…I’ve hit the 3-week mark now. 3 weeks in Singapore…the city and the country. What can I say about this place? Its hot, hot, hot. The rain is not coming as frequently and man do we feel the heat! And its not just the weather. The Singaporeans…they love their spicy food. Whenever I order something, its always followed by the question, “You want chili sauce?” One time I said yes and then removed most of it when I got back to the office (its more like a paste, than a sauce and its always a bit on the side of the dish) and it was still too hot for me…so now the answer is always “no.” I don’t even have to think about it any more.
But the weather is definitely bearable with the island breeze blowing some of the time and the clouds covering the sun a bit as well. There’s “aircon” as they call it, in almost every restaurant, store, and even buses…so I’ve adjusted to the weather quite easily.
Unfortunately, with working 5-6 days a week, I haven’t gotten to see many tourist areas of the island. But I’m making plans! I have made it to the big shopping area on Orchard Road…and its definitely the place to be on the weekend nights. Walking the street is like walking the streets of NYC in Times Square. There’s a huge tv screen advertising in the midst of the busy night life of eating, shopping, and running into people you know (that’s what happens when you are on an island!). The population is about 4.5 million, but its not that densely populated surprisingly. There are “suburbs” and the main area of town is in the south. Whenever anyone is giving me directions or anything like that, they always draw the whole country/island and they always draw it as a diamond. So, if you picture the diamond sideways, the dense city part is in the south, I live almost right in the dead center (near McRitchie Reservoir, if you want to google it), the airport is in the east (as well as the very small man-made beach), and there are a lot of residences in the west. So…I’m starting to understand life in a city/country/island and the uniqueness that comes with that! Singapore is so unique that their whole marketing visitors campaign is “Uniquely Singapore”…they’ve hit the nail right on the head!
I’ve moved into my “permanent” residence here with a wonderful lady, Pauline. She has welcomed me in and is making me so at home. She likes to stay up late like me and we have amazing conversations…just today we went out for lunch (finally I have a day off!) and sat and talked for hours. She has a live-in maid (which is fairly common here) and her name is Florence. She is amazing as well and I love talking with her about the Philippines and her life here and she loves to feed me and feed me and feed me. I keep joking with her that she is going to spoil me and send me home fat and wanting my mom to do everything for me!! She laughs a lot with me! There is also a cute dog, named Dexter, and I’m loving getting to have a dog around again. Its in a great location…I walk to work, can take a bus anywhere, and can walk to the Reservoir (which is like a big huge park—you all know how I love nature!) So, life is good and God has been blessing me so much!
I am continuing to be stretched through work and learning more and more about what I like to do and what I don’t and how to deal with a very large workload—complete and desperate dependence on the Lord!! My co-workers are great and I’m having a wonderful time getting to know them and working in a small office. It is looking like I’ll be traveling a bit around Asia…so I will look forward to growing in my knowledge and appreciation of East Asia! Asia is a wonderful place and I hope you all will get to visit here some day. The more you travel, the more you can appreciate God’s love of uniqueness and how creative He is!!
Thank you all for praying for me. Keep it up!! Missing you all and learning and growing a lot!!
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2 comments:
we miss you as well, pam, but I think it is so cool all that you are getting to experience! we love you!
Hey Pam,
I enjoyed reading your blog. Sounds like you are loving every minute in Singapore. WE sure miss you!
Sharon is going to spend all of her time with us and we are glad. Doug is going to Denver tomorrow, Tuesday, so Sharon will be company for me.
My Shelby fell in love in Sharon. Saturday Doug, Sharon, and I went to Shelby's soccer game. It was very hot here Satuday. In fact Sunday the temp was 87. That broke the old record set in 1929 of 86. Getting back to Shelby, she scored 2 goals. We were all so proud of her. She played great!!
After Shelby's game, Doug and I took Sharon up to the outlet mall on 400. We had a great time shopping. Sharon purchased several items.
Sunday we went to church and Sunday afternoon Sharon saw her first Nascar race on t.v. and we watched the NCAA basketball games. Florida, UCLA, Ohio, and Georgetown made it to the final four which will be played here in Atlanta. The games will be this coming weekend with the championship game being played Monday night, Apr. 2. I am pulling for Florida and Ohio State.
I took Sharon this morning to Growing Leaders and will do so this week and go for her each afternoon. I hope things are going good with her at Growing Leaders.
Sharon loves Chick-fil-A. We drove through the drive-thru this morning so she could have a chicken biscuit. I am going to cook dinner tonight. We have eaten out every night since Sharon has been here. Doug and I wanted to take her to as many places as possible before she leaves. Wish she could be here longer so we could have taken her up to Helen, Savannah, and other places of interest in GA.
We're parying daily for you and everyday I have thought of Singapore and all of the other places we went while in Asia.
Give all at the office my greetings.
You are loved,
Winnie
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