My first trip to Singapore

Fast forward about 10 months later and the FINAL decision to make the move was made with a week long trip to Singapore, WITHOUT THE BABY! This was one of the hardest decisions I had to make since Adriana was born. I was still working from home and I really had never left her more than a few hours, let alone leave her and fly across the world. She was only 8 months old and still exclusively breastfeeding and I was not about to give that up. On the other hand, I knew I could not just move to this foreign city without spending some time there first, despite all of the good things Mark said and all the good stuff I read online. I also knew there was no way I was going to take Adriana with me. First, I had to see it for myself before taking her there.  Second, why would I take her on a 24 hour flight, flip her day and night schedule, just to turn around and come back home? Furthermore, how were we going to get any of the apartment searching done with her in tow? If she did come along, there was no way she would be in any shape to be out traveling around the city looking at apartments. So after three long months of discussion, I gave in and we booked the flights. I knew this was coming far in advance, so I started stock piling my breast milk in the freezer so she would have my milk while I was gone (and we had JUST enough, seriously she finished the last bottle of it hours before we got back).  Then on the trip, I "pumped and dumped" my milk throughout the entire week so I could keep my supply up so we could resume when I returned, and IT WORKED! I kept my supply and the evening I returned home she nursed like I had never left. I WAS ONE HAPPY MAMA and obviously determined to nurse her for the first year. Thanks to Amber and Jeremy for watching her for us and thanks to Ryan and Jamie for helping out the day we arrived home! Its so wonderful to have such good friends!

So onto my first trip to Singapore!!! We were gone from Nov 30th-Dec 8 but really only had 5 full days there when you consider the time change (Singapore is exactly 12 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone, so 10:00am at home, is 10:00pm in Singapore). Mark's company paid for the trip and while he had some work to take care of while he was there, the major reason for the trip was to get the "wife's stamp of approval". From what I gather in talking to his boss and stories Mark has told me, ITW has lots of experience in relocating their employees and therefore lots of experience with spouses making the move and then freaking out once the deal is done and they are moved. So, while I was thinking this is crazy they are paying for little ole me to fly here, (just one ticket is $1500!!) I understand the amount of money that would be wasted if I got here and then decided I couldn't live here.

 So the flight is obviously a LONG one. We flew from Dayton to Minneapolis to Narita (Tokyo) to Singapore. The longest stretch is the 13 hour flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo and you would think you would almost be there, RIGHT? Not so much! Its still another 7 hour flight from Tokyo to Singapore. So total flight time is about 21 hours, but if you include layovers and all about 24 hours.  The flight surprisingly went fast once I got over leaving Adriana. I got lots of sleep and everyone has their own personal TV/computer to watch TV, movies, play games, etc. so that killed lots of time.

Much of this trip was spent looking at apartments (more details on the apartments/differences from home living in another post).  You basically have to be a millionaire to own a house here, so one of the big adjustments for us was going to be transitioning from our house in little Dayton, Ohio to a high rise apartment in Singapore. I needed to see (and Mark's bosses needed to know) if I thought I could live this lifestyle. Mark did work some while we were there and I was able to go into the office and meet all of his co-workers. They are a very diverse group of people--there are only about 12 people in the office with 6 different countries represented just in that one group! I also got to spend a good amount of time with his boss, Vianney (from Indonesia) and his boss's wife, Kalin (native Singaporean) and go to their church, International Baptist Church service and Bible study. The last day we celebrated my 30th Birthday. Below are some first impressions I had on that trip and some highlights:

1) HOLY HUMIDITY!  Sheesh! Its a tropical climate and the city is located just 1° off the equator, so its HOT. There are no seasons, its just hot and humid all year round (this is a good thing for me because I am always cold).  So when I was researching the weather before the trip I saw nightly lows around 68° and highs during the day around 85°, I thought, I can handle that. What I did not account for was the humidity. Mark said it was humid but WOW. Its about 80% humidity, so when you walk outside it hits you like a wall of heat.

