A little bit about life in Singapore

For those in the U.S. who ask me where Singapore is, my answer changes depending on the asker's geographical knowledge.  "The" answer is that Singapore is on the southern tip of the Malay peninsula. If this response is met with a blank stare, as it often is, I shift to the more general "between China and Australia".

Singapore is one country/one city.  The island is shaped roughly like an eye, and you can drive across the whole thing with no traffic (ha) in less than an hour.  I live in the center.

Usually nothing is "too far" in Singapore.  I happen to break that stereotype, since I work all the way on the western coast of the country.  I literally see Malaysia every morning as I get to work.  So from my workplace almost everything is, indeed, kind of far.  I'll discuss my work life and commute in another post...

So we have covered geography.  When you read about Singapore, there are a few things that always come up - it's extremely safe (true), it's extremely expensive (also true), and it's extremely hot (true dat).... here's a recent article on the expensive factor:

  http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-now-4th-most/1262440.html

Now for me, a frugal person by nature, the price of life in Singapore is sometimes astounding.  As the article implies, though, the high price of life here is for the foreigners.  Singaporeans actually have a lot of benefits from the government that make life manageable.  For example, the public school system here is one of the best in the world.  For Singaporeans it is free.   For my kids, as a foreigner without permanent resident status, even if I wanted my kids to attend a public school, it would be difficult for them to get a spot in a school close to my apartment and even if they did, I would pay around $500/month per kid after paying close to $1,000 to take the placement test with no guarantee of placement.  The international schools (also to be covered by probably several future posts) are insanely expensive for someone whose heart is with public schools, but the system sort of pushes you into it.  My 3 children attend an international school.  My husband's job, which is the job that brought us here, provides a stipend but only for an international school.  The stipend covers about half of the approximately $24,000/year/child tuition.  So at the end of the day the local school would be a savings but to what extent?

 Here's an example of a high priced item in a supermarket.  Multiply by .8 for US$ price.

Yes Singapore is safe.  I think it's the safest country in the world.  There is almost no crime.  Coming from Florida it is a welcome change and maybe our favorite aspect of living here.  The peace of mind as a mom to not worry at all about your kids is something I wish for everyone.  You see children as young as 9 or 10 riding public transportation alone to school.  If we are out and about I don't hesitate leaving my 5 and 8-year-old at a table while I go order food.  I let me 11-year-old walk to the mall alone.  My only worry is traffic and teaching the kids how to be safety-minded crossing the street.  In a crowded restaurant, people leave their bag or their i phone to save their table while they go order.  And if there is a crime like a bicycle stolen, there is a big sign posted in the street.

The other day, my 8-year-old asked "why in Singapore where there is so little crime they put a sign in the street when something happens, and in Florida where there is so much crime they don't put any signs?  It doesn't make sense."  No, it doesn't.

The longest journey begins with a single step...

How do I begin the blog that shares my experiences living in Singapore?  The difficulty in answering that very question has been the main reason it has taken me so long to start.

So there.  I began it.

My family moved to Singapore 14 months ago.  There are thousands of expat families living in Singapore. Sometimes living here it's easy to slip into everyday routines and almost forget that we are having this amazing experience.  So... Why write a blog?  What do I want to achieve?

• I want to share details about our life here with friends and family.
• In the blogosphere, I hope to interact with other people in a similar situation, people traveling to Singapore and people who already live in Singapore.
• A blog seems like a great way to share practical advice to others preparing for a move overseas or travel with kids.
• The end product will be a documentation of  the experiences we are having during this adventure. 
• Maybe, just maybe, I'll become a travel blogger one day!  Oh wouldn't that be the best?

This is the map that we had on the wall in Florida as we prepared for our move.  You can see, written in purple marker, our flight route.  Fort Lauderdale to Bilbao, where we spent a week with my husband's family, and then off to Singapore!!

The basics:  Like I suppose so many expat experiences, ours began with a conversation that went something like this on a regular day in our regular life:

My Husband:  Today so-and-so told me about a possible opportunity in Singapore.

Me:                 That is ridiculous.  We already moved here to be close to my family. And besides, there's no way the offer will be enough to move our family as far as possible from here to Singapore.

Fast forward many many months and, after long conversations after the kids went to sleep, interviews to see if this offer was even a reality and hours of online research about Singapore, off we were.  We sold our home, got rid of most of our stuff and stored or shipped the rest and, after teary-verging-on-heartwrenching good-byes, off we were on our new adventure far, far away.

So far so good.

And so I have not only begun but also ended my first blog entry.