013

Another confession time - these are almost coming weekly - I am a massive, massive sports fan. Back at home, I'd be watching at least one live game of something every week, followed by hours and hours of sport of the course of the week. Football, rugby, athletics, cricket - you name it, I watch it.

I've always had a big love for Formula 1. My Dad brought all of us up on it - to the point where if I heard the Italian national anthem in any other context, I'd ask why they were playing the "Ferrari song". Living far from Silverstone, I've never got the chance to watch F1 live, but since moving to Singapore, that dream has become a reality.

We were lucky enough to be able to get Bay Grandstand tickets over the whole weekend (we went with a friend's dad who preferred to have a seat). The Bay Grandstand is situated pretty much inside the track and faces out onto amazing views of the Art & Science Museum and Marina Bay Sands hotel. 

Included in our ticket price was access to both Zones 3 & 4, where the majority of the entertainment was taking place. It also meant we could walk right up to the barriers to see and hear the cars going past at such close range. If you do ever go to an F1 event - one word of warning - take earplugs. The noise is incredibly deafening. One member of our party was adamant he wouldn't wear earplugs, but the noise managed to persuade him otherwise. Avoid trying to have any form of conversation too while the races are taking place!

The Singapore GP takes place over a 3 day weekend in September and is F1's only night-time street circuit - making it such an incredible event. There are several different races held over the weekend, from practice and qualifying to the Porsche Carrera Cup and GP2. There was pretty much a race on every couple of hours or so, giving us enough time to explore the circuit without missing out.

We were also in a pretty good spot for the drivers' parade before the main race. Managed to snap some decent photos of Hamilton and Schumacher - but I was too busy girly-screaming for Webber and Button to get a picture. 

The entertainment was also fantastic and pretty cheap for the price of a normal gig in Singapore. On Saturday night, we managed to get pretty near the front for Maroon 5 and Sunday night was Katy Perry. James was pretty disappointed that he didn't manage to catch Bananarama - for some reason, he developed a weird obsession with them over the weekend.

Overall, an exhaustingly fast-paced and eventful weekend! Over the weekend, it was announced that Singapore has been awarded the race until 2017 - so definitely looking forward to seeing more years. Next year, we're already talking about booking out a hotel room to watch it in style. 

In other news, I've managed to get myself a job, so I'm really looking forward to starting that & doing something productive. We also have tentative plans to head to Bali this weekend - aiming to become a surfer extraordinaire in 3 days. 

Nade x

012

I have a confession to make. I'm a secret lover of the Daily Mail column of shame. You know, the column down the right hand side of the website that is completely full of unnecessary stories about TOWIE's Lauren Goodger and baby Harper Beckham. It is shamefully addictive and fuels my love for the Duchess of Cambridge aka Kate Middleton.

Click on the Daily Mail's website at any given time and it is full of pictures of her - cheering on Olympians at the Velodrome, walking her dog in Kensington Gardens and, most recently, on her Royal Visit to Singapore.

I knew I couldn't pass up this opportunity to sneak a peek of her (mainly to see what she was wearing and to see if she actually was that skinny in real life) so bright and early, we headed down to Gardens by the Bay, along with a few thousand other fans. 

The Gardens by the Bay is a fascinating concept - it's a park built on reclaimed land right next to Marina Bay, created to turn Singapore into a "city in a garden".  Recently opened, it consists of 3 gardens and conservatories which you can walk in, with further plans for shops, galleries and restaurants to open in the future. 

The giant Avatar-esque structures that you can see above are known as Supertrees. They range from 25-50 ft in height and are used to mimic the key functions of real trees - they collect solar energy and rainfall to use as irrigation. There is also an incredible walkway with a restaurant planned at the top of the tallest.

As expected, the Duchess looked absolutely stunning and not as crazy-skinny as people claim (well, as the Daily Mail claims).  Judging by the thousands that turned out, the amount of photographers and the screams/cheers that went up, the younger Royals are pretty popular over here. It brought a little bit of the UK into Singapore and I'm glad that I was a part of it.

Nade x

011

Sundays are most definitely made for lazing about. Especially after an awesome & unexpected Saturday night out. After a morning at work, we'd planned to have a chilled Saturday & to meet up with some new people that we've met here.

