts, I'm not a pescatarian here in Sing, got to be willing to try anything as part of the experience). I am a firm believer if you eat before bed when you have been drinking, it will help lessen the hangover :)
Now I wasn't just a little worried, I was really, really worried about feeling bad for work. So I proceeded to get a second double cheeseburger by my condo....Yikes. There I admitted it. I ate two double cheeseburgers from McDonalds. :-o
Have you ever ate crazy after a night out? What was the best meal post-drinking you've had?
After she went to her meeting, I know I had seen one of the guys in the office next door a couple bars down. The office next door to me is full of computers and there's usually about 5-7 guys in there on the computer all day. I had no idea what they did until Tuesday night. Before Tuesday I had only met the one guy who I decided to go say hi too. They invited me to join them of course. They are all older, married men probably in their 30s and mostly 40s. Here in Singapore, anyone hangs out with anyone. It's just whatcha do here. It's just one big family of expats down at Boat Quay. Turns out these guys sit on the computer and trade all day. Buy stuff, then sell it. Fun, fun (mild sarcasm). :-P A couple beers later and a few tequila shots later (no idea why, but they were getting into the tequila shots that night----straight up too with no salt or lime) it was after 11:30! A little past my weekday bedtime. I headed home and was really worried about being hungover for work from the tequila...so I proceeded to eat a McDonalds double cheeseburger before hitting the MRT (if you haven't figured out by now from previous posts, I'm not a pescatarian here in Sing, got to be willing to try anything as part of the experience). I am a firm believer if you eat before bed when you have been drinking, it will help lessen the hangover :)
Now I wasn't just a little worried, I was really, really worried about feeling bad for work. So I proceeded to get a second double cheeseburger by my condo....Yikes. There I admitted it. I ate two double cheeseburgers from McDonalds. :-o
Have you ever ate crazy after a night out? What was the best meal post-drinking you've had?
Monday, May 9, 2011
Weekends
I get nervous and happy all at the same time when Friday comes. I am happy and fulfilled because I finished another week of helping people with chiropractic at this awesome office here in Singapore. I get a little nervous because I know that if I am going to have lonley moments, they will more likely hit on the weekends. (side note: lonley moments do not equal unhappy moments if that make sense) During the week, I have enough social interaction with patients and have a busy schedule that I don't have time to be lonley.
Luckily, I've been blessed and had people to hang out with every weekend since I've been here. I never know what's going to happen or who I'm going to meet. Even if I didn't find anyone to hang out with, there is still so much of Singapore for me to explore. This was my third weekend here in Singapore. It was finally sunny and not cloudy like it has been on the weekends. I spent Saturday afternoon laying on the beach with a book. It was pure bliss. Laying on the sand with the sun shining down on me and the ocean sounds in the background. My heaven on earth. :) Not to mention, I somehow picked out the perfect read at the bookstore sale that I can relate to. It is a fiction book about this woman who moves to NYC with her husband for his job. She can't get a work visa so she is left to explore the city by herself all day and most evenings. She goes through some of the same transitions and feelings that I do. The book also explores the lives of the other tenants in this co-op building that this woman lives in; some of which are single girls who recently moved to the city for a job. Again, totally relatable.
Saturday night was another evening spent mostly at one of the beach bars with some mojitos and some of my newfound friends. Here it is so easy to talk to anyone because you know most of them are traveling or living here from somewhere else. There was a guy sitting all by himself for quite awhile at one of the other tables, so I said to my friend from Philly that her and I should invite him over because everyone of us at our table knows what it's like to be alone in another country. This kid turned out to be from Spain and has been traveling the last few months around Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It was his last night in Singapore and I'm sure he appreciated the company.
