48 hours in Singapore

Keep left!

As a former British colony, Singapore inherited some particularities of this country: driving on the left, walking on the left, queuing left on the escalator. This makes me a bit confused about direction of buses I need to take so I got successfully lost a couple of times already.

MRT (Massive Rapid Transport) = Tube

Hi-tech nation

Yes, it’s true. It is not unusual to see grannies with iPhones and everyone (literally everyone!) watching series, playing games or chatting on the tube when going to/from work. When you see an Indian lady dressed in a traditional sari and she pulls out the most recent model of HTC and starts chatting, it is somehow extraordinary.

Kind People

Everyone is super caring! Lady in the shop showed me a yoghurt with live cultures to stay healthy (haha), public transport officer doing hell lot of work when I got lost at the bus terminal to help me get back home, my roommates being really caring and giving out their dishes to share, feeding me as well as a friend accompanying me to the bus stop with the umbrella when the rain started to pour and writing messages to make sure I didn't get lost again since it became my new hobby here.

Dining with locals, Guorong Chen - the caring friend

Bloody Mosquitoes

Before I decided to come to Singapore I made a serious research on dangerous animals :P but the only thing I could find on different forums and pages was a warning regarding mosquitoes since dengue fever and malaria are common in South East Asia (SEA). However, everyone claimed they have never seen a mosquito in Singapore. I was hoping to have the same experience but since mosquitoes love my “sweet blood” I wanted to buy some repellent right after arriving to the town.

When I first time arrived to my flat the first thing I got to meet in my room was a mosquito …  mosquito 0 : Lucia 1 = mission completed.

Hot Weather

Hot, hot, hot …  but with a cool breeze making this a perfect destination for me. I was scared of humidity but it is nothing as I expected. Moreover, all the malls have AC set to 16 degrees so actually I need to buy long jeans and cardigans to survive when shopping in a store or sitting in the office.

Tropical Nature

Well this is a city but I have a small “jungle” outside of my window. It’s amazing how green it can be and on the first sight you can see these are the rests of what once used to be a rainforest.

Fort Canning Park, just 2 minutes away from my office

Let me get back to you once I start working and get to know a little more about this interesting place. Remember +8GMT means I am waking up for work when you go to bed and I am wearing flip-flops all year round cause its 28 degrees at night J