We’re not dead!!!!!

Hello family and friends

A lot has happened since many of you have heard from us…we’ve flown for twenty-eight hours, randomly visited the Mall of America, arrived in Singapore, found a condo in Singapore, etc. etc. etc.  Whew–these past few weeks have been exhausting.  Many of you have been asking for funny stories, experiences, and a play-by-play of our time here so far.  We’ll try to regularly update this blog, so you can know what your favorite Singaporean friends are up to!  Here it goes!

The morning we left the Carolinas to come over here, we had a five hour layover in Minneapolis.  A five hour lay over is the last thing we were looking forward to before 12 hour and 7 hour flights, respectively.  When we arrived in Minneapolis, we were delighted to remember that it is the home of the Mall of America and there is a subway leading directly from the bus to the Mall entrance.  That’s all we needed to hear.  With that, we had rented lockers, stowed our carry-ons, and were on our way to the mall.  Upon arrival, we were greeted by the most massive shopping structure either of us had ever seen.  To top it all off, there was a theme park inside.  We toyed with the idea of riding a few roller coasters, but then decided to shop and grab some last glorious bites of American food before boarding our plane.  We chose Chipotle (just for you, Lucy!).

The plane flights were a blur of new release movies (Kung Fu Panda is awesome!), mediocre airplane food, and trips to the bathroom to stretch our legs (don’t worry, grandmother!).  Surprisingly, the seven hour flight didn’t seem so bad after the twelve hour flight and all in all, the traveling was not that bad.  It was quite a delight to touch down in Singapore early Thursday morning after leaving the States early on Tuesday.  Gotta love the time change:)

We were greeted by Rev’s roomate–Rangga–at the airport, who had a picture of us in hand, so we’d know who to look for.  Exhausted, we made our way back to Rev’s apartment and slept until early the next morning, when our exploration of our new city began.

Our first week in Singapore was kind of a blur–and a lot happened.  I’ll just hit a few of the highlights!

Rev was very kind to let us stay in his apartment.  Little did we realize, we were actually kicking him out of his room.  To top it all off, he is currently in the middle of a bit of a spat with his landlord.  Currently, the water in the shower doesn’t drain until at least 12 hours after the shower has been taken, nor does the toilet flush.  His latest saga involves an air conditioner with a shorting compressor.  Needless to say, only one degree north of the equator an air conditioner is quite essential.  We wanted to give Rev his room back, so he would have one less thing to worry about, so we began our apartment hunt on our second day in the country.

To find apartments here, one must hire an agent.  Unlike real estate agents in the US, these agents are your advocates for the term of your lease, going to bat for you if your landlord tries to neglect your clogged drain or your air conditioner:)  We had several agents searching on our behalf, and saw a total of seven properties before finding the one we now call “home.”  Most of the apartments were rather large, but seemed dirty and desperately needed a fresh coat of paint.  Aesthetics didn’t seem to be a top priority.  Since we are both OCD about things being clean, orderly, and looking nice, we became discouraged in our apartment pursuit.  Then, by the grace of God, we toured a little studio apartment at the Pandan Valley Condo Complex.  Our prayers had been answered!  We toured the apartment and the grounds and decided to take it on the spot–after a few negotiations!

Our first home together is a studio apartment that used to be part of a larger penthouse unit.  We are on the 14th floor and enjoy a view of the Singapore skyline (and our complex’s pool) from our window.  Since our apartment is part of a larger penthouse unit, we share a washroom (complete with dryer–the first one we had seen!!!) and a patio with three other units.  The patio isn’t just any patio.  It’s a two level rooftop porch with a 360 degree view of the island!  We are looking forward to many evenings of dancing under the tropical stars and enjoying dinner while looking at the lights of the city.  If you would like an apartment tour, call us on Skype!  We have a webcam and would be happy to show you around!  We’ll also post some pictures here on the blog.

I don’t want to make this blog entry horribly long, so I will stop here for now.  We have many many more great stories to share and I’m sure we’ve got many more great memories to make, so please check back frequently!  We hope you are all well back in the States.  We miss you!