Yep. Still here in Singapore. I can’t believe we have 2 more weeks left before we head back to LA for a week. Be sure to check out our latest video update below. Starting our 7 months of travel here has been a good and a bad thing. Here’s the start of a list:
The Good
Everyone in Singapore speaks English so it’s really easy to integrate here. It’s only bad because I always like picking up a few new foreign words but as this is our first stop among many with a new baby, making it easy to navigate around and purchase things we need is a benefit. This is a shopping mecca so if you can dream it, it’s here in Singapore.
Singaporeans are very nice people. I can’t believe how helpful everyone is. I’m not sure if it’s because I have a baby and people are more apt to help you out, but overall it’s a polite and friendly country.
It’s incredibly green here. The parks are like mini jungles and some of them like Bukit Timah even have wild monkeys (micaques). I just wish I could walk through the parks during the day more regularly.
The food is delish. There are lots of ethnic restaurants here and many that serve vegetarian dishes and so finding food has not been a problem.
I’ve had a lot of time to work on ideas that have been brewing in my head for months. Heck, years! It’s kind of exciting.
I don’t have a scale here, but I’m pretty sure I’ve lost a bunch of weight. My clothes are fitting again and I can see that my face isn’t all pudgy anymore.
Most importantly, I am spending time with Ripley. My number one goal was to be able to look after him beyond my 3 months of maternity leave. Sometimes it’s hard, but overall it is incredibly rewarding and I am so thankful that I can do this because I know a lot of Moms out there would trade with me in a heartbeat.
The Not So Good
The hot and humid weather is killing me. It’s way too hot to go outside during the day so I typically stay inside with Ripley until after 5pm. This really makes it difficult on the both of us because we get bored and also sick from the A/C. We have definitely made a few attempts at visiting parks but we ended up ridiculously hot and sweaty and I was worried that Ripley was going to get overheated. We’ve also hung out at malls but that quickly gets boring for me.
Singapore is a young and modern city. I appreciate new things, but I prefer relics. Give me a cobblestone street any day.
I haven’t seen the ocean since we got here and we lived on Venice Beach so I miss the waves. I need to plan an outing to the sea. Singapore isn’t very big so that shouldn’t be hard.
Every day I wakeup expecting to see Funston and Lucky Cat. I miss my little furry family. Multiple times a day I mentally thank Rich and Mina for looking after Funston and Rudy and Casey for taking care of Lucky Cat. We could not be doing what we are doing without their love for our pets. I want them back though! 
Lastly, I really miss my friends. Sean and I are hanging out with some great people here in Singapore but I particularly miss my girlfriends and mamafriends. I’ve attempted, probably not hard enough, to get together with mamas here, but it hasn’t quite worked out the way I hoped. I’m glad that I can keep up with what everyone back home is doing very easily online.
I complained on Xeni’s FB page about missing Venice Beach and she provided these words of wisdom which I shall pass on to you, dear readers:
My dear, from my experience with long haul trips is this: the first week is exhilarating and euphoric, the second week exhausting, and homesickness kicks in hard in the 3rd or 4th week. Ride it out. You’re on a wonderful adventure which is also stressful. The Westside will always be here waiting for you.
Hearts & Hugs,
Tara
