I Guess I am Starting a Blog

I realize that is very late in coming. I have been living in Singapore since late September but have inadequatly made my happenings and wanderings known to those back home.

So I apologize for keeping most people out of the loop.

I will begin by basically giving an overview of the last 6 months living and working in Singapore and the weeks before I left Canada.

Once upon a time...

In late August I was still very nervous as my work permit had not yet been approved, so I was in this hopeless situation where I had already stopped working but had no idea when I should leave Canada or if I should.

The scenarios going through my head:
1.) All will be alright, the Visa might come in the next couple of weeks...so wait patiently
2.) All will be alright, the Visa might come in the next couple of weeks...so just fly over
3.) What if it doesn't get approved...I am stuck in Vancouver
4.) What if it doesn't get approved, okay what country can I go to next...France??

Well I took option 2...so I was sorta scared that had option 3 and 4 came about, I would have just flown all the way to Singapore, essentially for a holiday. Since, I had already said my goodbyes on August 26th, 2008, thinking that I would be flying in the next two days, I spent the next two weeks going into work explaining that I was picking up several shifts because my visa hadn't yet been approved. This got old very quickly, hence the decision just to fly over to see if the Visa would get approved while I took the 18 hour flight.

I decided to use my fathers passes to get as far as Hong Kong, as Air Canada primarily only has routes to Japan, HK and China now, with partner airlines taking passengers to their respective destinations in Asia. When I arrived in Hong Kong I had a one and half hour layover, but because I was not flying a partner airline, but rather a discount airline I had to recheck-in. If anyone has been to Hong Kong International Airport...its huge. So again, as you can tell, I am sorta going my seat of my pants, cutting things semi close. Anyways, I basically ran across the main international terminal (terminal 2) , screwed up my declaration, so had to rewrite it and got through customs ( at this point I don't look my best at all, 13 hour flights can do that). Then I go to the baggage claim area only to learn that my bag never made it on the flight, and presently is still sitting on the tarmac at Vancouver International Airport. I gave the missing bag person all the necessary information and basically asked them to send the bag to Johor Bahru (Senai Airport) Malaysia. Well I guess that was a positive turn of events because I didn't need to waste my time weighing the bag, putting those random tags and so on. So when I went to check-in, it was really fast, and spent most of the next 45 min waiting in this really old lounge (part of the old airport) for the shuttle bus to take us to the Jetstar plane sitting on the tarmac.

It was September 12th, 2008 when I arrived at approximatly 11:50pm at Changi International Airport in Singapore. I couldn't wait, I had literally waited a year and half to get the opportunity to live abroad for a year. While most people know I travel quite I bit, I have never lived away from home for more than 4 months. So this was a big deal for me, since my last long term work/ travel experience didn't go entirely as planned.

I will briefly go on a tangent here to explain myelf: I am a purpose driven traveler. No matter how much I really want to wing it, that doesn't really happen. So I always have a relative itinerary with a number of options, so it would seem that I just chose to go somewhere random.

So when I travel I need to doing one of the following:
1.) Being a tourist (rarely)
2.) Studying (Most often)
3.) Volunteering ( Would like to do more)
4.) Working (Is my future *fingers crossed*)

As many people do know, I travel, I live, work and breath it. When I work, I am constantly saving up for my next trip. When I am studying I am always researching people, culture, languages most often related to Politics and International Relations but fairly often also clicking and linking my way through Wikipedia and the World Wide Web. In three words... I am addicted.

So continuing with my story, I came to Singapore to primarily work. However, I was also very interested in studying, volunteering and in some cases being a down right tourist. I managed to achieve all three when I chose to come to Singapore. I had basically been offered two full-time jobs over a ten month period. The first job was offered for September to December, I will not say much about it, but lets just say it was my dream job, the pinnicle of my present academic and personal goals. The second job was working at the National University of Singapore.

However, while I was offered both these jobs, the first one seemed to be losing momentum, neither they nor I knew if my Visa would be approved, so it was a long waiting game. So when I did fly over, the first two days were unbearably tense. I ended up recovering from jetlag by getting up at 7am and going to the gym with my Aunt. Then I would sit around the house, watching t.v. in Johor Bahru, Malaysia about 2km from Singapore but a whole other world apart.

Okay second tangent, to explain myself:

I am of a mixed household, my mother is Malaysian Chinese and my father is from a Dutch background. Therefore, my decision to choose Singapore was my first and only choice in my heart but I had also put down the University of Otago in New Zealand and the University of Bonn in Germany. However, since traveling back for the first time in 7 years to see family, it was a deeply personal decision to basically return to my roots. For my entire life I have always been very close to my moms family despite the distance and it was always really meaningful times when either side took the long flights over. I returned to Singapore so I could really get to know them, to try to learn their names, traditions and just generally spend time with them. Do I regret not going to a new place like New Zealand or Germany, not at all, I do value family and miss the closeness I shared with my relatives in South East Asia.

I have family in both Singapore and Malaysia, but for the longest time was only very familiar with my grandfathers side, my mom has many (60+) cousins...so you can imagine how many people that is. That does not include my Singaporean side...I have at least 9 second cousins...Its a lot of people.

Singapore is a city state, which was expelled from the Malaysian Federation in 1965. Since then it has made a remarkable path to be a leading figure in Southeast Asia, unlike its neighbour. Therefore, many families were seperated so to speak, some chosing Singapore as their home, while others remained in Malaysia. My grandfathers family stayed in Malaysia, my grandmothers family moved to Singapore.

Therefore, the transition here has not been that traumatic. I spent almost every summer here until I was 14, so I was familiar with the food, langauge and culture. The only adjustment came when I was finally living on my own in Singapore, though I had relatives I chose not to live with them. I didn't want people hovering, especailly family. I know they would probably have let me do my own thing but its just so much easier when you have your own terms.

Back to story...

So I spent the first two days essentially lazing around. The 3rd day I got notice from Singapore, so I went in on day 4 to get my work pass. I spent about 2 hours waiting and it was my first taste of Singapore. Everyone queues so it was relatively efficient, you get a number you go to one person, then they may assign you another number to go to another person. There is not to much thinking involved, just make sure you go to the right person and be patient, it takes awhile.

I finally got my workpass and made it back into Malaysia for dinner. It was on this day that I learned, in order to get anywhere or do anything...be observant, do as the locals do. Since it was rush hour I took transit, and it was very crowded. No one wants to wait, so just like everyone else...push and jump queues or else you'll have to laugh at yourself for waiting 2 hours just to get on one bus, when it could have taken less then 15 minutes. I can tell you that I was jumping and ducking under barriers just to get on the bus. It works.

Will continue my story soon, but I have to leave for the opening of Confessions of a Shopaholic... they are giving away goody bags:)