Sunday, I bravely ventured to the Singaporean version of Wal-mart called Mustafa Centre. When you are moving to another country, you have no idea what you should pack for sure until after you get there. What I should've packed: more towels, a handtowel or two, my good tennis shoes (I know you're thinking what?? But I didn't think I would want to run in the humid weather and they were so bulky and it was the morning of that I packed shoes and was slightly stressed. Ok there, I had to defend myself :-P). What I should've left at home: jeans, all work shirts (I had to get mine tailored here), workout pants (too hot, will only wear shorts). That's actually not too bad, I packed pretty well for moving here. Getting slightly off topic here, but the Mustafa Centre was perfect for some of the additional things I needed. Slightly crazy on Sundays but it had to be done. :)
Sunday afternoon I swam laps at my condo pool and laid out some more. Swimming is not my strong suit, but I'm going to use as my cardio workout for now. It can only get better with practice, right? :)
Luckily, I've been blessed and had people to hang out with every weekend since I've been here. I never know what's going to happen or who I'm going to meet. Even if I didn't find anyone to hang out with, there is still so much of Singapore for me to explore. This was my third weekend here in Singapore. It was finally sunny and not cloudy like it has been on the weekends. I spent Saturday afternoon laying on the beach with a book. It was pure bliss. Laying on the sand with the sun shining down on me and the ocean sounds in the background. My heaven on earth. :) Not to mention, I somehow picked out the perfect read at the bookstore sale that I can relate to. It is a fiction book about this woman who moves to NYC with her husband for his job. She can't get a work visa so she is left to explore the city by herself all day and most evenings. She goes through some of the same transitions and feelings that I do. The book also explores the lives of the other tenants in this co-op building that this woman lives in; some of which are single girls who recently moved to the city for a job. Again, totally relatable.
Saturday night was another evening spent mostly at one of the beach bars with some mojitos and some of my newfound friends. Here it is so easy to talk to anyone because you know most of them are traveling or living here from somewhere else. There was a guy sitting all by himself for quite awhile at one of the other tables, so I said to my friend from Philly that her and I should invite him over because everyone of us at our table knows what it's like to be alone in another country. This kid turned out to be from Spain and has been traveling the last few months around Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It was his last night in Singapore and I'm sure he appreciated the company.
Sunday, I bravely ventured to the Singaporean version of Wal-mart called Mustafa Centre. When you are moving to another country, you have no idea what you should pack for sure until after you get there. What I should've packed: more towels, a handtowel or two, my good tennis shoes (I know you're thinking what?? But I didn't think I would want to run in the humid weather and they were so bulky and it was the morning of that I packed shoes and was slightly stressed. Ok there, I had to defend myself :-P). What I should've left at home: jeans, all work shirts (I had to get mine tailored here), workout pants (too hot, will only wear shorts). That's actually not too bad, I packed pretty well for moving here. Getting slightly off topic here, but the Mustafa Centre was perfect for some of the additional things I needed. Slightly crazy on Sundays but it had to be done. :)
Sunday afternoon I swam laps at my condo pool and laid out some more. Swimming is not my strong suit, but I'm going to use as my cardio workout for now. It can only get better with practice, right? :)
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Random tidbits and thoughts
-In Singapore, they write the date DD/MM/YY. That was a little confusing for me in the beginning with writing the date every day on patient charts.
-I miss my straight hair. But I love the warm weather. :)
-My commute to work: A minute walk to the bus stop, a 10-12 minute bus ride to the MRT station, followed by a 12-15 minute MRT ride to work. This all costs me S$1.33. :)
-I really miss my cat sometimes, he was my buddy....especially the last 4 months of not working/working part-time (only you pet lovers understand this!)
