Life is great

One of the most common questions I get is, "how have you found adjusting to Singapore?"  I usually delve into my pre selected pros and cons for who has asked, and finish by saying we are happy to be here.  Which is true.  But yesterday I had a day that really just sums up what living here is like.

Breakfast on our balcony

We tend to wake up fairly early on the weekends.  Our curtains are thin, so the sun shines in.  And well, it isn't cold so I don't have a need to stay curled up in  bed!  I was up earlier than usual, having gone to bed at decent time on Friday.  I went for a glorious half hour run around our neighborhood.  Most of my run hugs a park, and so while I've got a road on one side, I have the Singapore jungle on the other side.  It was fairly humid, it had rained quite heavily the night before.  The running path I use is often busy, but the path is wide enough for everyone to be going at their own pace, running or biking.

Stairs leading down to the entrance of our condo

When I got home I replenished myself with an electrolite drink (I sweat a lot when running), and then went down to the pool for a quick dip.  Because it was early there was no one else there, so I did a few laps, hung out at the infinity edge and just enjoyed the sound of the water, the chirping birds and the sunny skies.  After my swim, I went back to the apartment, had a bite to eat and decided I wanted to go into town to buy a few things for school.  I sent a text to a friend, and within an hour we were in a cab going to Orchard.  On this shopping trip I rediscovered how much fun it is to shop with girls.  Dave has done a tremendous job over the last few years, tagging along with me while I try on shirts, skirts, shoes, and make up.  He patiently waits outside the store, or if the store isn't too crowded he would come in and let me know how an outfit looks.  But his heart was never in it, he was just doing it to keep me company.  But now Dave can retire his shopping legs because I have more shopping companions than I could ever want.  So a few hours were spent shopping or Orchard.  We were there before 11am, so it wasn't too busy.  We finished off our trip with some sushi, we jumped in a cab, and headed home.  I was keen to get home because I had a phone date with a friend from NZ.  It was just lovely having a chat with her.  She is due with baby number two any day, and I realize once that happens life will be a bit hectic for her for awhile.  It wasn't long before we were back in a cab heading back into town, this time to Robertson Quay where we had dinner with some friends from school.  Robertson Quay is an area in town, right on the river, full of restaurants.  There are 3 Quays, Robertson, Clark and Boat...Robertson is the more chilled out of the 3 I think.  We had a lovely dinner, and then headed over to a house party hosted by the teachers who are soon leaving to do some charity work in Cambodia.  The evening was called, Cocktails for Cambodia.  Each teacher going to Cambodia had a cocktail they made, and then a time slot to pour their drink.  So for the rest of us, we just stood around with cups, and had them constantly filled with a variety of multicoloured drinks. Then we shared a cab home with some friends who live in our apartment, and went to bed!  Life is not too shabby!

This day couldn't have come at a better time. We are venturing into our third month,  which can be a difficult time.  We have gotten past the highs of being in a new place, and seeing new and exciting things.  We have settled into our new homes and our new jobs.  We have gotten used to how things operate.  But, as we get used to our new surroundings we start to miss what we left behind.  

I certainly feel it.  I miss our quaint lifestyle in New Zealand.  I can't look at photos from NZ too often or else I get a lump in the back of my throat still.  I miss our car, and are small garden, and our house.  But yet, I have just described a fabulous day at the start of this blog, so how can I be feeling so sad? It was nice to have had such a nice day.  A day that helps affirm our decision to move.   

One of our regular eating places, the rooftop of 'Beauty World'

Add to all of this all of the variables at school that may or may not be adding pressure.  One large variable for us is a big move to our new campus next week.  We teach Monday-Wednesday and then we don't have the students Thursday and Friday because we PACK UP!  I am personally very excited about the move.  Particularly since the front door to my classroom has been plagued with ants as of recently.  So I am more than happy to be moving into a brand new building where my classroom is high up above the ground.  But we all are about to have a two week holiday (this element is definitely in the 'pro' category of why living in Singapore is so great).  The holiday will give us a chance to breath and hopefully reflect on how things are really pretty good here.  Hopefully enabling a climb out of the homesickness part of the graph. 

I have tried posting a video of me walking through the apartment but I'm just not having any luck.  So I've taken a whole bunch of photos instead.  If you'd like to see our place, click HERE.

HERE is a collection of photos that is really just a mishmash of things we have done over the last two months.