Moving day

I spent the day sitting in my apartment today watching a crew pack up all of my belongings in preparation of the shipment back to the US. 

I actually am only taking about half of what I brought over here home with me.  Furniture here in Singapore is insanely expensive so some of my close friends have benefited from the fact that all of the stuff I had here was duplicate and not needed at home.  It would have likely been donated to charity at home so am thrilled that my friends will get to use.  Although...I must admit it was a bit odd when I went over to their place for dinner last night and saw lots of my former things in use...

The moving crew arrived at my place this morning about 9:30 am and began packing almost immediately.  They didn't finish packing until around 2:00 pm...I clearly have way too much crap!  Although, they were quite careful and wrapped every single piece of furniture very nicely to protect it from getting bumped or dinged during the shipment.  And...to be fair...the move over here was a lot easier and faster because most of what came was brand new and in the original packaging so there was no need to re-pack it for the shipment.

Some of my things will be sent via air shipment and will hopefully arrive in Durham in about 10-14 days.  These are mostly my clothing and some pictures and other personal items.  You have a strict limit on the weight allowance in the air shipment so most of my items are going by sea.

The items going by sea will be loaded into a container and put on a ship headed for the US.  It will likely clear customs in Norfolk, VA and then come to Durham by way of truck.  I'm told it will take about 6-8 weeks for the sea shipment to arrive.

I'm always a little uneasy watching lots of my belongings drive off.  These companies move people around the world all of the time so am sure things will be fine but will be happy when I see it all on the other end.

So...now I just have to clean up my apartment, get the curtains back from the cleaners re-hung, and hand over the keys to the landlord. 

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These are a few of my favorite things...

What, you ask, are some of the things that I will miss the most about Singapore?  Here are a few of them...

Friends
I already mentioned this a recent post but will definitely miss my friends the most.

Culture immersion
I will miss all of the different cultures that live so cohesively in Singapore.  There are such distinct groups...Chinese, Malay, Indian, everybody else...plus all of the expats.  The influence on the buildings...the food...the clothing...the language...is present every single day in multiple ways.

City living
It has been fun living in the center of it all.  While this has also provided me with some frustrations it has been nice being within walking distance of just about everything.

Public Transportation
I love not having to rely on a car to get me around.  I made the decision when I chose my apartment to live close to a bus stop as well as near an MRT station.  It has really paid off.

Travel
The ability to just hop over to Bali...or Bangkok...or Ho Chi Minh City...or Siem Riep for a weekend has been amazing.  Having so many different cultures/countries so close has been wonderful!

A few more Singapore specific things...
~All of the amazing parks and green space
~Curry puffs
~Gold class movies
~100 plus (is a soda only available here)
~Dumplings
~Chili sauce (there are a million different kinds here)
~All of the free art exhibits in Singapore
~Sunday morning walks along East Coast Park or the river

I'm sure that there will be a lot of other things that I'll notice that I miss once I get back to the US...however...there will be lots of things that I will be so excited to come back to...maybe a post for another day...

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Back to where it all began...

The first of the two sets of movers are coming tomorrow morning and I've spent the past two weekends getting things organized and sorted.  I've had to sort things into four categories...
~stuff to take with me on the plane
~stuff to go via sea shipment
~stuff to go via air shipment (separate from me)
~stuff I'm giving to friends here.
There was also a fifth category of going directly into the trash...holy cow...how on earth can one person accumulate so much stuff that is not needed?

It hasn't been a difficult process but has been interesting trying to remember not to pack things that I need the last few weeks that I am here.  And I must say that it is nice that I am moving back to a completely opposite season.  It has made the packing of my shoes and clothing much easier since most of what I have here isn't needed right away.

One of the things that my company provides to me is temporary housing so that I don't have to stay in a hotel between the time I leave my apartment and the time I fly back to the US.  I checked in yesterday and my first night there will be tonight.  It is the same place that I stayed when I first moved here so have come full circle...

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Thaipusam

This past Tuesday was the Hindu festival of Thaipusam.  I tried to look up what the day is meant to celebrate but there seem to be multiple things so will just leave it at being a very spiritual day.

In Singapore, they actually shut down some of the roads so that the devotees can make the 2.5 mile walk from Little India to the temple just down the road from my apartment.  Now, 2.5 miles doesn't seem like such a long way...but imagine if you had to walk that far wearing this...

The men are wearing kavadis or burdens.

These are worn as an act of devotion and apparently the more pain that is suffered the more god-earned merit is obtained.  If you can't see in the pictures above, the kavadis are not only balanced on the shoulders of these men but are actually affixed to their bodies...

