John on the Job

I thought perhaps some of you may be wondering more about what's happening with John and his new job. Needless to say, he's been very, very busy and has no time to do his own write-up about this subject but I'll try to give you a sense of things.

Shortly after our arrival Veson announced John's new position in this press release!

On an evening conference call from our service apartment

Besides the obvious tasks of handling existing customer issues, John has been engaged in everything from getting pictures framed and hung to resolving employee issues, reviewing tax and insurance issues, orchestrating product demonstrations to new customers, and looking for new office space as they are entirely too crowded where they are. Occasionally there's the evening conference call with his boss and others back in Boston too. Even I got involved recently as I was enlisted to locate and purchase a mini-fridge for the office and then acquire an assortment of drinks and snacks to appease the masses (so to speak)!

And oh by the way there's still the large and looming issue of getting his employment pass which is crucial to our being able to stay on in Singapore. The first attempt has been rejected and he is now endeavoring to understand why so whatever it is can be corrected.

Yet he would tell you that he is relishing these challenges (with perhaps the exception being the strife over the employment pass). Though it's not a bed of roses by any means but mostly, all is good - for now!

A Tiny Apartment and a Very Large Tree

It's October 25th and two notable things happened today.

First, while I was out and about the city today, I noticed a VERY large Christmas tree going up in front of one mall and many other Christmas-y decorations lined up waiting their turn to be mounted over Orchard Road, the main shopping area. Yes, Christmas decorations are going up in earnest! We think it's so early if we see even a hint of Christmas before Halloween but it's happening here even amidst the black and orange balloons, streamers and Halloween costumes evident all over as well.

Secondly, we learned that the landlord accepted our offer for our chosen apartment and we have a move-in date of November 20th! So now in a few weeks time we'll have a residence where we can settle in. You can read and see more about the apartment here (although in these pictures the kitchen has an oven which we won't have). Here's a couple of my own pics...

View from Living Room

Our small kitchen

Apartment Hunting - Now Fingers Crossed!

It has been a wild week of apartment hunting! The prices are as expected - VERY high and thus, the limits of what we can afford ranges from small (~1000 sq. ft.) to very small (<600 sq. ft.).  We have also insisted on locations that will provide a commute under 30 minutes for John and preferably near an MRT (subway) station and decent food shopping. That eliminates altogether some outlying neighborhoods that might provide more space for the money but we are willing to make that trade-off for a more optimal locale.

Here's a sample of some places we've looked at...

A studio flat with a divider for the bedroom
(our property agent shows us how it works)

A typical kitchen
but this one has an oven!

A nice kitchen but another
studio flat with a divider for the bedroom

Nice living room but the rest of
the apartment was rundown

Now this is a tiny kitchen!

The other reality that becomes very apparent is that cooking and meal preparation is a whole new ball game. Most kitchens in our price-range are efficiency designs, some without ovens. Not only that but so far everyone insists that because of the cost of food here, it is as cheap if not cheaper to eat out (at local eateries; not a fancy restaurant). So most eat out several times a week and if they cook at home, they prepare only very simple fare. This will be my new motto! And in lieu of making my own bread I will have to try to find a suitable retail outlet (though as mentioned in my previous musings this may be impossible). But for meals there is an endless array of restaurants, local fare at hawker-stands of every variety.

So we have narrowed it down and today are making an offer on a place that is 750 sq. ft. "big". It sits on the 24th floor with a lovely view of the water and the city, has a very nice pool, a decent gym and an added plus of an almost private garden and jacuzzi just outside the apartment. It's part of a walkway between two apartment blocks that has been landscaped with tropical plants and provides a quiet place to have a glass of wine and relax without the luxury of our own balcony. Fingers-crossed our offer is accepted!

Look Right, Look Right! And Other Musings

Very quickly I am learning to remind myself to "Look right, look right!"  before crossing the road. Yes, they drive on the left here like in Britain so it's imperative to look right before stepping off the curb!