2) Lush and green! Singapore definitely lives up to the title of tropical climate. It really is absolutely beautiful and the government does a good job of ensuring the city "preserves" that tropical look, even with all of the buildings. The bridges and overpasses are decorated with flowers, there are lines of trees along the sides of the roads and in the medians. One of my favorites on this trip was our run through the botanical garden. We were there at Christmas time so there were little Christmas trees all along the path representing every country in the world. Wish I had taken my phone on this run, but here are some other pics of the greens when we were traveling in the city:

3) Clean! Some of the ways they keep the air clean  is by restricting industrial plants to only certain parts of the island and by minimizing the number of cars on the road--it costs ~$60,000 for the registration for ONE car here!!!!!! INSANE!! So only the very wealthy have cars, so that ensures there are less cars on the road. (The only reason why we have a car is ITW is paying for it because Mark needs it for his work). Smaller ways they keep it clean are heavy fines for littering, chewing gum and leaving your dog's poo behind.  I even learned on this trip that they take children's temperature before getting on public playgrounds (haven't seen this for real yet, only heard about it so far). Below is a picture of the inside of their subway system, called MRT (Mass Rapid Transit). Super clean for a city subway and super easy to navigate around the city (which is good for directionally challenged me!). Also notice the guy on there with the Pirate hat, all the way in Singapore! Go Bucs! (that was for you Daddy!).

4) DENSE! This is such a small island for all of these people and buildings, which explains why you have to be a millionaire to own land for a house and to drive your car on the roads. The population is about 5.2 million and the island area is only 3.5 times the size of the area of Washington, DC. If you go to this website and look at the map on the right, it gives you a good idea of how small island is. Make sure you hit the zoom out button to really see!

http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/US/SG


 Here's another way to put it in perspective:
The population density of New York City 10,640 people per sqkm
The population density of Singapore is 5, 539 people per sqkm
The population density of Washington, DC 3,977 people per sqkm
The population density of Los Angeles 3,176 people per sqkm


Singapore is also the third most densely populated country in the world after Macau and Monaco.
I know, I am a HUGE dork for looking this up! But many have asked, how can I compare the size of Singapore to a US city, so here it is, Mom! ;) Plus, this is really helping me put my new home into perspective.

5) DIVERSE! I did feel like a minority here, but I also see people around me from all different parts of the world. I learned that 42% of Singapore's population are foreigners with the sixth highest proportion of foreigners worldwide. From what I hear, this diversity makes it easier to transition into the culture than other less diverse countries, so we'll see how we do!!!

6) Shopping! Shopping! Shopping! I seriously have not seen so many shopping malls in one spot. Its not like shops lined up on the street one after another like on Michigan Ave in Chicago, its like 5 story mall after 5 story mall after 6 story mall after 4 story mall, all within a tini little area. Unfortunately, its all high end expensive stores that I have seen so far, so Adriana and I will be doing LOTS of window shopping! Here is a pic of the entrance to one of the malls, ION:

6) International Baptist Church (IBC)
This church was probably one of the highlights of my trip and one of the reasons I felt comfortable moving here. I loved the service (we saw a baptism that day!), I loved the church leader and his message, Pastor Rodney Woo (from TEXAS!), and we attended a small group that Sunday evening and loved it. Its a very diverse church: "International Baptist Church is a very unique expression of the body of Christ, The vast majority of churches reflect one nationality, culture, or ethnicity, but in a refreshing contrast IBC is composed of believers from 51 different nations." Below is a link to their website and a picture inside. The baptistry is right behind the choir and Cross.

http://www.ibcs.org/index.php

I was quickly connected to this church on this trip and I truly believe it was God's way of showing me this was the right path to take. I was invited to a Christmas luncheon and got to know many lovely ladies and connected to a Mom's of Preschoolers (MOP) group for Adriana and I to join. The small group Bible study we attended the Sunday evening we were there also introduced us to a group of Americans to connect with. I truly felt welcomed to IBC and believed this would be my "network" when living here.

7) My 30th Birthday!  

Last but not least, thanks to Mark I had a wonderful 30th Birthday celebration the last day we were here. We went to an island off of Singapore called Sentosa which is a very touristy place filled with lots attractions for little kids and big kids!, including Universal Studios. Here we did indoor sky diving, I can post pics of this on another post, don't have them readily available and I am sure we will be going back! We then went downtown and had dinner on the Singapore Flyer, which is basically a gigantic Ferris wheel with a spectular view of downtown

. You can just go for a ride, go for a drink, go for dessert or go for it all and have dinner, which is what we did. It takes 30 minutes to go around one time, so we had our appetizer/soup/salad the first time around and then as we swung around the bottom they "picked up" our hot dinner and dessert for the second time around. I did have some better pics of this, I think they are in our sea shipment which has yet to arrive. So these are off Marks phone and will have to do for now!

