Day 8: Bedok Jetty

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I could sit at this bridge for hours gazing the scene that greets my eyes. As the night falls, the noise at the background disappears transforming this view into a scene from a postcard. All elements come together in perfect tandem as the sky drapes over the ocean and the ocean reaches to touch the land. This is a picture from Bedok Jetty; a popular hangout joint for local fishing groups.

Bedok Jetty is a former military jetty that stretches more than 300 mt. into the sea, making it the longest of its kind in Singapore. It is situation at Block F of ECP. We stumbled upon it while cycling around ECP last weekend and the dusking sky looked nothing less than serene here. Sigh!

Who would want to come back from a place like this?

 

 

 

Day 7: Singlish or Broken English?

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When you move to a different country or region, learning the local language will help you to communicate and integrate with the local community. But ever since I have moved to Singapore, I’ve completely lost faith in my English. Singaporeans speak local English; or what they call it as Singlish which is quirky enough to instill an inferiority complex in a person like me who has been thoroughly mastering English as a second language.

Singlish has been referred to as linguistic blast from the turbulent past by many. Immigrants from three major regions – Malay, Chinese and Indian came to the island in the early 19th century to establish trade here. They all spoke different languages and dialects. Over the time, these tongues affected each other but English remained the common ground. This resulted in Singlish – a unique, rather broken (for an outsider) form of English.

And to top it up, it’s spoken at a machine gun speed with words pronounced so abruptly that most common and simplest of them become a challenge to hear. Yesterday, I went to a close by salon. My hair dresser started explaining me my hair type and what products should I use to make them better etc. By the time I left the salon, my head started spinning and I lost complete faith in English. He was so difficult to understand. And I face the same problem while ordering food or groceries from restaurants and grocery stores.
While most of the Singaporeans I meet can switch from Singlish to standard English, but the accent still makes it hard to understand.

I know that all cultures have their own forms of slangs and so does Singapore. But for a newbie like me, it’s becomes a recipe for disaster. It seems a struggle at the moment, but I’ve heard of an app that teaches you basic Singlish in the recent past. Let me download it and see if it makes my life any simpler. Grrrr…

Day 6: Family we chose for ourselves!

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I have come to realize that the most important thing in life is your family. There are days when you love them, and others when you don’t. But in the end, they’re the people you always come home to. Sometimes it’s the family you’re born into and as an expat, it’s the one you make for yourself.

And this is my family in Singapore. The one, Vikas & I choose to spend our best and worst with. They are our people and we are blessed to have them in our life. 🙂

 

Day 5: Home is where pool is!

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There’s something wonderful about January in Singapore. I mean, where else can you go swimming in an outdoor pool when the most parts of the world are freezing? I’m a water baby and nothing makes me happier than the fact that I’ll be able to swim all year round. The thought of taking a dip in the pool brings a smile on my face. I try to swim twice a day and trust me, I don’t swim for fun. I swim because I cannot imagine my life without it.Swimming makes me feel tired, free, amazing, complete like I’m someone epic, calm, myself, whole, strong, happy and alive.It’s a part of me. It’s something I live for. It’s something that defines me.

Unfortunately, Singapore is not as blessed as its neighboring countries like Malaysia or Indonesia (Bali) when it comes to the quality of the beaches. However, this country tries to make up for it by having clean and attractive swimming pools. And coming from Delhi where we have all four seasons and can practically enjoy swimming only during 3 months of peak summer, I’m not complaining. I live in a condo and have all day access to the pool. Couldn’t have asked for anything more. 🙂 *Feel blessed*

Wanna take a look at where I feel at my best?

That’s my heaven from my abode!

Day 4: The Taxi Driver

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You never quite know what you’re going to encounter when you hop in a taxi in any country. Whether the driver is chatty or silent or young or old is the luck of the draw. Some easily understand my accent and some have required me to put down the pin code of the building I intend to go to.

Anyway! Once I was heading out to meet one of my acquaintances from Delhi who is from the same work background as I am and when I told this to the taxi driver, he exclaimed, “Oh job, lah! You’ll find it soon Just do the right things” and spent the entire trip giving me the names of the top recruiters and websites I should go to.

I was curious to know how a taxi driver knew so much about the advertising industry and that’s when he shared he used to be in sales but had recently retired but had grown bored so took up a taxi lease to keep himself busy. He didn’t work all day, every day like most taxi drivers but only worked during peak hours so that he benefited from the 25% peak hour surcharge. As soon as peak hours were over he headed back home.

By the time I reached my destination, I was pretty impressed by his spirit to work.  He was 75 yrs old, owned 2 HDBs and still drove a taxi to not get bored. And talk about smart work, only during the peak hours. And he’s not the only one. I have seen many old people working at the food courts, malls, public places to keep themselves busy. And even youngsters here work part time to earn that extra buck. It’s a money minded society but I’m not complaining. As long as people are humble J

Day3: When in Singapore, do as Singaporeans do!

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Back in Delhi, my days always ended up being rushed and fumbled through – driving, sitting in traffic, grabbing a coffee on the go before sitting for work. I never really had time to sit back, relax and see the world go by. But when I moved to Singapore, I had all the time on me and I started spending most of it watching people – by the pool, at public libraries, at coffee shops etc. It was a great way to get an insight into the vibe of the city.

