Hi!

So here I am after my first few days in Singapore, and I thought it was time for an update. I arrived Wednesday night after a long flight from Heathrow via Dubai. I had an airport transfer confirmed (nice and easy to find, the bus made to resemble a bumblebee!) and a hostel booked in Joo Chiat, which is situated in the east of Singapore. The hostel was right in the middle of a busy street and I had a great desire to explore but after my flight I decided to get a good nights sleep under my belt as I had a big day on Thursday planned. As with all hostels its a bit luck of the draw and so I happened to be a room with people snoring and talking their sleep, but I was so tired I still managed to get my head down ok!

As previously mentioned I organised the visa myself but as its such a new scheme I decided to get in touch with a company offering support for people on this visa, Dorgan Connect, before I left. They'd been great in helping me get ready for my trip and I had a meeting booked with them on Thursday to get myself orientated in Singaporean life! Dorgan have a background of helping Singaporean students embark on working holidays abroad so they know exactly whats needed in this situation and had lots of info for me which was great. Consequently within my first 24 hours of being in the country I had opened a bank account, got set up with a Singapore phone and had a viewing at a flat in the evening!! Not bad going for a day! The flat was great, so I signed right up! Its 45 mins out of town, but very close to the skytrain station so the transport is no issue, in the quiet but well developed suburb of Sembawang. I'm sharing with a Chinese student and a Malaysian young professional who have been very welcoming so far, and I'm settling in well.

I'd also got plenty of info on places to explore and things to do from my earlier meeting, which I began doing on Friday. I headed downtown to collect my official visa from the employment agency, and then took a walk round the centre. This is the main attraction of Singapore and what most visitors see, and it didnt disappoint. Its a beautiful well developed city, with everything you need and more. I had a walk round Clarke Quay which has a number of old buildings such as theatres and museums, all with a background of skyscrapers both new and in development. I also took a trip down to the marina which has great views of the city, including an amazing looking 3 pronged casino with a ship viewing level connecting them up on the top! I completed my little tour with the famous Raffles hotel, before heading back to my new place to unpack.

That night my new friends from Dorgan along with some of their friends took me out for a traditional hotpot meal (fantastic!) before showing me some more of the sights at night. Didnt get home till 3am as the Singaporeans like to cram as much as possible in each day! I spent the weekend relaxing, getting settled in and job hunting online as thats the next thing on my to-do list. I've been given a few leads to try and it seems like the job market is pretty good here so I'm helpful of finding something soon. I also managed a game of football which was great, although hard work in the heat!

So so far, so good!

As for first impressions of the place, they have been great! Singapore is only officially 45 years old but the people are so motivated and driven that they've achieved so much so quickly. The place is busy 24 hours a day and buildings are planned and popping up all over. Its a diverse population but everyone is treated equally and work together for the benefit of the country. The place is constantly developing and takes on all kinds of ideas to generate revenue (eg 24 hour traffic wardens!) and keep the people safe and happy, such as random road blocks after 3am to catch drink drivers. Oh yeah and its SO HOT!!!! Constantly about 20 degrees no matter what time of day it is. I'm so thankful for air con!!

So the adventure has gotten off to a good start, thanks to my new friends and the general accessibility of Singapore as a whole. In fact its been so easy to get settled in its beeing amazing! At times I'm a little overwhelmed but I think thats natural after leaving home on my own to head to the otherside of the world! Alot of people only travel through Singapore for a few days, which I totally understand due to the size of the place. But after only a few days here I realize thats there so much more to this place then most people get to see, and I'm going to have an amazing experience living here for the next 6 months.

Hopefully next time I write I will have a job which will make me a little more relaxed about spending money and seeing the sights properly. And then the rest of the lifestyle should follow.

I hope I'm tempting you to come join me! Or at least made you a little more curious about the place. I'll write again soon. Thanks for reading.

Ralph

ps just drop me a line if you have any specific questions about any aspect of my trip, I aim to get as many people interested in the Singaporean WHP as possible, so I'm happy to help in any way I can. Thanks.