It is inevitable when moving to a foreign place that there will be things that you find new and amazing, things that you find odd and things you find flat out infuriating. Our first weeks in Singapore were mainly full of the first two categories- "look at the funny building." "check out this amazing cheap food," "isn't it great that its always sunny here?"..... but, alas, the honeymoon is over and we now actually *live* in Singapore and some of the "isn't that so funny" moments have been replaced with "what the hell do these people think they are doing" moments. I thought I would share some of Singapore's most irritating attributes- but, since I live here now (at least for the next 1 year and 11 months) I will also do my best to also ponder the brighter side of living on the island.
Dislikes:
1) Every day the weather forecast on weather.com is "scattered thunderstorms." And yes, it rains almost everyday. The rain itself is actually not that bad- its a bit like Florida- its sunny, it becomes cloudy, it rains, then its sunny again. And constantly having to tote an umbrella is a bit tiresome- but what really drives me nuts is that no weather source can provide accurate information on WHEN they expect it to rain. Forecasting that it is going to rain in Singapore is sort of like forecasting that the sun is indeed going to rise, everyday. Thanks for the brilliant insight. What would be helpful is to know whether its going to rain between the hours of 10am and 8pm (not going to effect my day in the least) or whether there will be a downpour as I am leaving work sans umbrella.
2) Casual dining establishments (read: food courts and the like) do not provide napkins. Obviously nice restaurants provide normal napkins, but in a culture that really thrives on getting quick and delicious bites to eat at hawker stands and food courts- its annoying to have to remember to bring your own napkins. Now if you think that this has anything to do with environmental concerns you would be greatly mistaken. The locals are not a particularly environmentally friendly bunch. They carry around their drinks in strange little disposable plastic bags, because holding it with your hand would be tacky or something. They are not a big fan of re-useable water bottles. There is no inherently obvious way to recycle in our new building.... the list goes on. You are simply expected to carry around a little pack of tissues with you to serve as napkins for a reason that escapes me.
3) Worse than the fact that you have to carry your own napkins is that the offensive little napkin packages are then used as place holders on tables to reserve seats in over crowded dining areas. The food court idea is a little foreign to begin with- but easy to accept when you realize how cheap and amazing the food is- but the idea of "saving a seat" in a communal area is totally ridiculous. This results in the unassuming and non-napkin carrying westerners getting their food then wandering around for what seems like hours unable to find a single place for two adults to sit in the aircon and eat lunch because every seat is magically marked with annoying tissue packages. Irritating.
4) Being judged, verbally, by members of the service industry is totally normal. For example, today the partner at work took the new "fee earners" (yep- that's me, a fee earner- also an irritating nomenclature) to lunch at a local Thai place on Boat Quay. While the partner was ordering various dishes to be shared, the waitress was judging his decisions and telling him he was wrong. And not in a helpful way- but in a rude, pushy, "none of your damn business that I want both rice AND pad Thai" sort of way. After being berated for our choice of not one but two starches in our meal, we were also told that we were ordering too much food. Now this is not only bad marketing tactic but also r-u-d-e. Luckily, the partner, who is a long time Sing resident, is used to being treated with such brazen rudeness and proceeded to order as many starches as he wanted and as many dishes as he felt necessary. But yes, lady who works in the dim sum cart downstairs, sometimes I want TWO sesame balls and I do not need a side of sass with that. And yes, tea lady, I prefer to drink my water straight from the bottle- no glass necessary, and I like my tea best when its tepid, stop judging.
Alright, enough whining for one day- here are some things that are actually pretty cool about living in the Sing.
1) As mentioned, it is always sunny (except when its raining). Living in perpetual summer has its upsides. Yeah, its pretty hot here. But really, we are in the aircon most of the day so its not really a big deal. Everyday is the right day to go to the pool and if we were less lazy, everyday would be the right day to go to the beach, if we were so inclined to leave the pool. We are going to go out on a limb and guess that we are both tanner than anyone in New York right now- and will probably remain that way for the next 1 year and 11 months. The endless good weather also allows such luxuries as an outdoor gym in our apartment complex, never-ending ability to sport flip flops, never needing to wear tights, and a consistent year-round sunrise at exactly 7am.
2) Another benefit of the perpetual summer is that there is always inexpensive fresh fruit. I heart watermelon and not only are they practically free, but as far as I can tell, they are also always in season. The variety of fruit is impressive- many varieties that I cannot identify but plan to try anyways. Singapore also has the good sense to sell fresh cut fruit in food courts and commercial areas- so a stick of pineapple is never far away. And while we may not be eating many raspberries and blueberries, we will have as much dragonfruit, papaya, mango, rambutan, assorted melons and bananas as we can eat.
3) It is SO clean here. Before we got here everyone told us how clean and orderly things are here- but its really something you have to see to believe. The streets are clean. The subway is meticulous. The office I work in is kept miraculously clean all day. The locker room at the gym is cleaner than any locker room I have ever been in. People throw away their trash instead of dropping it where they please. You have no problem eating at hawker stands and food courts because they too are spotless. Clean is IN.
4) Singapore residents LOVE two things: eating and shopping (we like both too!)- and the two can be found, usually together, everywhere from plethora of malls to subway stations to the basement of every office building in town. Convenience is the name of the game here- so they put anything and everything you could need in close reach. In my office building, which is not particularly nice, there is a full food court, manicure salon, travel agent, doctors offices, clothing shops and more. In the nicer buildings there are all of those things and much and more. It’s a little strange at first to get used to mixed-commercial uses in what is primarily a professional office building- but as it turns out- its SO nice.
So this is life in a nutshell. In the average day I love and hate Singapore atleast 10 times. We are having a good time- don't worry- and we feel very luck to be here, we know its a special experience- but I wouldn't mind some good old napkins once in a while!
XoXo- Erin
