the lion city

My first trip to Singapore was during the semester break of my junior year in university. A friend invited me to join her to celebrate her birthday. I had heard so much about Singapore and it was high up on my list of places I wanted to visit. I had to get my parents’ permission as this would be the first time I would be traveling internationally without them. I set it up to be the best place I could possibly go to without adult supervision. Why? It’s one of the safest cities in the world. It is also one of the cleanest and most organized. 

Landing at Changi airport was the smoothest experience of my life, they even had candy for you to enjoy during what is quite possibly the most efficient passport control processes. You could say I fell in love with Singapore from the moment I deplaned. I am nostalgic thinking about it since this was pre-smartphones which means I actually carried a paper map, my digital camera, and my wallet with me at all times.

My friend and I made our way to her brother’s apartment which he had loaned to us for the long weekend. We were so excited because we were going to “live like locals”! First thing on our to do list was to go to the grocery; we needed to clean and we needed to eat. It was a hilarious shopping trip where we spent way too much time (discussing what we needed to buy) and bought way too much stuff (because when you can’t decide on one thing, just get both!) - definitely not like the locals! As we made our way back home, I remember thinking to myself: when I grow up, I want to live here! 

Parliament Place, Singapore (October 2007)

Four years later, and that’s exactly what I did! Go and live in Singapore, that is... I’m still not convinced about the growing up bit! Some of my favorite memories of all time - you know the ones where you know exactly where you were, who you were with, and what you were doing when it happened? - include getting my job offer and getting approval for my Employment Pass. I was over the moon, on top of the world, basically, I was every metaphor that expressed this sentiment!

I had to hang on to that feeling because the first six months living independently in a new country after a relatively sheltered upbringing is not easy. I am forever grateful to everyone who helped me settle in. While Singapore is the ideal place to try out expat life, it also is incredibly expensive. I remember my work buddy who not only invited me to a night out with her friends but generously covered my share for dinner and matter of factly said “you haven’t gotten your paycheck here, this one’s on me - don’t argue!”

There were many life lessons I learned in those six months but I will talk about two for now:

First, living within your means is simple in theory but can be fairly difficult in practice. Determining what it is exactly that you want to scrimp on, spend on, and splurge on can be really trivial because it is largely dependent on what is important and valuable to you. However, when you’re in the process of adulting and finding yourself this doesn’t come so naturally. I’m not saying this is an excuse to be irresponsible but don’t beat yourself up over poor fiscal decisions when in that moment you really may not have known any better.

Second, life isn’t fair, and there will be many, many moments where I will experience heartbreaking moments in this category. In this particular instance I would describe it this way: when you enter a jungle (or in this case an urban jungle) with no intention of harming the animals don’t expect them to do the same in return. Put up your best defenses, but if they don’t work and you’re eaten alive don’t beat yourself up over it because at least you know that you tried.

Fullerton Promenade, Singapore (August 2014)