Hello, from the Lion City

Hello Blog World!

I actually have a new joint blog with friends but this blog remains my personal one. How can I let it go if it has posts from way back when I was in college?! (Read: almost 20 years ago) Anyhow, that joint blog is focused on motherhood and I seem to write article type of entries instead of journal type entries. I guess it takes time to be comfortable.

So, I am in Singapore now while I am writing this and I just successfully transferred my LiveJournal entries to Blogger! Way to clear out my 2012 To Do List!

Jumping back from my last post prior to the book review, we have safely arrived in Singapore last Feb 27, 2020 and due to COVID-19, we are mostly staying inside the condo! This means I was able to read books again and do things I really enjoy, like baking! This seems to be a culmination year of all the things that I kept wishing that I could do way back when I was working the corporate grind. Now here I am, with lots of time and lots of happiness.

We have a bathtub in the unit and a great view outside the balcony. There are trees and open spaces and buildings, too, literally like a well-planned urban jungle.

There are 3 swimming pools in the complex, 2 playgrounds, 2 tennis courts, beach volleball, zipline, treehouse, etc. It is also my child's dream playground come true.

This place feels like a super lifestyle upgrade and I am just over the moon! My plans of assimilating into Singapore culture have been put on hold for the meantime because of the virus, but I'm taking it one step at a time.

One major thing I want to overcome is the language barrier. The few conversations I had with the locals were not major wins.

1. Alternation Auntie - Tried to talk to me in Mandarin because she said I looked like I knew how but I could not respond properly.  I could only manage preschool level mumblings!
2. Aircon Repairman talking to Landlord - I totally could not understand what they were talking about, was it English, even? Maybe it was Malay
3. Aircon Repairman - I had a hard time understanding his English
4. Clinic Lady (wearing a mask) - I could not understand what she was asking me - apparently, it was postal code - and it make me feel like such a foreigner and tourist.

My goal is to eventually not be thought of as a tourist or foreigner. I wonder how soon I can achieve that!