Expat basics: before you move to Singapore

I get a lot of messages from people about to move to Singapore who want to know what to do before they arrive. I've only done two international moves but I think we made most of our biggest mistakes the first time and felt pretty on top of things on round two. Here's a list of  things I think are really good to do before you set foot out of your home country. 

Banking Switch your home banking over to an international bank at least a few months before you leave. HSBC and Citibank are good options. Make sure you have some money successfully wired over before you arrive so your first trip to the bank is as smooth as possible. 

Insurance Take out a comprehensive expat health insurance policy from your home country. No, you are not allowed to use travel insurance. We've used David Cummings Insurance in Vancouver and they were great for getting us set up with a plan for our US immigration. We later did a policy with BUPA based in London.

To add an extra note for folks heading to Singapore: I haven't seen any Singaporean health plans that don't absolutely suck. Unless your new job comes with a full expat policy from your home country, assume the local policy they are going to offer you is going to be 80% useless. The crazy thing is, your company's HR department will think their plan is great. They also think it's normal for families to spend all of their retirement savings if someone gets hurt. It's a cultural difference and one that unfortunately can get you in some very serious financial trouble.


A warning to women: expat policies usually do not include maternity coverage. Maternity insurance is an additional policy with a 10 to 12 month waiting period before you can claim. Even the most expensive expat policies do not cover women who are already pregnant. Do not leave your home country pregnant or intend to get pregnant in the first half year of your relocation. I've met far too many trailing spouses in Singapore who ended up playing Russian roulette with their pregnancy. Just to throw a few numbers out there, a C-section could put you out $22,000 sg and a premie baby could be around $250,000 sg. 

Address change.  Moving away when you don't have a forwarding address is really complicated. In Canada you can do int'l mail forwarding but in the US you can't (I guess the US can't imagine anyone leaving?). I recommend getting a mail box at a private mail forwarding company. Set up the address change before you go. Once you arrive, have them bundle mail once a month and send it over. We used Bongo this time and they were awful so just avoid that one. 

My old friend Victoria

I've been working seven days a week looking after Grannie since I arrived here. When Joel arrived last week we decided to run away for a night together. We booked a night at the Empress Hotel. I've always wanted to stay in this icon of our city but never really had the right excuse. It always seemed like a silly touristy thing to do but there we were with steaming cups of darjeeling tea looking out over the inner harbour.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world...

Joel in a mountain biking race in Malaysia

Another week, another continent

We had been in Singapore for 7 weeks and, while life was generally going well, something unsettling was always on my mind. On the night before we left for Singapore my Grannie became seriously ill. Despite my not wanting to get on the flight that next morning my family assured me that there was nothing I could really do. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. As you know, I did get on that plane somehow but I never felt at ease with it.

Last weekend, looking around at my unpacked apartment, I was finally able say, my work here is done for now, it's OK to go home. I went online, scored a seat sale and 48 hours later I was on a plane.

Landing in Victoria was totally surreal. There was snow on the ground and it was a punishing cold wind that whipped in the door of the plane when they opened it. I slid down the ramp and walked into a grey world, as quiet as a sound stage and empty. It's so very odd to go from summer to winter in a day.

So here I am on the other side of the world again. I plan to stay for 6 weeks with Joel joining me over the holidays.  I'm so glad I came. As much as I love my expat life my family is always first and when times are tough I will always be just a plane away.

Tell me on a Sunday

What to do on a November Sunday when it's too hot to move

Snow in Singapore (but not really)

We have been out exploring the neighbourhood in the evenings. Going for long walks around Dempsy Hill and Holland V. We can actually walk all the way down to Orchard St downtown which is what we did the night they lit up all the shopping malls for Christmas. The pictures above are from my iphone and that "snow" is tiny bubbles.

Joel has been riding the trails on his new BMC mountain bike that we adopted last week. He's pretty happy riding even when he bails into muddy ditches and has to dodge giant lizards. While Singapore has some of the poorest road riding conditions Joel has ever encountered he thinks the mountain biking is pretty amazing.

Monsoon afternoon

Monsoon Rain part 1 from Stacey Clarke on Vimeo.

A typical afternoon shower in Monsoon season in Singapore. This was shot from our little covered balcony with my iphone.