We started off with some lunch at Octapas on Clarke Quay. Great views over the river & we were sat outside in the perfect position to people/boat watch. We got a couple of dishes - I highly recommend the chorizo and the tenderloin of beef. The garlic prawns were meaty, but slightly too spicy - next time I'd probably not get the "hot" version. The patatas bravas were a bit disappointing, slightly soggy & the bread basket did it's job!

Completely full, we had a wander up to Orchard Road for a browse before heading to a new bar at Clarke Quay, called Fern & Kiwi. Although it's just opened this week, you would never have guessed - the service was quick and friendly, with staff coming to take your orders and clear glasses quickly and discreetly - you never felt pestered, but you could also sit at the bar & chat with them too. 

We met with a few Kiwis to watch the rugby - despite James wearing the Argentinian colours & me wearing my TOMS with an Argentinian style flag on the back - we were cheering for the All Blacks (kind of had to as the place was packed with Kiwis!) The boys tried a variety of the different beers that were on tap, while I had my first taste of vodka L&P - I'm informed that it stands for Lemon & Paeroa and it's quite a famous New Zealand mixer.

Despite some really good bar nibbles, after two rugby games, we were more than a little hungry - so we headed to my other new favourite place, Senor Taco. This is just a small stall with a handful of tables serving quesadillas, tacos and more alcohol than is possible to drink. The night passed in a blur of margarita jugs & several tacos, before we decided to create our own entertainment...in the form of dancing to this....

Expecting to be popping up on Youtube any day soon - we were being filmed by several passing people! The Gangnam Style craze has most definitely hit Singapore.

Nade x

010

Apologies avid readers - I have been slightly MIA this week. A combination of feeling run down (air con drama), job hunting & interview-researching has left me neglecting the blog slightly. Plus I've not actually been doing THAT much blog-worthy (you definitely don't want to hear about  me lying in bed watching hours of Breaking Bad and Pretty Little Liars).

So my new hobby for this week has been exercise. Now those who know me, do not faint, call me in concern or double check that this post has actually been written by me - it is me, Singapore has just given me a new lease of life in terms of exercise.

There's so many opportunities here to keep active - from bike rides to various parks to jog/walk round and abundance of clubs. I have a big hockey fanatic as a boyfriend, so avidly began looking for hockey clubs for him to play for, before he informs me that it is far too hot & humid for him to be running around outside...good point.

Most of our exercise has come from in & around our condo. We're lucky that we have a decent pool, squash courts, tennis courts and an ok gym. James has been pumping out far more length s in the pool than me & also at a much faster pace than me, but we've been tending to do a casual hour or so in the pool each night.

I'm quite limited to the exercise that I can do due to a dodgy & chronically painful ankle - to the point where I can barely run for the bus without it hurting. I've found that swimming and general physio exercises have been helping - so much so, that I've just got back from the gym after having run for 5 minutes on the treadmill for the first time in 11 years. 

The world is not QUITE ready for me in lycra yet - but if I carry on this way, I'm going to end up living out my childhood fantasy of being Jet from Gladiators. Maybe.

Next week is looking fun - not only is one of my favourites heading over from Sydney, but so is Will & Kate. Expect a week of royal hunting, job interview waiting & general fun.

Nade x

009

In between all the job hunting this week, I've actually found the time to do something a little bit more cultural. The weather this week has been bizarre - it started raining on Monday morning and pretty much didn't stop until Friday afternoon & I was getting a little bit of cabin fever. A friend let me know about The Wedding Dress exhibition being held at the National Museum of Singapore, so after confusing James a bit ("you're off to look at other people's wedding dresses...ok, THAT'S normal") Lisa and I headed off, accompanied by massive golf umbrellas. 

The Wedding Dress: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion (to give it it's official title) is a travelling exhibition organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum.  The exhibition has various dresses from different periods of time and has a detailed history for each.  We were lucky enough to get there just as a guided tour was starting & the guide was hilarious - she totally knew her stuff and made the group feel comfortable. 

The dresses ranged from Victorian-era to modern day and gave a detailed history of the economic and social conditions at the time. My absolute favourite was either the Vera Wang (absolute dream dress) or Gwen Stefani's, which included a velcro train that she could rip off for dancing!

