Made it to Singapore! - Posted by Maggie

he flight was pretty harsh and very long, and we still have a bit of jet lag. Yesterday we fell asleep at 5pm and woke up at midnight - confused at first and unable to sleep any further.

You won't believe the shopping here!! It is like a never-ending shopping mall. There are high-end labels like Prada, Gucci, Valentino, Longchamp, BCBG etc. and there are other brands like Marks & Spencer and Mango (from Spain) and there are also heaps of fleamarkets and vintage clothing stores. Even an IKEA and a lot of other home furnishing shops. Wherever you go there is a huge mall, there are literally shops everywhere, and there is also specialized areas such as little india and little china etc.

I was really surprised by how many trees there are everywhere - the climate is very tropical and there are apparently more tree species in Singapore than the entire US! The city itself is spotless. The sidewalks are very clean, you will never see any trash anywhere. But so far my biggest quest has been to find rubbish bins. There are none on the street. You have to carry all your empty water bottles and other debris with you for a long time, until you spot a rubbish bin - usually hidden away in a corner where you least expect it.

They Hyatt is very nice - they have an excellent spa with a whirlpool, steamroom and sauna and an excercise room, and we are centrally located just off of Orchard road which is the main shopping street.

And the food!!! there is every single cuisine you can think of here. Food is very cheap (and good) but alcohol is very expensive. You pay about $8 for a glass of beer.

Darin and I rode the MRT (subway) out to the Dell office yesterday to see how long it will take him to get to work. It took us about 50 minutes from the hotel. The MRT goes everywhere and is very clean (no pee smells), but is a bit crowded. Much like London's tube with very clear directions etc.

We've also scoped out an apartment so far and it was really nice - very comfortable and nicely furnished. But it was too far away from the MRT so it would take us really long to get anywhere. So the search for housing continues.