Its been a couple of busy days...went to the IKEA, went to the condo, took our first bus ride, bought groceries, hung out at the infinity pool several times, sampled local food and also renditions of favorite fare from back home and learning about differences between home and Singapore (some good, some interesting).
I have to start out with a story about the title of this post. As many of you might know, Aaron has a horrible appetite although lately he's been eating better and better (even before leaving for Singapore). One of his favorite staples (besides milk) is Cheetos. The kid will devour them, preferably the Crunchy kind although he is partial to the Puffs as well. Couple months back I brought back some dried mango from one of my Singapore business trips and to my surprise he ate a few pieces...I was actually pretty shocked. Well, he made me buy him some at the airport before leaving...I told him that they have tons of this stuff over where we are going. After we landed, he bugged me for a day to get him some more and I complied. While he was munching his way through a bag, he announces to Kara, "Mom, dried mango....its the new Cheetos". Thankfully, we found some less expensive $2 bags at the local grocery store today (the ones at the swanky mall next to the hotel were like $8).
The IKEA here looks and works just like the one back home in North Austin and they even serve swedish meatballs and chicken wings and pasta and it tastes pretty much the same. However, they also serve things that look like onion ring, only they are fish rings (pretty sure we don't have those stateside....someone check my facts). I didn't think they were bad but not a hit with the rest of the Chu clan. With all the things that are different over here, it was almost eery and out of place for a store to look, and operate exactly the same as it does in the states...except for the fish rings. Freaky.
Anyway, I'm sure the furniture will operate the same way also...it'll look good and function good but it just won't take me as long to get it home and put together because I actually am paying them to do deliver and assemble it.
Kara and the kids got to see the condo for the first time and I did good...they love it. Another delta between US and SGP....the property overview and punch list. 2 realtors and 1 relocation expert present and they went through the place like they were looking for Jimmy Hoffa's remains. Every single light and light switch was covered with me...almost as if they were afraid I'd remove some fixtures and bring them home afterwards. They covered every little nick, scratch, discoloration, malfunctioning water heater light (you turn the water heater on every single time before you use the shower...I kid you not...and every single plug has a little power switch right next to it...if you aren't using it you are expected to click it off) and they disclosed every defect to me and said that they would appreciate if I document and inform them of anything else and then they can arrange for all the tradespeople to come in at one time so its more convenient for us. Service with a smile! Now, on the flip side, they also made it clear that this is how it looks today and this is the way the owner wants it returned. We can paint and hang all we want, but it has to be restored to the stunning pristine white that we received it in....a reasonable request I might add. As a reminder, they give you a list of do's and dont's that you are expected to follow. Pretty thorough. I didn't take pictures of the condo, but I will post some in a future post.
We were determined to go get some essentials for the condo and we wanted to ride the bus so we combined the 2 activities which was a calamity. Went to the bus stop but not sure where we wanted to go and not sure of the bus schedule...reading the posted schedule didn't help much. A bus finally arrived....a very full bus. We squeezed onto it and I handed my EZ link card (mass transit card you can "top up" with money...basically a debit card for the bus and MRT). It worked for me just fine, but the driver said I still needed to pay for everyone else...I was like, well take it off of my card. Wellllll, everyone needs their OWN EZ link card. Oh boy. No problem says the driver, just put cash into the till....wellllll, the smallest bill I had was $10 and the fare was like 55 cents per person and the bus driver didn't carry any change....say what?
