S'pore - The Asian Eldorado

When our good friends Nico and Aya told us they were moving to Singapore three years ago, we thought they were crazy. After all, they had an amazing flat in London, were both happy and succesful in their jobs and most importantly, they were only a 2 and a half hour train ride away from us! What could they possibly want in Singapore? And
where the hell is Singapore to begin with!?

We were really sad to see them go and grumply promised we would go visit them soon.

Three years and a baby (theirs) later, we made good on that promise and we now get why they made the choice they made. Singapore is an amazing country to live in.

Lets begin with the fact that the city of Singapore is an incredible melting pot. 80%of the population is of either Chinese or Indian descent but English is the predominent language and everybody is perfectly fluent. Good thing too because the remaining 20% population is Expat, making Singapore an incredible mix of Eastern and Western culture.

Of course you could describe Singapore as Modern and you couldn't be more right about that. Everything about the city is as state of the art as you'd find in any other major capital of the world; shopping malls galore, amazing sky scrapper business buildings, efficient public transportation, clean parks and roads, and an endless (and I really DO mean never ending) choice of restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs,
etc with as much a quality as you'd find in Paris, London, New York, Tokyo or Mexico City (I just had to throw that in).

But as an added value, Singapore is also safe. Crime is so low, a mugging on the street (if it ever happened) would probably spike the national statistics rate and drug trafficking is punishable by death(which yes, is a little too extreme if you ask me, but then again, I don't do or deal drugs so I admit I don't feel that concerned) which probably contributes to the peace and calm of the country.

Singapore is also very very clean. As an example, chewing gum was unofficially banned (no store sells it) in an effort to keep sidewalks clean and it works too! Streets are sparkling clean. And yes, you can chew gum in Singapore but you'll get a hefty fine (in the thousands of $$) if you're caught spitting it on the sidewalk.

This might all seem a little too totalitarian at a far glance, but it's not that way at all, I guarantee you. People in Singapore live a good life. There's jobs for everyone, schools are safe for kids, hospitals are top notch, there's a great cultural scene and plenty of nature things to do (in the city or around the country). Plus, traveling to all of Asia is really simple thanks to Singapore's central location and to an efficient and affordable air transport system. Weekends in Phuket or Bali or holidays backpacking in Thailand or Hawai or four-day breaks in Tokyo or Hong Kong or common things for people living here.

And then there is every day life for Singaporians. Living conditions are way better and more comfortable than in other major capitols. Yes, space, like in any other major capital is expensive, but take Nico and Aya's apartment for instance, it's a nice, spacious bright three bedroom, two bathroom, two balcony apt located in a modern complex equipped with underground parking, huge private swimming pool and fitness center, two out door jacuzzies and BBQ pits. Plus, their place is a 10 minute walk from Nico's office and a 15 min drive from Aya's. And from what they tell us, most of these features are the bare minimum in most apartment buildings here!

So what's the catch you ask? Cuz, lets face it, there's gotta be a catch right? No way a place like this can exist without people swimming over the ocean to try to desperately reach it, n'est-ce pas?

Well, a far as I can see there are only three downsides to living in Singapore. One is the weather, average 30C all yeah with a lot of humidity, which makes A/C a must. I don't dig A/C.

The other is of course the remoteness. 7 hour time difference with Europe, 12h with America. That's a very big amount of time difference.

And the third is that vile thing they call Durian. It's a fruit people eat here that has such a strong smell you really can't miss it. Hubby had a try one night and in the eight years I've known him this was the very first time I saw him spit something out of his mouth (and he's tried Carnitas!!). I didn't get near the thing enough to try it, a wiff of the smell was enough to make me hold my breath until the waitress came to take the plate away. I'm guessing Durian is the secret weapon Singaporians use to keep imigrations levels reasonable here.


Fned.

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