I knew it was not going to be easy and I gave myself 24 months. Moving to Singapore was a dream come true but as with any move there are a lot of if onlys and buts. As much as I try to take every day as an adventure there are times I wish we had never moved. I thought it would be great to document the pros and cons every six months. It would be interesting to see how thoughts and views evolve.

With contributions from R, here is the list

Pros:

• Closer home – frequent trips to India
• Culturally at home
• Familiarity – from the plants to the people
• The diversity
• New culture – as much as I say Singapore reminds me of home, it has its own distinct culture which is very refreshing
• No butchered pronunciation of our very Indian names
• Food – from vending machine murukkus to Saravana Bhavan just across from work
• Weather – am loving the warmer weather
• Cost of eating in hawker centers
• Easy to survive without a car
• Tropical Fruits
• Maids – full-time/part-time the options are wonderful
• Tamizh all around
• Overall cost of living is cheaper compared to the US
• Home delivery of groceries – most stores delivery groceries at your door step

Cons:

• Weather – I am extremely allergic to Singapore weather and am on constant medication
• Public Transport – makes the city bigger than it actually is. I miss the comforts of owning a car
• Commute time – a direct relationship to the previous point
• No good Tex-Mex – this is more a whine than a con
• Super expensive housing – my dream home will continue to be a dream
• Crowds – from the malls to the markets it is a human sandwich everywhere
• Maids – full time maid culture makes me nauseous at time. I hear/read so many horror stories of abuse and exploitation from both sides
• Cost of fine dining
• Friends and relationships – we are to blame – we just have not taken the time to expand our friends circle and it is bothering me. And in the same vein, I miss my friends in the US.
• Grocery shopping is tougher – narrow aisles, carrying groceries home is a hassle.
• Library system – I compare with the Houston library system and Singapore lags behind
• Malls, malls and malls – shopping culture (and you thought the US was bad)
• The work-life balance – you have heard about it and 6 months in we are finding it true. It is hard to find the balance here. It is difficult to shut down work after 6pm on 99.9% of the days
• Excessive electronics gadgetry – most kids and adults are glued to their cell phones, tablets et al. during their commute. There is something to learn from looking outside the window.
• No dishwashers – personal gripe. It takes a while to hand wash all the dishes
• Public Restrooms – at malls or parks are not as clean/stink free as I would like them to be
• Cramped spaces everywhere – from schools to garages there is a space crunch
• Singapore makes me a tomboy and I NEVER was one. I am more the frills and ruffles kind of girl but the Singapore woman makes me feel like a tomboy. She is always in cute dresses or skirts, hair straightened, blush in place, manicured nails and high heels clicking while I dress for comfort. Pants and some shirt thrown on, hair in a huge pony tail and sticky, zero makeup, walking shoes and sweaty. Oh well it is just one of those annoying things in the morning. I end up looking like something the cat dragged in while the women around me look like they stepped out of a magazine cover.

We are into our 7th month in Singapore – here is to more adventures and fun and settling in.