Singapore is huge (maybe not in area, but at least when it comes to shopping), humid as hell and very clean. I bet that the floors on the subway stations are cleaner than the floor in my old apartment has been at times! Although, I have found one place that actually is dirty. It was a foodcourt in Little India where I had dinner about a week ago, where there were lots of tissues blowing around in the strong wind from the many ceiling fans that moved the air around the court.
The first week over here I lived with a Swedish family who are here as expats, and I lived in luxury for a week. They had a 50 m swimmingpool and a maid living with them, something that I couldn’t really get comfortable with. The pool was great though!
I could get used to this!
Apparently the whole maid-thing is really common amongst the rich Singaporeans, and almost all expats have them (expats usually make really good money, so why not). My hosts said that they probably wouldn’t be able to live like they do without one, since both of them have such long workdays and their daughters have to have someone who takes care of them during the day. The maid came from the Philippines and had two daughters back at home that she supported by working as a maid, but she only saw them once or twice a year since she was working all year round. Every day she made me coffee the way I wanted it, and one morning when I slept really long she made me breakfast that was ready the moment I stepped out of my room (she must have heard my alarmclock). I can’t begin to describe how awkward all of this made me feel, and how provoked I was by the entire situation (once I washed my own dishes after breakfast, victory!). Having that said, it was awesome that I was able to stay there for a week, and I am really grateful towards my host family for taking me in! Did I mention that they had a kickass pool?
I spent my first few days in Singapore exploring the city and walking around everywhere, hanging out with some other exchange students from LiU and getting lost a few times (I did the classical “confused tourist vs. giant fold-out map” on several occasions). The number one thing to do in Singapore is to shop, so I did that several times too. I also noticed that Singaporeans make really funny signs that they put up everywhere.
Down by a place called Marina Bay they have started to build a really luxurious hangout for rich people, right now there is a really fancy hotel there, a big half-finished shopping mall and a concert hall. In the shopping mall they have, besides like 50 brand-name stores, a canal. For some reason they decided that they wanted a canal inside the building and on that little canal (it is like 300 m long) they put two small sampan boats that you can pay for to take a ride in, going from one end of the mall to the other. That is just one of many apparently pointless things that the city is littered with; Singapore really likes to brag about being rich! If you have lots of money to spend and if you are looking for a good time and some decadency, Singapore is really the place for you!
Marina Bay
Sampan boat ride
The really nice places to hang out in though are found in places like Little India, where me and a another girl from LiU named Sara found a really cool and relaxed backpackers pub, where they apparently have really good live music acts performing now and then. We had a nice cool beer and listened to this Norwegian guy that was playing at the tiny stage by the bar, good times!
On friday night I went clubbing together with two other LiU-students and a Singaporean guy to this place called The Butter Factory. The other girl, Emma, is really awesome and was actually able to talk us in through one of the “reserved guests” lines, even though there were really long queues outside of the club. It was almost like being back home going to NH with a kårkort, go Emma! Once in the club I learned two things: 1) Drinks are really expensive in Singapore, and 2) Singaporeans don’t/won’t/can’t dance. Me and Emma tore up the dancefloor all by ourselves, but it was actually a lot of fun. We had to go outside a few times to warm up though, because the club was so cold and the A/C was on at maximum on the dancefloor (it was like being in a tornado).
Emma, Raymond and Tobbe
Fish pedicures
Overall, the first week in Singapore was really overwhelming, but alot of fun!
Vilken temperatur har ni och vad tycker du om maten.
Det är mellan 30-35 grader varje dag, och jättefuktigt (vilket kanske är det värsta). Maten är jättebra, man kan äta alla typer av asiatisk mat, och om man går till s.k foodcourts så får man det för under 20 spänn. Något som rekommenderas är den singaporeanska/malaysiska maträtten laksa; en skaldjurs- och nudelsoppa, den är jättegod och finns i lika många varianter som gatukök som tillagar den!