A week ago I moved into our apartment at D’Leedon, a seven building condo complex located just off Farrer Road near the heavily expat enclave of Holland Village.
Condo living in the tropics is a far cry from our quiet north Seattle neighborhood. You hear the neighbors’ kids cry, smell what everyone’s cooking, and get used to the pong of tennis balls from the court near our bedroom. There are also several swimming pools, including a 50 meter lap pool. We’ve found that an evening dip is a great way to cool down.
Ours is two bedroom unit with larger living room, master bedroom and balcony and smaller guest room/home office. It’s air conditioned, but we’re trying to conserve and use the fans and open windows as much as possible (read: bearable!). It’s almost impossible to sleep without AirCon on, so that’s humming all night.
I’ve spent the past week poking around neighborhoods with Tom, figuring out shopping (so many new brands to try), buying a few necessities (coffee maker, vacuum, printer, etc), operating a new cooker and oven in celsius temps, and getting various accounts set up. To be honest, I’ve gone to bed on overload (and yes, sometimes in tears) a few times just trying to navigate it all, not to mention the frustration when things take double/triple time because of the unfamiliar. And you forget how many of your US based accounts require a one-time password authentication, tricky when your phone is now a Singapore number.
I joined Tom and a couple of his running buddies last weekend at MacRitchie Reservoir. They did the 11 km loop while I stuck to an abbreviated 5 km route. Running in the humidity takes some getting used to! And you have to keep an eye on the monkeys, which will snatch all the items in your knapsack if you’re not careful.
It’s also been fun to visit some of the places we used to frequent in the 70’s and early 80’s when my family lived in Indonesia. My Caltex Oil friends will appreciate the pics of Orchard and Killiney Roads and Lucky Plaza. It is practically unrecognizable though, with all the Hermes, Dior, Channel, and other upscale stores in the area.
I’ve also been missing the kids and friends back in Seattle. We have scheduled a weekly zoom with Leo and Siri, but it doesn’t replace seeing them live and in person. We are so grateful to friends and family who have sent them care packages, hosted them, taken them to lunch, and in general, kept an eye out on them. Hugs and love to you all.
Enjoy the pics.
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