Apparently some of the guys from work decided to ride the dolphins one night. Now that would have been a photo I’d like to take.

A lot has happened in these four weeks but all in all things have gone really smoothly. I have moved into a new house, I’ve set up all my visas and bank accounts, I’ve started work and am busy working on some great projects, I’ve found my favourite foods (and wines) in the shops close by and most importantly, I’m meeting lots of cool people. When people ask how everything is, I tell them I am waiting for something to go wrong – because how can everything fall into place this easily? Right? But now looking back, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t. I am an organised person and if I don’t have a plan of attack, I don’t feel right, so realistically if I wasn’t at this stage already, there’d be trouble. That said, I’m still yet to have my things shipped over so there’s definitely still opportunity for a disaster.

But it’s been the things that I couldn’t plan for that have really knocked me around. Many of you will know that my brother and I are very close and great friends so it was hard to be away when he returned home from Switzerland and worse still, when he returned home sick and had to be rushed to hospital for a few days. It’s my job as big sis and best friend to be at the hospital smuggling food in and scouring the internet looking for YouTube lolz to pass the time. A skype session every now and then doesn’t really cut it nor eases the guilt of not being there. It’s even harder not being able to talk to anyone about it, because you’ve only been there for a week. Similarly, I felt terrible holding up a birthday card for my friends because I had to work out how to 1. Make an ‘R’ shape with my body without having a full-length mirror yet and 2. Take a picture of it by myself because I don’t think any of my friends here at quite at the “dude, can you take a picture of me making an ‘R’ shape real quick” stage yet.

So I guess it’s the little things that pop up from time to time that make you realise things have changed, a lot, and you can’t have the same expectations of yourself and others. But all things considered, I don’t think I could have asked for a better start. So happy 4 week anniversary, Singapore, and here’s to many more.

As the vast majority of people here speak English, I rarely have any trouble communicating around town (other than when people can’t understand my accent) but every now and then English speakers will drop words in to conversations that I have no idea what they mean. Words like Tai Tai, Ah Beng, Kopitiam and Ang Moh pop up regularly so this weekend I took some time to find out what the hell people were talking about.

• Tai Tai - Rich housewives who don’t have to work and instead spend their days at beauty spas and drinking cocktails.
• Ah Beng - Guys (usually young guys) who drive hotted up cars, have terrible dress sense and can be delinquents. Very similar to the guys who do laps of George St on Saturday nights with their stereos pumping.
• Kopitiam - A food court similar to a Hawker Centre but often found inside a shopping centre.
• Ang Moh – A racist slur against Caucasians that I have probably been called but haven’t heard yet. Akin to calling an Aboriginal an Abbo but a lot more prevalent over here than anyone using slurs against Aboriginals, as friends assure me that if they aren’t yelling it out, they are whispering it after you walk past.   Update: Apparently I’ve been misinformed on this one and thankfully it’s not as racist as first thought. More like “hello whitey”

I’ll keep you posted on the new words I learn as they come up.

And my hood – Robertson Quay (which will still be my hood, I’m only moving around the corner).

As I walked home from dinner I had one of those “life is good” moments and realised just how good a decision it has been coming to Singapore already. I ate a delicious, freshly cooked meal surrounded by locals and got change from S$5. I live in a beautiful part of town full of bars and restaurants right by the river, I can walk to work, my house is a resort and I have great housemates who are already doing so much to welcome me to the city. Seriously, if I could pack up my family and have them here too, I’d have no reason to ever go back.

So here’s the highlights of Singapore:

Little India – the best place to find chaos in a city famous for being orderly and efficient.

Chinatown – for when you need a bit of colour &/or want to listen to opera akin to cats screeching. Eek.

A mosque – catering to the primary religion in Singapore and especially relevant during Ramadan at the moment.

And of course, the most famous sight of them all – Raffles Hotel.

But perhaps the biggest tourist attraction in modern day Singapore is Marina Bay Sands – an architectural wonder.

I really like Marina Bay Sands. I think it epitomises everything Singapore stands for – grandeur, modernity, detail driven and somewhat artificial beauty. It’s almost on the same level of OTT as Dubai, as the inside has a shopping centre with a canal running through it so people can take boat rides, a wave pool fountain and an ice rink in the middle of the food court. It’s something else. But nonetheless, it is a beautiful piece of architecture.

To finish off the day I popped into the Art Science Museum to catch a Dali Exhibition. Who said Singapore was shallow?

So there you go. A beginner’s guide to the sights of Singapore.

I had a bad day today.

Right from the outset – bad. Today is my 2 week anniversary of arriving in Singapore. Actually pretty much right on now as I write this I was touching down. How time flies when you’re having fun. But this also meant that it was the end of my paid accommodation and it was time to get out my cheque book and pay up or ship out. While I’d love to ship out, I had nowhere to go yet with the details of my move still up in the air, so I had to pay up. Having organised with the hotel to stay on a few more days, this was fine. I woke up, went down to reception to confirm I wouldn’t have to change rooms and was to be on my way. It was all fine until I asked the dreaded question, “how much is the room?”