Sorry that the picture above is blurry but I had to snap this fast because there were so many people walking with him.

In addition to the men, the women also participate as devotees...

So, in addition to walking, barefoot, with the kavadis for 2.5 miles in the Singapore heat...these guys also dance with them on...can you imagine...

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Expat friends

I follow some blogs of other expats living in Singapore.  There are a few who have just arrived in the past six months and another few that are leaving around the time that I will be leaving.  Almost all of them have a post about the struggles with making friends as an expat.  It isn't so much that it is hard to find people to become friends with but how much time and energy should one invest into the friendship knowing that one or both of you at some point will be moving away and possibly moving on.

So these posts from other bloggers really got me thinking about how their experience as an expat is going to be if they are being guarded about who they allow into their life? And, did I do the same thing?

In looking back at my time in Singapore I can honestly say that this never even came up as an issue for me.  I made some amazing friends while living here.  We have shared a lot of great memories and I would like to think that I'll maintain contact with them even once I move back to the US.  However, there is a very real possibility that we will lose touch.  That may sound harsh but that is just life.  I have friends that live in the same city as me that I've lost touch with and couldn't give you any specific reason as to why.

I will say that one of the lessons that living half-way around the world from your core group of 'peeps' teaches you is that you must work at relationships.  Obviously this is not only true for those of us living in different time zones but I think it is something we tend to take for granted in day-to-day life.  It is far easier to just assume that someone will always be there for you than to put effort into the relationship.  Prior to coming here I rarely 'scheduled' time to speak with my friends...sure...we would make plans to catch-up but even then I was a bit relaxed about even doing that.  A 12-13 hour time difference coupled with the cost of international dialing rates teaches you to actually 'set dates' with your friends and family.  As a result, I don't feel like I've missed out on too many things and haven't been too estranged from anyone back home while living here.

I'm thankful that I never had any reservations about making friends while living here.  Without some of them my experiences here would not have been nearly as wonderful.  I would be lying if I said that I wish I didn't have more time with some of them...but not once have I had the thought that I shouldn't invest my time or energy because one of us will be leaving.  So, instead of 'scheduling dates' with my US friends I'll soon be shifting my energy to arranging dates to call or video chat or visit in person with my friends from Asia. 

If you are an expat and happen to be reading this or have the opportunity to become an expat I'll give you some unsolicited advice on this topic...go all in when it comes to friends.  Who cares if you have 30 years or 3 years or 3 months with somebody?  I'd like to think that people enter and exit our lives at the times that we need them to be there and we don't always get to make the decision about the timing. 

I've been asked a lot lately about what I will miss the most when I return to the US and it is the exact same thing that I have said that I miss the most about being away from the US...the people.

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33/52 - Hong Kong

Week 33 of 52
Hong Kong

Last weekend, Mom and I went to Hong Kong for a visit.  I've only ever flown through the airport so it was fun to get out and explore a new place.  The weather was a bit on the chilly side by Singapore standards...although still a bit warm for Mom coming from Michigan.

Hong Kong reminded me of a bit of Singapore.  It has an Asian flare to it but is easy to get around and the majority of people speak English.  It is also similar to Singapore in that there are lots and lots of buildings and if you want to go shopping you could spend all of your time in the shops.

One notable difference was the size of the buildings...holy cow are they tall...

We went to one of the higher points in Hong Kong via cable car and got a great view of the central part of Hong Kong.

I had a little fun with one of the settings on my camera...

and also got a great picture of the two of us...

I think our favorite part of the visit was to the Stanley Market area on the south side of Hong Kong island.  It had much less of a city feel to it and there was a great market where we did some shopping. 

There were also a bunch of great cafes and restaurants.  We ate a cute place that was a bakery/cafe combined.  I was super excited because they had so many yummy cookies, cupcakes, brownies, lemonbars, etc to choose from!  Asia is not known for their baking so I was thrilled to find this place that was run by an American.

We spent the last evening of our weekend in Hong Kong on the Kowloon side.  We had a nice dinner and then took a walk along the water to view the amazing lights and skyline of Hong Kong...

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4 weeks...

So, the countdown continues and I am somehow at the 4 week mark...yikes!  I'm super excited to be coming home but am also sad about leaving Singapore.  And...in the middle of all of that I have a lot of organizing to do.  Movers to schedule...things to organize for packing...repairman to be scheduled...lots of dinners and drinks with friends...transitioning job responsibilities...canceling of utilities...and on and on...  Please don't get me wrong, am not complaining at all...it is just going to be an interesting...and busy...ride for the next few weeks!

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