That night we stayed at the Marina Bay Sands, downtown. One of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. The best part and main reason for staying there, is the infinity pool on top. It seriously looks like you can swim over the edge, watch this video Mark took while we were there:

Again we have some awesome pics but I can't find them in the chaos of the move right now, so here are a few off Mark's phone for now:

Pic of the hotel from the ground:

 Here is a better pic of the hotel from the outside until I find my good ones.

So it was a wonderful trip and obviously I liked what I saw! I had a sense of peace while I was there and was excited to return in the Spring, this time WITH OUR PRECIOUS ADRIANA! :)

So it was decided, we were going to move to Singapore in Spring 2013!

The decision to make the BIG MOVE

Based on questions, I will begin by "back blogging", starting with why we decided to move and the prep for the move. I (Emily) will be doing most, if not all the posts as Mark is SUPER busy with his new position, but know he will be watching to hear updates and comments back from all of you. Who knows, we may even one day get the pleasure of a direct post from him once things settle. ;)

Let me also say that this is kind of my journal for my time here. It’s a way for me to write my thoughts and experiences, which I think will be therapeutic for me. I am a woman, so expect me to get emotional from time to time. :) I also think it will be an awesome way to connect with many of my loved ones, but it will not replace the more personal Skyping, telephone conversations, and texts, so let’s also keep up with those people! Furthermore, you all know me and know how detailed I am. So when I commit to doing a blog, I will likely try to include EVERYTHING, so I apologize in advance for my long posts. Read, skim and skip what you wish! See why Facebook just wasn’t enough? J  


I will start with the why and how we got to this point:

We started talking about the possibility of moving to Singapore in February 2012 (hence the back date of this post), when I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with little Adriana. I remember, it was the day before we left for my baby shower in Pennsylvania when Mark came home from work. Prior to that there were talks of Shanghai, China and even before we were married, I knew there was a possibility of an international move for Mark’s career. So, WHY exactly did we move to Singapore? Mark works for Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a company based out of Chicago. ITW is a large multinational corporation with operations and customers in over 40 countries. ITW has several areas of business including welding, food equipment, automotive components and more. Mark started with an ITW business, Hobart Brothers, in Troy, Ohio as an engineer upon his graduation from UD in 2005. He didn’t stay in his engineering position long and soon found himself going back to school for his MBA while working his way up the ladder at Hobart. In his most recent position, he was the General Manager for two business units at Hobart Brothers, solid wire and stick electrode. Since ITW is a global company, the company has interest in developing employees by exposing them not only to their different areas of business, but also to the different cultures where they do business. So, Mark has been assigned to a position as Business Unit Manager for ITW Welding at their Singapore office. The position includes sales, which is a new area for Mark, but is still in their welding business, which he is very familiar with. ITW’s plans for Mark are to expose him to the business and sales culture of Southeast Asia and then bring him back to the US in 2-3 years, what that entails is still undetermined. Maybe, their food equipment group in Texas?!?! ;) That would make many family members, VERY happy. We really do not know where it will be next for us, only that it will be back in the good ole US of A!

So, while we are here in Singapore, Mark will be based out of Singapore, but traveling throughout Southeast Asia to sell ITW Welding products to many customers primarily those who need welding supplies for the construction of big oil rigs out in the ocean. Yes, my initial thought was, sooooo you are going to move me and our daughter across the world to Singapore, and then leave us? LOL!! I am actually very excited for this aspect, as many of the trips will be short and once Mark has his first go around, checks it out for safety and cleanliness, Adriana and I will get to go along for the ride!!! Other countries include Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. We would like to vacation in Australia, Bali, China and Japan. Why not see this side of the world why we’re over here? It’s going to be quite the adventure and we hope to get you pictures and updates from each.

