So here I am on the eve of 2019, 40,000 feet in the air and about 1926 miles from my final destination and my nerves are shot. If I didn’t want to look halfway decent for NYE and enjoy my first day in my new home, my mood and anxiety would be greatly improved with a line-up of vodka tonics. But sadly my maturity is telling me I will want to take in my surroundings so instead I had a moderate amount of wine on the plane and enough water to keep several linebackers hydrated. #adulting
Through my virtually OCD level of research before the move, I’ve gleaned a couple of soundbites to communicate for what I hope passes as a rudimentary knowledge on Singapore but not enough to sound like an annoying prat. Such as, did you know Singapore is actually a smallish city-state? Or the expat community makes up around 25% of the overall Singaporean population (the numbers vary greatly on that actual %)? Some locals have also shared with me they call Singapore, Asia light because it’s fairly Westernized and because Singapore is the gateway to Asia due to its proximity to so many other countries. You’re welcome for the knowledge bomb.
I’ve also been told after about 6 months many newbies to Singapore will quite suddenly come down with restlessness and the need to leave or what some call cabin fever. I’m not too concerned about catching the fever (cabin not malaria – stay away malaria) as when I do I’ll just book a weekend trip to any of the beautiful countries surrounding my new home. I also have the added benefit of being especially conditioned to staying within a seven by seven-mile radius coming from my last home, San Francisco. I got this!
My new and old homes also had some serious similarities which ludicrous-ly put me at ease. Both cities also start with an ‘S’ and are in the top five (the order is contentiously debated every year) of the most expensive cities to reside. I just love, love, love spending money on rent apparently friends! Both cities also have an amazing food culture. I know this because every person who has been to Singapore told me this enthusiastically and longingly when I said I was moving there. I’m serious folks – I’ve never seen people look so lusty about food. Apparently Hawker Centers are where it’s at and where I’ll be spending most of my time. I’m told finger-licking, eye-popping food abounds in the local eateries where the cuisine is not only diverse but a fraction of restaurant prices. You can also grab cold beers and chill outside and some hawker stalls with Michelin star. Say what?
I mean, real talk, I have some preconceived ideas about what Singapore will be like but I can’t quit picture it. It’s still too fuzzy and too unknown. I have questions, like so many. For instance, do most people really speak English or will I need to go by some quasi-sign language for the next couple of years? Maybe there’s an app for that. And is it easy to make friends? I’m pretty personable by nature but what if Singaporeans just don’t like my style, my nationality or my laugh. I mean I’m a loud, tall American and I laugh capital ‘L’ – loudly. And good lord, do vegetarians exist in Asia or are they in hiding? A motto I’ve decided to repeat – eat first, ask questions later. I mean what can go wrong?
So here I go – arriving to Singapore with four suitcases, a husband, a yoga mat, 10 boxes with my life packed into them arriving who knows when and a very unclear picture of my new life. Having no clue what I’ll be doing beyond yoga and eating during my time in Singapore, I’ve decided to embrace the freedom and fluidity of my new life. So here’s to the food I plan to eat, the new friends that will see past my loudness and the next career move I undertake! Life is to short to get all your answers anyway. And now we jump.
*Written 12.30.18.
