The first leg of GTFO is coming to an end and I could not be happier. If you read any of my tweets, you will have probably guessed that me and Singapore didn’t get along so well. That’s probably an understatement. I seriously can’t wait to get the eff out of here.
I’ve been to quite a few cities on this planet of ours, but I have to say, this has been the most underwhelming country/city I have visited. To be fair, I didn’t do the Indiana Jones type of exploring that I have done in the past before having a baby, but I did check out some places when the temperature outside wasn’t set to “fiery depths of hell.” I visited some parks, including one with monkeys, I checked out the ethnic neighborhoods like Little India and Arab Street. I ate food. I totally did stuff. It’s just that i did it once or twice and wasn’t stoked enough to want to do it again.
Most of the time when it was so hot that I was going to melt or the rain was pouring down so hard I required an Ark, I was stuck inside the apartment or some mall. Malls are a form of torture to me so I usually opted for the apartment. At first it wasn’t so bad, and I could deal because I’ve been working on a startup (yaay, more on that to come) and I was able to do a bunch of work on that. But being inside all the time seriously got me depressed. I tried taking Ripley out during the day a few times even when it was hot, but he got so miserable in the Ergo Carrier, and really sweaty in his stroller and I just felt bad for him. I got him a fan that helped a bit but he wasn’t getting the benefit of a cold Each A Cup drink and instead wanted to breastfeed all the time to cool off. There really isn’t anywhere to stop and breastfeed discreetly, unless I want to go to a mall, and nursing outside would only be good if I was planning on making steamed milk for my coffee. The one reprieve we had was the pool at the apartment complex but the cruel irony was that it was way too cold for him. He would literally chatter his gums together. So in the last 2 weeks I just could’t be bothered anymore and stayed in the apartment all the time.
To inject some honesty, we would venture out every night when Sean got home from work for dinner, but there is no sunshine at night as you know and I think the lack of Vitamin D started to get me down. I really started to feel like a vampire. The only thing that stopped me from becoming blood thirsty is that I’m a vegetarian and blood grosses me out.
Man, I am sounding so negative. I’m not going to apologize. I stuck it out here for 4 weeks even after finding out that some of the things I was hoping for or semi-promised were vaporware. I thought I was going to easily get a nanny, for example as someone told me there was a program. Not so much. I was planning on getting some help back in LA so I could have a break a couple times during the week, but here people use their maids to babysit. I wasn’t going to hire someone off Craigslist to look after Ripley. Perhaps I was also paranoid after hearing a babysitter kidnapped a kid here. I think never having a break is a very bad thing and every fulltime Mom needs one, even more so if you are looking for work or trying to start a business. So, that was hard.
The only thing I think that has kept me from totally going crazy and smashing plates is knowing I get to go back to LA for a week to see my friends and then Paris for 2 months. I’ve been in Paris a couple of times and absolutely love it. There is so much to do there, even indoors when it’s hot. It’s got character, it’s got pizazz. I’m excited.
I should probably say something positive at this point so I don’t sound like a total hater. I have met some really nice people here in Singapore – both locals and people passing through. I really liked the Peanut Man. Everyone was understanding of my issues with the weather so it’s not like I’m making this shit up. I indulged in Each A Cup drinks almost everyday. They are super delicious and I’ll probably go through withdrawal for a few days. So definitely two tree things I liked.
I have come to realize that deciding if you like a place or not is the same as deciding if you like a person. Sometimes you just don’t see eye to eye, have different tastes, different ideas of fun. It is very doubtful that I will see Singapore again. In fact, I was scheduled to come back in September but I have opted out of that to stay longer in the US before heading to Japan and then Vienna.
So that’s it. So long, Singapore.