The Expat Experience

A lot of people have asked me how the relocation is going so far. I'm surprised to find myself saying that it has been much easier than I thought it would be. In fact, it's been easier than our move to California. One factor is, we've done this before and had a lot of things organized long before we left our last home. Another factor is that Singapore is simply set up for people to arrive from all over the world and be up and running in a few days.

Going to the Ministry of Manpower to get an employment pass was about as complicated as ordering a coffee in Starbucks and took a total of 10 minutes. We found an expat cell phone plan complete with cheap long distance and shorter contracts. We haven't needed credit checks anywhere. The banks seem so un-phased by newcomers, they are willing to set up accounts with the idea that we'll establish a permanent address at a later date. In a country with such modern business infrastructure and so many rules I thought we were going to be fighting The Man at every turn. In reality this well oiled machine knew exactly what to do with us.

If you're wondering what kinds of things we miss, both Joel and I agree that we miss natural cool air though we're finding 24 degrees celsius at night is starting to feel chilly now. Joel misses the good road cycling in California but he's excited to start mountain biking here. We both miss organic local food and good wine. In all we're really happy with our new locale and have no regrets. Cheers!

Weekend getaway options

Well we are moving into our apartment next weekend and then our next project is to take take a weekend excursion to one of the popular vacation spots close by. The decision might be a tough one so why don't you tell us where to go!

courtesy of www.mynetbizz.com

Bintan
45 minutes from Singapore by ferry. An indonesian island with great beaches, some old growth jungle and lots of resorts to wile away an weekend at.

Batam
The more industrialized and less touristy neighbour to Bintan. Known for night life and shopping but still has some nice places to stay.

courtesy of wikimedia.com

Melaka
A historic Malaysian town, about a 4 hour bus ride away.  Shopping, dining and new cultural things to poke around at.

Finding an apartment

Click on the picture to visit our botanical gardens album

We found out we actually had a real estate agent included in our relocation package so we thought we'd try her services and see what she could come up with. Thank goodness we did because we weren't getting a single call back from anyone and weren't finding much in the area we wanted. 

Our agent took us to view the available apartments near the areas we wanted to live and then gave us her opinion on what she could get the landlords to negotiate on.

Birthday Singapore Slings

A trip to Singapore wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling. This was what I wanted to do for my Birthday last night. We had a blast!

Jungle Trail Run

We just did a trail run around Bukit Timah park in the pouring rain. It was beautiful and quiet. Joel's shoe landed an inch from a little ribbon of green I could see as I ran behind him. When it came into focus I realized he'd just missed stepping on a Wagler's Pit Viper. It looked like an adolescent male who had been washed out of his daytime nap spot. Pit Vipers are nocturnal and usually hang out sleeping on tree branches during the day. The park naturalist was quite interested in our find, though I'd be fine with not seeing another one.

Our other discovery was dozens of monkeys with tiny babies hanging around their necks. It's really probably the cutest thing you could ever see... and we had no cameras this time.

-Stacey

Chinatown & temple tours

We are completely exhausted after a long full day on our feet. The afternoon we hit the pavement and headed down into the Orchard road shopping district (which is just high end mega-malls and has nothing to do with former orchards). We both successfully found running shoes though we woefully realized that we should have purchased them before we left California. Even our friendly shopkeeper informed us that he shops for his running shoes when he travels to to US.

In the evening we met up with our friends for a beer and then a walk around Chinatown where we visited two temples and then had fantastic Tai food at a busy food stall. The first temple we found appeared to be hindu (though I'm not an expert on this and would welcome any other ideas) and we happened upon it right as they were starting a ceremony and a feast.

The next temple was Taoist and in stark contrast to the former temple it was clean, orderly and had mysterious locked chambers where we could hear monks within chanting. In all, a feast for the eyes, amazing day and the most spicy Som Tum salad we have had to date.

Click on the photos above or click here to see the album of pictures we took tonight

Sumatra on fire etc

This is the view from our deck today with a smoky fog blanketing the city. A stark contrast to the brilliant blue sky we usually see when we aren't on the tail end of a thunderstorm. The source of the smog is the forest fires and the seasonal brush burning in Sumatra. According to NewsAsia we're in for another three days of this as fires are expected to continue if not worsen before they are extinguished. While it looks bad it doesn't really smell that bad (it's nothing compared to the smoke we had in Fairfax when Napa was on fire) and the air quality readings are not great but not in a particularly troubling zone. I guess I won't be able to use this as excuse for not going to the gym tomorrow.

