Just another day in Singapore…

Dear friends,

Wow–what a month it has been.  Obviously, I am terrible at keeping a journal.  If you check my bookshelf at home in Kentucky, I’m sure you can find a few diaries I tried to start when I was younger only to leave the vast majority of pages blank.  This blog is my sorry attempt to break that habit. 

So this entry won’t be a boring recap of the last month and a half, I’ll just list a few of the things that have happened.  If you would like for me to expand on any–let me know:)

Valentine’s Day date to cafes around Singapore ending at a bar on the top floor of the tallest hotel in Southeast Asia,  a two week bout with laryngitis, LPGA golf tournament, English classes, dinners with Rev, St. Patrick’s Day in Asia, etc.  Just business as usual.  John and I decided we need to have a crazy adventure soon (we’re starting to think we’re boring)–we’ll be sure to keep you posted.  In other news, we are going to India at the end of April.  I’m sure we’ll be doing crazy things then!

Until our next wild story, here is a list for your viewing pleasure.  I was thinking about how much day to day life has changed since coming here.  Everyday life here is definitely different.  Sometimes I forget that because it has become normal for me.  Here are 25 things about Singapore (and around) that have just become part of life for me/us.  Enjoy:)

1.  I haven’t driven a car since 2008.  It’s been about three months–which seems like forever.

2.  I buy my meat, fruits and veggies, and flowers from a “wet market.”  It’s called this because they hose off the floor with a big hose and it remains wet all day.  

3.  Most chicken you can buy at the store still has the head on.  And the eyeballs in. 

4.  I hear at least four different languages almost every time I leave my apartment.

5.  Most days, John’s American accent is the only American accent I hear in person.

6.  I found a hair bow store in Singapore.  It’s in the Arab Quarter:)

7.  American dollars look weird to me.  And not very colorful.

8.  John and I have lived abroad for 85% of our married life.  

9.  I now say “lift,” “car park,” and “pram” and spell favourite with a “u”.

10.  If I meet people from the US, suddenly, our home towns seem so close–even if they’re from Oregon.

11.  I have officially been soaked on the sidewalk by a bus driving through a puddle.

12.  The worst sunburn of my life is finally ending with peeling skin.  It’s been 15 days since I burned.

13.  I never leave the house without an umbrella–for sun (I’m pale and should have used it 15 days ago) or rain (I like to be dry).

14.  We have a Furman alumni club here consisting of four members:).  Three of them work for Accenture.

15.  Football is soccer.  American football is what I miss.

16.  Everyone here loves an English football team.  Never mind they’ve never been to England…

17.  Sometimes, I actually prefer to use chopsticks.  Especially when I eat rice.

18.  If I don’t have rice every couple of days, I really want some rice.  Who would have thought?

19.  The best Mexican food I’ve had since I’ve been here was in Thailand.  Oh yeah, the Thai food was pretty good too.

20.  Singapore averages 400 people/acre.  That means that on my family’s acre and a half yard in Kentucky, I could put 600 Singaporeans.  

21.  I’m finally starting to run into people I know around Singapore.  In a city of 4.5 million people, that’s awesome:)

22.  The equator is hot.

23.  I can hear monkeys when I walk around sometimes.  No, they’re not in my head.  They’re above it.

24.  Being a newlywed in a one room 300ish square foot apartment has actually worked out well.  We’re looking forward to one day having a bedroom separate from a living room and a kitchen sink.

25.  Singapore is the 10th most expensive city in the world.  Ahead of NYC.  Friends in NYC, we understand your pain:)  Read all about it:)

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20090310/tap-327-survey-shows-singapore-worlds-10-231650b.html

More to come later if I can get my act together.  As always, thanks for reading.  We miss you:)