Well, finally after a few weeks’ hiatus from the blogosphere I’ve thought it best to put a bit of an update up.
I’ve been a bit slack on writing this mostly down to the fact that I’ve been in London since mid March on the project I’m on. So it hardly feels like I’ve made the big leap East even if I am now technically a non-dom and have a Singapore bank account – although incidentally I’ve still not been paid yet. Singapore efficiency seems to have broken down there somewhat.
Even so – being here in London has had its fringe benefits as its been nice to see Spring arrive and the early part of summer sneak its head over the garden fence, give me a little wave and to give me the first sunburnt nose of the year.
Cheeky fella I’ll tell you.
So what’s new? Well firstly the new job is going well. It has its challenges but on the whole it is proving to be fun, it’s paying well and it’s giving me some good opportunities to do some new things that I’ve not done before. Above all else – it’s not going to be 12hr days and every other weekend so I’m going to be able to enjoy the time off rather than working every hour under the sun – and incidentally there is a lot of sun on offer here too.
My first impressions of Singapore are pretty much the same as you’ll get in most of the tourist guides and from what everyone else tells you. Yes, the streets are cleaner than most of the floors of many British hospitals and the organisational aspect of the place are second to none. But what else…?
It’s going to take a little more than a few weeks to really get a feel for the place and get under the skin of it but on the whole it’s living up to expectations.
The big exit plan is coming together though and the little things are starting to come together.
The removal folks came last week to look at what measly possessions I’m taking out with me and that all gets boxed up, packed and shipped in a couple of weeks by which time when it arrives 5 weeks later, I should be settled in to a condo somewhere.
Being a Brit – I seem to have lots of boxes of jumpers, coats and fleeces that I no longer have any need for. So on the whole more is staying than going, but as I’m entering the country where shopping is the national pastime, I know I’ll hardly struggle for procurement of new apparel.
Speaking of shopping. If there was a World Cup of Shopping then Singapore would be the Brazil of it. You can’t touch these guys for it. On my first weekend on Orchard Road I counted 5 Vertu (the luxury mobile phone people) stores alone within a 3 mile walk. I mean –--
a. Who even has one?
b. What kind of spending power is in place to warrant 3 shops in walking distance of each other?
The mind boggles.
So once the London part of my project finishes (and the aim date is 22nd May for this for those planning their visiting schedules) then I’m off.
I do have a quick week in Singapore later next week for a briefing session with the management team, but it’s only a week and then I need to come back again to finish off the London bit. Actually – next week will be a good trip and I can start scoping out a few condos that I’ve been recommended.
Condominium. Now, for some reason I can’t take this word seriously. I think this might just be me, which I find worrying. For someone that has been brought up on Flat, then moving on to Apartment (when I moved to an up and coming part of London, which technically means that you can buy crack and Molton Brown in the same high street) I find the move to Condo a little bit like I should be living by the sea in Miami or something. It’s too much of an Americanism for me to be able to utter it without wincing or giggling at myself.
So as the clock starts to tick down I find myself feeling like I want to get one of those clocks that you see in disaster movies that count down the hours and stick it on the wall or something. Not that I hope this is going to be a disaster or anything.
Which leads me on to the thought of arranging some sort of leaving do. I’ll put my thinking cap on for this one and keep you posted.
Over and out for now.
