| I arrived
in Singapore expecting it to be a laboratory-clean, futuristic hi-tech
city. Turns out it's just a city...there's dirt, people jaywalk &
eat on the train & even chew gum there. It's a pretty good place
to live, once you get over the culture shock & heat exhaustion.
Except that there's always construction work going on everywhere.
Here's the first condo I lived in, in a part of town called Clementi,
hiding behind some ubiquitious construction work. |
There's
the pool visible from my bedroom. I got kicked out of this place after
3 weeks by my psychotic landlady due to "cultural differences."
(I didn't like that she would barge in unannounced, & she didn't
like that I started putting the chain on the door...yep...cultural
differences.) |
Singapore's
right on the equator--it's very hot & humid every day & there's
no variation in when the sun rises & sets all year round. There
I am on my first day at work. Notice how spaced out I look--heat exhaustion,
folks. |
Here's
the great view of the Singapore harbor from my office window. It's
a real office. With a door. That closes. And windows. That open. |
This
was the place I moved into after getting kicked out of my first apartment.This
is my bedroom, messy as usual. |
Turns out it was for the best, as this place was in a better neighborhood,
Holland Village, complete with the cultural mecca of Singapore--the
Coffee Bean, directly imported from LA. |
Here's a lizard who was my uninvited roommate for a while. These lizards
are everywhere in Singapore. One time I didn't look before I sat down
& sat on one. Luckily, my butt was squishy enough that it didn't
cause any permanent damage to either of us. (I kinda over-photoshopped
this picture, by the way, in an attempt to bring out its natural colors.
Really these lizards are not so psychadelic. They're rather a pleasant
muted shade of green.) |
Here's the lovely koi & turtle pond of our flat. |
This
is my fabulous Aussie flatmate Leanne. |
Here
she is again w/ her pal Colin. (There's more of Leanne if you check
out Cambodia pics.) |
Here's
Colin giving his I'm-so-irresistable look. |
That's
Siva with Leanne. Siva gave us great information for our Cambodian
adventure. |
Cutest
couple award goes to Pak-Sen and Mark. |
Eating
is one of the national pasttimes of Singapore (the other one is shopping).
Here Irina & Margaret, who I work with at the University, are
feasting on the local delicacy of chili crab |
Jill Scott, a visiting artist from Australia & Germany, is getting
ready to dig in, shell and all. |
I'm
just posing demurely. That's me. Demure. |