Many have asked, what is going on with my career through all of this. Let me tell you, this was a hard decision for me, as you all know how much I have poured myself into pharmacy. I haven’t lost my commitment to it and I do miss it very much already, but I just could not look past the once in a lifetime opportunity God has given us. I cannot even comprehend what we will learn and how it will change our lives and views of the world forever. It also goes without saying, this is a GOOD career opportunity for Mark. It is also a very good time family wise, considering Adriana is not of school age yet and we aren’t too old and set in our ways not to try new things. So, yes, I obviously had to quit my job at the VA, a job I loved! But while here in Singapore I do have to keep myself up-to-date not only for my continuing education but for my wellbeing when I rejoin the workforce, whenever that may be. It could be here in Singapore, as I do plan on pursing some leads on consulting positions that I can do online for a US company. I also do wish to get board certified and was pleasantly surprised to discover that there is an exam site here in Singapore, so I don’t have to fly home and take the exam with a mega time zone change! Many people study for this exam for a year, so it will definitely keep me busy and allow me to keep up with my continuing education requirements. I also already have a contact to a faculty member at one of the schools of pharmacy here in Singapore, which I am super excited about. Even if I can’t get a position there, it will still be super, nerdy awesome to see their school of pharmacy and maybe even do one guest lecture or a talk on US pharmacy. As for my actual employment here in Singapore, it is an option but a hard one. ITW would pay for me to get my pharmacy license here, however once I got it, I would likely have some issues getting hired. Only because in Singapore, they will favor a native Singaporean, over a permanent resident, over a temporary resident (which is what I am). So I may do all of that work to get licensed and never get hired. So as it stands now, I will take the first six months or so to get settled and when we come home for a visit at Christmas I may interview for an online position if available. If that doesn’t work out at the least I will do my continuing education work and sit for my board certification exam. And lets face it, all along I will be doing my most important job of all…being a Wife to Mark and a Mommy to Adriana Marie!

Another thing we obviously considered before we decided to move: Is this place called Singapore a safe place to be? Is it especially safe for a little baby girl? With some reading, we found out, Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world. It is actually safer than most US cities. Here is some info I found online when reading up on it:
     "The crime rate in Singapore is one of the lowest in the world. There are reports of petty   crime such as pickpocketing and street theft which occurs at airports, tourist destinations, hotels and on public transport. Incidents of violent crime are rare in Singapore. In the Corruption Perceptions Index 2010, Singapore was ranked 1stout of 178 countries for corruption (least corrupt countries are at the top of the list)."

With this safety comes a more strict government, so from what I have read some Americans feel “restricted” here. Big laws include, it is illegal to own a gun for personal use and bringing illegal drugs into the country is punishable by the death penalty. Some offenses are also punishable by caning!!! A weird law I have told many of you about already, is it is illegal to chew gum here! I guess years ago someone put a piece of gum over one of the subway system sensors and shut the whole thing down, so the government banned chewing gum. The law says you can chew gum only for personal consumption, so I guess we can chew it in our apartment, but you can’t find it anywhere in the stores! So we have a stock of it here from Sam’s Club, but will only chew it at our apartment. A few other laws I like are, it’s illegal to spit on the ground and its illegal to leave your dog’s poo behind. I guess if you break these rules you get a pretty hefty fine, so people follow them. This and many other laws, make for a very clean city. J I am sure there are many other laws I will learn about along the way I can update you on. Some other stuff I looked into was natural disasters. This is a quote I read from National Environment Agency, Singapore: "Our geographical position and the relatively shallow waters of the Straits of Malacca and South China Sea make it highly unlikely that we will be affected by a tsunami cause by an earthquake in the region. We are also located away from the tropical cyclone belt and earthquake epicentres which makes us at a low risk of being affected by these natural calamities."

Last but not least and the hardest decision of all was to leave our loved ones. We knew this would be difficult and it has been. To tell you the truth, I don’t even really think it has hit me yet. I said good bye to many people, some I may never see again and I didn’t cry more than a few times so far. That tells me I am being typical Emily and not processing some of this yet, but I know when I do, many of you will be there on the other side of a Skype, e-mail or phone call! That is also one of the things I considered when making the decision to make this move. It really is amazing how we all can keep in touch now, even instantly on the other side of the world. If this was during a time when I had to hand write a letter for snail mail to keep in touch and pay outrageous money to call home, I don’t think I could have done it. But between our Magic Jack phone, Skype, e-mail, and Facebook, I was much more comfortable with the move. Plus, we get to fly home for Christmas once a year, paid for by ITW. Furthermore, if you think about it, 2-3 years is not very long at all. It’s crazy to think, Mark and I will already be married for 4 years in September. Crazy, huh? Time flies! We will be back home before you know it! So, I am going to soak up as much Singapore rays as I can, try to enjoy each and every moment and leave my worrying days behind. It will all work out, God has us, and has a plan and purpose for us being in Singapore. Even for little Adriana, who knows, she may break some little boy’s heart over here, haha! Just playing, Mark. I can see his face turning red now! J J J

So it was looking like we were gonna move to Singapore, but I wasn’t completely 100% sure yet. I had to deliver our 1^st baby, get settled into motherhood and take a trip there to check it out before I would fully commit.

More on that trip in the next post.....

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