Friend Finder = Success!

After being in Sing a couple of weeks... I decided the time had come to place a personal ad. NO, not one of those... Blake is still my main man! ;) But, I was starving for female gal pals and decided to try my luck on the Singapore expat forums. I posted a simple ad including my age, gender, and what I was seeking and pressed submit... I will admit I seriously was nervous that I might not get any replies! Blake, of course, was a bit surprised when I did tell him I posted online looking for friends. Then, he became even more nervous when I got replies... I think he was picturing ninja weapon yielding women out to capture unsuspecting expat wives at the coffee shop!! So, I finally agreed to meet with a young woman and had Blake on speed dial (just in case).

Day of Friend-Date... Score: 0-0
Blake has phoned twice... I haven't even arrived for my "date" and I think he is more nervous than I am. I have been instructed by Blake that if she looks weird, to turn and walk away like I am not the American she is meeting... (because there are so many of us here...). LOL. I arrived to the public coffee shop (very important of all blind dates... public place for eye-witnesses, should you need them in the future...) and to my surprise a pleasant young woman was waiting for me. As I introduced myself, I immediately began to relax... She is normal! You can meet people online that aren't trying to get you!! We ordered coffee and settled into a nice conversation as my cell began to ring... Blake. So, in the best code lingo possible, I explained to him over the phone that she was pleasant, not trying to sell my anything, and not an axe murderer. Success! We were able to compare stories of Singy and she provided me with loads of information. I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and celebrated my first success at online friend dating!

1-0... Why not go for 2-0??
With one under my belt and my bravery growing by the minute... I decided to try my hand at another blind friend-date! So, I responded to another post on my personal ad and set a time and place for coffee and a movie. My new friend would turn out to be a delightful woman from the UK named Sharon. She, like me, has moved here for her husband's job and is need of a friend to run around with. Sharon and I met at a coffee shop near Sentosa Island and like before... Blake called in the middle of the meeting... gotta love him! I think Sharon knew right away what he called for, because her husband text her right after that. Well, at least we know the boys love us and care for our safety this much!! :) We enjoyed a cup of coffee and proceeded to see the movie "One Day." Wonderful afternoon and we have stayed close since. I love listening to her accent and like to pretend she enjoys listening to my somewhat Texas accent as well! :)

Another win in my friend book!!

Funny story...

Moving to a new country can be full of surprises and lots of learning lessons... Little did I know I would encounter one such lesson on my first trip to the grocery store!

Upon arriving to the store, I happened to see an elderly gentleman walking his grocery cart back to the racks... so being a nice person, I offered to take it for him. He refused and began speaking in broken English mixed with Chinese. I again, thinking he was confused, said "no, it's ok, I don't mind, I need a cart anyways." Again, he gave me a prompt refusal, motioned to the cart, and then proceeded to walk it back himself.

So, I went to get MY OWN cart then... only to realize you must pay a dollar to rent a cart. The poor man thought I was trying to steal his dollar!! Hilarious... Blake witnessed all of this and was dying laughing! However, his jaw did drop when he realized you again have to pay for something in Singapore... you do get your dollar back, when you return the cart. Good system actually! You do not see any carts walking down the side of the road here.

Now, I make sure to have dollar coins with me in order to always be able to rent my own shopping "trolley" as they call them!

Singapore Zoo

On October 8, we decided to take a trip to the Singapore Zoo. The Singapore Zoo is ranked number one in all of Asia and was quite impressive. Some of the exhibits allowed to you get up close and personal with the animals.

Breathtakingly beautiful orchids were scattered about throughout the park.

The best part of the zoo was an exhibit called Fragile Forest. The animals were wondering freely in this exhibit and you were able to walk right through... you had to keep your eye out because the little creatures were all around!

Moving to Sentosa Island

After our week on Orchard Road, we were thrilled to begin the move to Sentosa Island to our new condo.  Sentosa Island is an entirely different pace of life and offers a bit of peace and quiet from the busy city! 

Sentosa Cove has excellent security- you have to pass through three check points to get to our condo. The Sentosa Rangers serve as the police and drive around on little motorcycles.

Only residents of Sentosa are permitted in the cove area, non-residents of Sentosa must pay a daily fee to visit the public side of Sentosa near Universal Studios Singapore.

Siloso Beach on Sentosa Island

        

              

The Turquoise, Sentosa Island

              (Our home!)

Exploring...

During the first week, we stayed on Orchard Road at the Orchard Hotel. The atmosphere of Orchard Road is best described as a constant rush hour! Orchard Road does have anything and everything you could ever want... but you are continually surrounded by crowds of people and they all seem to be in a hurry. This was our first introduction to the new pace of life in Singapore!

Just your average Sunday crowd!

The architecture of the buildings is most impressive. At every turn your eye seems to catch something visually striking. The Ion Orchard Mall is a beautiful building and houses everything from Dior handbags to cartons of eggs... yes, you do go to the mall for your groceries! Blake and I have spent more time in malls the last couple of weeks than in seven years combined. I honestly doubt I will be able to drag him into a mall in the states again! ;) The organization of the malls is quite nice- you can easily access the grocery stores, movie theaters, department stores, restaurants, and the MRT (mass rail transit) inside them. 

Ion Orchard Mall

We decided to take a stroll around town and see what we could find. Singapore does not disappoint! Below are a couple of pictures we took as we were walking.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

(yes, that is a cruise ship on top-excellent spot for a day at the pool.)

The Esplanade, Theaters on the Bay

Designed to resemble the tropical fruit, durian.

Our stroll around town turned into a five hour hike... oops! :) So, we decided to take a bus on over to the island of Sentosa to explore the area where we would be moving. We checked out parts of Siloso Beach and Palawan Beach.

Crossing the bridge to
The Southern Most Point of Continental Asia

Palawan Beach, Sentosa Island

The Daniels are in Singapore!

On September 10, after a 22 hour flight, we arrived in Singapore and began to discover our new city/country's way of doing things! Trust me, it has been a learning experience step-by-step... you truly re-learn how to do even the most simple things.