Totally worth the S$11 entrance fee and it was nice to get out of the rain and do something cultural. I believe once the exhibition finishes in Singapore at the end of October, it's moving onto Perth, so I may get a chance to catch up with it again.

The rest of the week has been a blur of rain, broken umbrellas, interviews and endless job hunting. We've managed to fit in a couple of nights out with some great people - don't think I will ever get bored of sitting with a glass of wine by Clarke Quay! Luckily the weather has been gorgeous this afternoon, so I've managed to catch up on some reading by the pool.

Hoping to head to some more exhibitions and events next week - we have a work's party on the beach tomorrow. It's a really hard life at the moment.

Nade x

008

Contrary to the beliefs of some expats I've spoken to, there is life this far out West - ironically at Jurong East. J Cube mall, situated opposite Jurong East MRT, has become one of our favourite places to go when bored, as there is a ridiculous amount to do.  

It only opened a few months ago and is home to Singapore's first Olympic-sized ice skating rink, as well as a Shaw Theatres cinema with several screens and an IMAX. Although we've not experienced the normal screens, we absolutely loved watching the Dark Knight Rises at the IMAX, mainly raving about how cheap things were in comparison to the UK, unusually for here (a large popcorn and drink was £4, bargain).  

Dotted around the ice rink are various shops, boutiques, Cold Storage and a million restaurants, including Chilis, Nandos, The Old Manhattan Fish Market amongst others. We didn't particularly enjoy the Fish Market and felt really rushed out of there, although Nandos wasn't too bad - good to go to when you fancy something a bit different to rice or anything from the hawkers. 

Word of warning - mainly due to the ice rink, J Cube is a LOT colder than a "normal" mall, so a couple of extra layers might be needed. So there we go, proof that there is actually something to do out in the sticks!

Nade x

007

The One With the Birthday. Week 3 in Singapore was marked with everybody's highlight of the year....my birthday. After the most incredible 21st two years ago, I just assumed that any birthdays since would be a little underwhelming. But this one has been a LOT of fun. 

Thursday night, I met some of the girls for drinks at Overeasy at One Fullerton - Happy Hour 1+1 on all beers, wines and spirits meant that we ended up pretty drunk. Having not eaten, I call James on the MRT home & ask if he can get me McDonalds delivery (yes, they deliver here. Best. Ever.) So I ended up seeing in my 23rd with a double cheeseburger, several cards & a very cute little cake! 

My actual birthday was spent generally lazing around, sunbathing & being a bum, before getting ready to go to the surprise restaurant that J had booked. Which turned out to be Sky on 57 at Marina Bay Sands hotel - possibly the best all-round restaurant I've ever been to.

Very photo heavy post, I do apologise! But the food was incredible - I highly recommend the scallops - and the view speaks for itself. We were lucky enough to see the light show, that they put on at Marina Bay Sands every night, from a completely different perspective. 

I'm one lucky girl & have been well and truly spoilt this weekend. Other not-so-bright highlights of the week have included copious amounts of job hunting and holiday planning - I've enjoyed the latter far more than the former! 

Nade x

006

If this was a Friends episode, it would probably be entitled "The One With The Rant". I like a good rant/moan. Most people who know me know this. It's even on my Twitter bio. But I was determined to not moan about Singapore, but it's got to the point, nearly 3 weeks in and at 00.30am that all I want to do is moan.

Now I love the freedom that Singapore brings me - the different types of food, shopping, chance to explore different cultures and travel, amongst other things. And despite trying to prepare myself, I didn't think it would be this difficult to get a job. I genuinely convinced myself that it might be a bit easier as I already have a work visa in place - no red tape or having to apply for stuff, I can just rock up & start work. But no, countless applications in and literally one reply. It was ridiculous how excited I was to actually get a rejection email - this is how bad the contact is.

Yes, I do get to lie in, sunbathe, swim, explore, meet friends and generally do what I want most of the time. But this comes with the backdrop of not having the security of knowing your next pay packet will drop into your account at the end of the month and the general feeling of laziness/unemployed guilt. After two months off work, I'm dying for the opportunity to have routine in my life, something to do and a feeling that I'm progressing. The only thing that's progressing so far here is my tan and my frustration at not working! 