Durians still R-E-E-K (remember those Carol?) But their local coffee is really quite good - it's a dark brew with condensed milk so just a bit sweet.

Durians

Local Coffee

The weather is as advertised (warm and sticky) but somehow not nearly as uncomfortable as we anticipated - so far. But the monsoon season is approaching and each day the heavy downpours last a bit longer - ugh!

Singapore Dollars are more colorful than U.S. ones and in different sizes depending on their value but I'm still learning their coin denominations.

Some of the "do's" and "don'ts" we were warned of were apparently bogus but at least one is absolute - NO chewing gum!

Really good bread is hard to find in Asia. But if it's soy sauce you need, the array of choices is daunting!

There is a rich mix of ethnic groups here (Chinese, Indian, Indonesian and Malay primarily) with varied cultural tastes, ideas and celebrations. I/we still have a lot to learn in this department.

Bumps in the Road but Oh, So Nice!

It's not unexpected. Moving to a new country we are bound to hit a few bumps in the road. And sure enough this has started to happen.

 Originally we had planned to pursue three things we felt to be rather urgent after our arrival. One was to get permanent working cell phones for each of us so that we could make and receive calls both locally and internationally. Another was to open a bank account for obvious reasons and last but not least to submit the necessary paperwork for our ID cards (an employment pass for John and a dependent pass for myself) that would allow us to stay in the country.

As it turns out we really can't do either of the first two things without having those all important ID's. On our first day we were successful with a temporary work-around for the old phone we had kept from our last visit to Hong Kong. But the bank account would have to wait although we brought what we hope is enough cash to get us by (plus a credit card as a backstop) in the interim. As for those passes, John had already been diligently working on that well before we left Boston. He'd acquired not only reference letters from virtually all of his previous employers but others who could attest to his character (some of you may not believe he has friends that will really do that - ha!)! In addition he'd had to retrieve transcripts as proof of his education and other bits and pieces certifying his employment with Veson in his capacity as their regional director in Singapore.

Welcome to Singapore! Yes, they are very controlling and exacting in so many things but at least we have also found that everyone is oh so nice! Here's what I have to say about that at the moment - PHOOEY!!!

First Day

Living/Dining area

After checking into our service apartment (more pictures here) and unpacking we take stock and decide what needs we have. The apartment is like a gloriied but spartan hotel room with stiff, uncomfortable furniture. Not much we can do about that. The bed is king-sized and firm but not unreasonably so. However, the tiny kitchen is barely stocked with essentials and I find only one paring knife, one chef's knife, a soup ladle and a mediocre spatula for cooking utensils. Not even a large spoon to stir or serve anything with! And John decides we need some plastic glassware as well. Plus of course we need to locate groceries and see if there is anyway to make use of this old phone we kept from our last visit to Hong Kong. But the very first thing we have to do is find a money-changer.

Entrance to Chinatown

Our helpful "concierge" points in a general direction and we head off. Just a couple of blocks over and we find ourselves in Chinatown where there are heaps of money-changers as well as a variety of local shops. This area naturally reminds us very much of Hong Kong. John negotiates between a few of the money-changers to get the best exchange rate and then we find a bits and pieces shop where we pick up a few household necessities including some additional kitchen utensils. In our wanderings we stumble upon a stand selling telephone sim cards, prepaid calling cards and other phone accessories. He's a very nice man and John buys a phone charger and a sim card from him so we can at least have temporary phone service. We find out we can use this to call the U.S. for about 8-cents (SGD) or a bit over 6-cents (USD) per minute. This seems quite reasonable since my mother was recently quoted  by AT&T for calls to Singapore from the U.S. at a rate of 45-cents per minute!! What explains this huge difference? We think its greedy telecoms in the U.S. but can't say for sure...

