Day 1

The first day felt like a week.  

I didn't sleep much at all my first night.  I didn't get to bed until about 2am and then woke up about 90 minutes later suddenly and burst into tears.  It's real.  I'm here.  This is my LIFE.  It's scary, but it's getting better. 

The apartment is so nice!  It was also immaculate when I arrived and my fears were quelled when my roommates informed me that the maid comes every Thursday.  Phew!  I don't have to become hella clean.  Speaking of roommates...I allegedly have 2 male British roommates, but I have yet to meet them.  They're both out of town and arrive back tomorrow night.  It has been nice to get settled on my own since it can be a messy process, but I'm looking forward to having people around more.  It's lonely!  

 Private elevator entrance.

 Balcony.  Barely pictured in the lower right is a lime tree.  Hello G&Ts!

 Our view.  We are right on the river. 

 Kitchen.  Not pictured further to the left is in-unit washer and dryer. 

Bathroom. 

Living area.  I've made it a mess already.  Sorry, boys!

I woke up at 8 and FaceTimed home to give Mom, Ryan, Jess, Ben and Bran video tours of my new digs.  Then, per Brandon's suggestions, I showered and found food.  I walked a mile to a place called Artistry.  It's advertised as part art gallery/part coffeehouse/restaurant.  They had one large photograph displayed, so I wouldn't call it a gallery, but it was neat.  Rustic, community seating, felt very "Colorado."  I had a healthy brunch, asked my waiter how to grab a taxi in that neighborhood (you can't always just hail them off the street, this is SG, we have rules here).  When I later told my dinner crew that I walked a mile at 10am and didn't think the heat was too bad, they were very impressed. 

Off to Ikea!  My taxi driver was awesome.  A - I could understand him.  Win.  B - We chatted the whole way.  He's very proud of Singapore.  Apparently, SG is about to celebrate its 50th birthday.  I had to try not to laugh when he told me that.  50?!  There are humans older than that.  Every Saturday from today until National Day (August 9), the city practices the parade.  This means streets are closed and traffic becomes a real joy.  My taxi driver said "This is Singapore, you know.  We want everything to be perfect, so we practice."  We also talked about cars in the city and how it is incredibly expensive to own them.  They auction Certificates of Entitlement for car ownership.  They range in price depending on what you'd like to own (motorbike vs. luxury vehicle), but right now the highest price is $63,000.  That is JUST to get the piece of paper that says you can bring a BMW into the country.  Then you have the cost of said BMW (you can't get a loan for more than 50% of the vehicle) and all that goes with it.  Some of these people are nutso and also quite cash rich.  He also told me about his religion (Muslim) and how his neighbor is a Christian and they love to talk to each other to find better understanding.  He said the government really promotes diversity in all things.  Love that!  

Ikea was epic.  I've been a few times to the one in Denver, but never really bought anything.  I bought sheets and towels and tupperware and bathroom organization stuff, etc.  I still can't decide if I even need the quilt and duvet cover I bought - it's so hot!  The drive home from Ikea was even more epic.  Good god it took forever.  Thankfully, my dinner crew said this is the worst they've ever seen (due to the parade closures) and this is not at all normal.  

Speaking of dinner crew.  My boss and his wife had me over to their gorgeous apartment for some pre-dinner bubbles with their neighbor - a Vietnamese French guy who is from Barcelona and working for Swarovski.  Then, we grabbed an Uber (they have Uber here - I'm excited!) and headed to dinner.  Traffic was a nightmare, but we made it.  We met up with more friends of theirs, a Korean couple originally from Korea, but moved to SG from Michigan.  We went to Bornga, a Korean BBQ restaurant that is apparently run by a very famous Korean chef - Chef Paik.  Since we had some real Koreans with us, they ordered for us and the meal was amazing!  We even had table-made cocktails of Soju, Sprite and beer.  Mmmm!  The restaurant is at this mall (Asia loves their malls - it's so strange) called Suntec City and was it ever a city!  5 towers.  Unreal.  We then bopped around to find a place for after dinner drinks and couldn't resist the Spam fries on the menu.  I came all the way to SG to have Spam for the first time.  You know what they say...when in Rome.  

My boss and his wife and their friends are really awesome people.  One of the things I was most looking forward to about this move was meeting worldly, diverse people and I'm doing just that :)  I'm very thankful to have a boss that is so friendly and welcoming.  

At first I was really in love with my apartment.  It really is very nice and I kind of liked that the location was more chill.  When I first moved here, people said that everywhere is great, but to avoid the "East Coast" because it's suburban.  I would have never guessed my giant condo tower to be "suburban," but when I tell people where I'm living, they all say "oh so on the East Coast."  :(  When I think about it and the more I see of the city, I definitely don't have much surrounding me that is within walking distance.  I'm thankful this is a short-term rental.  But now I'm once again in house-hunting mode...