i moved out. and in. but wait. i need to start differently. i'm sorry for less than little news i have spread over the last two weeks. two weeks? wow, that's not THAT long though. feels like that. however. this shortage of information is due to many facts.
i moved out. and in. which in fact was a necessary move. not, that the other place was so bad. it was just simply to expensive. 650€ for one room is not really a bargain. therefore, i chose that .... room .... here. room is however not really the right word. compartment might be a better one. or how would you call something of the size of 6.5 sqm? i know people whose wardrobe is three times bigger. and i mean the one for their shoes.
the best about the new place is the following fact: each sqm costs me more than 55€. a bargain! no kidding. this luxury palace in my new 5 room flat share has the lordly price of 375€. it has features like 'few daylight' for a nice saturday morningnoonafternoon sleep after a lovely friday night. at least the aircon is working (oh, by the way... air con ... there was something i wanted to complain about last time .... later then). and here comes the best part: it's one of the cheapest places in singapore i've heard of. weird!
but seriously: if i see my normal day, then this is more than alright. it's clean, i've friends living next door, there's a 24h food court. and most important: the whole area is way different than the singapore, people (let's call them tourists) would find when they drop by.
it's authentic. that itself is already the right word. the people on the other side of our dark, smelly alley are mostly from india. they work as construction worker - or have whatever job they could find. they wash themselves in a dark, awkward basement - no own bathroom, NO. water bowls is what they mostly use. you find these guys lying outside at night, having their nap on some pickups or even the garbage can, if it's getting to noisy or packed inside.
this little world is so far away from the glamour and gloria that singapore tries to sell and represent to the outside. and i am happy to be here. to experience the other side of the coin. soon, i will load up pictures - it's probably better you see that (somehow). i'm still discovering it - and don't find the words for it right now.
beside the location change, i did a lot with the people i met here. almost everyday brings a new experience, a new place to see and explore. usually, work is done by 6.30 at latest - and then it's time to stroll around. a beer at the new asia bar for example. 70th floor, erdinger for 5€ (!!CHEAP!!), the city being at our feet. or food courts. chinatown. little india. arab quarter. korean food tonight? malay? sushi? kebap, maybe. rice or noodles? prata.
these are the tough decisions in a city that has more eating spots than i've ever seen before. tough decisions because there is so much on offer. and tough, because rice, rice and more rice everyday leads to a frustration that - from time to time - guides us directly to the big yellow M. so far, i had my best big macs here in singapore, hehe! however, in most of the cases, the assortment and prices of eatery spots is simply great! and finishing all with a freshly squeezed fruit juice for less than 1.50€ is always again a hard-to-beat moment.
singapore is also a brilliant starting point for any kinds of trips in the region (SURPRISE!). two weekends ago, we all have been on tioman, an island on east coast malaysia - at the end, we were 20 people .... some nice and some ... different. it is not that untouched spot as i hoped. but .... COME ON .... getting a sunburn on a white sandy beach or while snorkelling in the lagoons or around huge rocks in the open sea is actually NOT BAD! and it wasn't, really. not, that is comparable with my fiji island, i've once been (NOTHING IS!). but, i had one of the most beautiful moments in my whole life, seriously.
we did that boat trip the whole day. heading for different bays, snorkling around (which, again, was cool - surprisingly cool if you know what a horrible swimmer i am, and how MUCH i DISLIKE swimming). then it happened. we were stopping into our last bay. the sun was preparing for her good night. the water was shining in a dazzling turquoise. in the backdrop, a deep-green, vigorous rain forest. we, snorklling in the sea. and suddenly, it started o rain.
an amazing moment. the warm ocean, the cool rain, the sun still there, everything shining in intense colours - and raindrops dancing all around you. we were all standing there for minutes. stunned by the beauty of the moment. i turned a bit away from the others. looked around. realizing how special it was. how special all this is what happens right now. how lucky i am to be here. how much i MUST appreciate it! a special moment that i have to keep as memory in my mind (DAMN, no one took a picture, hehe!!!!). but how can one ever forget ...
the job is going alright, too. i won't suffer from a work overload, though. however, i got involved in a quite nice project that keeps me busy until march. as my employer has an art collection that will be exhibited in singapore soon, my job will be to handle (well, for now i should say to 'assist the handling') the organization of media, journalists, workshops, more media, involvement of schools and universities .... the fun thing about my internship is definitely the different kinds of people i deal with everyday. our asians at work. the interns all around. journalists that drop by. the pantry and cleaning ladies that always smile.
singapore is definitely a place to live for a longer time (i come back, though - no worries .... yet!). a great art museum. little india that is PACKED with people on sunday nights (best offer: two ORIGINAL swiss watches and an ORIGINAL swiss knife. set price: 11€. placing an order, someone?). good bars. a very efficient, very modern, very tidy, very SAFE city. at the same time the mentioned contrast that need time to discover - and definitely worth it!
what's next? manila is waiting on the weekend, which is extended to monday thanks to a public holiday. well, this holiday would actually have been on tuesday. but the government decided to bring it forward one day earlier. no problem. in fact, would the holiday have been on a sunday - they would have done the same, hehe - monday would still be off. as i said already: NICE place!
