It's a little over 2 weeks since we arrived in Singapore and it's been pretty busy. Having to find a place to live, find furniture, get our work permits sorted and open bank accounts means we haven't really done any sightseeing or super fun stuff. It's actually been a little stressful at times. But we're getting there!
Looking for an apartment has been somewhat of a trial. We looked at 20 apartments in 3 days. We put in 2 offers and after some fairly drawn out & pretty frustrating negotiations we finally signed a lease on an apartment. The landlords are an elderly couple and I suspect that the apartment is part of their retirement plan. I could see their side to a point but it was stressful right up to the last. Anyhoo, we signed the agreement and moved in on Friday morning.
The main reason we chose this place is its setting. The complex is right next to a nature reserve called Bukit Batok. It's basically second generation jungle and it's right next to us. The day we came to look at the apartment I saw monkeys in the trees and on our first morning there I saw squirrels jumping about. Very cool!
Although the hotel was fine, it was good to have Tilda in her own room as we were getting tired of having sit outside in the corridor until she went to sleep. She has continued to be a wee trooper. She's not complained very much at all and when she has it's been with good reason. The apartment has tiled floors (as is the style in warm Asian countries) and Tilda took a little while to get used to the floors. There were a few crashes and quite a few tears. By the next day she'd got it figured out a bit better. There is a koi pond next to the pool and we can see it from our living room. Tilda loves seeing the fish and starts banging on the windows in excitement:)
One of the first things we had to do was get our resident passes. I cannot believe how painless this was! We had our letters from school, passports and photos. We rocked up at 2:30pm and handed everything over. It all had to be double checked by us, then signed. Last we had to have our thumb prints taken. No ink pads here - all done on a scanner! Once we were done the lady told us our cards would be ready in four business days. So four business days later I went back and picked up our brand spanking new resident passes. No doubt I spent more time in the taxi there and back than at the office!
The next day we went to a bank to open accounts. Again this was pretty painless. I reckon it took 45 minutes to open 3 bank accounts. And they were up and running straight away, complete with debit cards with our names. I used my card 25 minutes later to buy some picture hanging stuff.
Just to continue with the whole efficiency angle, the night before we moved we went to see about getting cable tv and the internet set up. This was at 8pm. I guess it took around an hour to complete the paperwork and the guy assured me it would be good to go the next day. And so it was. The only issue was me plugging cables in the wrong places!
Our apartment is partially furnished (i.e. washing machine, dryer, old tele and few other bits & bobs). Mel spent a bit of time online and we were able to get a bunch of really good stuff pretty cheap. A sideboard, chest of drawers, coffee table (all teak) & a dining setting for about $800. We hired a guy with a van to help pick up the stuff and move into our place. It took 2-3 hours all up and it was hot! Who knew teak weighed so bloody much? I was pretty knackered after that but it was all good.
I should point out that I'm writing this in a hotel in Thailand. We flew out on Sunday for 5 nights at a place Mel & I stayed at when we lived in Thailand so we could chill out before school starts. The flight to Phuket was short. We probably spent more time in the car coming to the hotel than in the air. It's really cool to come here again after 7 years to find the hotel not changed heaps. So since Sunday afternoon, we've not done much except swim and snooze:)
I reckon that's about it for time. I'll put some photos up soonish.
Later
Tone
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