Because people have expressed interest in my experience living/working in Singapore (and getting here), I answered from FAQ for your amusement (with pictures!
Where are you living in Singapore?
You take the subway to work? Is it hard?
What’s Singapore like?
How’s the weather there right now?
What do you eat there?
What do you do for fun?
Did you fly Singapore Airlines? Is it as amazing as they say?
Yes, and yes. The flight to Singapore is over 24 hours, so I was really grateful to be able to get some rest on the way over. The food was amazing (each meal consisted of 5-6 courses), the wine was top notch (although I was too sick to enjoy any of it), and the flight attendants were friendly and attentive (basically the opposite of United). I had my camera with me so I could take pictures of the food, and at one point a flight attendant came over and said “Ms. Nguyen, I noticed you are into photography. There’s a really beautiful sunrise right now if you want to take a picture.” When I couldn’t get a good picture, she actually took the camera into the cockpit and had the first officer take a picture for me!
What’s Singapore like?
Singapore is a big melting pot of people from different countries and cultures. Imagine a really clean, really efficient, crime-free version of any big city. It’s very densely populated so there’s very little green space (I’d say less than NYC). Almost everything is a high-rise, and each building has 2-3 basement levels that are restaurants, shops, tailors, etc. It’s also meticulously clean, probably because the penalty for littering is $700USD. It has 4 primary languages, English being one of them so no language barriers to worry about.
Where are you living in Singapore?
My company put me up in an apartment near Orchard Road, which I describe as a cross between the Houston Galleria and Times Square. There must be hundreds of shops nearby, as I’ve been able to find everything from toiletries, to groceries, to clothes within a 5-minute walk. There’s also a boutique for every luxury brand on Orchard, sometimes there are two or three. The downside is that the area gets very crowded, especially on the weekends and especially leading up to Christmas. Here are some pictures of my apartment as well as the neighborhood.
One of the entryways to my building
Orchard road, a shopping mecca.
Entryway to the mini-mall attached to my building on the way to the MRT station
My home for the next few months
You take the subway to work? Is it hard?
It’s insanely expensive to own a car in Singapore (it’s $37,000 USD to just buy the certificate entitling you to buy a car) so most people rely on the MRT subway system. It’s very efficient, well-designed, and all the signs are in English so getting around is nearly idiot-proof. My office is about 1.5 miles and 20 minutes away by MRT. There are also taxis and Uber if I don’t want to take the MRT, although I’ve found that they’re not necessarily faster.
Morning traffic on the MRT, yikes.
How’s the weather there right now?
Hot and humid (like Houston summer), all the time. Right now it’s 80F with 90% humidity. Singapore is near the equator, so it’s essentially summer all year round. Humidity hovers around 90% because it’s an island. Luckily, being outside is optional because so much of the city is connected by air-conditioned underground tunnels. I can actually get to my office without having to go outside, but it’d be more walking and take a little longer. Here’s one of the tunnels connecting my office to the MRT stop:
Sadly, Iann and I didn’t discover the tunnels when we were here in September, so we just suffered the heat.
What do you eat there?
I’m trying to cook as much as I can for health reasons, but Singapore is a foodie haven. There’s very little agriculture here, so Singapore imports 90% of the food consumed. Since Singapore has so many cultural influences, the “local” food is a mix between Malaysian, Chinese, Indonesian, and Indian cuisines. But, there are also restaurants of any kind imaginable here. Not only is the food good, but it’s very cheap and convenient. In the shopping centers connected to my apartment, there are probably 100 restaurants or food stalls (everything from burgers to thai food) and lots of meals are available for $5USD.
What do you do for fun?
I haven’t quite figured that out yet! So far I’ve only spent time in my apartment and the office, but Singapore is a quick and easy flight to lots of destinations in SE Asia so I’m hoping to squeeze in a few weekend trips. Singapore has lots of fun nightlife, but that’s not really my thing. Once I start doing fun things (exploring different neighborhoods, checking out the beach areas, enjoying arts and theater, I promise to share anything good.