In other news the Philippines were hit by Typhoon Magi and China is bracing for the end of that storm. We appear to be pretty safe thus far here. Our big rainy season is yet to come though we do get small thunderstorms in the afternoons that last a short time. Yesterday I was caught reading by the pool under a sun umbrella as the sky opened and deposited buckets of water seemingly just on our building. The storm blew over in ten minutes. My favourite part of these storms is the moments after, when all the tropical birds start calling from the trees. Even on the top of an apartment building you like you are very much in the tropical jungle that these buildings replaced.

First things first

Joel is on day three of work here and I'm on day two of looking for a place to live. The move thus far has really been pretty laid back and this apartment search may be too. Last night we met for dinner in Holland Village which is an expat enclave much like a tropical Kitsilano but with low-rises instead of houses. In the evenings the police come by and close the road where all the bistros are and the sidewalks become patios and the street, a walkway.
This morning there were several apartments available in the Holland area so I'm about to begin my cold calls and start setting up viewings. It's unusual for expats to be renting apartments without a real estate agent so we'll see how this goes off the cuff.

Hiking and Little India

We were up early today to meet up with our new friends and go on a hike around the Nature Reserve. Beautiful area and our 7km hike only just touched one little corner. As you can imagine hiking in 30 degree weather in this humidity is a sticky hot situation. We headed back into the city in search of some refreshment. Little India provided us with a great lunch, cold Tiger beer and a vibrant street life to explore. Click on the pictures above to check out our day on flickr.

-Stacey

Singapore arrival

We arrived in Singapore safe and sound last night at 1am. A driver from our accommodations here picked us up and got us into our place very quickly and we slept a fairly normal night after that. Today was overcast in the morning with the sun gradually breaking through the fog as the day progressed. Now it's about 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday and the sky is clear blue. Everything is bathed in that light you get on the equator when the sun is directly overhead. The air outside is heavy and humid and filled with the rumble of construction.

This photo is from our balcony. We'll be taking some more photos and posting them soon!

-Stacey

Giving Thanks

Three years ago we went to our family thanksgiving and then departed for California. Here we are again, all gathered around the table in a bittersweet celebration, saying hello and then good-bye. We are giving thanks right now for having this time. We are also giving thanks to everyone who visited with us this trip. We've got so many great memories to take with us when we leave for Singapore tomorrow morning. 

Family trip to Tofino

 

 

 

 

 

Point no Point

Just got back from a weekend girl's getaway at the Point-no-Point resort on the west side of Vancouver Island. A rejuvenating location for a night away and great eats at the Tea House there. 

-Stacey

An odd state of being

I find it very strange to be a non-resident Canadian visiting Canada. And what makes it more odd than other times we've been home is that we no longer reside in California and we have not arrived in Singapore so we have absolutely no address to speak of. Filling in forms and doing 'normal' things like banking is awkward when you don't live anywhere. We are forever agonizing over what box to check off or what address to put on things and eventually we've had people just bend rules for us after some pleading. Aside from just the general oddness of being gypsies with bank accounts we've had to re-enter the world being ex-pats requiring all kinds of weird and wonderful services. Looking forward to having a real address soon!

Toronto

 

Having a great visit in Toronto with friends and family which is going by way too fast. We were on Toronto Island on a beautiful sunny afternoon yesterday and have enjoyed some great nights on the town catching up with people here. Today is Joel's 30th birthday which is another big milestone for him. 

I'm heading back to Victoria tomorrow but Joel is still working here till (Canuck)Thanksgiving. It looks like our Singapore departure date will be October 13th. Three more weeks! 

-Stacey

Victoria, week one

Joel is just coming to the end of his week in Victoria and will depart for Toronto tomorrow morning. It's been a frenetic week to say the least. Our days were just action packed with all the moving details: the truck arriving at customs, moving things into storage, long meetings with the bank to open accounts in Singapore and all the things we are trying to sell on craigslist at the same time. Anyone need a projector?

Our evenings have mostly been spent in our parents homes with family all around, cooking and enjoying multi course meals fit for royalty. Heirloom tomatoes, duck, steak, freshly caught Sockeye, breads from local grain, wonderful smelly cheese and so so much wine. We got to see Joel's family from up island, my uncle and aunt and Grannie, all our siblings and of course parents and a few friends too. It's been another week of good-byes, non-stop food and good company.

