Chingay Parade

Ex-Pat Life In SingaporeKehau Kali September 01, 2014

We relocated from the San Francisco Bay Area to Singapore. At first it wasintimidating but what we discovered is that Singapore is an excellent place for ahome base. Once my husband settled into his new position, we started planningour excursions.

(Newswire.net -- September 1, 2014) Singapore, Singapore -- If you love to travel (and wedo!), Singapore is an excellent place for a home base. It is a quick hop to many fantastic

places in Southeast Asia! When we first moved here, I didn’t know what to expect. My husband had just taken a job(with a substantial promotion) at a large multinational bank here, and we relocated from the San Francisco/Bay Area.We didn’t speak the local dialects, Mandarin or Cantonese. My husband has been learning Mandarin, and I can speakSpanish and French well enough to get by, as well as some Japanese. I figured this would be a great adventure!

One of the best things about living in Singapore has been the opportunity to immerse ourselves in different culturesand languages. I didn’t know that Singapore was so diverse! We attended a huge Chinese New Year celebration inChingay and watched a great parade! We also went to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. I found it unusual to find somuch green space in a cosmopolitan city.

Once my husband settled into his new position, we started planning our excursions. We wanted to not only get toknow our new home better, but also see more of the surrounding countries. We took a four-day trip to Malaysia andKuala Lumpur over a long holiday weekend.

We took a train to Malacca City, and saw all the sites including UNESCO’s World Heritage Site, learned more fromour guide about the culture and what ‘everyday’ people do for a living. The countryside and the people were beautifuland so friendly, we were amazed. We had been worried about traveling to Malaysia given all the past skirmishesbetween the Muslims and non-Muslims that we used to hear about in the States, but we needn’t have worried.

On the second day we drove to Kuala Lumpur (which is the capital of Malaysia), where we visited the National Palace,the National Museum, the National Monument, the National Mosque (extremely beautiful!), the Sultan Abdul SamadBuilding and the Royal Selangor Club. We stayed in a wonderful hotel and could hear them calling the faithful to prayerfrom our room.

The next day we visited Batu Caves, which I am told is a limestone hill, but I couldn’t tell. We enjoyed exploring themany caves and shrines, and walking up the 272 (I counted) steps up the hill to a statue of Murugan (who is a Hindugod). We were told that it’s the tallest statue in all of Malaysia! The view of Singapore and the surrounding vista wasspectacular!

We also had time to explore the other caves which included many Hindu shrines. We purchased some amazing batiksto bring home and remind us of our trip. For our next trip, I want to visit Bali in Indonesia or perhaps New Zealand. I’mso glad that we moved to Singapore!

Established in 1956, the school primarily serves the American and international expatriate communities of Singapore.SAS is registered with the Singapore Council for Private Education, affiliated with the Office of Overseas Schoolsthrough the U.S. Department of State, and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges(WASC).

For more information about Singapore American School visit www.sas.edu.sg.

Singapore American School

Singapore, Singapore Singapore Source: http://newswire.net/newsroom/pr/00084803-ex-pat-life-in-singapore.html