Adjusting to Singapore

So ew and I finally found a place that we can possibly afford ... as long as I find a job somewhat soon.  And after a rocky first couple of weeks here in Singapore, things have somewhat normalized, as we're getting into a normal routine.  Ew heads to work, I job search, and occasionally we'll cook and exercise.  Pretty much the normal life for most residents in a city.  However, there are some differences that do make Singapore much different from living in the states, for better and for worse.

Target

Typically, the first thing I've done after moving into a new place is head to Target.  Cleaning supplies, bedding, kitchenware: pretty much anything you need you can get at Target.  Well, there's no Target in Singapore.  So figuring out where to buy things and how much everything should cost was actually a quite larger hurdle than one would think.  There is Giant here, which is similar to Target in that it carries a lot of different products, but we ended up buying things from a combination of Giant, department stores like Tangs and Takashimaya, and supermarkets like Fair Price.  The other inconvenience here is that obviously without a car, lugging around all these things is somewhat difficult.  Which brings me to the second item on this list ...

Taxis

I hate, hate, hate taxis here.  For cities where residents rely on public transportation to get around, you'd figure that taxis should be very convenient and affordable.  In Hong Kong, Taipei, you can pretty much hail a taxi wherever you are, and the most any fee would be around the city area is $10 US.  Well, Singapore's taxi system actually isn't that expensive when you're just talking about a metered fare.  $10 US would definitely suffice going from the city to our place, which is maybe 10-15 minutes west of the city by car.  But the chance of you only paying the metered fare is quite slim.  See, Singapore taxis have tons of surchages.  A $2.50-$3.50 booking fee charge.  35% of metered fare during peak hours charge.  50% of metered fare after midnight charge.  Location charges from the city area, from the airport, from Marina Bay Sands.  This means that taxis disappear all the time, so (1) you either have to call and book a taxi and pay the surcharge, or (2) you end up queuing for half an hour until a peak time period when the taxis suddenly all decide to show up.  Recently, ew and I took a taxi from the city centre to our place, where the metered fare was around $9 and the surcharge was $6.50.  So obviously, the best bet is to avoid using taxis, but then ...

Walking is very tiring

Maybe it's because I'm from California, where you drive everywhere, but I am not used to walking this much at all.  Especially when I have to carry groceries back home, or DVD players, or cable boxes and routers.  And since it's hot and humid, you end up having to wear sandals a lot of the time, so by the end of the day, your feet are covered with dirt, extremely dry, and pretty much disgusting to look at.  Maybe this is how the Singaporeans stay so thin.

Say you what?

People always say Singapore is a place of many cultures and languages.  This is very true.  People speak Malay, Chinese, Tamil, English, Hokkien, etc.  However, everyone speaks these languages poorly, at least English and Chinese.  Singlish is pretty much like Chinese, except if you literally translated it to English.  And the Chinese is very accented and ends up sounding like the Singlish.  So ew and I pretty much have no idea what anyone is ever saying to us and in what language.

We will never go hungry

But with all those cultures, there are tons of food options.  I think our area has 5 hawker centers right next to each other, serving a variety of Singaporean, Malay, Indian, Western, and Chinese food.  And since hawker centers are typically very affordable ($3-$5 SGD), it's hard to imagine us ever really going hungry in this city.  There may be more restaurants/snack shops/food options here per block than any other city I've been to.  And of course, aside from restaurants, there's the fruit.  Fruit juice stands are pretty much as plentiful as restaurants, with simple options like watermelon juice, to more exotic options like dragonfruit, soursop, and sugarcane.  And durian ... well, that smell follows you everywhere.

Data is cheap

Internet, cable TV, and data phone services are all very affordable.  And there are tiers for those who want less expensive options.  Consider that internet, cable TV, and a landline are less than $60 SGD a month here through Starhub, and two data plans are less than $70 SGD a month through Singtel (which includes up to 12 GB of data as well as two phones).  Not to mention, there's pretty much free wireless access throughout the city area as well.  Aside from food, this may be the most affordable item in Singapore, because pretty much everything else is slightly more expensive than the United States.