-There are fruit and juice stores all over Singapore. I love being able to go get a fresh squeezed juice wherever I go! Right now my favorite is Carrot, until I try more flavors. :)
-Everyday at least once, I think, "Is this really my life?" It feels so natural to live & work here, and to live this new lifestyle. :)
-Singaporeans insert "lah" after random phrases/questions/etc. I haven't figured out what random phrases/questions/etc these are :-P
-In the condos here, you have a garbage chute you throw your garbage down. No one ever has to take out the garbage. :)
-Cars are really expensive here. For example-A Ford Focus costs S$90,000, a Toyota Corolla costs S$93,000 and a Toyota Camry costs S$132,000. :-O
-I miss watching Glee and Grey's Anatomy (abc.com and hulu.com won't work overseas :( )
-I tried intestines over the weekend (I don't know what kind of animal...) With lots of cilantro, it tasted semi-okay. I could only stomach two pieces before I wanted to gag just knowing that they were intestines....But I'll try anything once! :)
What strange foods or random thoughts do you have today? :)
-I miss my straight hair. But I love the warm weather. :)
-My commute to work: A minute walk to the bus stop, a 10-12 minute bus ride to the MRT station, followed by a 12-15 minute MRT ride to work. This all costs me S$1.33. :)
-I really miss my cat sometimes, he was my buddy....especially the last 4 months of not working/working part-time (only you pet lovers understand this!)
-There are fruit and juice stores all over Singapore. I love being able to go get a fresh squeezed juice wherever I go! Right now my favorite is Carrot, until I try more flavors. :)
-Everyday at least once, I think, "Is this really my life?" It feels so natural to live & work here, and to live this new lifestyle. :)
-Singaporeans insert "lah" after random phrases/questions/etc. I haven't figured out what random phrases/questions/etc these are :-P
-In the condos here, you have a garbage chute you throw your garbage down. No one ever has to take out the garbage. :)
-Cars are really expensive here. For example-A Ford Focus costs S$90,000, a Toyota Corolla costs S$93,000 and a Toyota Camry costs S$132,000. :-O
-I miss watching Glee and Grey's Anatomy (abc.com and hulu.com won't work overseas :( )
-I tried intestines over the weekend (I don't know what kind of animal...) With lots of cilantro, it tasted semi-okay. I could only stomach two pieces before I wanted to gag just knowing that they were intestines....But I'll try anything once! :)
What strange foods or random thoughts do you have today? :)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Nannies in Singapore
My boss is pregnant and due at the end of May. This week will be her last week at work, and then I will be on my own! She was telling me about live-in-nannies in Singapore because she has hired one (I think she lives alone.) The nanny will work 6 days a week, 24 hours a day, with Sunday off. She will cook, clean, and help take care of the baby. She costs S$700/month!! Which is about S$595 after taxes! The nanny is from the Phillipines and her 3 kids are still in the Phillipines. That $595 that she makes will put her 3 kids through college back in the Phillipines. Wow!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Icky energy
I have realized that there aren't very many Americans here in Singapore. Most of the expats are from Europe and Australia (and of course Asia). So when I hear an American accent or hear somebody say they are from America, I jump in with, "Where in America are you from?" I was at Prince of Wales on Saturday night sitting at the bar by myself (I have now come to know a couple of the bartenders there, and feel most comfortable going there if I'm by myself), and I heard an older, bald gentlemen getting a coke from the bar say he was from America. For the Palmer peeps, he looked like a combination of the 2 male NMS teachers. He was from New York and invited me to sit with his table outside when I said I was from Ohio. He was sitting with a very nice Japanese lady (who is a potential future patient!), an older Australian gentlemen and his brother.
Within 15 minutes of talking to this American gentlemen, I could tell he was of the cocky and arrogant type. Ick. Luckily, I talked mostly to the Japanese lady and a little bit to the Australian gentlemen. Whenever the American gentlemen would talk to me, I just wanted to get away. I did NOT like his energy or personality. And no, he wasn't making any passes or anything like that towards me. He talked mostly about living in Singapore and places in the US. There's no other way to describe it other than his energy was just...icky!
Within 15 minutes of talking to this American gentlemen, I could tell he was of the cocky and arrogant type. Ick. Luckily, I talked mostly to the Japanese lady and a little bit to the Australian gentlemen. Whenever the American gentlemen would talk to me, I just wanted to get away. I did NOT like his energy or personality. And no, he wasn't making any passes or anything like that towards me. He talked mostly about living in Singapore and places in the US. There's no other way to describe it other than his energy was just...icky!
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