the most impressive thing above all though is indeed the fact, that so many different ethnical groups - with all their own history, habits, religion - live together peacefully in this quite tiny place, as if it would be the most normal thing ever. you see: it IS possible! let's tell the ones, who always make that ridiculous trouble .....
the best about the new place is the following fact: each sqm costs me more than 55€. a bargain! no kidding. this luxury palace in my new 5 room flat share has the lordly price of 375€. it has features like 'few daylight' for a nice saturday morningnoonafternoon sleep after a lovely friday night. at least the aircon is working (oh, by the way... air con ... there was something i wanted to complain about last time .... later then). and here comes the best part: it's one of the cheapest places in singapore i've heard of. weird!
but seriously: if i see my normal day, then this is more than alright. it's clean, i've friends living next door, there's a 24h food court. and most important: the whole area is way different than the singapore, people (let's call them tourists) would find when they drop by.
it's authentic. that itself is already the right word. the people on the other side of our dark, smelly alley are mostly from india. they work as construction worker - or have whatever job they could find. they wash themselves in a dark, awkward basement - no own bathroom, NO. water bowls is what they mostly use. you find these guys lying outside at night, having their nap on some pickups or even the garbage can, if it's getting to noisy or packed inside.
this little world is so far away from the glamour and gloria that singapore tries to sell and represent to the outside. and i am happy to be here. to experience the other side of the coin. soon, i will load up pictures - it's probably better you see that (somehow). i'm still discovering it - and don't find the words for it right now.
beside the location change, i did a lot with the people i met here. almost everyday brings a new experience, a new place to see and explore. usually, work is done by 6.30 at latest - and then it's time to stroll around. a beer at the new asia bar for example. 70th floor, erdinger for 5€ (!!CHEAP!!), the city being at our feet. or food courts. chinatown. little india. arab quarter. korean food tonight? malay? sushi? kebap, maybe. rice or noodles? prata.
these are the tough decisions in a city that has more eating spots than i've ever seen before. tough decisions because there is so much on offer. and tough, because rice, rice and more rice everyday leads to a frustration that - from time to time - guides us directly to the big yellow M. so far, i had my best big macs here in singapore, hehe! however, in most of the cases, the assortment and prices of eatery spots is simply great! and finishing all with a freshly squeezed fruit juice for less than 1.50€ is always again a hard-to-beat moment.
singapore is also a brilliant starting point for any kinds of trips in the region (SURPRISE!). two weekends ago, we all have been on tioman, an island on east coast malaysia - at the end, we were 20 people .... some nice and some ... different. it is not that untouched spot as i hoped. but .... COME ON .... getting a sunburn on a white sandy beach or while snorkelling in the lagoons or around huge rocks in the open sea is actually NOT BAD! and it wasn't, really. not, that is comparable with my fiji island, i've once been (NOTHING IS!). but, i had one of the most beautiful moments in my whole life, seriously.
we did that boat trip the whole day. heading for different bays, snorkling around (which, again, was cool - surprisingly cool if you know what a horrible swimmer i am, and how MUCH i DISLIKE swimming). then it happened. we were stopping into our last bay. the sun was preparing for her good night. the water was shining in a dazzling turquoise. in the backdrop, a deep-green, vigorous rain forest. we, snorklling in the sea. and suddenly, it started o rain.
an amazing moment. the warm ocean, the cool rain, the sun still there, everything shining in intense colours - and raindrops dancing all around you. we were all standing there for minutes. stunned by the beauty of the moment. i turned a bit away from the others. looked around. realizing how special it was. how special all this is what happens right now. how lucky i am to be here. how much i MUST appreciate it! a special moment that i have to keep as memory in my mind (DAMN, no one took a picture, hehe!!!!). but how can one ever forget ...
the job is going alright, too. i won't suffer from a work overload, though. however, i got involved in a quite nice project that keeps me busy until march. as my employer has an art collection that will be exhibited in singapore soon, my job will be to handle (well, for now i should say to 'assist the handling') the organization of media, journalists, workshops, more media, involvement of schools and universities .... the fun thing about my internship is definitely the different kinds of people i deal with everyday. our asians at work. the interns all around. journalists that drop by. the pantry and cleaning ladies that always smile.
singapore is definitely a place to live for a longer time (i come back, though - no worries .... yet!). a great art museum. little india that is PACKED with people on sunday nights (best offer: two ORIGINAL swiss watches and an ORIGINAL swiss knife. set price: 11€. placing an order, someone?). good bars. a very efficient, very modern, very tidy, very SAFE city. at the same time the mentioned contrast that need time to discover - and definitely worth it!
what's next? manila is waiting on the weekend, which is extended to monday thanks to a public holiday. well, this holiday would actually have been on tuesday. but the government decided to bring it forward one day earlier. no problem. in fact, would the holiday have been on a sunday - they would have done the same, hehe - monday would still be off. as i said already: NICE place!
the most impressive thing above all though is indeed the fact, that so many different ethnical groups - with all their own history, habits, religion - live together peacefully in this quite tiny place, as if it would be the most normal thing ever. you see: it IS possible! let's tell the ones, who always make that ridiculous trouble .....
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