It's our one year anniversary of moving to Singapore today.

Our last Tim Hortons - bought at airport.

One year seems both a long time and a short time. We've certainly settled in, but there's still so much of Singapore we haven't gotten to see or do yet. The last 5 months of living with COVID-19 in Singapore did throw a wrench in some of our sightseeing plans.  

Here's a few of our Singapore favorites so far. We are hoping to make a few more.  

Favorite Food:

  • Becky:  Thosai/Dosa (Indian rice pancake like a crepe served with curry for dipping it in) or Bun Salad Bowl (Vietnamese cold rice-noodle salad with lemongrass thin-sliced beef)
  • Jonathan: Sichuan Pork Noodles from Dumpling Darlings
  • MsC: Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings)
  • MsE: Nutella sandwiches

Favorite way to spend a Saturday:

  • Becky: At the Clubhouse pool in the morning and then a lunch date with Jonathan [That's most Saturdays].
  • Jonathan:  At the pool with my family or in Universal Studios
  • MsC: At the pool
  • MsE: At Universal

PS. I enjoy Universal Studios more on a weekday, because the crowds are quieter.

The best place in Singapore:

  • Becky: Taking a walk in the dark anywhere (it's so warm and sparkly) or eating dinner at Super Loco Customs House on the patio over looking the river with Marina Bay Sands in the background.
  • Jonathan: Duxton Plain Park watching the feral chickens wander around. But he also really likes walking around and looking at the flora/fauna because he says he still find the plants and wildlife here amazing.
  • MsC: Universal Studios and the Pool
  • MsE: Universal and the Pool

PS. I asked MsC and MsE at different times. They didn't overhear each others answers.

I was reflecting on the timeline involved in moving to Singapore:

Before we moved to Singapore, Jonathan had spent a total of 36 day here (split over 3 trips). I had been to Singapore for 4 days. It all started when Jonathan went to Singapore to help train someone in the new office at the end of September 2018.

On that trip he messaged me and asked if I wanted to move here. I thought he must be joking, and said "Sure." I just mentioned this to Jonathan and as usual, he just provided me the photo evidence, that it wasn't all him. I actually started it. Sept 27 I asked him,

"How r u doing? Is it very different?... Are we moving to Singapore:P"

He was pretty sure after the first trip that he wanted move to Singapore though, because he asked his boss about it. There were many discussions after that. January 2019 things started happening down the road to actually get us to Singapore. We were hooked up with accountants, moving coordinators, housing agents, movers, etc.

8 months after Jonathan's first trip to Singapore, our family flew 12,849 km to Singapore with 3 kids 8 carry-on bags and 8 pieces of checked luggage (10,279 km and 15 hrs to Hong Kong, then 2570 and 3.5 hrs to Singapore). It took us a total of 30 hours in transit, with 18.5 hours of that in the air. Our household goods (mostly books, toys and kitchen stuff) went by ship and arrived 6 weeks later.

When we arrived we had one month of company paid accommodation to find our "permanent" home. Places are rented vacant here and move in ready, but it still took us the whole 30 days to secure the right home for us. We moved in with our luggage and mattresses Jonathan picked up the night before from Ikea.

Day 1: Checking into our hotel in Singapore.

I stumbled across the photos of when Jonathan and I did our Orientation trip in Singapore - and was stunned over the dates. We were in Singapore on that trip just 3 weeks before we moved. I had retained a sense of the chaos of moving, but had forgotten how truly crazy the timing of our move to Singapore was.  

We were in Singapore together for 4 days before I had to fly home and gather our children from the family houses they had been deposited at. We were actually in the hotel room when got the email approval from the Singapore Government giving us permission to actually move to Singapore.

On the cable cars realizing we are moving to Singapore.
But also I'd never been so happy to see this sign in the Vancouver airport before as when I flew home.

Upon arriving back home in Canada I had 6 jet lagged days to get rid of most of our household goods (without Jonathan) before the movers arrived. We didn't ship much to Singapore, because we knew we would be in a much smaller space.

Jonathan came home to Canada a few days later and had 1 week to say his Goodbyes before heading to the US to work for a week. He came home back to Canada the night before we left for Singapore, because I did not know if I could really manage getting all those children and all that luggage alone on a plane.

The key dates:

  • May 13, 2020 Left Canada to go to Singapore for our house hunting trip
  • May 16 (approx.) received official Government approval to move to Singapore
  • May 20 I got home to Canada. Jonathan had stayed in Singapore.
  • May 25 Jonathan returned to Canada to say his goodbyes
  • May 26 Our last day in our house in Chemainus (we stayed in a hotel for 2 nights after that).
  • May 29 Drove to Victoria and stayed at my Mom's
  • June 2 Jonathan went to Seattle for work
  • June 5 Jonathan came back to Canada
  • June 6 We left Canada to move to Singapore
  • June 8 Arrived in Singapore and checked into our hotel for a month

That's 20 days from when we were told we could move to Singapore till we left the Canada, and just 16 days in the country of me to pull it all off.

No wonder I needed a holiday when we first arrived in Singapore!

Living over seas is a blast. I don't regret any of it. I just wish you could all come see it with me.