Singapore Six Months On

Today marks the six month anniversary of my move to Singapore. It’s been a bumpy transition. My mood, my health and my enthusiasm for this town has gone up and down during the weeks and months I’ve been here.

Over the weekend I was chatting with a friend who also moved from Hong Kong to Singapore in 2011. That conversation reminded me that there is plenty of things I was glad to leave behind in Hong Kong, the pollution being high on the list.

My new home here in Singapore has a lovely balcony space. It’s not big, but it’s comfortable, private, has views out to some greenery and seems to catch the evening breeze quite well. I love being able to sit out there, rain or shine and write, play, think or just stare at the passing clouds.

In fact, a lot of what I am enjoying about life in Singapore is in the small, everyday things. Evening walks along tree lined streets, the quality (and variety) of the local street food as well as the pleasant and polite manner of the people here (except when they are behind the wheel of a car).

When it comes to the bigger things I’ve found Singapore to be somewhat unpredictable; welcoming and distant at the same time. Like every city that is tightly entwined with the global economy, Singapore is undergoing a lot of change, which will, of course, bring social challenges. I’ll comment more about this as I come to understand this place a little better during this year.

Right now, my concerns are simpler. I had hoped to have both home and studio fully set up by the end of six months, but I’m still waiting on furniture and having to order gear from overseas.

Most of the time I’m content and glad to be here. Singapore doesn’t excite or challenge me in the way that London, Delhi or Hong Kong did. This place is not dull, but, doesn’t have the same kind of “buzz.”

As boring as it sounds, I came here to work, to create and to breathe. The more I concentrate on that, the happier I am about being here.