The receptionist proudly announced the rate, stating I was to stay on the corporate rate. Unfortunately being the nerd I am, I had done my research and it was available at a cheaper rate online. WTF. “Why?” I asked and promptly demanded the better rate only to be faced with the reality that they had the power and I couldn’t change it. “Well what if I check out then buy it online and recheck in?” “Yes, you can do that”. Pleased I had won that battle, I did just that. I checked the rate again and yes, it was $50 cheaper. I booked it. Feeling proud I read my receipt. AU$. Fuck. I just spent an extra $80 on my room than if I had done nothing at all. Fuck.

I knew something was bound to go wrong; I was prepared for it and on any other day, I’d have written it off as “serves you right for being a know-it-all” but today was different. I say the details of my room were still up in the air but the reality was, I hadn’t heard from my new housemates in a week and nothing had been finalised other than a few text messages and now they weren’t replying to my messages. If I had to find another house I was in trouble. More so, if I had to pay for even more accommodation (which realistically if I moved into another house, it would take a couple of weeks) I’d drown in the costs so spending an extra $80 (AU$) made a difference to me. And let’s not forget I just spent 3 months travelling the world so savings are not really my best friend at the moment. Today was the realisation that my master plan was not flawless and my house of cards could come crashing down at any point. That’s not a good feeling. So I went to work feeling like shit and lord knows, if you start the day like that, it’s very hard to pick it up again.

Work was crazy busy all of a sudden and before I knew it, it was lunchtime and I had a lunch date. I had met a guy on Twitter (not like that) who was from NZ and doing a similar job to me so we were set to have lunch. I raced down, late of course, and met him. He was lovely and described exactly the same things I was going through as he recounted his own “welcome to Singapore” experiences. Thank god. The relief you feel when you realise you’re not the only one is brilliant. Friendly people are the best.

The afternoon was off to a better start. A few good meetings to prove I hadn’t lost my mojo and then the winning move, the long awaited email with the in-writing confirmation I will be moving on Sunday. Fucking brilliant.

Seriously, any day can be turned around. $80, no big deal. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly and I’m happy. What more do you want?

One thing I didn’t expect when I made the move, was the number of people who would come out of the woodwork to either congratulate me (which I appreciate very much) or to ask favours now I’m at a very good agency.

Now asking favours is all very well. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, yada yada, it’s all part of the business. But masking them behind back-handed compliments I don’t appreciate, so it was with a lot of pleasure that I took a certain somebody’s “That’s a good move for you” and replied with “Well I think it would be a good move for anyone”.

Sure it’s not exactly smack talk, but you’ve got to have a touch of class to keep the upper hand.

Starting work was interesting. It’s been over 3 years since I started a new job, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect nor how the best way to approach it was. Do you start off with a bang and act all boisterous and opinionated or do you be a little more considered in your approach and suss out the office & inevitable politics quietly in the beginning? Not surprisingly, I took the latter option, though that was less linked to my personality and more due to the fact that the office was so quiet. Everyone works hard and is completely focused at their desk. Emails are sent rather than talking to people. Meetings are scheduled to allow discussion. It is bizarre and something I have already begun to attempt to change. Let’s see how I go with that.

Meeting my new colleagues has been interesting too. Some people are so welcoming and happy to offer advice and recommendations of where to live, what to do on the weekend and where to eat lunch, while others seem put out if you ask them where to find a glass in the kitchen. Everyone though, seems surprised that I would come to Singapore without knowing anyone. While there are stacks of expats, many of them are married so automatically had a partner with them, or others come from Malaysia or India where they at least have friends of friends around. I was hoping this wouldn’t be the case. I’m going to join a sports team and an expat club to hopefully meet some new people, so if anyone has any recommendations, please send them my way.

In other news, I received not one but two offers on houses to move into, one of which being the resort style condo close to work. Happy days. As I’m moving into a room though, it’s a lot more informal than signing a lease (surprise, surprise) and as such, I won’t be 100% confident until the keys are in my hand. There’s always to distant possibility you might get a call saying they found someone else, but hey, I still value the concept of trust and if you can’t take someone at their word, what have you got? So today called for a trip to Ikea in celebration of my new room. I wonder when it became law that once you get a new house, you need to visit Ikea within 14 days to make it official. Has anyone ever tried not visiting Ikea when moving house? Would they spontaneously combust or does their house become haunted if they try to buck the tradition? Not that I will ever have to worry about that as Ikea will probably feature heavily in my weekend plans for the next few weeks as I get settled, I’m sure. Regardless, the thing I’m most looking forward to when I move is being able to cook! I hate sounding like a brat when I whinge about living in a nice hotel for weeks, but not being able to even have the option to cook becomes a drag after a while. Especially when your culinary prowess can only extend as far as making 2-minute noodles in a plastic plate using the kettle night after night. Oh what a glamourous life I lead. So yes, after Ikea, my first stop will be the gigantic supermarket around the corner from my place to fill my trolley with whatever takes my fancy, before whipping up a feast for my new housemates. I can’t wait.