Thank God some wonderful lady on the bus was able to break a $10 bill for me. NOTE: carry change in SGP if you plan on paying cash for your bus rides or get an EZ link card for everyone in the family. Lesson learned. The bus driver kindly dropped us off at the nearest shopping area which was only a few minutes away. FYI, we took a cab back to the condo. Going to have to learn how to take the bus though because it is what you will need to take to get to the MRT. Bus and MRT are way cheaper than the cabs. Now don't get me wrong, the cabs are cheap....real cheap when compared to NYC or even Austin, but they can still add up. Shopping is interesting...none of the names of things are the same. I'll have to do a separate posting on shopping. Across the street from the IKEA is a place called GIANT...which is interesting because there is a grocery store chain in Virginia called GIANT. The GIANT in SGP is more like a Wal-Mart on steroids....its name adequately describes the facility. Prices here were more in line with what I am used to, although typical products from home (GoldFish, Cheetos, chips) definitely are more expensive. And the toilet paper is not as wide. Perhaps its my imagination, but it certainly looked narrower than the Charmin back home. I know for some of my friends (the innocent will remain unnamed), this might cause a problem.
Electric fans are wicked expensive. I don't even want to disclose how much I paid for an electric fan. Lets just say they were expensive enough to give you a lesser model for free. And it chaps me off because the pod packers couldn't get our 2 tower fans into the pods.....ugh.....
Anyway, below are some random pictures to try to catch you up with everything...more to come in later posts.
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| On top of the Marina Bay Sands with my girlfriend |
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| Kelsey and Aaron clowning with a cardboard figure in the mall |
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| By the infinity pool at night |
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| Fish Congee (aka Shih Fan or Rice Porridge) with pickled radish, seaweeed, pickled bean curd, dried fish. Don't knock it until you try it. This is an awesome Chinese breakfast treat. |
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| New interesting fruits...Yellow Watermelon, White Dragonfruit, Red Dragonfruit. Really yummy. |
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| Aaron enjoying domestic 1st class air travel |
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| Kara and I sharing a hug |
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| Kelsey and Aaron enjoying international business class |
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| Mimes in the lobby of the Marina Bay Sands |
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| Every weekend fireworks at MBS...this is right outside our window 42 floors up....great view of fireworks and light show. |
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| Dim sum, salmon, glutinous rice, bun filled with coffee flavored bean paste, some crunchy Indian food....breakfast done right. |
I'm real new to this blogging thing so I'm still figuring stuff out on my end...like how to get pictures to automagically onto the blog from my phone (learning how powerful and pervasive Google+ can be....I'm scared, but I can't stop from using it because it actually is pretty cool). I also didn't know that the first title of this thing is the name that gets stuck with it forever, so I'm likely going to start a new one with a more catchy title.
A few random thoughts before I try to return back to SGP time:
1. I couldn't find dryer sheets in the grocery store and I think I know why. Kara did a load of wash at the condo this afternoon and it got really hot in the kitchen (the washer/dryer are in the kitchen which is not air conditioned). They like to air dry their clothes here.
2. Tipping is not mandatory here and if you do, you don't have to give anywhere close to 17.5%. Plus some places will build the tip into the bill....check it to make sure. We've tipped very rarely thus far and are starting to do so only because its making Kara uncomfortable when we don't.
3. Maybe its my imagination but some things seem more efficient here. Case in point, my realtor called up the cable company Monday morning and they showed up at 1 pm to connect the cable boxes and internet...done in an hour (phone to follow in a week). That would never happen in the states.
4. Upselling is pervasive. Every time you start to show interest in buying something in a store in the mall they try to upsell you to the next model up or try to get you to buy accessories. They even do this in the Food Hawker center in the mall (their version of Super sizing...."would you like an extra spring roll with your meal?". When we were in the pharmacy looking for cortisone cream for Kelsey, they told us her skin was dry and we needed to buy her some special moisturizer for her skin. They noticed my poor posture and asked me, not once, but twice if I wanted to buy some contraption to help me stand up more straight.
5. I mentioned some American favorites made over here...
- Pasta Mania: the spaghetti with meat sauce is actually pretty good.
- Kraze Burger: Australian beef hamburger....not so good and the service stunk. Was actually glad we didn't tip at this place.
Ok, back to sleep.....headed to the condo to deal with the gas company tomorrow and also going to EPSC (employment pass service center) so I can legally work in the country....
Adios.
