…good things take time

I have been meaning to revamp the bubble since moving to Sing but I just haven’t had the time… I guess half the battle was trying to sit myself down to finally write an entry of any substance. With so many people asking me about my experience thus far, I figured I would bite the bullet and finally give the site a new look along with a few new posts (and potentially, a promise of a few more in the coming months).

Where am I you ask? Well, to give you a rough idea, you can take a look at my suburb through Google Maps. I live in the illustrious Birmingham Mansions, a lo-rise apartment block with a swimming pool out the back. Don’t be fooled by the name, I mean it is a great place to live, but like everything else in Singapore it’s all over-promise and under-deliver here ;).

I live with two flatmates Steve and Caddie, who are also from Oz. We have three decent sized bedrooms, 2 broken down air conditioners (!) and a brand new kitchen, but we love it here. It’s close to work (300 metres close! you feelin’ it??) and close to the MRT (train stations for non-Singaporeans) which is very very handy in a land of EXPENSIVE cars.

What else can I say? Its been a bumpy ride settling in, but I think that I have made the last of my expensive trips to Ikea (pronounced ‘eek-e-ya in Singlish) – for now – so I guess its safe to say I have now adjusted to my new lifestyle… (more)

How have I been dealing with the move so far? It has been a little easier than what I had first anticipated, but my stability here has not come without hardship. As most of you know, my beautiful girlfriend (a.k.a M M) and I have been together for over a year now and, since my move, have been doing the whole ‘long-distance’ thing. Let me just say that managing the relationship over such a long distance has probably been one of the hardest things I have ever attempted. Suffice to say however, it has been worth it!! Things are going strong between us and we speak almost every night and text at every spare moment we have – so technology has brought our worlds a little closer, yet still so far away :(.

What do I do for fun? When I’m not spending my hard earned wages on crappy pieces of technology or clothes which don’t fit me quite right (in the words of Russel Peter’s – “Apparently, I’m Shaquile O’Neill over here”) I’m watching a movie with friends or eating solo at one of the many cheap-but-not-so-nasty take-away shops. And at night? Well, I’ve decked out my room with a 32-inch LCD TV, equipped with cable TV and a 5.1 channel surround sound DVD home theatre system, so on those boring nights, I just throw in a DVD and wet myself by appreciating me new found Cinematic Room Experience. Friday nights usually start at the infamous Newton Circus for a good laugh and a few icy-cold Tiger beers, followed by where the night takes us, whether that is to a bar or a club, Singapore has a lot to offer – Ministry of Sound, Zouk, St James Station and Cafe Del Mar are just a few of the many bars, pubs and clubs around here – the only really crappy thing about it all is club-entry is typically $35 – and I thought Sydney was bad….

What else has been happening? Well I have settled into working life in Singapore, completing my first 14-hour day last week – proud of me Pa? Yes, don’t be shocked, I rolled in at 8.30 (in the AM) and clocked out at 10.30 (in the PM, yo) – that’s normal isn’t it? It’s kind of a weird experience but apparently, something which people get used to – hopefully this wont be a recurring thing for me…. A colleague of mine has accomplished a 36 hour ‘day’, something which, strangely enough, I don’t really have any aspiration to mimic.

Do I miss home? Hell yeah. From living in the one house for practically my entire life, then moving to a new house, in a new suburb, in a foreign country is an interesting move. You tend to get a bit homesick – go figure! I miss Dad, Sis, Charlee, Nanna Hango and the usual suspects from the area. One thing that I, strangely, really miss has been free-to-air TV, oh.. and Winter – yeah that whole season kinda doesn’t exist in Sunny South-East Asia. But thankfully, technology has, yet again, saved me from missing everyone too much – thank God for my Skype phone :D.

Will I be here for much longer? Its safe to say that most probably – yes. I am looking to do the entire two years unless I lose a) a testicle or b) my sanity. I think the latter is a more likely scenario for some reason, but you never know right? Will I be here for longer than the specified 2 years? No. This is a personal goal of mine. If I am here beyond March 15, 2009 – you are more than entitled to impale me on a blunt object.

So before I put you to sleep with more boring uneventful crap, I will leave you to bask in the afterglow whilst I prepare for my next post. Till next time….