My observations:

• Queues are sacred: You will see queues everywhere – outside restaurants, at the taxi stands, at bookstores, outside shops distributing freebies, black Friday sales – everywhere
• English + Singapore – Singlish, lah!
  Singaporeans speak English that no one else understands. They call it Singlish. It’s a mix of Cantonese, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay mixed up with English. Some common words used are lah, lor, can etc
• Singaporeans love acronyms and have them for almost everything. Right from government organizations to iconic buildings to even highways. Like they’d use MRT for Mass Rapid transit and MBS for Marina Bay Sands
• Uncles and Aunties: In most of the western countries, you call each other by name regardless of their age, but Singaporeans refer to all elders as uncles and aunties
• Reserve the table with a tissue: It’s lunch hour and you walk into a hawker center. You’re trying to find a seat and suddenly you see an empty one with just a packet of tissue sitting innocuously on the tabletop. Don’t ignore it. It’s put there for a purpose – to reserve or what they call as chope the table
• Keep to the left: Especially when taking the escalators. They follow this rule religiously. The right side of an escalator is for people walking up the steps. The left is for people content to stand and wait.
• It’s Kopi and not Coffee!
  Ordering coffee in Singapore is as complex as it can get. Western coffee expressions such as “black”, “cream and sugar”, “cappuccino” or “flat white” will likely gain you confused looks at Singapore food courts & hawker centers. And if you’re a sucker for coffee like I’m, you better learn the coffee lingo sooner than later.

And lastly, when in Singapore do as the Singaporeans do. It just makes life a little easy. Some of these might seem strange but you definitely don’t want to feel out of place. And fret not even if you go wrong sometimes. It’s all a part of learning after all. 🙂

Day 2:Grocery Shopping

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The house we moved in was a well-furnished house, so we didn’t have to do anything much in terms of setting it up. But we did have to set up the kitchen and fill in the essentials and hence began the grocery shopping. The two major supermarkets in Singapore are NTUC Fairprice and Giant Hypermarket and luckily both are at a walking distance from my place.

I have to admit that when I walked into these grocery stores, I was shocked to see the prices. I have no prior grocery shopping experience. My house help always did it for us but I did have a rough idea about the prices and I estimated that some of the things were four five times the price of our home country. Like for example, a pack of Lays (potato crisps) costs 5$ and bread ranges between $5 – $8, but if you go for a house brand it’s a lot cheaper.

There are times when I’m too lazy to go to the supermarket and that’s when I go to REDMART!  RedMart provides an amazing online shopping alternative with free home delivery if you spend more than $30 on your first purchase and on $75 thereafter. Just create an account and start shopping. Another thing I like about online shopping experience is that all the discounted items are tagged together unlike Supermarkets where you have to go alley to alley to compare prices. It saves a lot of time and money.

And just in case, I can’t find something and I’ve tried everywhere else, I  head to Mustafa Shopping Centre.  Located in Little India within a walking distance from Farrer Park MRT, this gigantic 24/7 shopping mall spans over two blocks and is always crowded with both – locals and tourists. But the upside is that it sells everything. Right from the MTR Masalas (Indian spices) to Frootis, from Amul Ghee to Britannia biscuits, from Lakme to Ponds, you name it and you get it.

Tip: If you plan to go, go during the weekdays and during daytime. It’s less crowded and you can shop at ease.  Another alternative is to go during late night hours. Weekends are a mad rush. DO NOT GO THERE ON A WEEKEND!

I’m still figuring out more options. I have heard about the Wet Markets, Sheng Siong and the grocery store at Melville Park that’s run by a Chinese guy, sells everything Indian, takes order on WhatsApp and does a free home delivery too (of course at a minimum order) but I’m yet to explore all of this.

Well, that’s all on Grocery Shopping. It isn’t my favorite topic anyway! But love it or loathe it, you can ignore it. See you tomorrow!

Day1: View from the top

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When I first arrived in Singapore in 2013, my boyfriend (now husband) took me for the city tour instead of getting me straight home. I was awestruck to see the ultra-modern cityscape. These larger than life skyscrapers which included some of the most iconic & complex buildings like Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer, Esplanade, One Raffles Place were a delight to watch. By the time we reached home, I was already in love with Singapore.

Nothing gets a heart swooning as quickly as a good view and my husband knows it best.

Fast forward >>>

2015: I enter the house and reach to my living room window only to see this:

Spectacular, isn’t it?

We live on the 16^th floor in one of the condos at the central east of Singapore and we love the views from high up here. I love watching the city skyline when the dusk sets in. It lights up and transforms into dazzling city of lights. I fall in love with Singapore all over again each time I look out of my window.

Talk about a room with a view and this city has a lot to offer. I didn’t have to go through the house hunting process as my husband took care of it. But if you’re new to the city and want a house with the panoramic sea view or city skyline, look no further. Here’s a list of property guides for all you need.

• Property Guru: www.propertyguru.com.sg/
• iProperty.com: www.iproperty.com.sg/
• STProperty: www.stproperty.sg/
• Singapore Expats: http://www.singaporeexpats.com/
• moveandstay: http://www.moveandstay.com/singapore/
• RoomsDB.net: http://singapore.roomsdb.net/

Happy House-hunting 🙂