Of course there's probably more I could be doing and I'm trying to not get to disheartened about it all, as that just puts off actually applying and can become a bit of a Catch 22. Speaking to other "trailing spouses", they are in similar positions, albeit without a visa in place - although they do have much more experience than I. 

So this week, the CV is being updated, re-hashed, extended and aimed to more of a Singaporean job market. I'm spending part of my birthday weekend going to a career's fair and I'll call some recruitment agencies rather than email them. Plus another fifty or so tailored & detailed application. And if I still can't find a job...then at least I'll have a decent tan.

Nade x

005

From Chinese Garden to Chinatown! Contrary to popular (James') belief, I've not been spending my days in bed watching back-to-back episodes of Geordie Shore (I might have done it once...), I've been off out exploring new bits of Singapore. 

After the disaster that was the haircut, which I can only describe as a side mullet with random long bits and then the rest short layers, forgive me if I was a little apprehensive about heading to Chinatown - every time I seem to go out these past few days, drama of some sort seems to be happening to me.  As an update to the previous post with the dodgy stamp in the passport, it turns out I've got 90 days on a tourist pass, so my run of bad luck seems to have changed!

I headed over to Chinatown to meet a couple of girls who are living here/in a similar situation to me and we definitely made the most of the free time. The afternoon was pretty much spent drinking massive bottles of Tiger beer, lots of Chinese food & shopping for really cute, cheap summer dresses. I picked up 3 dresses for about £11, total bargain. 

Although James and I have mainly been eating at the local hawkers' markets, we have been branching out now and again to more Western food, with mixed results. Currently sat here with a massive Dominos feast in front of us - not the best Dominos I've had, that would be back at Leeds with my boys & the famous Two for Tuesdays. On Wednesday, we headed to J Cube to The Manhattan Fish Market to satisfy my seafood craving and I was pretty disappointed.

Seafood platter was pretty dodgy and I don't think we realised everything would be deep fried! So that restaurant is off the list! Weekend-wise, I think tomorrow may be a pool day and we have tentative plans to go for brunch on Sunday (brunch is my favourite meal of all-time and a classic Singaporean thing to do). Sunday is also marks Eid-al-fitr or the end of Ramadan, so I'm assuming everywhere will be packed! Next week is looking busy; more drink dates, a trip to the Harry Potter exhibition, Gold Class cinema viewing, a hot date on Friday and a big works party on Saturday - it's shaping up to be a pretty good birthday week!

Nade x

004

Note to self: discover the Singaporean hairdressing term for "for the love of God, please NO more layers!" Now, I'm not really fussy when it comes to my hair - I have no loyalty whatsoever and will pretty much go to the place with the best deal. Yet I'm now kind of regretting my blase attitude in Singapore. 

To be honest, this whole afternoon has been verging on disaster. I go to book a squash court for James to play his boss & I'm told that I can't as I'm not a resident. Now bearing in mind, you're not really allowed to be on the premises without being a resident, that seems a little strange to me. The bloke refused to let me prove that I'm a resident - the only way is to apply for a resident card and pay S$10. 

I then decide to give up and get some food. Thought I'd be pretty healthy and order a chicken salad....which turned out to be a plate of spicy fried chicken. And pretty bad fried chicken at that. And then came the hair...

Walking round Jurong Point mall, I come across this pretty decent looking hairdressers and ask for a quote to fix some dodgy sun highlights and a general trim. She took this as "I want my hair cut right now" - probably should have run at this point, but £45 for half head of highlights and a cut sounded pretty good. No problems with the highlights, sliiiiight problem with the cut.  In that she just decided to cut it without asking me how I wanted it. When I told her that I only wanted a small bit off, she told me she could only cut it one way. And then proceeded to blow dry it into some sort of 80s Dynasty hairstyle. 

It's not looking too bad now I've actually washed it myself - slowly coming to the conclusion that I'm not going to end up looking like Kate Middleton's hair twin (speaking of which, her & Will are popping over in September, so exciting!) 

Hair rant over, I've spent most of the past couple of days here, basking in 34 degree heat....

Tan is progressing well - if the job hunt completely fails, at least I'll have a good tan. Tomorrow, I'm off to the immigration people, as the stamp in my passport that should tell me how long I'm allowed to stay in the country for is completely smudged over one vital word - the actual number of days. Never know, I may have to continue this "Singapore" blog back at home...

