Anybody been to Singapore?

[JimH5]

Howdy folks. . .This is a pretty worldly group, so I'm looking for some info from any of you who have visited or lived in Singapore.

 

My wife, daughter and I have a chance to live there on a work assignment for the next two years. I've never been there before, so I'm looking for any info possible on cost of living, places where Americans hangout, transportation, child care, etc.

 

It may turn out to be a sweet deal, as we'd be able to set up a permanent residence back in the Milwaukee area (currently in New Jersey) and live there in July and December, with an apartment in Singapore the rest of the time.

 

All I know is that it's a very, very long flight, and it's 85 miles north of the equator, making the climate pretty steamy.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

[dadofandrew]

My wife won't even move closer to Milwaukee. Add that to the equator part, lots of luck.

[gypcasino]

I don't have any advice but I'm planning on moving to Thailand next year to teach English.

[flosses like fossas]

[gee, i don't know if i can add much to those first two posts, but here goes...]

 

i'm currently living in taiwan, looking to travel to singapore in a few months. i've been doing some research and the tips seem fairly universal as to many parts of asia.

 

obviously it's going to be hot there, nearly tropical. singapore - especially the cities - has a large western expatriate community, which will be socially inviting, as asian languages bear few similarities to english. public transportation can be spotty in these countries and the best way to get around will likely be a scooter - not sure how you feel about that - unless you are in a younger, more "western" city that is a bit more sprawling. lots of basics (food, taxis, etc.) can be really cheap once you figure out where to go, which is nice, but paying for the finer things is going to be comparable to the american prices and can actually be very expensive. i think you'll run into quite a lot of bug life there as well, which should magnify your desire to find a very clean and tight apartment, jersey cockroaches got nothing on what i've seen out here, and i've lived in new york. i don't have a grasp of the local flavors in the diet, but here are some general differences to likely expect as far as food: suspect drinking water, varying meat quality, lots of pork, not much dairy at all and not high quality (not sure what your diet is like), lots of fresh produce, great noodles. what else...hard bedding, weird hand gestures - on top of not being able to communicate with the local vernacular, the disparity in what hand gestures mean is almost comical.

 

a good place to look for more stuff is to search websites about teaching english. post on those message boards and you'll get back plenty of useful info. i'd also post on craigslist out there - or even chicago or new york - and see what comes back. best of luck, be in touch with any other concerns - travel or otherwise - if you should get out this way.

[trwi7]

I know many in Singapore speak English so that shouldn't be a problem. It's one of their four official languages but not the national language (I believe that's Malay.)

[Menotti80]

My cousin is in the Navy and just left Singapore. He loved it. When we talked about his time there, in now way did he make anything out be a huge negative about his experience....

[homer]

"I don't have any advice but I'm planning on moving to Thailand next year to teach English. "

 

Jack talk Thai. Jack talk Thai very well.

[tigerbrew]

I live in Singapore. Yeah, it's warm and humid over here being so close to the equator, it's right in the tropics. The yearly tempetaure ranges from 73 to 88 fahrenheit. The monsoon season in Dec-Jan are the coolest months, and May-Jun are the hottest months.

I've never been there before, so I'm looking for any info possible on cost of living, places where Americans hangout, transportation, child care, etc.

Food and public transport are quite cheap, cars, petrol and cigarettes are expensive in Singapore. Vehicles drive the other side of the road. Housing can be quite expensive depending on the location, child care can be quite expensive depending on where your kids are enrolled.

I think many Americans hangout at the American Club at Scotts road, or the malls, pubs, discos, speakeasys and restuarants around the city. The standard of living in Singapore is pretty good.

I know many in Singapore speak English so that shouldn't be a problem. It's one of their four official languages but not the national language (I believe that's Malay.)

The locals speak English, all public and street signs are in English. Americans should have no problem here other than to adjust to reading British spelling. Yeah, Malay is the national language, but most locals can speak very little Malay though.

[JimH5]

Thanks tigerbrew, and all. . .

 

That's good info. We should know more about our situation in the coming weeks. . .

[GAME05]

i went there for about five days maybe four years ago, but i certainly can't top tigerbrew's comments.

 

learned a ton about their transportation system (press trip) and the expats i hung out with all seemed to like it there. the food there is awesome (have the peppered crab), the whole country is clean and easy to get around, and i never even thought twice about walking up to anyone and speaking English--English is the language used in schools, so only the old citizens speak nothing but Malay or Chinese.

 

if you want some specific places to go (restaurants, museums, most anything) just PM me.