Street view in Chinatown

Herbal shop

Finding a grocery store is another matter. We had been told we could find one in a nearby shopping mall but it turns out to be more like a convenience shop. However, we come across another ex-pat couple in that shop and ask them if they know where we can find a true grocery store. They weren't quite sure how to direct us in that area but were very helpful in explaining two of the main chains available in Singapore. One is called Cold Storage and carries more western-style brands while another called Fairplay cater to more local tastes. So we head back to our flat and use the internet to locate a Cold Storage nearby. Sure enough another block over from Chinatown we find one and set off in that direction. It's located in the basement level of another shopping mall (a typical arrangement in Asia). I find all of the items on my list but am aghast yet not surprised to find prices roughly 25 - 30% more than I would pay in the U.S. At some point I'm going to have to locate a "wet" market where fresh produce can usually be had at a fraction of the cost in these retail chains and that should help with the budget.

In the end, we are feeling like our first day is quite successful.  But now it's late afternoon and jet-lag is definitely catching up so it's time for a nap! When we awake it's approaching dinner-time and I announce that despite the fact we've just bought food I'm in no mood for cooking so we head over to Clarke Quay, a nearby area along the riverfront with a plethora of bars and restaurants to choose from. We end up at a Thai place and enjoy a simple meal of Green Papaya Salad, Green Chicken Curry with steamed rice and a Mixed Vegetable dish. MMM!! Now this part of living in Asia we definitely enjoy!

Mixed Feelings and Foggy Heads

Thursday morning, October 6th was final packing day! We both agreed we had mixed feelings - a bit of excitement that we were returning to Asia but some sadness leaving family, good friends and a certain enjoyable lifestyle behind.

Happy Birthday
to John

Nonetheless, the night before we had celebrated John's birthday at the recently opened new location of The Capital Grille in Boston where we enjoyed a truly sumptuous steak dinner followed by an outrageously delicious dessert trio of cheesecake, chocolate cake and coconut cream pie! That surprise bonus was surely the result of the charms John had bestowed upon our server, Laurie all that evening.  Anyway on this last morning prior to our departure for Singapore, John would go into Veson's offices to pack-up the last bits there and enjoy birthday cupcakes as a final farewell!

Later that afternoon we arrived at Logan Airport with three bags each plus carry-on. Flying internationally we knew we were allowed two bags apiece and our third would be extra. The only thing is we didn't know how much extra that would be. It turned out to be $149 per bag - a bit excessive don't you think? We certainly did but what can you do when you are at the airport with all your moving "kit" in tow? So of course we paid it and put it down as a moving expense.

Next hurdle was an unexpected one that caused some momentary panic (at least for me)! We had one way tickets to our final destination but the attendant checking us in then asked if we had visas which we had determined in planning our trip were not required by Singapore. However, our not-too-kind attendant informed us that as U.S. citizens without a visa we had to then have return tickets within 90 days of our departure. Inside I'm frantic and thinking we're sunk but John in his very calm, methodical way replies that we will solve that problem momentarily though I haven't a clue what he means by that.

John then kindly reminded me it so happened that just the day before I had decided to go ahead and book my return flights for December so if I could acquire proof of this itinerary I would be okay. John however had not yet made his reservations but he quickly proceeded to do so through the company travel agent only to learn it would take close to two hours for his itinerary to officially register. That of course meant we would not make our first flight to NYC in time. Then John had a brainstorm and wondered if our Hong Kong permanent residence ID's would prove helpful. To our surprise (and despite the fact that mine is officially expired), that did the trick! Our new friendly check-in attendant was happy to proceed and soon we had boarding passes in hand! Whew!

Our flight to JFK went as planned but of course we then had to make our way to an international terminal (and go through security again). Fortunately all those bags had been checked through to Singapore from Boston so at least we didn't have to lug those around again. Before boarding our flight John was informed that his assigned seat was broken and wouldn't recline but the middle seat between us was empty and did work. That actually worked to our advantage as we then had the three seats to ourselves - at least until we arrived in Frankfurt, Germany for re-fueling.