Nade x

003

Today marks my first full week anniversary of being here and I STILL feel like I'm on holiday and going home in the next couple of weeks. Mainly because all I've been doing is sleeping, sunbathing, swimming, eating and shopping.

 The job hunt is slow and boring - nothing more disillusioning than applying for tons of job with not even an email to say REJECTED. It's difficult as most jobs here want you to be a permanent resident, speak Mandarin or have 3-5 years of filing experience for a receptionist role. Seriously. And even though I already have a visa in place, noone seems to want me *sad face*

Anyway, apart from meeting up with new people and exploring the city, planning a list of things to do while I'm still unemployed and swimming a ridiculous amount a day, we've mainly been eating. We're lucky that we live between two hawkers centres, which are ridiculously cheap to eat in and have quite a selection of Chinese/Indian food. The price also makes us feel less guilty for eating out every night (although when I look at our kitchen and the fact we need to uy a gas bottle to make the hob work, I'm not that bothered about not cooking). 

So this is your typical hawkers centre. Complete with Singaporean soaps on the TV - we watched 5 minutes of a guy being hit by a broom. You basically choose which stall you want to eat from, pay your £2-3 and sit on any of the free tables. The woman in blue is a drinks/napkin lady who comes round and takes your drinks order. 

This is definitely his *let me eat* face.

Today (Thursday) is National Day, where Singapore is celebrating its 47th birthday. It's also a public holiday, so I've got a feeling that the pool/MRT is going to be busy! Almost definitely going to end up by the pool...

Nade x

002

So we've spent the past couple of days lazing around, eating, shopping, swimming...not too bad at all! James had to work Saturday morning, so my plan was to hit the gym - except I ended up sleeping in and only woke up when he came home! 


We spent the afternoon cleaning, napping and watching the Olympics - I keep calling him over to look at something on my laptop and every time I show him the medal table with Team GB 3rd overall and Australia 19th! Every time he falls for it and walks away muttering something about "silver medals". Due to the time difference, I'm missing a lot of medals over here and the TV only shows Chinese and Singaporean athletes, but I'm managing to watch it on the BBC website, so getting my fix! 


Saturday night, we ventured out to Clarke Quay for some dinner and drinks. It's so different to where we're living, very expat and Western-oriented - it even has a Hooters! We went to Brewerkz for steak and beer, before meeting a friend who was travelling through Singapore on transit for cocktails and sushi. 

Obviously very excited about steak!

Today has been even more lazing about while James studies for his Masters. Went to the local hawkers centre for lunch and got a massive container of rice, sweet and sour pork, black pepper pork and mixed veg for £3. And then off for a swim later, managed 800m last night (obviously channelling Becky Adlington - took me about 3 hours longer than her, but it's a start!) 

Tomorrow, I'm planning on going halfway across the city on the MRT and checking out the famous Orchard Road for shopping! Wish me luck! 

Nade x

001

Day One in Singapore and I'm suffering from the worst jet lag I've had in a while. It's currently midday and I'm doing everything in my power not to go back to sleep again (this means being sat up in bed in my pjs, but you know).

Serves me right for being cocky with my easy flight - whole row to myself one leg & spare seat second leg - but didn't capitalise and sleep (rookie error). Watched the entire first and only season of Alcatraz and 17 hours later of travelling, we got back to the flat. Welcome to our new home for the next few months! 

I'll get a few pictures of the actual flat itself once we've managed to completely clean it and put everything away. Currently living out of a suitcase, it's all fun and games! But "home" for now is a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo close to Chinese Garden MRT. 

 Yesterday, I picked up an MRT card (pretty much the same as an Oyster card where you just swipe on and off the metro and it subtracts the fare from your card) and we headed to Boon Lay to pick up a few bits and pieces for the flat. Trying to get 4 pillows and a doona through a tiny little metro turnstile was interesting! We live in between 2 big hawker centres, so we had dinner sat outside on plastic chairs. 2 massive plates of rice, Chinese pork and beans came to £2.70 - pretty much had to be carried home and passed out with exhaustion.

So today, the plan is/was to get out and explore, but this jet lag means all I want to do is curl up and watch Singaporean Olympic coverage. Previous experience tells me that it's going to take me a good week to get over this...or however long the Olympics lasts! 

Nade.