Farewell Fairfax

The move became real this week. The relocation company arrived on Wednesday and they started packing up boxes. The temperature soared into the upper 90s which made the manual labour extremely tiring. Joel and I had to settle on what exactly needed to be in the container going to Singapore (which we won't see till October) and what needed to travel with us for the next six weeks in Canada. Then we sent our furniture and fall/winter clothes up the coast in a truck to be stored in Victoria.

Our good-bye visits this week were both wonderful and sad. We feel incredibly fortunate to have had the chance to build this kind of community and to get live here.  We will miss strolling around Fairfax at night, the live music and great places to eat and all the weird and wonderful characters wandering around. We'll miss all our fantastic neighbours and Delila, our cat friend. I will miss my school and having all my talented classmates around to critique work. I might not miss room 521 though.

We'll both miss all the great people we met through Joel's work and the many great impromptu gatherings we had. California has been great but it's time to adventure again! Thanks for all the great memories, we'll be back one day.

-Stacey

The Bucket List

As our weeks here dwindle away we've been working our way through a bucket list of the things we set out to do before leaving. I took our friends Jon and Christine wine tasting in Sonoma on Friday and enjoyed my final trip to our favourite tasting room at Sojourn. We drove around the headlands and up Mt Tam too.

Joel and I have been out to some new restaurants in the area and in fact haven't really cooked at home much in the last while. Our latest finds that we whole heartedly can recommend are:

123 Bolinas which is at that very address in Fairfax. It's a new wine bar with a small tapas menu and a great selection of wines by the glass or half glass and wonderful cheese plates. Cozy atmosphere and choc full all the time.

Picco in Larkspur has been on my list to try for ages. It's a popular night spot in the neighbourhood for casual fine dining. Our dinner there was fantastic, don't miss it if you're in that area.

Next week we set sail for the legendary Chez Panisse...


-Stacey

Bikes and stuff

I finally got my new road bike in April, The Precious is a Cervelo R3SL equipped with Sram Red. I've got my Quarq power meter in my carbon fibre crank set (on my second one since I wore the one I got last year out) and I've still got my Mavic wheels I bought last summer. So that's my gear geekery out of the way.

I've been riding all winter under the supervision of my coach and started this racing season in February as a Category 3 rider - another jump up from last year. I decided to do mostly stage races this year which are 3-5 days of racing several different stages (like they do in the tour de France). In May I raced in the Sram Tour of the Gila, which was literally in the Wild West of New Mexica. And I did two races in Oregon later on, Mt Hood Classic Stage Race and the Cascade Classic Stage Race.  I placed high enough in those races to earn "upgrade points" and made the jump up to category 2 a few weeks ago!

Now I have to try to not die in the last few races of this season.  Category 1 and 2 riders are often lumped in with the pro riders so this is a whole new and much faster group of riders. Pretty excited to get out there and give it my best though.

-Joel

Our last Summer

It's hard to believe that our time in California is coming to an end in a few weeks! We hosted a farewell party for us as well as five of our friends who are also setting off on international voyages for new jobs. It was our best party yet. Over 70 people showed up who were from all the various groups we've been part of here. We had our friend, DJ Source spinning records all night long, I had a South Indian place cater food and Joel's cycling team had their Sponsor send over a full size keg. We danced the night away and even had a visit from the Fairfax police who were pretty cool about the whole thing.

On the move again

A new job opportunity for Joel came up in Singapore. After doing a ton of research on the country and the job we decided it was a really good fit. The company flew us both there for a few days to check it in late June. Everything we'd been told about this city/country was true. It's unbelievably clean and modern. There's every possible nationality living side by side and getting along (like CISV for CEOs). The food is fantastic, everyone speaks English as well as a half dozen other languages and pretty much anything you desire is available in one of the myriad of shops lining the streets. It's the Monaco of Asia, a tax haven and a very expensive place to live.

Joel accepted the job offer(!) and we are set to make the move in the fall after some time at home visiting family.

evening walkabout in Fairfax

evening walkabout, a set on Flickr.

It's hard to imagine leaving here this year. I was out this evening with my neighbour and pro photographer Stacy Ventura just trying to capture the ordinary things along our street and walking trail we take behind our house.