In Germany we had to de-plane and go all the way around through security yet again which I totally don't get but by that time we felt like ultra-secure passengers. Unfortunately now we ended up with a passenger on the aisle seat in our little three seat row and John was squished in the middle for the longest leg of this journey (another 11+ hours to go)! In addition, the plane was an older Boeing 747 configured with personal little screens in the back of each seat with on-demand movies, tv shows and music. That was all fine but the sound was of very poor quality and made it almost impossible to understand much of the dialogue. So much for that part of our flight entertainment. Food was as expected - typical plane-fare and quite mediocre. We did manage to sleep for several hours both between NYC and Frankfurt as well as on this segment.

Still, it did become quite an endless trip and we were quite ready for our arrival in Singapore which finally occurred (23+ hours after our departure) at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 8th a bit dazed and foggy in the head as you can imagine. Our apartment complex offered a car service to pick us up which was a nice perk we were happy to accept. But first we had been instructed by other friends here we must stop in Duty Free to purchase some liquor because it was extremely expensive elsewhere in Singapore. Even at that the prices were high by comparison. Absolut Vodka was $33 SGD (about $25 USD) and white wine that we would normally pay about $15 for was nearly double that! Aiiyahh!!

After locating our driver in the airport lobby and a short ride later we had arrived at the service apartments where we will stay for the next month!

The Job and the Transition - In the Blink of an Eye

Entrance to Veson Offices

While free time in Boston has provided much pleasure for both of us, weekdays John is wrapped up getting to know all about his new job with Veson Nautical, his colleagues, and preparing for his role in Singapore. There is much learning to be done about the marine industry as well as the software products developed and sold by Veson. John has found his technical prowess with the software a bit challenging,  yet other areas of management and strategy provide opportunity for him to show them how he can really contribute. During meetings and discussions he is pulled into he's found himself adding useful commentary and suggestions in part because his breadth of experience bridges a variety of disciplines and exceeds that of many in this young company. But that youthfulness also imparts energy and playfulness evident in office accoutrements like after-hours ping pong as well as social events like twice weekly lunches, a cocktail party in celebration of Veson's new offices and a pig roast on another occasion. Altogether, John is truly enjoying his work for the first time in a long time. 

In due time, it's all coming together and more detailed planning for our transition overseas gets going too. We spend several hours on the internet exploring different options for our initial stay in Singapore and decide upon a 1-bedroom apartment  at Central Square Village in the central business district within walking distance of the offices there. John and the HR team work out our travel plans as well as healthcare and employment issues unique to Singapore. A consultation with the travel clinic at Mass. General Hospital provides the necessary vaccinations (which John always enjoys - not!) before our departure and we are ready to go!

In large measure our journey and moving plans have all gone very smoothly. We are so grateful for support from so many who helped make this as painless as possible. Now that we are on the verge of our departure, there is of course one hiccup throwing a kink into our carefully laid plans. That hiccup is the shipment of some of our household goods from Colorado.

The original delivery date in Cape Cod was to be the week of September 18th. At the last minute we were informed that our small shipment would be delayed until they could find a truck in the area to add it onto another load but oh, we are told rest assured it will arrive no later than October 1, the last "allowable" day according to our contract. Both of us are quite unhappy and nervous about this. For one thing, it shortens or eliminates any opportunity to sort through some of those items to retrieve things we need or want to take to Singapore with us. For another, October 1 is literally only days before our flights to Singapore. Sure enough on September 30th the driver calls to tell me he has broken down in Kentucky and delivery will not likely occur until October 4th! Aiiyahh!! This is totally unacceptable so frantic calls with the shipping company in Colorado and another to the headquarters of the trucking company ensue. Finally we are promised that somehow they will get our delivery made on Monday, Oct. 3. It feels like threading a needle and we are just praying that there are no further delays.

On Thursday, October 6th we are heading to Singapore with several suitcases in tow.  If you've read my previous posts, then you know that we've been quite busy. Despite all that or perhaps because of it we've enjoyed such a rich fulfilling time here it feels like our time in Boston has gone by in the blink of an eye.